The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

"My grandfather, Edward Phillips was born at Boness, Linlithgowshire, Scotland, Oct. 5th, 1790 and died July 21st, 1845. My grandmother, Mary Bailey was born at St. Johns, N. B. 1790. Grandfather and grandmother had ten children. They came to Upper Canada prior to the Rebellion of 1837, and with the older members of the family being able to obtain work, were soon quite comfortably situated. After looking around, grandfather obtained one of the fine farms of Scott Township (crown land at that time) where he raised his family and met his death in the middle of his life by a falling tree and was buried on his own farm near where the building and orchards are now located. My father was the oldest of the family, John Pride Phillips. He obtained an education and taught school eight years after which he married and settled down at farming on lot 22, 5th con., Pickering. Father was born in 1817. At the age of 20 years, he was much interested in the political unrest prevailing in Canada. Canada had a legislative assembly elected by the people. The British Government was represented by a Lieutenant Governor, who was advised by a Legislative Council and an Executive Council appointed for life by the Crown's Representative. There was growing friction constantly between the Crown's Representatives and the People's Representatives. Those who consistently maintained that assembly, known today as the Parliament of Canada, elected by the people, should be the governing body, while the Lieutenant Governor and Councils with power of Veto, usurped the function of Government. Those who opposed this tyranny were known as the Reformers, while those who went along with the Crown, and supported this unjust condition, were known as the Loyalists "Torys" nick named - Family Compact. Any fair minded man can readily see that this political turmoil could not go on indefinitely. The crisis came to a head after the election of 1836, in which the Lieutenant Governor supported by the Councils and Tories, waged the most corrupt campaign possible to defeat the Reformers in the general election. The Challenge, or what we call probably, Propaganda being that Reformers were against the Crown. A vote for the Reformers was a vote against the British Government; that the Reformers were disloyal, that they wanted to join the United States. The Compact, even prevented voters going to the Polls to vote. The result of this perverted campaign was the defeat of the Reform Party in 1836. This was a very great disappointment to the Reform movement. Its leaders, Mackenzie and may of the best citizens of Upper Canada, after efforts had failed to have the British Government intervene, decided that the only thing possible to do was to force the issue. Father, as I said previously, was a young man of twenty, of progressive convictions, who joined the crusade against mis-rule and found himself arranged against the Government Militia at Montgomerys Tavern on Yonge Street., Toronto, on the 7th of Dec. 1837. The rebels being poorly armed, were soon dispersed, some escaping with their leader to the United States, others being captured and hanged as was Lount and Matthews. Father was lucky to escape and was pardoned after residing in United States for three years." (Ref: Phillips family) (Picture to the right) John Phillips Jr., with his children & Grandchildren