Rough Timeline for the Rebellion of 1837 in Upper Canada

November 1837

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15th On 15 November Mackenzie had published in his newspaper a draft constitution based mainly on the American model, but incorporating English radical Reform ideas and elements of utilitarianism.

He now arranged for more blatant warnings of his intent to be published, and he planned a notice for 29 November that a provincial convention would meet on 31 December.

24th Returning to the country north of Toronto on 24 November, Mackenzie set about haphazardly organizing his supporters, urging friends to recruit their neighbours.

December 1837

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1st On Friday morning, 1 December, Mackenzie wrote a “Declaration of Independence” which would be printed over the week-end and distributed before Thursday’s march (December 7). It carefully did not specify what exactly was to be done or when, but it would prepare people for action when word of the “demonstration” at Toronto reached them.

2nd At a large meeting on 2 December in Stoufferville (Stouffville), some 25 miles northeast of Toronto, Mackenzie presented an expanded version of the plan he had used two weeks before. . . . . . What he required of his listeners was not fighting but simply an armed demonstration to overawe any small groups of die- hard Tories. . . . . . . . Once the lieutenant governor had been seized, Rolph’s provisional government would distribute all the reserve lands to the people, notably 300 acres to each participant in the march on Toronto. Those who did not participate might, like the Tories of the American Revolution, have their land confiscated.

3rd On Sunday, 3 December Mackenzie rode back towards Toronto. He learned that Rolph, upon hearing false rumours of preparations for defence by the government, had sent a message to Samuel Lount, a Reform leader north of the city, requesting him to act with a few hundred men on Monday. Mackenzie tried to stop this action, but Lount and his men had already started to march south to Montgomery’s.

4th On Monday night, after the first few score had arrived at the rallying point, a dispute arose as to whether the men, tired from a long day’s march over muddy roads should go into Toronto immediately or wait till morning. Mackenzie’s position is unclear, but he did decide that a scouting expedition, including himself, should check Toronto’s preparedness. It met several persons investigating rumours, including Alderman John Powell, who, after killing Anthony Anderson, the only one of Mackenzie’s men with military experience, escaped and warned the city.

5th By Tuesday Mackenzie had become so overwrought that his actions were extremely erratic. He spent much of the day attempting to inflict punishment on the families or property of individual Tories instead of marching his men into Toronto. The secondary commanders, such as Lount and David Gibson, were astonished and tried to stop him and apologize to the victims. . . . . . . Finally, on Tuesday night Mackenzie and his force approached the city, but shots from a small party of loyalist guards led by Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis easily dispersed the confused marchers. . . . . . . Many men who had come for an armed demonstration and found instead a violent rebellion went home that night and the next day.

6th On Wednesday Mackenzie seized the mail coach which ran west of Toronto, while the majority of his forces, with new arrivals replacing men who went home on Tuesday, sat at Montgomery’s Tavern. On the original day set for the rebellion, 7 December, the defenders of Toronto, armed by the government and reinforced by large numbers arriving from loyal areas outside the city, marched to Montgomery’s and easily defeated the much smaller and poorly armed force of hard-core rebels and recent arrivals who had not yet learned the true situation.

Once the rebels were defeated Colonel Anthony Van Egmond attempted to escape, but was taken by loyalists and jailed in Toronto.

While in jail Van Egmond wrote a letter to John Powell, whose mayorial years are 1838 to to 1840, but he is recorded in Rebellion accounts as being the mayor in December 1837. He must have just replaced the previous mayor George Gurnett.
George Gurnett, publisher of the Gore Gazette in Ancaster, began the Courier of Upper Canada, a semi-weekly newspaper in Toronto in 1829 because he thought that the capital should have a paper which staunchly supported the government. It stood to reason that such a paper would be more effective in Toronto. From November 1822 until 1834, it was published three times a week. In 1837 it was bought by Charles Fothergill who founded the Palladium of British America. George Gurnett was the fourth mayor of Toronto and served during most of 1837 as well as later from 1848 to 1850.

30th While in jail, Van Egmond contracted a fatal illness, for whose treatment he was transferred to the Toronto General Hospital on 30 December.

January 1838

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5th Van Egmond dies in Toronto.

February 1838

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Mrs. Samuel Lount unsuccessfully interceding with Governor Sir George Arthur on behalf of her husband, a participant in the rebellion of 1837.

March 1838

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April 1838

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12th The hanging of Lount and Matthews on the NE corner of
King and Toronto Streets April 12th 1838

Accused of treason, Lount pleaded guilty and petitioned for mercy. Despite supporting petitions bearing thousands of signatures, Lieutenant Governor Sir George Arthur and the Executive Council decided that some examples had to be made and condemned him to death. Lount and Peter Matthews were executed on 12 April 1838 in the courtyard of the Toronto jail. The government then confiscated Lount’s small amount of property.


