http://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/115ea1a9b9695cea810af54179e8b43b.pdf f698c608db813e8c081766b2cc48e26e PDF Text Text .. -.; . r: ,. ; ; -. .:·: :. . Berti e Hall, Fort Erie, Ontario . ' ·' ~· · .. This house is located a t 65? Niagara Boulevard {corner of Phipps Street) in Fort Erie,. and· is : on part of the south half 'b f ' lot a . in . , the First Concessto.n.· of Bertie Township . The 60 acres : of land in That south helf had been granted by the Crown to Henry Anguish on · ' 30 July 1806 and had come into the possession of John Reis and his wife Anna who, in 182?, had sold it to Henry Sagar for .,£250. In 1832, · Sagar and his wife Hesther , sold it to William Forsyth. ;:' · p ... ." William Iforsyth' (c. 17?4-1841) was probably the so:ri• Of James Fo:i-syth,l a Loyalist. who had emigrated from Scotland probably to th·e Wyoming Valley of New. York, at .s ome time between .1765 aiid•:•l 770. . Tb:e :· lforsyth family had set:tled in Stamford Township:. after the Nn.ertcan · · <"· Revolution, and thei'r ' house at Niagara Falls was·· e.ppai"~ntlY important' ' :. · ' · enough to be· used •as:' :a headquarters during the War o:f 1812 and during ... , .. the Navy Island incident of 1838, and then perhaps as ·t emporary · '' quarters for Lord '.'Durham· and Lord Elgin. •, ,.; .:, .:· : .,· : ... ,. . .. As early as lB18 William himself · had become the :first. man>to build "an hotel chiefly :f'or"the accomocation of visi t 'o rs" to· the Falls, a b1~ ;, i;, establishment sleeping n.o less than 150 and eveiitually .w ith all sorts of extra features· -. gardens, an ~nciosed spiral staircase :to ·the<beS:ch,' > a boat to tour behind the falling · waters, a: terry s~rvi'c.~ 'acli-oae "the ri:V-· . ' er, a 's tage service to Q.ueenst on and Fort Erie.·' :rn the' 18201 s., "thfs ··' " · :.. witty 'little man,"sufficieritly shrewd andwell~irtformad" f tried. to · ",, ' ···· \·: monopolize all the good viewing points and fence off acce's:$ to the waterfront from rival hotelso However, this led him into . apolitical battle with Lieutenant-Governor Maitland over encroachment ·on military reserves, 1md the case of the ''Niagara Falls Outrage" •languished so long before the Legislative Assembly and the, House of' ''Comfn.ons in London, that in the end William lo's t hearto · In 1832 he' Sold hi's 'enterpri_i;;_es ti!> the wealthy . firm' Of t 1'clark & Stre et", and this was wh~n he bougbt the' larid at Fort l[I'ie an·a moved' there. ~' \,( ._ , .,·. ···· .·, ' :-~. ' " "-{' ! ; .. _; / ' '., '··., ·>· 0 . ·1'. William boupht tb e "Bertie Hal l " site as part of a large purchase that included the rest of l ot 8 a n d a l s o lot ? , some of which had been ''the Putman crown gran.t of 216 acre s". It was on the farm "known as CRutman") that .in 1833 he began preparations "to build a Stone House", getting the Lieutenant-Governor's permission to· quarry on a river- · bank reserve - so that t his could not have been "Bertie Hall", as sometimes identified, and of c ourse the latter is of brick. · Even before William's death , hi s s ons Nelson2 and Isaac Brock F·orsyth were becoming important. o pe:L'·ator~ in the Fort Erie region. By 2 .!'840 Nelson was a tnerchant wi. th a wharf of his own in that village ' ~~en called ':Vater loo) , a~d l eas~d t he 1'err y t d Black :cto·c!C, N., Y., 'f_; m its· 11 superintendentt1 Col. James. Kerby; Brock supplied the fer'ryboa\ , a horse-powered : s cow cal led 'I'he Bee.. By 1843 the brothers ha:d thei'r own "Lower Ferry" f ur t her no r th at their "father's place", prob- , ably on the site· where it wae oper a t ing in 1862, exactly the line between lots? and. 8 ~ it is desc ri b ed as bei ng from Nelsqp•s new lending "near the Red Mi l l" 'ove r to t h'3 Bl a ck Rock Dam (Lower,'B!'S.ck Rock - . 