Life and Death after the
Rebellion
Robert Moodie:
On Thursday, December 7, the day of the government assault on
Montgomery's
Tavern,Colonel Moodie was
buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity (Anglican) Church,
Thornhill. So tense was
the atmosphere on
Yonge Street that most
of those present at the funeral carried swords, pistols, and even pitchforks,
much to the displeasure of the minister conducting the service.
William Crew:
Crew escaped from his captors at
Montgomery's
Tavern and made his way home to
Richmond Hill. On
Thursday, December 7 - perhaps after returning in a rage from
Moodie's funeral -
he apparently tried to hang one of the rebels. The attempt failed. But
Crew "made it very
difficult for reformers in his area after the rebellion." A somewhat unstable
individual in his later years,
Crew took his own
life in 1859.
Aaron Munshaw:
After the battle of Thursday, December 7, Munshaw hid out and then fled to the
United States. A few months later he returned to Upper Canada. In 1839 he
surrendered, confessed, and petitioned for a pardon, which was granted. He and
his wife,
Mary, raised a large
family on their farm at Lot 51 West - six children were born before the
Rebellion, four more
afterwards. He died in 1876 at the age of eighty, and was buried in Flesherton
Cemetery.
Reverend
William Jenkins: Jenkins continued as
Richmond Hill'sPresbyterian preacher until his death in 1843. His son,
James Mairs
Jenkins, was charged with participating in the
Rebellion, escaped
to the United States, and eventually returned to
Richmond Hill and
opened a general store. The father's letters to this exiled son provide a
graphic commentary on events in Upper Canada after the uprising. "This is a
wretched country," the elder
Jenkins exclaimed in 1839. "When shall justice among men
be attended to?"
David
Bridgeford:Bridgeford
continued to enjoy prominent status in the village of
Richmond Hill.
Earlier, he had built a two-storey log building on the west side of
Yonge Street, between
Centre and
Richmond streets,
which was the first important hotel in the village. Later, in 1850, he was
elected to
Vaughan Township
council, became deputy-reeve in 1852, and served as reeve in 1858. He died in
1868.
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