S k e tc h of th e Life a n d Tim es of J oseph C u r r a n M or r ison ’ - Pr e s id e n t o f S t . A n d r e w s S o c ie ty , 1 8 5 0 5 2, a n d A n g u s M o r r i s o n P r e s ide n t 1 8 5 2 - 5 4 BY A G MA CM U R CH Y K C ' U S , . TH ES E brothers came to Toronto 'then York'in 18 2 w a 3 ith their father Hugh Morrison , who was n officer in the celebrated Black Watch Regiment and served in the Peninsular War . Joseph Curran w as 20 th 18 16 born in the south of Ireland on August , , , and Angus was born in Edinburgh in 18 19 . Hugh Morrison c d ame from Sutherlandshire . He was a warm frien ' i ‘ i S r h . n of Jo n A Macdonald , as after years his sons became staunch friends and supporters of the old C hieftain . 18 32 m i r In the year , ever me orable in Engl sh histo y for the passing of the Reform Bill , emigration to r Canada f om the mother country greatly increased . In that year emigrants came to our shores from n out the Old Cou try , but cholera broke , many died in sight of the promised land after crossing the Atlanti c in sailing vessels and spending many weeks on the r voyage . The ravages of that dreadful epidemic a e ' th described by Mrs . Moodie in Roughing it in e - 6 Bush , pp . 65 6 . ' In the morning we were obliged to visit the city 'Montreal'to make the necessary arrangements for our b upward j ourney . The day was intensely ot n A bank of thunderclouds lowered heavily over the mountain , and the close dusty streets were silent and n early deserted . Here and there might be seen a - i r group of anxious look ng , carewo n , sickly emigrants seated against a wall among their packages and sadly r i um nating upon their futur e prospects . The sullen t - r oll of the death bell , the exposu e of newly made ’ c offins in the undert akers windows and the oft re c i urr ng notice placarded on the walls , of funerals furnished at such and such a place at cheapest rate and s l r u hortest notice, painful y reminded us at eve y t rning t w of the stree , that death was every here , perhaps lurking in our very path . We felt no desire to examine the beauties of the place ; with this an' ious feeling d l s perva ing our minds , pub ic buildings po sessed few e a ttractions , and we determin d to make our stay as ' short as possible . Sir John Colborne , then Lieutenant Governor of a ff rt Upper Can da , had made great e o s to induce the better classes in the British Isles to emi grate to Canada . Until that time it was generally considered that no one could live long in our country owin g to the severity of the climate and its barren soil ' Emigration was di scour aged by the Home Government which then e xercised from Downing Street much control over the affairs of this country . ' ' a In his Lives of the Judges , Mr . D . B . Re d tells us that about this time a number of young Irish gentlemen formed an Emigr ation Society and decided ’ futur e t i upon Canada for their e hom , in end ng to take u p land and carry on farming . ' ' In 183 2 in the ship Anne of Halifa , with Cap 5 tain John U . Ross in command , came the Rev . Dominick ' s Blake and his brother William Hume Blake , afterward Chancellor of the Court of Chancery in Upper Canada , and father of Edward and Samuel Hume Blake ; their mother and sisters ; the late Archdeacon Brough , Dr . of Robinson , Rev . Benj amin Cronyn , late Bishop o . Hur n , Rev Arthur Palmer , former Archdeacon of Skeffin ton . s Toronto and Dr g Connor , afterward Mr . Justice Connor . This vessel was chartered for e the voyag , which was accomplished in about six weeks via the St . Lawrence to Quebec , whence the travellers proceeded by stage to York . ’ It was in the same year that our Past - Presidents father came to Canada with his family . He took up ’ land at Jackson s Point , most of which he owned ; his sons’ education was completed at Upper Canada College in the new buildings j ust then erected in the e square between King and Simcoe , John and Adelaid F Streets , opened by Sir John Colborne , afterwards ield Marshal Baron Seaton , whose names are borne by two of our city streets . It is hard to form any adequate idea to - day of