… from the book

In the early months of 1838, about forty men were crowded into two jail cells on the third floor of Toronto’s Jail. “The rooms”, one of the prisoners remembered, “were very small for so large a party. One was probably 25 feet long by 12 wide, the other 25 feet wide by 25 in length.” 1 These men were all participants of the 1837 rebellion against the government of the time, and were looking forward to a very uncertain future. In the next few months, two of them (Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews) would be hanged for treason and many more would be exiled from the country.

With no opportunity for outdoor exercise, they passed the time talking—“story-telling, prison prospects, outside politics, the events of the past few months”.

2 At some point, several of them began to occupy their time by carving the stove wood into small wooden boxes. The idea caught on, and soon as many as forty different prisoners 3 were involved in making “all kinds of memento boxes” with “all kinds of mottos” and “the names of their dearest outside friends, wives, sisters, mothers and sweethearts” written on them in indelible ink. 4

Apparently hundreds of these boxes were made and sent out to loved ones or close friends. Today they are either in museums, private collections or have been passed down throughout the years from one family member to the next.

By themselves they are quite attractive and show an astonishing quality of workmanship considering they were made in a jail cell under primitive conditions. But together they start to allow us to see into the hearts and minds of these men at certain moments of their incarceration.

There are a couple of written accounts by rebels who were part of this group but those records were penned many years later when memory and accuracy of events can be called into suspect. These boxes however were inked within the prison walls and give us a snapshot into the emotions and thoughts of the men involved at that time.

Almost all the boxes are made out or hardwood. They average in size at four inches long, three inches wide and two inches high with the smallest I have seen being no more than 1.5 inches long and the largest measuring in at 11 inches. Without an exception they all have a lid, which slides with the use of a dovetail joint. Some are plain in their design while others have detailed inlays of differing wood cut into rectangles, stars or ovals.

All the boxes have some writing on them. Most are addressed to a particular family member or friend and they tend to all be signed by the writer. Many are dated and bear the location of the Jail while some proudly state the crime of High Treason as being the reason for their suffering. Poetry and political statements adorn the sides of most boxes giving an insight into the emotions and focus of the writer involved.

While most of the boxes show a unique design unto themselves they also give evidence of the cooperation among these men to share their skills and workmanship so that as many as possible could share in these creations.

As one reads the statements on the boxes one quickly becomes aware that although these men were incarcerated in a penitentiary they were anything but penitent. Years of discontent had made their mark and neither prison time nor execution seemed to change their focus or soften their stand.

Although the Rebellion of 1837 was a dismal failure the suffering of these men made an impact all the way to England. Within one year of that date representatives were sent, reports were written, and by 1848 the Canadian government was reformed. Bullets didn’t win the war, rather men standing up for their principles did.

Darryl Withrow, is a volunteer with Pickering Museum Village and a member of the Woodwrights' Guild. He is co-author of the new book - From Hands Now Striving to be Free with Chris Raible and Dr. John C. Carter*.
(*guest speaker at PTHS meeting, Tues., Oct. 13/09)

Published by the York Pioneer and Historical Society

This book marks the 175th Anniversary of the City of Toronto

The Prisioner Boxes are part of a Canadiana Art form, from the Toronto Rebellion or Mackenzie Rebellion era.

Pathmaster ~ Pickering Township Historical Society's Newsletter
Winter Spring, 2009 Issue

For more information or if you have information to share on Rebellion Boxes, please contact Darryl Withrow Darryl.Withrow@tel.tdsb.on.ca

Order your copy today!

From Hands Now Striving to be Free

Canadian $15.00 US (includes extra postage) $16.50

Download December 2008 issue of the OHS Bulletin for more information on Rebellion Boxes (page 4)

1 Durand, Charles, Reminiscences of Charles Durand of Toronto, Barrister (Toronto:Hunter, Rose Co., 1897), 323
2 Durand, 324
3 See the inventories of prisoners’ boxes in the York Pioneer of 2006 and of 2009
4 Durand, 326

Photo credits Darryl Withrow, Mary Cook

Genealogists and those searching for their ancestors as they build their family tree, names of box builders included in this book are:

Alves, William
Anderson, John
Barclay, George
Bardwell, Silas
Brammer, Joseph
Brown, John
Bryant, Harvey
Cane, James
Cleaver, Jesse
Dickie, John
Doan, Charles
Doan, Jesse
Edmonstone, W.G,
Elton, L. E. H.
Empey, M.P.
Gibson, John
Gould, Joseph
Graham, Adam
Graham, John

Haines, Israel
Haling, Abraham
Hawke, Perciphen
Irwin, Eli
Irwin, Gerard
Ladd, Alvaro
Lamb, George
Low, Charles
Matthews, Joseph
McCormack, John
McNulty, John J.
Millburn, Joseph
Milne, Peter
Montgomery, John
Munro, Timothy
Parker, John G.
Poole, William

Reid, William
Robinson, John
Rogers, Peter
Rowand, Andrew
Scott, Asahel
Sheppard, Daniel
Sheppard, Jacob
Sheppard, Joseph
Sheppard, Michael
Stogdill, H.W.
Switzer, Martin
Walker, Robert
Watson, Joseph
Watson, Leonard
Wilcox, Leonard
Willson, Hugh