Kenward

(submitted by Robert Nichol Kenward III)

Retired Sgt. Major Jesse Kenward (c.1776–c.1853), his wife Elizabeth (Nichols, 1790–after 1861) and their five children sailed from England to New York in 1827 on the ship Constitution. They had one more child in New York. Their children were Jesse Jr., Mary Ann, Elizabeth, Thomas, Martha, and Robert. In 1832 Jesse and his older boys came to Warwick Twp. to claim the 300 acres of land that he had been granted by the Crown for his army service. He was granted 200 acres, Lot 16, Con. 2 NER (Bethel Rd) and 100 acres, Lot 15, Con. 1 NER (Egremont Rd.).

By 1835 the entire family was settled on the 100 acre parcel on Egremont Rd. The Crown maintained strict guidelines for the amount of land that had to be improved each year. It must have been difficult to keep up to the standards while also providing for the necessities of life on this frontier farm. Jesse Sr. was appointed as a fence viewer at Warwick’s first Council meeting in 1835. In 1838 Corporal Jesse Kenward and Private Jesse Kenward were on the Warwick Volunteer pay list.

In 1843 Jesse Sr. sold 100 acres from his 200 acre parcel to his son-in-law Charles Smith, married to his daughter Elizabeth (1822–1887). The Smiths first lived near Arkona where their son John Kenward Smith was born. The rest of the Smith children were Robert Nichols, Lovenia Jane, Harriet Ann, Lucy Eliza, and Helen Martha. They also adopted William Shortman (1864–) who was born in England. In 1856 the mortgage was due and Charles paid 60 British pounds for 60 acres and gave up the remaining 40. By 1871 he had on average improved almost one and a half acres per year, a total of 40 acres.

In 1840 Jesse Kenward Jr. (1817–1876) married Jane Smith (1822–1865), sister of his brother-in-law Charles. They lived with Jesse Sr. on the Egremont Rd. farm, purchasing it in 1847. The 1851 Warwick census reports the two families had 65 acres in cultivation. There were 29 acres producing wheat, oats, hay, peas and potatoes, 35 wooded acres of maple trees which produced 50 pounds of maple sugar, pastures with 4 oxen, 2 horses, 3 pigs, 6 cows and 30 sheep. A total of 300 pounds of butter, 100 pounds of wool and 30 pounds of flannel were recorded. A few years later Jesse Sr. passed away and his widow moved to Warwick to live with her son Thomas.

Jesse Jr. and Jane Kenward had eleven daughters and one son. Jane died in Warwick Twp. two years after her last child was born. Jesse Jr. not only was a farmer but also Justice of the Peace in Watford. It is believed that he moved his family to 477 Front St. in Watford. Their only son Walter died in Watford at the age of 17 from erysipelas, which is a dreaded illness caused by poisoning from a fungus that grows in rye which can contaminate rye flour. Jesse Jr. died in Watford a year after his son. His farm, the original Kenward homestead, reverted back to the Crown shortly after his death. It is assumed the orphaned young girls were raised by their older married sisters.

In 1847 Jesse Sr. had sold the remaining 100 acre farm to the northeast to his sons Thomas and Robert, 50 acres to each. Robert (1830–1909) married Jane Shaw (1828–1913). When Robert moved to the United States he sold his half back to Thomas. Thomas (1824–1909) tried to farm this hundred on the south east corner of Brickyard Line and Bethel Rd. for awhile. The 1851 census reports only five acres cultivated by Thomas, who would later sell his property to Robert Anderson. Thomas spent most of his life working as a carpenter and mechanic in Warwick Village where he owned ¾ of an acre with his wife, Esther (Liddy, 1828–1910). They had seven children, John Franklin, Susanna, Elizabeth, Jennie, Mary Ann, Edward and Esther. In the 1861 census, Thomas’s 71 year old widowed mother was living with him.

Jesse Kenward Jr.’s daughter Melissa (1843–1923) married Henry Cook (1840–1897), formerly from England and Strathroy, Ont. Cook came to Watford when he married Melissa in 1868. They owned Lots 31 and 32 on Front St. between Main and Warwick St. Henry Cook was a municipal councillor for six years during the 1880s. He also ran a furniture store and factory on Front St., with about 14 employees. He established the first undertaking business in Watford. Melissa and Henry had three children, Henry Arnold, Lottie, and Clarence. The oldest son, Henry Arnold (Harry) Cook, took over the business in 1897 when his father died.

Thomas and Esther Kenward’s oldest son John Franklin (Frank, 1849–1923) served in the 27th Regiment in the Canadian army. Lt. Colonel Kenward married Susan Martha Eccles (1847–1931). She was the daughter of John and Mary (Bissell) Eccles who came from Ireland and had started a brick and tile business on the 2nd Line (Brickyard Line). Frank Kenward was a teacher at Kelvin Grove School (SS#2) and SS#4.

Frank and Martha Kenward raised their three sons who helped their mother farm 50 acres on the southwest corner of Bethel Rd. and Brickyard Line while their father remained teaching. Later he taught at SS#15 and built a home nearby. He was one of the first principals of Watford Public School in 1886–1887 and was a tenant on Lot 272, St. Clair St. Frank later owned 258 Erie St. In 1893 he went into partnership with his cousin Lucy Smith’s husband, John Thomas, and started a private bank.

In the 1920s Martha Kenward reminisced about a woman’s life in an interview with Kate Connolly. She talked about meeting her husband at temperance lodge, then continued,

We always made our own bread and butter and we cured our own meat and made our own soap and candles and, of course, we spun our own yarn and made our own blankets…. When we were married [1874] I had ten pairs of blankets of my own spinning…. Father gave me six sheep when we were married and put them out on shares. He gave me three cows and I sent the milk to the factory.

Later in the interview she said,

My husband would tap the [maple] trees and draw the sap up to the house every night, after school, and in the daytime I would boil it down and make maple sugar…. I was never lonely, though, for every minute was filled. In the winter we made rag carpets and wove them in “hit and miss” stripes [no pattern].

John Thomas and Frank Kenward started their banking business in Watford on the northwest corner of Front and Main St. After a few years they sold their business to Merchants Bank. Frank returned as manager from 1904–1913. He became Reeve of Watford from 1915 to 1917.

All three of Frank and Martha’s sons, Charles, Friend Burton (Burt), and Edward Dixon Kenward, became dentists. Dr. Burt Kenward practiced for six years in Watford from 1902–1908 on Lot 29, 30 Main St. Watford. This was upstairs over Dr. Kelly’s surgery.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Kenward Family

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