The 4th Furrow – James Hastings (1795 – 1875) The Measure of Progress

The sun was already slipping toward the horizon as John flicked the reins and left Timothy Wallace’s hard‑won fields behind him. The road ahead glowed amber in the fading light, every rut and ridge softened by the long shadows that stretched across North Easthope. With Timothy’s steady voice still echoing in his thoughts; the grit, the honesty, the sheer perseverance, truly inspiring. John felt the weight of the day’s stories settling around him like the dusk. He had one more stop to make.

A family log home in the deep woods of Perth County. Here James Hastings and his wife raise their 9 children.

Following the rough track toward Stratford, he turned his horse toward the farm of James Hastings. Unlike the spoken recollections of Wallace and Riddell, James had already prepared his account, committing his experiences to paper at John’s earlier request. As the last warmth of the day brushed his shoulders, John approached the Hastings homestead, intending only to collect the letter before the darkness set in.

What awaited him was not merely a written statement, but a thoughtful, measured reflection, a window into yet another life carved from the wilderness. John got down from his carriage and made his way towards the house when James emerged and met him letter in hand. The Hastings house was a hive of activity as children ran and played about the yard. James greeted John with a handshake and invited him to take a seat and have a refreshing drink before heading home.

A reasonable request that would only be rude to reject, as John took a seat, the orange glow of the sun casting a late summer hue across everything it touched. With letter in hand John looked to James for his approval, it was gained in a nod and John began to open the letter. The letter reads as follows, “Sir, In accordance with your request that I would state how I have succeeded in this country, I think the best way for me to convey to you a just idea of my success and prospects is to state, though briefly, the following facts:”

James was born in Scotland, in 1795. Where he met and married his wife Isabella Hyslop (1799 – 1848), they began their family prior to committing to the new world, making the journey that much more complicated with young children in tow.

In total their were nine children born to James and Isabella, I believe the following are their children including the two I have not been able to locate, the oldest born in 1821, another child name unknown, David was born 1925, Robert in 1827, John 1830, Nicolena 1832, and Mary 1834. In 1836, they arrived in Perth County and were soon joined by a sister, Jane 1839 and a brother James Jr. 1842. The census attached shows the family in 1852. Also listed here is Mary, wife of Robert age 21. The older children have moved out and unfortunately, Isabella is not longer listed.

1851 Census

Isabella set, glass of water, fresh from the spring in front of John as he continues reading “I emigrated from Dumfriesshire in Scotland, in 1836, having had a farm there on lease in the parish of Glencairn, and Minnihive being the nearest post town. In July of that year I came to this tract, and I considered then that I would buy a lot of land with some improvements on it.

Purchasing land with minor improvements was encouraged by the Canada Company. They had secured over a million acres, as part of their settling strategy they offered not only uncleared lots, but some with partial improvements.

The location of James Hastings Property

James continues “I bought out the right and interest of the holder of this lot I live on No. 7 in the second concession of this township, consisting of 100 acres, and he had then about ten acres of cleared land and a small log-house (covered with bark) on it.” As a man with a family this was the best choice for him. It is believed that clearing 1 acre alone, could take 40 to 60 days of full labour, and the stumps could remain for years, so the farmer would just plant around them.

“The land had been taken up from the Canada Company some years previous, at the rate of one ½ dollar per acre, and I paid to the holder of it for the interest 86 ½ dollars, and I also paid to the Company one installment, which, with the legal interest rate at 6 percent, on the whole, due up to the above period, amounted to 60 dollars. I had then as much money left as bought me a yoke of working oxen and two cows. What I have stated shows the amount of the funds I had.”

Like so many settlers their funds we used to the full extent, until nothing much remained. The cost of starting a new life was steep, but the rewards could pay back 100-fold. Equipment, seeds, feed, and more was not only need to sustain the farm, but life itself. With the proper perseverance and commitment, success was sure to follow as the improvement increased.

“My improvements on the lot now are as follows: I have rather above 40 acres cleared land, and I have besides ten acres more chopped, brush burned, and about half of it now ready for a crop of fall wheat to be put in at this time, the rest of it when cleared will be put in, if I am spared, in crops next spring. I have this years crops of fall and spring wheat, oats, peas, barley, potatoes, and turnips, besides about fourteen acres of hay, which I think will fully average a ton of hay per acre, and about five acres in the pasture.”

