James Gallaway [1052]

   Cause of his death was bursting of the mill stone.

   Another name for James was James Galloway.

  General Notes:

James Gallaway, along with the Yonges, Hoggs, and Pinkertons arrived in Canada in the early 18th hundreds. James and his wife Agnes arrived in Quebec around 1820 and by 1821 they were living in Hallowell in Upper Canada where James was working as a miller. In 1830, James petitioned for land in King's township - north of Muddy York at Hogg's Hollow, afterwards called York Mills. He petitioned for land again in 1837 at what was then called Pinkerton's Corners, four miles south and two miles east of the village of Cookstown. According to the family records, James and Agnes had thirteen children.

"As soon as Ontario's pioneer settlers began using Yonge Street, a thoroughfare that had been slashed through the forests by Governor Simcoe's Rangers, they faced problems negotiating the hill into and out of the ravine cut through the landscape by the west branch of the Don River. We now call this ravine Hogg's Hollow. It was on this fork of the Don that some of the area's earliest mills were erected, and it was because of these mills, located several miles north of the Town of York (Toronto's name from 1793 until 1834) in York township, that the nearby community was first named York Mills." - Toronto Sketches 6: The Way We Were, p. 237 by Mike Filey (2000)

"One of the early settlers in Nottawasaga was Joseph Galloway, who located near Creemore in 1852. Some twenty years before that time, Mr. Galloway's father, who was then living near Bradford, teamed flour into the northern township with oxen. "That flour", said Mr. Joseph Galloway, "was sold to the settlers at eight or ten dollars per barrel; but it was worth the cost as a week was taken on the round trip, and over a great part of the way the country was solid bush. It was dear flour to the settlers all the same, as some of those who purchased it had earned the necessary money by working in the harvest fields at 'the front' at fifty cents per day. Some were unable to pay the price and, on one occasion, one man went without bread for nearly two weeks." - The Pioneers of Old Ontario, p. 99 by W. L. Smith (1923)

  Burial Notes:

He is buried in the old cemetery at the church on top of the hill at York Mills where many of his pioneer friends are also buried. There is no marker for his grave.

Research notes:
It is highly probable that he is buried at York Mills Presbyterian Church and Burial Ground (SW corner of Lot 10, Concession 1W, City of North York, formerly Township of York). The family was Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) and the church and burial grounds were located on a hill in the heart of York Mills. It was established pre-1836 on James Hogg's land (a friend/acquaintance of James Gallaway - they came to Canada together). The story goes that his wife, Agnes, drove to York Mills, had no way of getting his body back home so she buried him in York Mills. James Hogg was already dead when James Gallaway died but Agnes would have known the family and they would likely have helped her out with the burial.

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Immigration, 1820, Quebec, Canada South.

2. Residence, Between 1821 and 1824, Hallowell, Upper Canada, Canada.

3. Occupation: miller, 1824, Hallowell, Upper Canada, Canada.

4. Land: of 200 acres, Jun 1824, Hallowell, Upper Canada, Canada. He petitioned for the land on 9 Jun 1824. According to the petition, he had never petitioned for land in Canada before.

5. Land, Aug 1830, King Township, York, Home, Canada. Lot 24 in the 8th Concession. The area was also known as Hogg's Hollow.

6. Residence, 10 Aug 1830, West Gwillimbury, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.

7. Anecdote: James teamed flour into the northern township with oxen, Cir 1832, West Gwillimbury, Simcoe, Upper Canada, Canada. "That flour," said [his son] Mr. Joseph Galloway, "was sold to the settlers at eight or ten dollars per barrel; but it was worth the cost as a week was taken on the round trip, and over a great part of the way the country was solid bush. It was dear flour to the settlers all the same, as some of those who purchased it had earned the necessary money by working in the harvest fields at 'the front' at fifty cents per day. Some were unable to pay the price and, on one occasion, one man went without bread for nearly two weeks."

8. Occupation: miller at the Old Mill on the Humber River, 1836-1837, York Twp., York County, Ontario, Canada. Having learned milling in Ireland before coming to Canada, he applied for and got the position of operator of this stone mill.

9. Land, 10 Feb 1837, West Gwillimbury, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. The family arrived at Pinkerton's Corners, Concession 11, Lot 6 (located four miles south and two miles east of Cookstown) after they left Hogg's Hollow. James obtained the patent to 200 acres on 10 Feb 1837.

James married Agnes Pinkerton [1053] [MRIN: 300] on 10 Sep 1818 in Balleymoney, Antrim, Ulster, Ireland. (Agnes Pinkerton [1053] was born circa 1802 in Ireland, died on 30 Aug 1861 in Nottawasaga, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada and was buried in 1861 in Nottawasaga, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

1. Residence: Hillhead, 10 Sep 1818, Balleymoney, Antrim, Ulster, Ireland.

  Marriage Notes:

Married at the Presbyterian Church. Witness: Matthew Pinkerton and Chas. McArthur.