Charles King, born 1765 in Morris County, New Jersey, stated when he petitioned for a land grant, that he had been in Upper Canada for six years. The family had come to Canada in 1785, after Charles had served the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War. For a brief period the family stayed in the Niagara area, but while in Fort Erie, Charles King met George Chisholm, and the two men, unhappy with their original land grant, agreed to purchase land in East Flamborough Township.
Records prior to 1800 reveal that Charles purchased his property from Doctor Robert Kerr in 1793, but there were legal problems with the ownership of the awarded property, and the Crown deeds of Lots 1 and 2, Broken Front Concession, and Lot 2, Concession 1 East Flamborough Township were not registered until 9 October 1802. The King property of 563 acres became known as Crown Farm, and stretched from Campbell’s Corners (King Road and Q.E.W.) to the Bay. The family quickly cleared the land, a log home was constructed on a creek just west of the present #736 King Road, and barns immediately to the north. The trail from the Beach area crossed the neighbouring Chisholm farm and curved north in front of the King home. Game and fish were plentiful, and the Bay made travel and trade easy.
Charles King’s family consisted of at least three sons, Charles Jr., James and George. Treasured family possessions include a letter written by Charles to his sons, George and James who were serving in the 2nd Regiment of the York Militia on duty at Queenston during the War of 1812.
Although the King and Chisholm families were close friends, incidents during 1837 reveal how deep friendships were when politics were involved. It was at the King’s Crown Farm that William Lyon Mackenzie stopped for supper on his flight from Toronto, and later during the night, one of the King boys accompanied Mackenzie to Dundas. Col. George Chisholm Jr. of the neighbouring Chisholm family, who was serving in the Gore Militia, reported that he visited the home of Charles King Jr. during his search of the countryside for the rebel Mackenzie, as it was suspected that this family who were in sympathy with the rebel’s politics would assist with his escape.
Crown Farm passed to George Henry King, a grandson aged five years, on the death of Charles King Sr. in 1846. Most of the property remained under the ownership of the King family until 1919. But gradually over the years, the farm was separated into smaller portions and sold. Some went to a daughter Emma, who married George B. Long in 1884. The Longs operated a dairy farm on this property, but eventually it was divided and sold – the Long Acres subdivision being part of it. Another small acreage along the bay was sold to Mr. W. D. Flatt for a housing development known as Buena Vista in 1903. When this acreage was sold, the King family cemetery at the water’s edge was disinterred, and the remains were removed to Greenwood Cemetery.
After George Henry King’s death in 1919, the property was further subdivided. Charles Wesley King, the eldest son, remained at the old homestead #736 King Road following his father’s death, until his own retirement in 1939. The King brick homestead, part of which dates from c.1825, still stands on King Road opposite Greenwood Drive, now completely surrounded by suburbia.
© The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society 1991, 2022.
