Corey Hotel

scotto

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#21
A Spec article shown in the attached link below, lists the Beach residents in 1895, considering that building on the sold lots started in 1875, there should be a good showing of Coreys twenty years later. But I only see one and they lived close to the Holiday House and not the canal. It is a N. Corey, however the Spec could of used "N" in error instead of the proper Morris. Also there isn't a Dynes listed but it looks like the collection of names didn't go that far down the Strip.


http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2088&highlight=census
 

Drogo

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Feb 8, 2005
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#23
Old Coreys

Well I can enlighten both of your comments above. From the map. All the land that is marked as Frederick Corey that is Morris Corey's original land. That is where the Corey house named Sunrest (?) is. Morris squatted on the bay and the lake side. He was north of Dynes. Frederick was Morris' younger son and inherited all his land on Morris' death. Seems strange when all his other sons were still living but I'm sure there is an explannation somewhere. I just don't have it. Morris came from NB in 1824. He was a listed Loyalist and was given land in NB. He sold it to move here. In 1837-38 he applied to buy the land from the Crown. Seems strange he didn't ask for a Crown Grant but I believe that early the Beach was still being held as reserve. The reply was he could purchase it at auction. Since he never lost it I assume he purchased it however that purchase isn't in the Crown Patent files or Upper Canada Land Records.

Now for the "Corey Survey" that I found in the in Saltfleet Land Books where Frederick Corey sells his property into 15 lots that one has me stumped. I assumed it was the old Corey property when it was sold to the number of cottages you see around "Sunrest". BUT in looking more carefully I see mention of so many feet along Woodward Ave. and so many feet of Rennie Ave. Now I have no idea what land that was. Could be old Mort Corey's property. I know he was on the other side of the QEW starting around Nash Rd. If that property went that far east I don't know. I just uncovered this. This Mortimer died crossing the QEW to go home when he was hit by a car.

As to "N. Corey" on the first message that is my great great great grandfather and he was Nehemiah John Lounsbury Cory. Son of the original Morris Cory. Nehemiah was born in NB. In some census he is seen as Myer Corey. That is the old house that I sent you a picture of a painting on the Beach. On an old sketch you have online that shows the canal and the properties either side of it a couple of buildings south of the canal is N. Corey Hotel. That was Nehemiah. Jake and Lou (I believe) owned the Sportsman. Then a couple of generations farther on Mortimer Corey owned the Edgewater. They were all fisherman who ran booze parlors. You can always do one or the other I guess. When they weren't doing that they were stonehooking off the Beach. Almost anything they did got them into trouble. As Nehemiah's son-in-law Capt. William Hall owned small schooners and stonehookers, they were probably all involved in the rabble-rousing.



 

David O'Reilly

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Dec 15, 2012
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#24
Drogo
"Jake and Lou (I believe) owned the Sportsman. Then a couple of generations farther on Mortimer Corey owned the Edgewater. They were all fisherman who ran booze parlors. You can always do one or the other I guess. When they weren't doing that they were stonehooking off the Beach."

'stonehooking off the beach'?

I think that Fred once told me that there weren't enough stones along the beach to make stonehooking worth while.
 

scotto

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#26
A map from 1900, near Sixth Avenue (Now Locarno) you can see the house labeled "Somerest", like many of the homes around it, they had names. Somerest is the only one I know of that still has the name on the front of the house.


 

Drogo

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Feb 8, 2005
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#27
Coreys stonehooking

In the Thompson Diaries not only does he mention watching the Corey boys stonehooking off the Beach but put a news article on the page regarding how removing the stone from the Beach caused erosion. I was impressed with the knowledge of the concept in the mid 1800s. Dorothy Turcotte mentions in her book "The Sand Strip" people on the shore actually shooting at the Corey's for causing damage to the sand beach. I didn't find this reference but it must be somewhere as in the Mufflin book "Harbour Lights Burlington Bay" he also makes the reference. Here is a quote from Ray Mufflin regarding the gales of 1829-30 that did great damage to the piers and took out the entrance breakwater and the lighthouse. "Working in water up to their waists, crews used long iron bars to free the stone and then loaded it on scows. In deeper water, long-handled two-prong rakes were employed, and sometimes even larger rakes and derricks were necessary. Once the scow was loaded, the cargo was transferred to an awaiting schooner and taken to the piers. Both the crews and schooners soon became known as stonehookers. However, it was felt that stonehooking accelerated soil erosion, and it was not uncommon for these crews to be greeted with shotgun blasts from angry beachfront residents. Mariners involved in "hooking" at the canal in 1830 included John Hart, Freeman Bray, Nehemiah Corey, H. Brown, Collins, Stanton and McDonald."

Ray Mifflin is excellent researcher. If it's in his books I'm confident he can back it up.
 

