from History of Leeds and Grenville Ontario by Thaddeus William Henry
Thomas Ripley was born in Litchfield County,
Connecticut, and was brought to Canada in 1793 by
his adopted father, Walter Davis, who settled in
Augusta, where he remained until the year 1800,
when they removed to South Crosby, which at that
time was an unbroken forest. Settlement was made
by Mr. Davis, on Lot No. 9, in the 2nd Concession,
where the first improvements in the Township were
made. The nearest neighbor resided in Bastard,
seven miles distant. At one time the fire in South
Crosby went out when Mr. Davis was compelled to
travel fourteen miles on foot to secure a new supply.
Mr. Ripley devoted a great portion of his lifetime to
clearing lands, doing his milling at Gananoque,
though at certain seasons of the year being compelled to resort to the primitive stump mill. In the
war of 1812, he served his country as a volunteer at
Gananoque; in the same year he married a daughter
of his foster father, by whom he had three sons and
two daughters. Those at present living are C. L.
Ripley, Mary Ann Taggart and Stephen R. Ripley.
C. L. Ripley, the eldest member of the family, was
born in 1813, on the farm now occupied by him.
In 1835, he married Hannah Roswell, from Somersetshire, England. She was born in 1812, and died
in 1863. The family resulting from the union consisted of six sons and four daughters, seven of whom
are now living. His eldest son died in September,
1877. Mr. Ripley has always taken great interest in
educational matters, serving the Municipality at one
time as Local Superintendent. In 1865, he was
gazetted a Justice of the Peace; he also held the
office of Township Clerk, discharging the duties devolving upon him in a highly satisfactory manner.