the appearance of Toronto in these early days , but for tunately we have the following description by Samuel Thompson in 18 3 3 : ' In 18 33 the population was The principal e thoroughfares were King , Lot , Hospital and Newgat ‘ Streets ; Church , George , Bay and York Streets were almost without buildings . Taverns were pretty num erous ; a wooden English church , Methodist , Presby terian and Roman Catholic churches of the like con struction , a brick gaol and courthouse of ugliest de h tfi ld scription , scattered private houses a w ea e where 6 the Rossin House now stands , beyond , a roughcast ‘ Government House , brick Parliament Buildings , uglier even than the goal , and some government offices 25 located m a one storey brick building , feet square , i ' compr sed the lions of Toronto of that day . ’ e are The Queen s Hotel , where our me tings held , il 18 4 4 was bu t as three private houses in , known i as Ontar o Terrace . Here Principal Willis and the other Professors of Knox College resided and carried on 1 4 classes in theology until 8 5 . There were no plank sidewalks in Toronto until 18 34 after , the year of its incorporation as a city ; flat stones taken from the shores of the Bay were used on King Street ; the streets were not lighted until 28 th ' 184 1 w ' fir ecember , , hen the st gas lamp was lit . A ‘ story is told by Mr . Helliwell as given in Robert ’ son s Landmarks 'to which I am indebted for much f 18 3 1 i f in ormation', of how a man in , driv ng a load o pork down Yonge Street , was followed by a bear , which was attracted by the smell . It was in the evening and the man did not see the bear . He arrived at Bos ’ worth s Tavern at the north east corner of Yonge and ’ n w R idout s r King Streets 'long k o n as Corne s , or ' The Corners put hi s horses in the stable in the r ear and went to bed in the tavern . During the night the inmates of the tavern were roused and found the bear in the stall with the horses , far- ff making a sensation . In those o days there were lr i a neither telegraphs nor rai oads , the M lit ry roads , u R Yonge Street , D ndas Street and the Kingston oad W n m ni ere the o ly means of com u cation by stage , and the postage on a letter from the Old Country was 5 s. 3 d. After many years of agitation the era of railway c onstruction began in Upper Canada in 18 5 1 . 15 r 18 5 1 r fi On th Octobe , , Lady Elgin tu ned the rst sod for the Ontario , Simcoe and Huron Railroad 'after wards the Northern Railway , and later amalgamated 100 e with the Grand Trunk Railway', feet west of Simco fi Street , opposite the Parliament Buildings . The rst locomotive engine for the railway named the ' Lady n ' i Elgi , was bu lt in Portland , Maine . It weighed 24 ' about tons . The second engine , called the Tor ’ onto was built at James Good s foundry on the north side of Queen Street between Yonge and Victoria fi i en l n Streets . This is said to be the rst locomot ve g e h constructed in Canada , and indeed in any Britis colony . The passenger coaches were built and painted in car shops at Niagara and then brought across the ’ Lake on barges to the Queen s Wharf . The Northern Railway was opened as far as Aurora l 6th 1 fi 8 5 3 . a on May , The rst train started from little wooden shed opposite Queen ’s Hotel dignified by the name of a station . It was extended to Colling 18 5 6 communica wood in , when Toronto got railway tion with Hamilton by the Hamilton and Toronto Railway and with Montreal by the Grand ‘ Trunk Railway . Thus before any railway reached Toronto from East or West , Toronto had the Northern Railway through the enterprise of its citizens , amongst whom F the were . C . Capreol , the originator and organizer of undertaking , who was ably assisted by J . C . Morrison , President of the Board of Directors of the Ontario , . n . C o. Simcoe and Huron Ry , succeeding Hon Joh Henry Boulton . Much of the progress and prosperity of Toronto was due to the building of the Northern Railway as in later years by the building of the Credit V alley and connecting railways , in which Angus M r a orrison bore a prominent pa t , with George L idlaw .