Mayhem to Murder The History of The Markham Gang Organized Crime in Canada West during the 1840s. by Paul Arculus The Markham Gang Murder & Mayhem Contents Mayhem to Murder Acknowledgements The History of the Markham Gang List of Illustrations. Organized Crime in Canada in the 1840’s. Introduction. By Paul Arculus Chapter 1. The Morrow Attack. Chapter 2. Burglary to Horse Stealing. Chapter 3. Setting. Copyright 2003: Paul Arculus Chapter 4. Members of the Markham Gang. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, Chapter 5. Origins of the Markham Gang. stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise Chapter 6. The Arrests and Early Trials. (except for brief passages for purposes of review) without the prior permission of the author. Chapter 7. Later Arrests and Trials, 1846. Chapter 8. The Morrow Trials. Canadian Cataloguing Information Chapter 9. The Markham Murder. Arculus, Paul, 1935- Chapter 10. The Aftermath. From Mayhem to Murder: The History of the Markham Gang. Organized crime in Canada in the 1840’s. Chapter 11. Conclusion. Includes bibliographical references. Appendix 1. Members of the Markham Gang. ISBN 0-9684932 – 5 - 4 Appendix 2. Jails of Canada West. Published by: Appendix 3. Jury Members for Home District Trials, Spring 1846. Observer Publishing of Port Perry Port Perry Star Building Appendix 4. Major Reported Crimes of 1845. 188 Mary Street Port Perry ON L9L 1B7 Appendix 5. John Strachan and his Students. Printed in Canada by: Bibliography. PP Print and Digital Services Inc. 201 North Street Index. Port Perry ON L9L 1B7 2 3 The Markham Gang Murder & Mayhem Doug Willson, Markham, Ontario Acknowledgements The following have helped me in a variety of tasks, not the least of which has been the proof reading and editing: The work involved in researching and writing this book has given Bruce Arculus, CBC Newsworld, Toronto, Ontario. me much pleasure. One of the many rewards has been the joy of Peter Hvidsten, Port Perry Star, Port Perry Ontario. working with a large number of people. All of the following have Diane Lackie, Port Perry, Ontario. given freely of their time and talents to enable me to complete the Bill Lishman, Blackstock, Ontario. work. Bill Minors, Books Galore and More, Port Perry, Ontario. For guidance and assistance in the research, I am indebted to the Dr. Ralph Price, Port Perry, Ontario. following: John Barton, Archives of Ontario, Toronto. Jane Anne McGill of Seagrave, Ontario, is a lawyer in Toronto and Craig Belfry and staff at the Scugog Shores Museum and Archives, has carefully scanned the text from her professional perspective and Port Perry. corrected information and added many helpful suggestions. Tom Bonano and staff at the Memorial Library, Port Perry. Heather Home, Queen’s University Archives. In addition to contributing a considerable amount of research from Elizabeth Hunter, Markham District Historical Museum. his files of the Pickering connections in the affairs of the Markham Paul D. McIlroy, Justice Portfolio Archivist, Archives of Ontario, Gang, Dr. John Sabean has been constantly pushing me to complete Toronto. the study and to get it into print. He has aided me in his frequent Allan McGillivray, Curator/Director, Uxbridge Scott Museum, editings and revisions and has provided numerous suggestions for Uxbridge, Ontario. many improvements in the presentation of the text. Tom Mohr, Pickering Township Historical Society, Pickering, Ontario. Peter Hvidsten and I have worked together for a number of years Dr. John Sabean, Pickering Township Historical Society. on many historical projects, including a book that we co-authored in Dave St.Onge, Curator, Correctional Service of Canada, Kingston, 2002, Historical Homes and Estates of Port Perry. Peter has spent Ontario. untold hours in laying out the text of this work on the Markham Brian Winter, Archivist, Whitby Archives, Whitby, Ontario. Gang, scanning and reproducing the illustrations and presenting the The staff, particularly those in the Baldwin Room, at the Toronto final work on disc to the printer. His technical expertise, his Reference Library on Yonge Street, Toronto. encouragement and support in this project has been invaluable. A number of descendants of people involved in the affairs of the My heartfelt thanks go out to all of the above and to my wife Isabel Markham Gang have been generous in their help: (Liz) for her phenomenal patience and tolerance of my ten-year Judith Barr, Meaford, Ontario. obsession with the affairs of the Markham Gang. The late Fred Christie, Prince Albert, Ontario. Wanda Cocco, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. William Gottschalk, Fullerton, California. Paul Arculus Bev Hopkins, Oshawa, Ontario. Seagrave, Ontario. Diane Kaczor, Rochester Hills, Michigan. May 2003, one hundred and fifty years after the release of the last of Diane McGregor, Thornbury, Ontario. the