John O. Sexsmith, J.P., now one of the
oldest residents and best known citizens of Richmond township, is not yet
among our octogenarians, but is nearing the eightieth mile-stone of an
industrious and useful life. He was
born in Delaware County, New York State on the 14th of April, 1817, but his
parents moved to Canada in 1821, when he was but five years of age, and they
settled in Richmond, then an all but unbroken wilderness, and he has resided
on the same farm ever since. He has
lived to see that unbroken wilderness one of the wealthiest and best
cultivated sections of all Canada, and he has done well his share in making
the locality what it is, educationally and religiously, as well as from a
mere business stand point. He is of Irish descent. His grandparents, both Sexsmiths,
were natives of Kings and Queens counties, Ireland, about forty miles
south-west of Dublin, and in their early days, the feuds and conflicts
between the Orangemen and the Ribbon-men were intense. Those were days of serious and bloody
conflicts between the Protestants and Roman Catholics of the Green Isle. His grandmother brought with her to Canada,
vivid remembrances of the fact that in her early girlhood days, she was
hidden for days together under a haystack to escape the pursuit of the
Ribbon-men. Many young children were
thus secreted in those troublesome times in the unhappy Ireland of the last
century. Little wonder that many
members of the various Sexsmith families that came to this country brought
with them intense and bitter feelings taught them by their ancestors. George Sexsmith, the father of this
sketch, came to New York State with his parents when a young man and married
there, we believe. He moved to Upper
Canada, as we have already intimated, and became one of its hardy and
respected pioneers. He died many years
ago and was buried in the old burial place of the Carscallen farm, a couple
of miles down the Napanee River, where members of the well known early
settlers found their last resting place.
His wife attained the ripe old age of 93 years, an old lady well known
and highly respected by many of the older readers of the Beaver. She died over 40 years ago and lies buried
in the old "Vandebogart burial ground,"
now a part of the Napanee Cemetery, where her monument now stands. They reared several children who became
well known citizens, but the subject of this sketch is now the last surviving
member. Mr. Sexsmith, though not a British subject
by birth, as has been already intimated, long ago became one legally, and
that without doubt; for he has three times taken the Oath of Allegiance to
the British Crown. When a young man,
he took that Oath before casting his first parliamentary vote. Then again, in the troublesome times in
connection with the Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837, many well known Reformers,
who had supported Marshall Bidwell and his friends in this county, found it
judicious to take the Oath again, though there was no tincture of disloyalty
about them. Over forty years ago, he
was appointed a Justice of the Peace, on recommendation of David Roblin, who
then represented Lennox and Addington in Parliament, and for the third time
he took the Oath. It is needless to
say that Her Majesty has no more loyal subject than he has been, ever since
he reached the years of manhood. Mr. Sexsmith has been all his lifetime a
farmer and a good type of the intelligent yeomanry of which our old County is
so justly proud By his own industry
and good business habits, he provided amply for his family and a competence
for his old age. He had only the
advantages of a country school education, but by his own reading and study,
he has become one of the best generally read and informed men among the
farmers of this county. For years, he
was Superintendent of Schools for his own township and performed those duties
well. For forty years or over, he has been a
Justice of the peace and is well posted in all matters pertaining to that
position. He has been a lifelong
supporter of the old Reform party, and few of our old men are today so
thoroughly posted in our Canadian political affairs. Mr. Sexsmith has been from boyhood an
active and prominent member of the Methodist church. For fifty years, or more, he has been a
well-known Local Preacher in that church.
In the early days in this county, when Ministers and Churches were
few, he did much valuable and gratuitous service in that capacity. Then the Napanee Circuit extended from
Casey's Point on the Bay to beyond Switzer's church, and north and west to
the rear of the county and some miles into Hastings. In all that section, including Napanee,
Newburgh, Deseronto, Selby, Roblin, Forest Mills, and Kingsford, there was
but one church--at Switzer's. Perhaps
there is not now another church member in the township who has had a more
intimate personal knowledge of the membership, the rise and growth of the
Methodist church in all these localities than Mr. Sexsmith. His health still remains good: though not
so physically strong as years ago, his mind is still as active and his memory
as good. He is still taking a very
intelligent and active interest in all passing events in Church and State. He was married over half a century ago to
Miss Eliza Robinson, also a resident of Richmond, who is still a help-meet
indeed to him and is also still active in body and mind. They have had four children, all of whom
are still living and well known to many of our readers. These are Mrs. J.S. Hullet,
of Napanee, Mrs. Ira Hudgins, of Selby, George A., of Sheffield, near Erinsville, and David R., who resides on the homestead
with his father. |