Place:Markham (township), York, Ontario, Canada

The following article is based on one in Wikipedia.

Markham was named by the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, John Graves Simcoe, for his friend, William Markham (1719–1807), Archbishop of York.

Markham was first surveyed as a township in 1793 by William Berczy, who in the following year led 75 German families including the Ramers, Reesors, Wheters, Burkholders, Bunkers, Wicks and Lewis from upstate New York to an area of Markham now known as German Mills where they established a sawmill. Each family was granted 200 acres of land; however due lack to roads in the region many opted to settle in York (now Toronto) and Niagara. With the unwillingness of the inhabitants to settle, German Mills eventually became a ghost town.

Between 1803 to 1812, another attempt at settling in the region was made. The largest group of settlers were Pennsylvania Dutch, most of whom were Mennonites. These highly skilled craftsmen and knowledgeable farmers were able to settle the region and founded Reesorville (later the village of Markham), named after settler Joseph Reesor, and other hamlets and villages. By 1830, a large influx of Irish, Scottish and English families began immigrating to Upper Canada, many settling in Markham.

Markham's early years blended the rigours of homesteading with the development of agriculture-based industries. The many rivers and streams in the township soon supported water-powered saw and gristmills and later wooden mills. With improved transportation routes, such as the construction of Yonge Street, along with the growing population, urbanization increased. In 1842 the township population was 5700 and more than 29000 acres were under cultivation (second highest in the province). The township had eleven gristmills and twenty-four sawmills. By 1857, most of the township had been cleared of timber and was under cultivation. Villages like Thornhill, Unionville, and Markham greatly expanded. In 1871, with a township population of more than 8000, the Toronto and Nipissing Railway built the first rail line to Markham Village and Unionville. The line is still used today by the GO Transit commuter services.

Markham Township continued to grow through the remainder of the 19th century and early 20th centuries. It remained fairly agricultural until after WW2 when the population of Toronto started to move northward and modern industries became established in more rural areas.

In 1971 York County was abolished and replaced by the Regional Municipality of York (commonly known as York Region). At this time the townships making up the county were reorganized as towns and some boundaries were altered. Thornhill, which had always been considered to be geographically in Markham became independent. The border with Whitchurch was redrawn so that Stouffville was completely within the new town of Whitchurch-Stouffville. Markham Village merged with the township. In 2012 the new Town of Markham became the City of Markham.

Maps

Ontario GenWeb has a sketchmap of the original townships of York County and York GenWeb provides another sketchmap of the equivalent municipalities in York Region (established 1971). Note that after 1971 the boundaries of the towns of Newmarket, Aurora and Richmond Hill are defined. These towns were all separately incorporated from the townships many years before that date, but none would have had such a large geographical footprint.

The map of York County circa 1951 from Ontario Archives locates the individual municipalities, townships, city, towns and villages of the county. (Click at the bottom of the page to see the map enlarged.)

Research Tips

The primary source for basic documents (vital statistics, land records, wills) for people who lived in the Province of Ontario is the Archives of Ontario, 134 Ian Macdonald Blvd, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M7A 2C5.

Early Records

Civil registration did not begin in the province until 1869. Before then there may be church records of baptisms and burials. For the most part these are still held by the denomination who recorded them. Copies of marriage records made pre-1869 had to be sent by individual clergymen to the registrar of the county in which the marriage took place. These marriage records are available through Ontario Archives, on micorfilm through LDS libraries, and on paid and unpaid websites, but because they were copied at the registrars' offices, they cannot be considered a primary source.