Mildly beaming with pride and aware of his accomplishment, his words displayed the efforts, “My stock consists of 3 horses and a colt, cows, 1 yoke of working oxen, 3 yokes of years of different ages heifers, calves, and 30 sheep, with 9 very large hogs, and 21 less in size.” One might wonder how large these very large hogs are, but still the numbers are impressive as are his improvements.

James proceeds describing his home and buildings. “The log-house I have enlarged, making some additions to it and covered it with shingles, and I have built a log barn 62x 30, and covered it with shingles, (Shingles are thin pieces of split pine laid on the roof, similar to, and as a substitute for slates, as in the old country),” Explaining to the reader the details of shingles and referring to the practice of using slate materials for roofing, as was common in Britain.

James’s letter carries on, “and I have some out-buildings. With my family’s help I have cleared for some of my neighbours about twenty-five acres of land, which enabled me to furnish many articles which I needed, as well as provisions, when we required such till the land produced them.”

John pauses for a moment, absorbing the words we had read. Feeling the weight of years of labour shared between neighbours and family settling gently in his expression. The mention of his family seems to stir another current of thought, shifting James’s focus from the land he had helped shape to the people who had shaped it with him. As John read the letter, he looked at James and continued, this time thinking not of fields and fences, but of the hands that had worked beside his own.

The letter continues “As I have alluded to my family, I may state that we have seven children when we came, and two since, and the eldest is now about twenty-one years of age, and is working this season, as he has been before, out at the harvest.” It was then Hastings, reached into his pocket and handed John a small piece of cloth, with the request to include it along with the statement. At that time, this piece of material could be seen at the Office of the Canada Company, I am unable to confirm its current existence.

“I hand you herewith a specimen of the cloth my wife got woven last year from our own wool, and this year she has carded about 66lbs. of wool, from which she expects sixty yards of good common cloth, all woollen, without any mixture, and it will be striped and checked, the yarn having been dyed.” This cloth not only serves as gift but as proof of the successes and improvements being made by the settlers and the Canada Company.

He placed the cloth in John’s hands, not as a boast, but as a quiet testament to what perseverance could look like in a place still learning how to call itself home. This wasn’t just fabric, it was proof. Proof that the long days and the aching backs were beginning to amount to something. Proof that the Canada Company’s promises were, at least here, taking root.

“The land I have is good and well watered, there being a creek and springs on it. I have succeeded as well as I expected, and I consider the value on my stock and farm, at the moderate calculation, above 1400 dollars, in which is not included my crops or the farming implements, such as fanning-mill, plough, etc., and also many other thins, which of course cost money or labour when they are required.”

These weren’t numbers on a report. They were the measure of a family’s survival, the quiet pride of a man who had carved a life out of the bush with his own hands. Fortunately, James’s family had been blessed with good health, a small yet powerful hope he held for others who might follow the same path.

“We have all enjoyed good health, for this place is healthy, and there is not a doubt but an emigrant will (allowing him to be industrious) Succeed here as a farmer, and particularly so if he has been previously accustomed to farming, on indeed to any labour, whether mechanical or agricultural.”

Bringing the letter to a close by wishing the reader well, “Hoping the above particular will be satisfactory, and I might have added to them, if time permitted, I remain, Sir, Your most obedient Servant, (Signed) James Hastings.”

John folds up the letter and gently tucks it away with the small piece of cloth, thanking James and Isabella for the drink, hospitality and the most vivid account of life on the tract, before heading towards his carriage and making his way home. Smiling inside at all the improvements he has collected and ready to report to his superiors.

James and Isabella collected the children and began to prepare them for bed, another day was ending and the family was thriving. The family remained in the area long after that visit, their lives woven into the same landscape they had worked so hard to tame.

The final resting place of James and Isabella Hastings

Sadly, Isabella was the first to go, only a few short years later. In 1848, James made the solemn journey to St. Andrew’s Cemetery in North Easthope, his children walking beside him as he laid his wife to rest. She was in her 49th year, leaving behind nine children and a husband who had weathered every hardship with her.

James stayed another twenty‑seven years, tending the land they had built together, watching their children grow into the world they had carved from the wilderness. When his time came in 1875, he joined her beneath the white marble headstone that still stands today a quiet testament to a family who endured, who hoped, and who helped shape the early heartbeat of the township.