'Village is now the northe r n part of Buffalo, N. Y,~) Brock st this time on c. ~ �Page 2 ' was li ving op_posi te the Jam , p rob2 .: ily aL~ecC.y on the "l?ertie Ha ll '' lot., which he had inherited in 1841 fr o:r. b.i s fa th er. ., .e · · ..l~ _·; ·Altho11gh Nelson vs . f o:..--mer partner J ohn i.1 ci'arlane , ..~ad ; , in 1840,, ··• been made Deputy .to Col. Kerby a~ Cu,st oms Collec tor a::t Fe>rt Erie, and .: · the, Colonel had spoken of Nel son as " a t r us t y person it, we now find . .· . Kerby in 1844 complaining t hat t he Forsyth l ower landing was a "ren~ dezvous ·for smugglers owning .sma ll boat s'' .a nd that Nel~on .and Brock themsel·v es "Owned a host ·. of them -f or that purpose, and· practise it .:~. : :·.··· da i lY"• In 1846 Kerby was even shot at when n ear " the widow (William) · · ;'\ 1 Forsyth 7 s J;'.0Sid~nce". - ~Wal;! probabl y - ~he Forsyth whose name : r;;;::~·· has aome down to u~ . as .Kin g of the Smugglers in the ~dis;~riot using a . _,___ • }<---_,_:<.'·•!; . cave in that loca~i ty that is still known a s the Sm~l~t,s' Home. , , · •· .· .· •:;t·11-: (l,\, .· ~ :1 ~~ ., . h j_,.. -., (1r1cr- < tr-J;"oi chad o..P drcw(\-Ji/Uif.> WMforsyitv\T~. :z- t ... P/J--s"() · ., '; i: , :. ~:.< i · '· '... t · Isa!l<f:l1ro~k .~~.~'.Sa;~,~,~~·f~) · ~· ·. ·. ·.••.•,?. :· ' .·· :· ' ·.•. :~:··· · .· ~ '····· > -·· ·.-~··;J;'+::<'.·~<:>_1 '. · ·· .· ,;::~r;;·r'.· · ' In lS?C> Sarah·" tr~ns~erred .:t;itl~ . to '146 acres~.' "iftcli;idfng•!:part of >· · lot 9 in the Firs1f '(fo.ncessiori ; her ·son Wi l liam· Brock'''Jr~rsyth, · t1'i'en . · about 22 year'tt · cird:.~' ·Thi ~ pl"oba,b 'ly ',included .;·" Bert1e:·ita:.r i•r# ·'';:e6r hg~' sJ .. At l ·a s. of 1876 'li'e~ows;·ffarah as still owning ·,·part ·:of thtVJ'.o~ ·; :11,~t;· :!:i Ii ttle way rltiirth of t •l:fe ltcftiee' \ vhi l e.- \Wil'liam B. 's land ·s urrdun.ded tie :'bu'.ildfng ~ 1. The ''a~tual · 'corni'!ir ·-cfo whi :ch"' "B.er ti'e Hall!':· st·o od is then · inark~d--in the>.:/· name'";of John c~clb'b·. ·'• :tt is 'prob'a bty, th.$rt~fore, part''. : o:r · the : lo '·acre.~ (Y": in the south ·sa·'~t' ·part · of' l ot··:a , frorit':tng on the'~Ntafia:ta :;River!{ tha-t;··& < William B.· had sold,: in '18'?:2 ;'t o :Stephen Ma'.uH{ :Jarvis, <t 4"W¥:et· 6f'·'·Tordnt bl . and of ~hicb. Jar'1is "had ·s old two an·d a halt" '. acres to '>Cf~liti ;fn 1S?4. . to. Jarvis had ·: ·~lso o6ught ~omt'i'• of· :t\3' elson's land •juS't,i to •thesolith, ,!1, · and laid it out ' into~ ·~p:(:. s for ~· ·v.fl l,age regist ered under : the name dt: · "Vi o'tor:La" • ObVio\isl y -he ·saw t he:' possib i lities of·, d'e'V'&lpoment h:o"r that . t he ~'Internat:i'onal ''lro1i· Bridge " was ouilt across the Nt'.a gara Ri vi r . ·. at t 'h:is · point 1.. l:frid th~t three rai.iwa ys also met here;. :for. a while. !. . ·.:" .•. . i t was anticipat.e d that t h e _pl a ce would become, in ef'f,~ct:., "a suburb 'c. of Buffalo" on the ~other side of ·. the r iver. A vi llage diq grow up ' ' ' · ·. on hi s lands, both tho s e qought t' r:om William B. and those bought from · Nelson or his heirs , a nd it actually dev eloped under the· name of "International Bri ~ge " or "Bri:dgeburgt' However, the "Berti_~ Hall" property sol d to Crabb does not seem t o have been s ubdi vided yet ;. Crabb, a native ' of Engl~rnc~, )::hd pr eviously been a hotel..keeper in , Chatham, Ont., and he now sst. up a "Ber tie Hall Hotel" .C)n Phipps Street . · Which was probably· 'car ried ;on i n the house itself. · . . . \. .. . ..!,/ ~. . 8-ai!,.~:t-'Pus: ~:0;,~ , Isaac Brock .Fors yth· aonarently died befo:::e 1851, ~ GrotHi'ely being .· .· ~~ ~ t he ~~syth whe di e d. of expo ~ in l849!J henceforward the directori es and maps ·er~ · ·t~~se of :'Nel son ~and Sarah, who was Isaac Brock's widow. I n 1851, · Nelson is . .1.l sted :m a one-and-a•half-storey .frame:Jhouse, Sarah · i n a two-storerb rt ck one • . I t ' looks as if this iS cel!tainly ''Bertie ·. Hall". ' The style :.suggests•·'it was b_uilt not long before , .,. there is a f airly close similarity of desi gn to the Peck Ho use, Prescott, Ont~, definitel y dated 1'1 848 .;;;· 'but dn:t'ortunate] y.',we')Jiack anjo eafiilter eensuS' returns 'for the a!"