Vital Records after 1869

Birth, marriage and death registrations are not open to the public until a specific number of years after the event occurred. Births to 1915 are now available [October 2014]; dates for marriages and deaths are later. Birth and death registration was not universally carried out in the early years after its adoption. Deaths were more apt to be reported than births for several years. The more rural the area, the less likely it would be that these happenings were reported to the authorities.
Images and indexes of civil registrations for the "viewable" years can be found on paid websites, and indexes only on FamilySearch. The FamilySearch Wiki on Ontario Vital Records explains how these records are organized and their availability.
In September 2014 Ancestry.ca announced that its paid website has been subjected to a "houseclean" of its Ontario BMD database, adding data that had been omitted and making many corrections. Its provision now includes

• Births, with 2,172,124 records covering 1869-1913.
• Marriages, with 3,393,369 records for 1801-1928 including Ontario county, district and Roman Catholic origins as well as province-wide civil registration.
• Deaths, with 2,190,030 records comprising Ontario civil registrations of deaths, 1869-1938 and registrations of Ontario overseas deaths for 1939-1947.

Land Records and Wills

Information on how to access land records and wills is best sought on the Archives of Ontario website. An ancestor's land holding might be found on Canadian County Atlas Digital Project if he was in occupancy circa 1878.

Association for the Preservation of Ontario Land Registry Office Documents (APOLROD). A list of Land Registry Offices for all Counties of Ontario.

Censuses

The original censuses are in the hands of Library and Archives Canada, known to Canadians as "LAC". Copies of original microfilms are online at the LAC website for all censuses up to 1921. Each census database is preceded with an explanation of the geographical area covered, the amount of material retained (some census division material has been lost), the questions on the census form, and whether there is a name index. Census divisions were redrawn as the population increased and more land was inhabited.
Other websites, some paid and some free, also provide Canadian census originals and/or indexes online. One can also view censuses on microfilm at the LAC, at the Archives of Ontario (see address above), or at large libraries throughout Canada.

Hard-to-Find Places

• National Resources Canada's Index of Geographical Names: Query by Name. This database includes even the smallest places all over Canada and provides geographical co-ordinates and maps which extend out from the "found place". Correct spelling of a place is essential.
• Archives of Ontario have a web page titled "The Changing Face of Ontario" (which is very hard to find without this link). This provides maps of Ontario and its divisions in the 19th century (pre Confederation in 1867) and also includes links to series of historical maps of the individual counties as they were between 1867 and the 1970s when a huge reorganization of municipalities began. The Districts of Northern Ontario and Maps of Southern and Central Ontario circa 1951 show the townships of each county.

E-books, Books and Newspapers

• The Internet Archive, particularly texts from Canadian universities, can contain interesting material
• Our Roots is a Canadian website similar to The Internet Archive
• Global Genealogy is an online bookshop specializing in Ontario material who will ship anywhere in the world.
• The Ancestor Hunt is a blog listing old Ontario newspapers that are available online, both free and pay websites. This is a very extensive list.
  
  === Websites with more local information on York County (York Region) ===

• York County GenWeb. Worth a reference, but some pages need updating, particularly addresses for archives and libraries.
• York Region Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Serves Aurora, East Gwillimbury, Georgina, King, Markham, Newmarket, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Whitchurch-Stouffville. Website has recently been updated (at August 2012).
• Canadiana Library at North York Public Library This library houses a wide collection of local genealogical material, provides microfilm readers for the Canadian census and for local newspapers, and is the home of the Ontario Genealogical Society's own library.
• The Richmond Hill Public Library houses the largest collection of genealogical material in York Region.
• Markham Museum and Historic Village. This used to be a library holding original documents such as township land records. It now includes an outdoor museum of old buildings from around the township.
• The Newmarket Era newspaper has a digitized version online covering its last 125 years.

Toronto

• Toronto Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society. Serves the current City of Toronto including Etobicoke, York Township, Weston, Long Branch, New Toronto, Mimico, Swansea, Forest Hill, East York, Leaside and North York as well as the original City of Toronto. Contains a table of links to Toronto City Directories to be found online. Many other services and publications.
• Heritage Toronto has a large website and newsletter outlining Toronto's history and includes a series of links to other organizations.
• There may be many other libraries and museums housing information for genealogical searching in York County or York Region including others with more of a Toronto bias.

source: Family History Library Catalog