Markham Gang members from Kingston Penitentiary. Gordon Rea Pennock, Palmyra, Maine, U.S.A. Lane Prentice, Little Britain, Ontario 4 5 The Markham Gang Murder & Mayhem among the pioneer families, including many United Empire Loyalists, and the early businesses in the communities of south- central Ontario. Indeed many of those convicted went on to become Introduction prominent citizens themselves; their criminal past somehow kept quiet. In the early 1840’s robberies, burglaries and similar crimes appear Information on the Markham Gang is rare and falls into two to have been just as commonplace as they are today. By 1845 a few general categories: factual and fictional. people began to think that there was a link in some of the crimes Factual; being committed. In June that year, Hugh Scobie, owner and (1) Newspaper articles of 1845-46, publisher of the British Colonist, a popular Toronto newspaper, (2) A 24 page pamphlet on the Markham Gang, which went on sale a revealed that an organized gang of robbers was in operation across month after the trials were completed in 1846. This pamphlet was the province. Scobie identified the outlaws as the "Markham Gang." merely a reprint of the articles that had appeared in the issues of As the year progressed the activities of the gang were slowly British Colonist of June and July 1846. revealed. The range of crimes was extensive - from petty theft to an (3) Five pages in Attitudes Toward Crime and Punishment in Upper elaborate system of horse stealing and from forgery to murder. Their Canada, 1830-1850, by J.M. Beattie published in 1977. This crimes extended throughout the province and beyond. consists of reprints of two articles; one from the Toronto Examiner From evidence provided in court and other information provided, and the other from the Brockville Recorder, both of 1846. it was obvious that the crimes were carefully planned and executed. (4) A 6-page essay written by noted historian Edwin Guillet in 1947. Relatively intimate details of the victims were carefully gathered so (5) Extremely rare and brief references to the gang in a few local that the offences could be committed with an optimum chance of histories such as Burrs and Blackberries from Goodwood, a History success. Goods and merchandise were disposed of, not in the of Uxbridge Township, printed in 1980 by the author, Eleanor Todd. community in which they were stolen, and not by those who had (6) A few remaining administrative documents such as Judges’ stolen them, but by other members of the gang in locations well away Bench notes and jail records. from the scenes of the crimes. Gang members took an oath of secrecy. They vowed to support Fictional; each other in any way possible. They pledged to provide alibis in case (7) A novel, entitled The Four Canadian Highwaymen or, The they were arrested, and to back each other in court. This was a Robbers of the Markham Swamp written by Edmund Collins. This homegrown, nineteenth century Canadian "Mafia," a "mob," one of was a work of fiction, a highly romanticized work with only vague the earliest known cases of organized crime in British North references to the actual activities of the gang. It appeared in print America. in 1886. No records of the actual oaths are known to exist; certainly none (8) A chapter entitled "The Swamp Raiders," in Canada’s Greatest were presented at the time of the trials. No members’ lists were ever Crimes by Thomas P. Kelly. The account of the Markham gang’s found. Indeed, no written records are known to have emerged from activities is given, again, a romanticized and largely fictional their activities. All the information of their activities is derived from treatment. the few remaining court records and from the press. One of the disturbing aspects of the Markham Gang is that its Why has nothing further been written about this gang and the members were not idle, unemployed ne’er-do-wells or vagrants; they tyranny perpetrated by its members? Why is there so little reference were successful merchants and businessmen, and errant sons and to the Markham Gang in the local histories of the communities daughters of respectable families. They came mainly from the affected, particularly in Markham and the communities of Ontario regions east and north east of Toronto, but some came from County, now the Region of Durham, immediately east of Toronto? communities beyond. Their surnames were readily recognized Another set of intriguing questions also arises. Why were the 6 7 The Markham Gang Murder & Mayhem death sentences of certain gang members commuted to life and colourful, but it only assumes validity and accuracy when we imprisonment and why were these men eventually released after view the whole spectrum of the behaviour of its characters and the serving extremely short sentences? Why are the names of certain events that they precipitated.