(from Early Settlements of King Township, Ontario by Elizabeth McClure Gillham; published by the Author, 1975)
Schomberg, situated approximately a mile east of Lloydtown, was first named Brownsville, in honour of early settlers in the area by the name of Brown.
In 1830, John R. Brown, a Pennsylvania Quaker, accompanied by three
brothers, emigrated to Canada, and it is reported that they settled on lot 26,
concession 8, King Township. John R.,
known locally as “Yankee” Brown, was interested in farming, and according to
records in the Registry Office, purchased one hundred acres, lot 31, west half,
concession 8, from J. E. Watson in 1845, and lot 32, concession 8 (200 acres),
from John Nixon in 1865. But John’s
three brothers were not interested in farming.
Garrett Brown was a keen business man; Thomas was a natural organizer,
greatly interested in local affairs; of the third brother Richard, not much is
known.
In 1836, Thomas Brown built the first mill in Brownsville. It stood for well over one hundred and twenty-five years before it was torn down. Garrett Brown, started the first bank in the hamlet in part of the house just west of the store now standing at the corner of Main and Church Streets.
In 1850, Brownsville boasted two general stores, a liquor store, one tavern, one blacksmith shop, a wagon shop, two shoe shops, one tannery, twenty-five houses, and a population of slightly over one hundred. There was no post office. It soon had a newspaper though, according to information in the Provincial Archives. On July 12, 1861, H. Edwards printed the first issue of the ‘Brownsville and Lloydtown Examiner’’ also called the ‘North York and South Simcoe Journal’. The last issue was dated September 25, 1863. John Hawkins established the ‘Schomberg Standard’ as well as the ‘North York and South Simcoe General Advertiser’. Both these papers ceased publication in 1868.
Finally by 1862, word was received that their application for a post office was accepted by the Postmaster-General, but that the name of Brownsville must be changed. Apparently there was another Brownsville in York County, south of Woodbridge. So this Brownsville became Schomberg, named after a hero who fell bravely fighting in the Battle of the Boyne. The mail came by stage coach from Aurora until 1902, and then by the Schomberg and Aurora Railway until 1927, when the Railway ceased to run. The first postmaster in Schomberg was William Asa Moore, a pioneer storekeeper.
The village grew and prospered, and an interesting record
gives the description of the businesses operating in 1895. The following were proudly advertised: the fashionable tailor shop of A. L.
Peaker; the Excelsior Bakery and Confectionary Store of F.T. Sparling; the furniture house of
H. J. Attridge; the Queen’s Hotel with J. H. Sutton as
proprietor, and the St. George Hotel, where H. J. Gibson was
proprietor. The general butcher was G.
T. Skinner, and James A. Kitchen, the local blacksmith. R. J. Creighton stocked furs, suiting
and millinery, and the grocery “Golden
Lion” was owned by Mills and Brown.
Butler operated the leading jewellery store, established in 1881,
and J.J. Hulse was the tailor, whose motto was ‘Fit and Finish
Guaranteed’. The Kitchen brothers
owned the hardward shop, and also had rigs and horses for hire. William Taylor was the proprietor of the
leading carriage works. Dr. W. J.
Brereton and Dr. Taggart cared for people’s ills, Dr. Banting for their livestock, and Sam Leatherland
officiated at their last rites. An
outstanding local doctor was Dr. M. K. Dillane, who started his medical
practice in Schomberg, and continued it for fifty-six years. Another beloved physician of the community
for forty-three years was Dr. Amos F. Kay.
It is believed that the first school was erected in 1820, on a knoll east of the southeast corner of the ninth concession and Lloydtown road, and served the community for twenty-five years. The second school was built in 1845 on the same general site, and William Moore is one of the first teachers mentioned. The third school house was built in 1867 on the exact site of the former one; the builder was Levi Dennis, one the town’s leading citizens at that time.
The people of Schomberg first worshipped in the Quaker Meeting House, on lot 33, concession 9, directly east of the village. The first record of Methodists is in connection with the Union Sabbath School of Brownsville in May 1856. A Methodist church was built in 1881 and became the United Church of Canada in 1925.
The congregation of the Anglican Church dates back to 1837. In 1924, two lots were generously donated by Harold Fox and Mrs. Peter Muirhead and the new Anglican church was opened in 1925.
The Presbyterian Church held its first services in a Baptist Church on Main Street, and in 1928, the Presbyterian Church of Canada purchased the building.
The other pillar of the community, banking, began in Schomberg in 1865 when Garrett Brown bought the mill from his brother Thomas, and started a private bank. He became very wealthy, and being a shrewd businessman, seems to have shown little leniency to those borrowers who were unable to meet their payments when due.
He thus acquired vast acreages by foreclosure, and it has been said that he could walk all the way from Schomberg to Tottenham on his own land. Local banking service was established in the village when the Traders Bank of Canada opened a branch in 1902 under the management of G. W. Hallowell.
Schomberg was long famed for its Fall Fair. When an Agricultural Society was first organized in 1852, it was decided to hold a King Township Fall Fair annually, the site changing among Aurora, King Village, Laskay, Kettleby, Nobleton and Brownsville. This system gave the early settlers in different parts of the township an opportunity to share in the activities because, at that date, just to get to the fair could be a major problem. Twenty years later in 1872, records state that it was decided to hold the fair in one centre only, at Schomberg, the Agricultural Society having acquired agricultural grounds adjoining the village. The Fall Fair was held annually until 1956, when it was thought advisable to change to a Spring Fair.
Webmaster’s note: The successful Schomberg Agricultural Fair is still held annually, the last weekend in May.