~ ,-:~It •1 s '''lioti clear',· '-t'he»: - .whethe~.. /it '•:\Ve:s:: bu:i.lt "by . ·> . ,l · · l. r.rabb probab ly defaulted on mor t gag e payments and lost al:h claim .· t o the land. In 1892 { Robert G. Barrett t ook over t he property from him a nd in 1 904 sold s1{~Cia cres which inc l uded i t, to Frank Thorburn Pattison. Pattison di ed in :i.'96 5 b ut the property is owned by his estate. In his wi ll , :Mr. Pa t tiso.n. dire c t~d "That my Executors shall . sell (Bertie Hall ) a nd f urther ) t hat they ' shall take in.t o considera. ti on in the s a le of the same t he fa ct t ha t I wo uld prefer t his property to come iri.to t he hands of t h e Town of F ort Erie , or the Hi storical Soci et y of t he Town o1' Fort Erie, and t hat i n any negot~a tion in regard to the sale· of the s ame, that my Executors take .t his into \ ·!· . �Page 3 consideration and see that the Tovm of Fort Erie, or the Historical society of the •rown of Fort. Erie should have the first right to purchase and if they fail to express their intention and exercise this right within a period of ·one year after the date of'. my death, then 1. direct my Executors: shall be free to make any other sale or disposition of the sam.e.': . ·, . c. The present occupant of "Bertie Hall is the caretaker, Mrs. Anne Shaddock. '.;,,,,,,.--""------~- �''".;; ·,· Page 4 The architect of ''Bert i e Hall" has not ' been i dentified; but there is a fair p6ssibili ty, though no proof at a ll , that ft was John Latshaw, an A.merican who came from Pennsylvani a in 1828. He definitely ·designed at least 't wo other ''Greek Revival" houses in the area -namely , "Willbwbank", the Hami lt on house at ~ueenston, and"Ruthven", 1 the '!'hempson house at Cayuea - his own house on Nor-ch Mein .Street, Nia~ara ,_' Falls (later occupied by J.V~rs. w•. E. Tuttle} is called "beautiful" in , "' Marjorie F . Campbell's Niagara, and she states that he also "assisted in building Stamford· township hall and. the courthouses at Wellaml 8'nd ·•· · Niagara-on-the-Lake'' o :. ·' l. A list of James' family compi l eC. i r: .1753 gives his son William'a -_age' as 9. However, the age of l"lil.liani 01' li'ort _Erie is noted as 60 in ~ · his burial record , 1841, so tt.<"t tbe identification is not certain. . Perhaps the clergyman e:;uesse d his age. ._ _-# · '-IJ/J ;< . ,, ' . :~" ~ "'., '! •;' .···-·'· ·-~ ~//;"- ~q_1,'470: :1 2. Nelson is not among the sons of William mentioned in ~he latter's ' will, but other 'd ocuments strongly sug~est he ~ , his sori·. B<;>;i'n ;abou.{ , "· ., ·· '-': U809) Neleon was too. young to_ mve been. William's brother. ::· .... ., ·. 1~01 .!·' ,_ ' '.'· 3• Marjorie F. Gampbell, 1n ' her ·book Niagara, states ft : was William., who died then, · but~ his . death .in. 1841 is well-docume'nted~ f . i '· . . ·.-,. . .-.:'-. ,-;~. ···i ' . .~~· . ~ <_ • •• . ' . :'.• _,. " , '7::.', . .,. ;::_:: :~ '" · :·~·. ;·· ··· . -~ '; .·'• -· .,_ '";·· .,:_;, . :..~ '. " "; 1 .:., ' ;. ! . • . ·, • ~ 1 .. · .· ·,. •: ~ ·. . : . ... . / . ·', '. ,,> .. ·. ' . .· . ·"' -· \ .. ~· :·,. 1 , .i... . ••' � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis McDermott Collection Subject The topic of the resource Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area. Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Louis McDermott Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Bertie Hall & Nelson Forsyth Description An account of the resource Listed here is a document pertinent to Nelson Forsyth and the Bertie Hall. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis McDermott Collection 1700s 1800s Bertie Hall Fenian invasion Louis Mcdermott Collection war of 1812