James Gallaway

   Cause of his death was bursting of the mill stone.

   Other names for James were John Gallaway and 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 Ann 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)

*A note about James Gallaway / Galloway and Ann / Agnes Pinkerton's marriage at the Presbyterian Church, Balleymoney, Antrim, Ireland September 10, 1818:
1. The date and place of this marriage comes from the following transcription:
"Northern Ireland Marriage Registration: 1818 Marriage solemnized at Presbyterian Church in the Parish of Balleymoney in the County of Antrim. When married: 10th September, 1818. Groom: James Gallaway, Age -, Bride: Agnes Pinkerton, Age -, Residence Hillhead, Married in the above named Church according to the form and discipline of the Presby. Ch by license by Robert Park. Witnesses: Matthew Pinkerton and Chas. McArthur."
The primary source of the transcribed information cannot be confirmed.
2. The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has searched for the marriage register, based on the transcribed information as well as name variations. This is what was found: "Unfortunately after a search of the Church Records on Microfilm and the hard copy I was unable to find a marriage register for James Galloway and Agnes Pinkerton." - Correspondence between PRONI and Solveig Anderson, dated March 16, 2023.
3. We've chosen to remove the information from the transcription (information that we had previously posted for this couple), until the original source can be found and confirmed.

  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, Ann Jane Pinkerton, 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 Ann would have known the family and they would likely have helped her out with the burial.

  Events

• He immigrated in 1820 to Quebec, Canada South.

• He had a residence between 1821 and 1824 in Hallowell, Upper Canada, Canada.

• He worked as a miller in 1824 in Hallowell, Upper Canada, Canada.

• He owned land of 200 acres in Jun 1824 in 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.

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

• He had a residence on 10 Aug 1830 in West Gwillimbury, Simcoe, Ontario, Canada.

• 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."

• He worked as a miller at the Old Mill on the Humber River from 1836 to 1837 in 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.

• He owned land on 10 Feb 1837 in 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 Ann Pinkerton, daughter of James Pinkerton and Jane, in Ireland. (Ann Pinkerton 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.)

• They resided at Hillhead on 10 Sep 1818 in Balleymoney, Antrim, Ulster, Ireland.