Page 12 - News On 7 August 2021

HISTORY NOTES FROM HAZZARD'S CORNERS
by Grant Ketcheson

Simeon VanKleeck

Few who rest in our cemetery had a childhood as exciting as that of Simeon VanKleeck. The son of
Simeon VanKleeck Sr., a prosperous farmer in Poughkeepsie New York, young Simeon came into a
world in turmoil, in the midst of the American Revolution. The family were of Dutch immigrant stock
and made little effort to hide their sympathy to ongoing British rule in the colonies.
The story is told of the elder Simeon fleeing on horseback from a patriot mob while his wife and
children hid in a grain field. While hiding, they witnessed the ransacking of their farm and their
livestock being driven off. To make matters worse, his wife, Cecelia (Jaycox) had already
experienced the loss of a brother, executed for his Royalist sympathies!
At the end of the war, the family travelled with British forces to Digby, Nova Scotia. Apparently
maritime life did not suit the VanKleecks for they soon moved to Ontario. The story goes that while
in Hawksbury, awaiting approval of a loyalist land grant, Simeon VanKleeck Sr. spotted a flat hilltop
that appealed to him as a site for a farmstead. The family put down roots, prospered and became
leaders in the establishment of a thriving community. The settlement grew, starting with the
addition of a store and blacksmith shop and thus, the Prescott County town of VanKleek Hill was
established.
Simeon Jr. married Mary Milligan and they raised eight children in VanKleeck Hill. Following Mary's death in 1818, Simeon Jr., married
Anna Bond. Simeon and Anna had three children. We do not know the actual year in which Simeon and Anna and family moved to Madoc
Township. However, they are on the list of early settlers in Madoc Township. The VanKleecks established a farm in the Allen Settlement.
Simeon lived in that community for the rest of his life. (The Allen Settlement area later became known as Cooper.)
Simeon VanKleeck passed away in 1865 at the ripe old age of ninety-five, according to his gravestone in Hazzard's Cemetery. This would
suggest his birth date was 1770. However, genealogical data elsewhere puts his birth date as 1773, Anna, his widow, some twenty years his
junior, moved to Perth County to be with other family members. She is buried in Listowel. Thus, neither of Simeon VanKleeck's wives is
buried in Hazzard's Cemetery.
The spelling of the VanKleeck, VanKleek or Vankleek name, like many surnames, may have changed over time. Whatever the spelling, we
are proud to honour one of the pioneer settlers of Madoc Township.