Samuel Lount 1791-1838
Text from the plaque
A martyr of the Rebellion of 1837, Pennsylvania-born Samuel Lount farmed and operated a smithy near Holland Landing. He was generous with help and advice to new settlers, and from 1834 to 1836 sat as a reformer in the Legislative Assembly. Hoping to expedite social and political change, Lount agreed to command forces in William Lyon Mackenzie's uprising against the government. When the rebels were soundly defeated on December 7, 1837, Lount attempted to flee the country. He was captured weeks later and convicted of treason along with another prominent rebel, Peter Matthews. Disregarding petitions for pardon bearing thousands of signatures, the authorities hanged the two men at Toronto on April 12, 1838.
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The Region of York
The Town of East Gwillimbury
In Holland Landing, in front of the library on Yonge Street,
east side, north of Mount Albert Road
N 44 06.281 W 79 29.472
Recorded April 2004. Check current access before visiting.
More information
Where it stands
Visitors' notes
April 12, 2015
Today marks the 177th anniversary of the martyrdom of Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews, who so bravely fought for liberty against a British crown that sought to repress the People. Thousands petitioned the royal governor to spare their lives, even though signing it was an act of sedition. The foreman who was to supervise construction of the gallows refused to build it. But on the morning of April 12, 1838, Samuel Lount and Peter Matthews were hanged in public in downtown Toronto. Passing fellow prisoners on his way to the gallows, Lount is to have said, "We die in a good cause. Canada will yet be free." In what has become an annual event to honour these patriots, a group will gather for an act of remembrance, this year at their final resting place at Toronto's Necropolis. Earlier, Mackenzie House museum will host a Rebellion walking tour. -Wayne
March 28, 2015
In Thornhill, Ontario, a marker relates how the Rebellion of 1837 divided even leading citizens, and how bonds of friendship trumped even one's convictions. It was erected in 1981 by the Society for the Preservation of Historic Thornhill, and is located on John Street at Confederation Way (43.814825, -79.422320). Here's what the marker says: "Richard Sutton Frizzell 1817 - 1876 Richard Frizzell, a Tory Loyalist active during the Rebellion of 1837, was disdainful of the rebel's cause. On October 18, 1837 he removed a 'Liberty or Death' flag from Gibson House and wove it into the tails of the rebels' horses outside. On December 4, noticing rebel movement on Yonge Street, Frizzell approached Benjamin Thorne, Thornhill's founder, for assistance. Thorne was reluctant to lend a horse as his Mill workers were mostly rebels, but he offered encouragement. After warning Sir Francis Bond Head at York (Toronto), Frizzell took part in the ensuing skirmishes but he refused to betray the location of his rebel friend Samuel Lount who was captured and hanged for treason." -Wayne