James STAPLES:
James Staples (Quaker James) was the ninth child of Thomas STAPLES, and it appears quite certain that his mother was Jane BELL, and very probably he was her first child. He was born 1795 and died on January 7th, 1867. Educated in Ireland and at the age of fourteen years apprenticed to a carpenter. When he had spent the required time of seven years at the trade he came to Canada in 1817 to work at it with the idea in mind of looking for a place for the family to move to.
Whether he landed at Cobourg or Port Hope we do not know but prefer to think it was Cobourg. Not long after landing it would appear he met up with a man by the name of William Lawson who lived in Cavan and in that locality they could see the ideal requirements for a settlement for which the family and their Irish friends were looking. Whether any land was actually chosen we do not know, however the following year Mrs. Joseph Swain with her family, into which were married the sister and brother of James, did come out and settled in the township of Cavan.
James worked at the carpenter trade in and around Cobourg and it is very probable that he was working for the Covert family, on what is now known as the "Massey Farm" about a mile east of the town when he met Elizabeth EPLETT (EPLATT) who was a nurse maid or governess or something of that sort with that family and had come out from England with them. They were married in 1822 or early 1823 and went to live at Baltimore, Ontario where James had purchased 200 acres of Clergy Reserved land. This land was purchased from King's College of York, now Toronto, Ont.
Elizabeth EPLETT was born in Cornwall England in 1796 and was of the Quaker religion and it was from this fact that her husband was dubbed "Quaker James". She died at the home of her son, John, fifteen years after the death of James on the 26th day of May 1882. Both are buried in the Baltimore United Church Cemetery, Baltimore, Ont.
Their Family:
Dorcas Staples (1823-1910), married Edward Macklin, (1822-1906)
Marey Staples(twin) (1825-1909), married Peter Davey(1),(1819-1861), John Francey(2)(1826-1908)
Jane Staples(twin) (1825-?) married John Gummow (?-?)
Elizabeth Staples(Libby) (1827-1921) married John Brewster (1825-1907)
Ann Staples (1829-?) married John Duncan
Thomas James Staples1 (1831-1911) married Mary Slater, (1828-1912)
John Henry Staples2 (1834-1919) married Jane McKague (1839-1921)
William Lawson Staples3 (1836-1914) married Sarah Reynolds (1839-1908)
From the National Archives of Canada: Ontario Census - 1871
STAPLES , ELIZABETH
Sex: Female
Age: 74
Birthplace: ENGLAND
Religion: Quaker/Friends
Origin: ENGLISH
District: NORTHUMBERLAND WEST ( 054 )
Sub-district: Hamilton Township ( A )
Division: 1
Page: 68
Microfilm reel: C-9983
Reference: RG31 — Statistics Canada
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1 - Thomas James Staples farmed Lots 3 and 4 in Concession III, Hamilton Twsp. east of Baltimore, in 1878.
2 - John Henry Staples farmed Lot 4 in Con. V and owned Lot 14 in Con. II, Hamilton Twsp. in 1878.
3 - William Lawson Staples farmed Lots 4, 5 and 6 in Con. III, Hamilton Twsp. east of Baltimore, in 1878.
A township in Ontario is usually rectangular in shape, unless it borders a major river or lake. Townships are divided into concessions. Each concession is a strip of land 1 and 1/4 mile wide. Concessions can run in any direction and are usually separated by a road.
Concessions are numbered with Roman Numerals (V, IV, etc). When concessions do not run the length or width of the township because of water, they are usually labelled with letters (A, B, etc). A gore is a part of a township that does not fit into the regular shape.
Concessions are divided into lots that use Arabic numbers (3, 4, etc). Originally lots were 200 acres, which could then be easily divided into parcels of 100 acres. The lots ran parallel to the road.
(From: 1878 edition of "The Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Northumberland and Durham, Ontario" (ISBN #0-919302-18-1) (Ontario Provincial Archives #912.713 - N68 - 1878A)