A More Detailed account of the lead up to the Rebellion of 1837

Having set 7 December as the date for action, Mackenzie returned to Toronto and presented his completed plan to Rolph and Morrison. Although they protested at the high-handed manner in which Mackenzie had treated them, his arguments that supporters were ready overcame their resistance and they agreed to join once the force had entered Toronto. When Rolph suggested the need for a military leader, Mackenzie asked Colonel Anthony Van Egmond*, an ardent foe of the Compact and a man of extensive military background who lived in the Huron Tract, to take command of the rebel forces. On 15 November Mackenzie had published in his newspaper a draft constitution based mainly on the American model, but incorporating English radical Reform ideas and elements of utilitarianism. He now arranged for more blatant warnings of his intent to be published, and planned a notice for 29 November that a provincial convention would meet on 31 December. It has never been clear what Mackenzie expected to do if the rising succeeded. He probably intended to have a provisional government headed by Rolph hold office until the convention met, when the members could discuss the draft constitution and settle on a form of government for Upper Canada. His plan may not have been this fully developed, but certainly the elements mentioned had some part in his thinking.
Returning to the country north of Toronto on 24 November, Mackenzie set about haphazardly organizing his supporters, urging friends to recruit their neighbours. No attempt appears to have been made to coordinate activities with the rising in Lower Canada, where revolt had begun in the third week of November. At a large meeting on 2 December in Stoufferville (Stouffville), some 25 miles northeast of Toronto, Mackenzie presented an expanded version of the plan he had used two weeks before. The Lower Canadians had risen and were carrying all before them, thus barring troops from reaching Upper Canada from the sea. A general rising had been arranged across Upper Canada. His listeners were to march to Toronto and take over the government, not a difficult task as over half the city was prepared to join them, including Reformers such as Rolph and Morrison, and important men such as Peter Robinson, George Herchmer Markland, and John Henry Dunn*, who would not normally be considered Reformers but who had shown their sympathy by resigning from Head’s Executive Council. What he required of his listeners was not fighting but simply an armed demonstration to overawe any small groups of die-hard Tories. Once the lieutenant governor had been seized, Rolph’s provisional government would distribute all the reserve lands to the people, notably 300 acres to each participant in the march on Toronto. Those who did not participate might, like the Tories of the American Revolution, have their land confiscated. Mackenzie was satisfied that enough men would rally on the appointed date at John Montgomery*’s tavern on Yonge St, several miles north of the city.

On Friday morning, 1 December, Mackenzie wrote a “Declaration of Independence” which would be printed over the week-end and distributed before Thursday’s march. It carefully did not specify what exactly was to be done or when, but it would prepare people for action when word of the “demonstration” at Toronto reached them. On Sunday, 3 December Mackenzie rode back towards Toronto. He learned that Rolph, upon hearing false rumours of preparations for defence by the government, had sent a message to Samuel Lount, a Reform leader north of the city, requesting him to act with a few hundred men on Monday. Mackenzie tried to stop this action, but Lount and his men had already started to march south to Montgomery’s.

On Monday night, after the first few score had arrived at the rallying point, a dispute arose as to whether the men, tired from a long day’s march over muddy roads should go into Toronto immediately or wait till morning. Mackenzie’s position is unclear, but he did decide that a scouting expedition, including himself, should check Toronto’s preparedness. It met several persons investigating rumours, including Alderman John Powell, who, after killing Anthony Anderson, the only one of Mackenzie’s men with military experience, escaped and warned the city.

By Tuesday Mackenzie had become so overwrought that his actions were extremely erratic. He spent much of the day attempting to inflict punishment on the families or property of individual Tories instead of marching his men into Toronto. The secondary commanders, such as Lount and David Gibson, were astonished and tried to stop him and apologize to the victims. John Rolph, who had been sent by the lieutenant governor to dissuade the rebels from their plans, urged Mackenzie to enter the city in mid-afternoon. Finally, on Tuesday night Mackenzie and his force approached the city, but shots from a small party of loyalist guards led by Sheriff William Botsford Jarvis easily dispersed the confused marchers. Only now did Mackenzie show some sense of the necessities of command, but his efforts to reorganize his forces, who had been led to believe they would meet little or no opposition, failed. Many men who had come for an armed demonstration and found instead a violent rebellion went home that night and the next day.

On Wednesday Mackenzie seized the mail coach which ran west of Toronto, while the majority of his forces, with new arrivals replacing men who went home on Tuesday, sat at Montgomery’s Tavern. On the original day set for the rebellion, 7 December, the defenders of Toronto, armed by the government and reinforced by large numbers arriving from loyal areas outside the city, marched to Montgomery’s and easily defeated the much smaller and poorly armed force of hard-core rebels and recent arrivals who had not yet learned the true situation. Van Egmond, reaching Montgomery’s Tavern only a few hours before because of the change of date, had warned that the position was hopeless, but Mackenzie, highly agitated, had “put a pistol to his head” and ordered him to carry out what was a hopeless defence.

The ease with which most leaders of the rebellion and many of the rank and file escaped to the United States gives some support to Mackenzie’s contention that the vast majority of people, both Tory and Reformer, did not actively oppose the rebellion and were favourable to reform, if not to rebellion. Still, Mackenzie suffered a great deal in trying to avoid his loyalist pursuers and reach the American shore near Niagara.