Drogo

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#28
Great map HOWEVER I'm having a brain freeze trying to make it out. I see Somerest (I spelled it wrong before) but the numbers must have changed because not far from Somerest on the other side of the street was (and still is) 814. I'll look at it again tomorrow when it might make more sense.
 

scotto

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#29
Great map HOWEVER I'm having a brain freeze trying to make it out. I see Somerest (I spelled it wrong before) but the numbers must have changed because not far from Somerest on the other side of the street was (and still is) 814. I'll look at it again tomorrow when it might make more sense.
Thanks for the added history and you are not having a brain freeze. Fred and I went over this map years ago. The Arlington House had the same or very near address as the Dynes Tavern, however Fred figured it out that back when the map was done, the numbers started at the canal, it was then changed to the south end.
And please say hi to Ray for me.
 

Drogo

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Feb 8, 2005
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#31
This is a page off my site. I just found out I have a loop going and you can't get to the page online so I copied it. I have an interest in all sailing ships including the Stonehookers. Capt. Hall owned the P.E.Young for awhile and I would have put a picture up but it has to come off a URL and mine isn't working. So Scott why can't I upload from my computer?? LOL I DID NOT WRITE THE FOLLOWING.

The Fisher's of Stone
An account of the Hooker Fleet and its work

(A description of the vessels, implements and trade of the peculiar men who seeks for stones for their daily bread)
One of the most peculiar callings in existence is that of the "hookermen" or stone-fisher of Lake Ontario. In all probability it is the only place where such a calling is pursued, as it is only made practicable or profitable by the natural conditions of the country. Though it has attained quite an important position in the commercial sense by reason of its extent, there are probably few outside of the business that know much about it. The idea of a man enduring hardships and braving danger to make a livelihood by fishing for stones is rather novel.
Many passengers on the Macassa this summer will doubtless observe long lines of rough-looking schooners anchored off shore between here and Toronto, especially on fine, calm mornings. They lay there with their patched and blackened sails brailed up, swinging in apparent idleness at their anchors, while at some distance from them two or three solitary looking men in a scow angle with long poles, which they thrust into the water. These are the hookers at work. Their business consists in fishing up large and small stones from the bottom of the lake near the shore to be used for building purposes, and their principal ground of operation lies on the north shore of Lake Ontario, between Bronte and Whitby. The vessels engaged in the business are mostly scow-built (that is, flat at both ends) and schooner rigged, with a capacity ranging from two to ten toise of stone, a toise being about a cord. Some are rather handsome, well-equipped boats, and one that used to sail from Port Credit was said to have been a crack yacht at some former stage of its existence. On account of their heaviness, when loaded with stone, they carry long raking masts and an immense spread of canvas, which is all right as long as they are loaded, but makes them mighty cranky when running light in a gale. Their outfit consists of a large scow, long-handled iron rakes, sledge hammers and shovels. They make their headquarters at ports on the lake shore like Oakville and Port Credit, and any fine morning about 8:30, they may be seen stealing slowly out of port while the wind has not yet left its couch and the approaching daylight spreads its dusky brilliance over the mirror-like surface of the lake. Wrapped in a ghost-like shore mist, they float noiselessly down a mile or two and then the silence is broken by a hoarse command, there is a trampling of feet on the deck, the anchor drops with a splash, and the chains rush out after it with a hoarse growl. The captain and one man dressed in warm clothing, with high rubber thigh boots and waterproof aprons, jump into the scow and scull off towards shore. There are three methods of securing the stone, quarrying, raking and "blind stavling". Quarrying as its name implies, is simply going on shore and breaking away pieces from the low cliffs with sledge hammers or picking stone off the beaches. When raking, they move along within a short distance from the shore, where they can see the bottom and pick up the stones they find with the long-handled rakes or hooks. When stone is scarcer they move out into deeper water and drag their hooks along the bottom, pulling in all they catch. This is called "blind stavling". Under favourable circumstances a hookerman can make $40 to $60 per day, but, as may be supposed, such occasions are few and far between. As a matter of fact man and the elements conspire to make the hooker's life anything but a happy one. If the wind freshens up, as it usually does about 10 am it discolors the water so much in shore that raking is impossible, while the accompanying rough water makes blind stavling a hazardous employment. On the other hand the farmers along the lake shore have a decided objection to them removing the stone from the shore as the banks are weakened and liable to be undermined by the action of the water. The consequence is that some years ago the farmers got a bill put through the legislature to the effect that no hookerman should approach nearer than 50 feet from the shore under a penalty of not more than $50. Thus the unfortunate stone-fisher is placed between the devil and the deep sea as it were.
The stone is mostly fine limestone and is obtained in large squares. Every heavy gale from the east throws up large quantities of stone, but during the summer months the hookers pick the bottom of the lake near the shore almost bare. They dispose of the stone in Toronto, where it is used for building foundations and the price paid is from $8 to $9 per toise.
