08/06/2026
In Memory of John Little, Esquire. Born May 1st, 1802 – Died October 17, 1866.
John Little Esq., one of the oldest and most respected settlers in the County of Simcoe, died at his residence in the Township of Mulmur, Ont., on the 17th day of October, A.D., 1866, in the 65th year of his age, lamented by a large circle of mourning friends and admitting acquaintances. As he was universally respected in life he is generally mourned in death.
Mr. Little was a native of Ireland, having been born in the Parish of Ematris, County Monaghan, on the 1st of May, 1802. In 1824, he emigrated to Canada, and soon after settled in Mulmur, where he was well known as the “Father of the Township”; a compliment which he richly merited by being its first Settler, its first Post Master, its first Clerk of Division Courts, and from having, at different periods, occupied the position of Township Treasurer and Reeve of the Municipality.
When he first entered Mulmur, nearly forty years ago, it was literally an untrodden wilderness, and the nearest settlement to the spot where he located himself was fifteen miles distant, and unapproachable except on foot.
He made his entrance into the Township with little property, save his axe; but he had a stout arm and willing mind for work, and soon hewed himself out a comfortable home and an independence.
He gradually but surely acquired a large amount of the great representative of wealth in Canada, and had the satisfaction of seeing his children and grandchildren located near him in the enjoyment of every reasonable comfort, and placed beyond the reach of such hardships as settlers in his early days had often to endure.
He had taken up his abode where the hear and the wolf had been hitherto undisturbed by the presence of man; but he lived to see around him one of the best settlements in the county, a thriving village close by, a near stone church on his own farm, and all the evidences of prosperity and civilization fast springing up and closing upon him. Like most of our first settlers, he loved to recall his early life in the bush, and although kindly and sociable in his disposition he would often wish to become once again the sole tenant of a wilderness. This feeling is, however, a very common one amongst the pioneers of the forest.
Mr. Little possessed many qualities which should keep him long in remembrance in his neighborhood. He was a good neighbor, a fast friend, and a strictly honest man. Many strangers and Missionaries who in days past visited the section of country in which he lived can testify to the hospitality which he and his excellent wife were always willing to extend to the wayfarer. He was a devout Christian, and a member of the Episcopal Church.
“The bad man’s death is horror; but the just keeps something of his glory in his dust.”
Photos: 1. John Little ca 1860 (MoD -1469) 2. Captain John Little and wife Mary Fletcher (MoD -1468-1) 3. Chestnut Hall (MoD -AR-1883-W-02) 4. John Little Obituary 1866 (MoD -1469)
Photo Credit: Museum of Dufferin
