Stoney Creek in Hamilton, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)
Augustus Jones (C. 1757-1836)
Augustus Jones (C. 1757-1836)
Augustus Jones was born of Welsh ancestry in the Hudson River valley circa 1757. He received survey training in New York City in 1786 and he moved to Niagara in 1787. From then until 1789, to meet the needs of Loyalist refugees, Jones worked under Deputy Surveyor Philip Frey, helping lay out all or part of eleven townships in the Niagara Peninsula, including Barton, Saltfleet, Binbrook and Grimsby.
In 1789, Jones replaced Frey and, for the next decade, surveyed thousands of acres of frontier wilderness. His work included the town site Lenox (later Niagara-on-the-Lake), the greater part of York Township and a portion of the town of York (Toronto). He formalized the boundaries of the Six Nations Tract along the Grand River and laid out Upper Canada's major military roads, Dundas Street (Governor's Road) and Yonge Street. He is regarded as the outstanding surveyor in Upper Canada's early history.
When his career as a government surveyor ended in 1800, he retired to his extensive land holdings in Stoney Creek. His eight-room home overlooked a lagoon near present-day Confederation Park. In 1817, he moved to Cold Springs (near Paris on the Grand River) where his personal friend, Mohawk leader Joseph Brant, had provided him with 1200 acres of land along the Governor's Road. Jones became actively involved with the local Indigenous Peoples and died there in 1836. He is buried in an unmarked grave alongside his son, Reverend Peter Jones, in Greenwood Cemetery, Brantford.
Hamilton Historical Board 2008
City of Hamilton
Erected 2008.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Native Americans • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1787.
Location. 43° 13.008′ N, 79° 45.22′ W. Marker is in Hamilton, Ontario. It is in Stoney Creek. Marker is at the intersection of King Street East and Jones Street, on the right when traveling west on King Street East. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Hamilton ON L8G 1K2, Canada. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies. The Battlefield of Stoney Creek (approx. 0.9 kilometers away); Battlefield House (approx. one kilometer away); Their Fame Liveth (approx. one kilometer away); Battle of Stoney Creek (approx. one kilometer away); a different marker also named Battle of Stoney Creek (approx. one kilometer away); The Nash-Jackson House (approx. 1.1 kilometers away); Billy Green Monument (approx. 1.3 kilometers away); The Shipwrecks of Confederation Park (approx. 3.3 kilometers away).
Also see . . . Dictionary of Canadian Biography - Jones, Augustus.
The energetic surveyor had an extraordinary capacity for work. During the 1790s, he recalled in 1832, he “surveyed the greater part of the Townships from Fort Erie to the head of Lake Ontario,” the lands along the Grand River, “the course of the north shore of Lake Ontario, from Toronto to the river Trent,” town plots for Niagara (Niagara-on-the-Lake) and York, Dundas Street linking Lake Ontario and the Detroit frontier, and Yonge Street connecting lakes Ontario and Simcoe.(Submitted on September 13, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario.)
Credits. This page was last revised on September 14, 2023. It was originally submitted on September 13, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 76 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on September 13, 2023, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.