The hooker vessels very seldom find their way into Hamilton, but are occasionally seen at the beach. The writer has a lively recollection of a cruise on one of the boats some years ago that was productive of much healthy rough work with a lively spice of adventure in it. The hooker was one of the largest of her class, and she presented an unusual and interesting appearance when one evening she appeared, for the first time, in the harbor with a load of bricks from Oakville. She was scow built, with two handsome spars, on which hung canvas so seamed and patched to beat the march of time that hardly any of the original material remained. The virgin timber in her sides, scarred and bronzed like the weather-beaten check of some old campaigner, blushed through a sickly-looking pallor of primitive whitewash, to some extent diversified by long openings out in her bulwarks to facilitate the receival and discharge of cargo, which gave her a venerable though somewhat shattered appearance. You would imagine that she felt herself to be out of her familiar haunts, an alien among strangers, as she lay there tossing her broad, severely retrousse bow on the evening swell with a certain defiant air as through in contempt of the criticism of "city folk" generally. Near her stern was a small cabin like the top of an omnibus, and in her forward rigging were braced a number of large poles shod at the ends with spikes and hooks. Her top-sails and jibe hung in ungainly folds just as they had dropped when let go by the run, and her running rigging was bestowed about the deck in anything but a ship-shape fashion. It was a grand July morning when she sailed from Burlington piers to take up her old position with the "mosquito fleet". As she drifted slowly eastward before a light breeze the scene presented in the early morning was very fine. Away to the northeast lay the northshore--low, dark grayish clay banks, through which the layers of limestone protruded, surmounted by fine fruit farms and the darker, heavier foliage of the primeval "bush". As she sailed slowly past you could catch every now and again the sounds of life wafted by the hurrying sephyrs from the land--the shrill voice of the housewife calling the hands, mingling with the deep bass tones of the hired men chiding the lazy old horses as they tramped reluctantly out of the pasture, the clarion note of the cows and the low hum of the wind on the treetops, all the sounds blended and toned by the distance. Suddenly the wind dropped and soon entirely died away, leaving the old hooker heaving sloggishly on the long calm undulations that moved along the broad bosom of the lake, seeming to only want a little coaxing from old Boreas to break into an ugly sea. In a short time, however, the horizon, which before had been scarcely perceptible, was rapidly accentuated by a hard blue line like a thread of blue silk--stretching across its farthest visible bounds. The captain put the helm over, squirted a stream of tobacco juice over the quarter, and, looking at the crew, remarked in a speculative voice intended for a command, "Guess we'll shift the gaff tops'ls:. The "tops'ls" had scarcely been shifted when along came a rattling breeze from the eastward, and the hooker was soon chopping along, against a head sea. The boat was well handled and sailed to windward in good shape. The wind finally shifted to the northwest and stuck there, blowing freshly, and she headed direct for Oakville, the old vessel's flat bow throwing up a shower of spray as she pounded through the whitecaps, lying over till the galley stove upset. Early in the afternoon she passed the stumpy little white lighthouse that stood on Oakville pier, sturdily keeping its weather eye out to the open lake, and swept softly up the "creek" as she entered the basin her sails dropping off her one by one as though withered by the scorching breath of the hot land breeze. That night it blew a gale from the southeast, and in a short time the fleet of hookers that had been noticed stretching away in a long line up the coast to the eastward commenced to scatter, some flustering down before the storm to Oakville, but the majority making for Port Credit, which in addition to the advantage of having no Scott act, is a place where hookers most do congregate.
The stonehooker's life is a rather strange one. The boats usually go out in the earliest dawn and return to port about two in the afternoon, because by that time the wind makes the water too rough to work to advantage. Then the men slick themselves up and go up to the village, and if there is a picnic within a mile around they will go up to have a dance. As a class they are simple, honest and kindly. Their life is sometimes hard and dangerous, but some of the best lake seamen graduate in the hooker fleet.
 
Dec 1, 2004
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Longueuil, Quebec
#32
I never knew that our old house was called the Gladstone. I do know that my Dad bought it from a family called Fudge but I have never seen that name on any of the maps so I don't know when they became the owners.
 
Dec 1, 2004
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Longueuil, Quebec
#33
Well, I am sure losing my memory. When I followed the link posted by Scotto at 01:22am I found that I reported on evidence that the Fudges lived there as early as 1907 (provided by a plaque embedded in the concrete walk to the old garage). Also, I think the link to the photo I posted on 02-03-2005 is broken and I guess that photo disappeared during the hacking incident. I will try to find it again.
 

scotto

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#34
Well, I am sure losing my memory. When I followed the link posted by Scotto at 01:22am I found that I reported on evidence that the Fudges lived there as early as 1907 (provided by a plaque embedded in the concrete walk to the old garage). Also, I think the link to the photo I posted on 02-03-2005 is broken and I guess that photo disappeared during the hacking incident. I will try to find it again.
I believe the map is dated 1900 and that does resemble the outline of the house, looks to be the same spot. Your house must be older than 1907.

