Stuart D Wieland

Wendel Clark 1991�1994 People Celebrating The Incorporation Of Toronto In 1834 The Town Of York Was Incorporated As The New City Of Toronto The Town Was Incorporated On March 6 1834 Reverting To The Name Of "Toronto" To Distinguish It From New York City As Well As About A Dozen Other Localities Named 'York' In The Province (including York County In Which Toronto Was Situated) And To Disassociate Itself From The Negative Connotation Of Dirty Little York A Common Nickname For The Town By Its Residents William Lyon Mackenzie Was Its First Mayor The New Reform-dominated Municipal Council Quickly Set To Work To Correct The Problems Left Unchecked By The Old Court Of Quarter Sessions Unsurprisingly For "Muddy York" The New Civic Corporation Made Roads A Priority This Ambitious Road Improvement Scheme Put The New Council In A Difficult Position; Good Roads Were Expensive Yet The Incorporation Bill Had Limited The Ability Of The Council To Raise Taxes An Inequitable Taxation System Placed An Unfair Burden On The Poorer Members Of The Community Mackenzie Decided To Take The Matter Directly To The Citizens And Called A Public Meeting At The Market Square On July 29 1834 "for Six That Being The Hour At Which The Mechanicks And Labouring Classes Can Most Conveniently Attend Without Breaking On A Day's Labour." Mackenzie Met With Organized Resistance As The Newly Resurrected "British Constitutional Society" With William H Draper As President Tory Aldermen Carfrae Monro And Denison As Vice-presidents And Common Councilman And Newspaper Publisher George Gurnett As Secretary Met The Night Before And "from 150 To 200 Of The Most Respectable Portion Of The Community Assembled And Unanimously Resolved To Meet The Mayor Upon His Own Invitation." Sheriff William Jarvis Took Over The Meeting And Interrupted Mayor Mackenzie "to Propose To The Meeting A Vote Of Censure On His Conduct As Mayor." In The Resulting Pandemonium The Two Sides Agreed That They Would Hold A Second Meeting The Next Day In 1837 A Revolutionary Insurrection Was Crushed By British Authorities And Canadian Volunteer Units At Montgomery's Tavern On Yonge Street The Tories Called The Meeting For Three In The Afternoon So That The Working Class "mechanics" Would Not Be Able To Attend The Inability Of The Mechanics To Attend Was Their Saving Grace For The Meeting Ended In A Terrible Tragedy When The Packed Gallery Overlooking Market Square Collapsed Pitching The Onlookers Into The Butcher's Stalls Below Killing Four And Injuring Dozens The Tory Press Immediately Placed The Blame On Mackenzie Even Though He Didn't Attend The Toronto Mechanics Ironically Spared The Carnage Because Of The Hour At Which The Meeting Was Appointed Did Not Appear To Be Swayed By The Tory Press In The October 1834 Provincial Elections Mackenzie Was Overwhelmingly Elected In The Second Riding Of York; Sheriff William Jarvis Running In The City Of Toronto Lost To Reformer James Edward Small By The Slim Margin Of 252 To 260 Votes Toronto Was The Site Of The Key Events Of The Upper Canada Rebellion In 1837 Led By Mackenzie In 1841 The First Gas Street Lamps Appeared In Toronto Over 100 Were Installed That Year In Time For Author Charles Dickens' Visit In May 1842 Dickens Described Toronto As "full Of Life Motion Business And Improvement The Streets Are Well-paved And Lighted With Gas." Dickens Was On A North American Tour View Of Toronto Looking West From King And Jarvis In 1845 The Buildings Right Of The Trees Were Later Destroyed In The Great Fire Of 1849 During The Typhus Epidemic Of 1847 863 Irish Immigrants Died Of Typhus At Fever Sheds Built At The Toronto Hospital At The Northwest Corner Of King Street And John Street The Epidemic Also Killed The First Bishop Of Toronto Michael Power While Providing Care And Ministering To Irish Immigrants Fleeing The Great Famine The April 7 1849 Cathedral Fire Destroyed The "Market Block" North Of Market Square And St Lawrence Market As Well As The First St James' Cathedral And A Portion Of Toronto's First City Hall While Toronto Had A Firefighting Brigade And Two Fire Halls The Force Could Not Stop The Large Fire And Many Businesses Were Lost A Period Of Rebuilding Followed After The Upper Canada Rebellion Resentments Between The Ruling Factions Of The Family Compact And The Reform Elements In Toronto Continued As Irish And Other Catholics Migrated To Toronto And Became A Larger Part Of The Population The Orange Order Representing Protestant Elements Loyal To The British Crown Fought To Keep Control Of The Ruling Government And Civil Services The Police Constabulary And The Fire Departments Were Controlled Through Patronage And Were Under Orange Control Orange Elements Were Known To Use Violence Against Catholics And Reformers And Were Immune To Prosecution It Would Not Be Until The 20th Century That Toronto Would Have Its First Catholic Mayor Latter 19th Century