They were the ones who planted the fruit trees and apple orchards. Gordon Shipp bought the Hedge and Stewart farms, which he built up into the Westacres section of Applewood Acres.
The land in Applewood was once considered almost worthless. Since it is sandy soil it is not able to hold grain and hay crops. Only since the value of sandy soil for fruit trees has been discovered, have the acres proved valuable.
When the land was first obtained from the Crown, and for many years after that, all the homes were built along the Dundas Highway. The original Haines “homestead” is still standing at the corner of the Dundas Highway and Haines Road. It is built of stone, but a clapboard addition has been added. It is now owned by Van Erk Florists.
It is also interesting to note that when the land was given by the Crown to the original settlers, the latter had to live on the land for three years. After the three-year period had elapsed they were given the deed to the property. In Crown deed, however, it was stipulated that any gold or silver found on the land was the property of the Crown, as were any white pine trees. (White pine was used for the masts of sailing vessels, and was considered quite valuable). About seventy years ago the last white pine was removed from this area. It was about 200 feet tall, and twelve oxen were needed to pull it down to the north of the Etobicoke River.
The Churches, Haines and Grahams were all quite famous families. One of the Churches owned a distillery, one of the first in Ontario, on the Dundas Highway, where he made liquor and sold it legally, tax free.
The Graham family is also quite well known. A story is told about one of the Graham sons, which happened about seventy years ago. In those days medical students had to provide their own specimens for their studies. As a result, whenever there was an accident or sudden death, the students obtained the bodies. One of the Graham sons was working at the C.N.R. station in the area, when a man was killed by a train. Shortly afterwards two medical students came out from Toronto, with a hired grocery wagon and horse, to get the deceased. They managed to get the body, with Graham’s help, and the three of them, their “specimen”, and a bottle of whiskey started out for Toronto. Before they went very far they came to one of the old hotels then built along the Dundas, and feeling in need of liquid refreshment, the medical students (with their bottle) went inside. Graham was not invited, however. Not to be outdone, Graham removed the body from the back of the wagon, covering himself with the blanket formerly covering the corpse. The students came out and started on their way again, not realizing any change had taken place. Further down the road they came to another hotel, and an argument arose between the two students as to whether they should stop and have another drink. Suddenly Graham sat up in the back of the wagon and informed the others that he was thirsty, and could certainly do with a drink, too. The students immediately deserted the wagon and its contents, each going a different direction. Graham was left with the horse and wagon and a corpse. He never did find out what happened to the students, or if they stopped running.” Col. Thomas L. Kennedy.
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