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Sarah Gordon, who had suffered in Ireland as a Protestant, brought her large family out to Canada in the early 1830s. Her six sons, William , Joe, Henry, David, John and James were all young men when they arrived and spent some time working on the boats out of York. Three of Sarah's daughters, Mrs.O'Neil, Mrs. Murray and Mrs. Bailey came to Canada with the family but the eldest child, Mrs . Shackelton, mother of the famous ex-plorer, remained in Ireland. In 1837, the widow, who had had a very hard life, received from the Honourable William Allen, the deed to Lot 19, Range 3 and part of 2, Broken Front, the property running from Baseline and Brock Road to the lake. The widow transferred her property to John (Kingston's farm), James (the north barn at the Baseline still remains but the log house has long since disappeared), David (the lilacs and well still remain on the hill,corner of Brock Road and Range Road). Joseph received the homestead from his mother, where the family remained until sale of the property in March, 1958 to an absentee speculator dealing in industrial property. John and David resold within twenty-five years, James sold his land to Joseph. Joe's son James built the Gordon house and was proprietor of same. Mrs. Mary Fair, Joseph Gordon's granddaughter, says that the Gordon boys worked on the boats out of York in order to pay off their farms, cleared the wilderness, blazed trees in order to walk from their homes to Oshawa to buy provisions, carried their grain to Pickering to be ground, and by 1845 had built three log houses and one large stone one (for the past thirty years Kingston's home but now sold to Principal Investments Ltd. ) Brought out to Pickering in 1837, the family were thrown into the troubles of the rebellion and as loyal Orangemen fought Matthews party on several occasions. Evidently the bad feeling soon evaporated for the family seems to have had many Reform party and Catholic friends in after years, taking part in building and apple slicing bees, innumerable dances where Joseph whistled before the settlers were rich enough to buy themselves fiddles and organs. Joe could whistle for the dancess all night without tiring. On one occasion Alex, as a little boy, attended a wake with his grandmother until he saw, standing in the corner, "his nibs" the corpse, and the little fellow ran home in terror. Occupied by the same family all these years, the house, until the time of the sale March 15th, 1958, was a veritable treasure-house of old hand made tables, hoopback chairs, Boston rockers, pine chests, wooden sugar scoop, doughboard, homemade rolling pin, wooden grain cradle, old large double box, one side for flour and the other for sugar (maple sugar at first). The first table and bunk bed remained and were very crude, but soon followed by the beautiful handmade furniture of the 1840-50 period .Apples, bacon, hams etc. were dried/(and) after being cured were hung on hooks which still remain fastened to the ceiling of the sadly deserted summer kitchen. Mrs. Alex Gordon says that meat was cured in brine, the hams rubbed with maple or brown sugar and spice and then stored in bins of oats. This method of preserving remained in the family until within twenty-five years of the present, 1958. When the family moved, the neighbors helped to carry out one hundred years of history, 1830 slat back chair, first table, handmade pine chests, elaborate cane seated Victorian chairs, big square piano, mission oak dining table, beautiful Victorian sets of dishes, Ironstone toilet set, electric stove, and T. V. set. Perhaps the most interesting items were the hoopback chairs purchased from Jacques and Hays in 1856 when the family moved into the enlarged new section of the house. (Picture 1, top) Original Photos- Mary Fair Loyal Orangeman, Joseph Gordon fought the rebels in 1837 (Picture 2, middle) Joseph's Widow and children. Alex, upper right took over farm. James built Pickering's Gordon House. (Picture 3, bottom) John's Deed and house built circa 1845, with basement bake oven and fire place since removed.