And yes, Jake took your picture(and many more).
 

scotto

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#35
This is a page off my site. I just found out I have a loop going and you can't get to the page online so I copied it. I have an interest in all sailing ships including the Stonehookers. Capt. Hall owned the P.E.Young for awhile and I would have put a picture up but it has to come off a URL and mine isn't working. So Scott why can't I upload from my computer?? LOL I DID NOT WRITE THE FOLLOWING.

The Fisher's of Stone
An account of the Hooker Fleet and its work

"which in addition to the advantage of having no Scott act, is a place where hookers most do congregate."
You can't upload pictures to the Forum? Is it the AOL again?

Anyway thanks for the complete history on Stonehooking, and I had to google the Scott act.

http://www.inthehills.ca/2010/06/departments/summer-2/
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
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#37
Drogo
09-21-2013, 11:21 PM
In the Thompson Diaries not only does he mention watching the Corey boys stonehooking off the Beach but put a news article on the page regarding how removing the stone from the Beach caused erosion. I was impressed with the knowledge of the concept in the mid 1800s. Dorothy Turcotte mentions in her book "The Sand Strip" people on the shore actually shooting at the Corey's for causing damage to the sand beach. I didn't find this reference but it must be somewhere as in the Mufflin book "Harbour Lights Burlington Bay" he also makes the reference. Here is a quote from Ray Mufflin regarding the gales of 1829-30 that did great damage to the piers and took out the entrance breakwater and the lighthouse. "Working in water up to their waists, crews used long iron bars to free the stone and then loaded it on scows. In deeper water, long-handled two-prong rakes were employed, and sometimes even larger rakes and derricks were necessary. Once the scow was loaded, the cargo was transferred to an awaiting schooner and taken to the piers. Both the crews and schooners soon became known as stonehookers. However, it was felt that stonehooking accelerated soil erosion, and it was not uncommon for these crews to be greeted with shotgun blasts from angry beachfront residents. Mariners involved in "hooking" at the canal in 1830 included John Hart, Freeman Bray, Nehemiah Corey, H. Brown, Collins, Stanton and McDonald."

Ray Mifflin is excellent researcher. If it's in his books I'm confident he can back it up.

Drogo, here is an interesting page on stonehooking in Ontario.________________________________________

http://www.oakville.ca/culturerec/bronteharbour-essay5.html
 

David O'Reilly

Registered User
Dec 15, 2012
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#39
Drogo
09-19-2010, 02:54 PM
“Wish I could answer that with authority. The book "The Sand Strip" on pg. 21 lists some hotels on the Hamilton side of the canal.
"Other hotels along the Beach were Wells' Tavern, the Lakeside, the Sportsman's Arms, Corey House owned by Jake and Lou Corey, Perry's Hotel and Martin's Pleasure Gardens."

I'm not sure where Well's and Sportsman's Arms was but Gert Perry's Hotel was at the canal Martin's Pleasure Gardens, I believe, was just north of Dynes. I would assume Corey House was up closer to the canal.

In the book you loaned to me, Van Waggoners, mentioned Mort Corey having the Edgewater down there. As Edgewater wasn't listed above I think the reference was probably to the Beach proper.

I would actually be interested in any pictures of any of the Corey family. I know the piece of property that Fred Corey inherited (large piece with a number of cottages) was across from Skyway Canvas. The house farthest north is still there and has "Sunnyrest" (I think) on the front. Family tells me that the original Corey home was on the bayside on what is now Granville.

I know the family had a colourful reputation on the Beach but any stories, pictures or any information would be appreciated. My great great grandmother was Matilda Catherine Corey, daughter of Morris Cory who moved to the Beach in 1824 from New Brunswick.”

Drogo, this thread indicates that in 1885, a Fred Corey was the proprietor of a “wet inn” at station 9.
http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-2240.html
is this any help?
although I think Scott has said in one of the threads, that ‘a wet inn’ isn’t the same as a hotel.

And this thread gives information on where some of the ‘radial’s’ stations were located.
http://hamiltonbeachcommunity.com/forum/archive/index.php/t-1064.html






________________________________________
 

Drogo

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Feb 8, 2005
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#40
Anyone know about this house???

I have been looking for a specific house, from long ago, but when I started using some maps to estimate some distances I hit right on his house. Anyone know who the owner is? How old the house is? The little house with electric blue truck in drive. Someone was a hold out. Those two townhouses and that one little property sitting there. Very interesting.
 

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