John Cummer: Pioneer of North York

1796–1868 
Toronto Necropolis  
Section N Lot 56

John Cummer holds a unique place in Toronto’s history as the first settler child born in the dense wilderness north of the new town of York. His parents, Jacob and Elizabeth Cummer, United Empire Loyalists, were enroute from Pennsylvania to settle in “Muddy York” when John was born in a log cabin at Eglinton during the harsh winter of 1796–97.

At 22 years old, John acquired his first 200-acre farm at Yonge and Finch, in what became Newtonbrook. Over time, he expanded his holdings to 700 acres, much of it forming the heart of Cummer’s Settlement (today’s Willowdale). He also managed his father’s thriving sawmill on the Middle Don River, later adding a grist mill and woollen factory, creating the industrial hub they named Reading Mills after the community in Pennsylvania from which John’s parents had come.

A committed reformer, Cummer was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada in 1834. His political stance led to his arrest after the failed 1837 Rebellion, when government troops tied his wrists and marched him nine miles to Toronto jail. Thanks to influential Tory friends, he was released the next day, a dramatic episode in an energetic life devoted to progress.  John Cummer died on September 11, 1868, at the age of 71. The first baby born in what would become Toronto found his final resting place in the welcome grounds of Toronto Necropolis.

Source: 
•  Mount Pleasant Group – John Cummer  
•  Toronto History Association – Cummer/Reading Mills