September 21, 2024
In November 1794, William von Moll Berczy arrived in Markham with the first group of settlers to settle in the township. He was an architect, road builder and painter. Berczy and his fellow settlers had originally emigrated from Germany to New York, but arrived in Upper Canada in 1794. They fell on hard times in 1795 and 1796 when disease and famine reduced their numbers significantly. Those who survived contributed to the development of Markham Township. Berczy himself settled in Montreal in 1805 and earned his living as a painter. The 1877 county atlas image below is marked green to show the sites discussed in this article. The area north of Milliken and east of Unionville was known as Quantztown in honor of settler Melchoir Quantz. Today, not much remains of the hamlet of Quantztown, except for a few houses and two cemeteries.
Manhattan Woods is a small forest located right next to the old Quantztown Cemetery. It has a single trail that runs through the woods from one side to the other and serves as a shortcut between the subdivision behind it and McCowan Road.
Mushrooms grow by the thousands on the forest floor. These button mushrooms will last a few days then wither and disappear.
Quantztown Cemetery is built on land donated by Melchoir Quantz’s son and its first marker dates from 1844. A Bible Christian church was built on the edge of the cemetery, but it has long since disappeared. The cemetery saw his last burial in 1946.
Several members of the Quantz family are buried in the cemetery. James Quantz was only 12 days old when he died on December 29, 1853. This was at a time when infant mortality was very high and, unfortunately, many did not live to see their first birthday.
On March 12, 1857, the Great Western Railway train connected Toronto to Hamilton. While crossing the Desjardins Canal swing bridge, the bridge collapsed and threw the train into the frigid waters below. Of the 90 passengers on the train, 59 were killed. Darius Witter is one of the unlucky ones and he died at just 30 years old. He is buried in Quantztown Cemetery. This train disaster constitutes one of the worst rail accidents in Canadian history.
Lydia Wismer died in January 1856, just days before her 87th birthday. Her husband, David, died in August of the same year, at the age of 87. Their son, David Jr., was a deacon in the church that met next to the cemetery.
Lot 17, Concession 6, was originally granted to Frederick Ulrich Emelius Westphalen. He was a settler from Berczy who received title to the property in 1803. He sold the land to John Butts in 1818 and owned it until 1868. Butts had served in the War of 1812, and in 1837 he was counted among the rebels following William Lyon Mackenzie. He owned a one-story frame house on the property in the 1851 census. Johnathan Gowland purchased the farm in 1872 and in 1877 built the house that still stands on the property. The house is a typical one and a half storey farmhouse with a central gable like many Ontario houses of this era. The window below the gable is known as a brace-head window and has only been found on a handful of homes in Markham Township. The farm was purchased in 1930 by James and Elizabeth Penny who sold it to Michael and Veronica Larkin in 1965. The house was moved onto the land in 2015 to allow the remainder of the property to be developed into homes.
The barn still stands behind the house and is the only one remaining in the area.
A shed is also located just behind the house.
Philip Ekhardt arrived in the United States in 1792, then settled in Upper Canada. He was among the Berczy settlers who moved to the Markham area in 1794. They were the first group of settlers to arrive in the area and, although their settlement was not a long-term success, they did left their mark. Philip built his log home around 1803 and it appears that it was originally a two-story house that was later modified to a one-story house in the 20th century. This archive photo shows the house in its original format.
Philip donated land for a Lutheran church and cemetery, but before a log church was built in 1820, religious services were held at his home. This house has been restored and is now part of a modern house on the original site. It is the oldest building in Markham Township.
Bethesda Church and Cemetery were located adjacent to the house and several members of the Eckardt family are buried here. There is another Eckardt Cemetery on Markham Road near the current site of Highway 407, but that’s another story for another day.
Quantztown has all but disappeared and is represented by only two cemeteries and a few houses nestled in the urban sprawl of Markham.
Related Stories: Unionville, Milliken, William Lyon Mackenzie
Google Maps link: Quantztown
Like us on http://www.facebook.com/hikingthegta
Follow us on http://www.hikingthegta.com