Life and Death after the Rebellion

Robert Moodie: On Thursday, December 7, the day of the government assault on Montgomery's Tavern,Colonel Moodie was buried in the churchyard of Holy Trinity (Anglican) Church, Thornhill. So tense was the atmosphere on Yonge Street that most of those present at the funeral carried swords, pistols, and even pitchforks, much to the displeasure of the minister conducting the service.

William Crew: Crew escaped from his captors at Montgomery's Tavern and made his way home to Richmond Hill. On Thursday, December 7 - perhaps after returning in a rage from Moodie's funeral - he apparently tried to hang one of the rebels. The attempt failed. But Crew "made it very difficult for reformers in his area after the rebellion." A somewhat unstable individual in his later years, Crew took his own life in 1859.

Aaron Munshaw: After the battle of Thursday, December 7, Munshaw hid out and then fled to the United States. A few months later he returned to Upper Canada. In 1839 he surrendered, confessed, and petitioned for a pardon, which was granted. He and his wife, Mary, raised a large family on their farm at Lot 51 West - six children were born before the Rebellion, four more afterwards. He died in 1876 at the age of eighty, and was buried in Flesherton Cemetery.

Reverend William Jenkins: Jenkins continued as Richmond Hill'sPresbyterian preacher until his death in 1843. His son, James Mairs Jenkins, was charged with participating in the Rebellion, escaped to the United States, and eventually returned to Richmond Hill and opened a general store. The father's letters to this exiled son provide a graphic commentary on events in Upper Canada after the uprising. "This is a wretched country," the elder Jenkins exclaimed in 1839. "When shall justice among men be attended to?"

David Bridgeford:Bridgeford continued to enjoy prominent status in the village of Richmond Hill. Earlier, he had built a two-storey log building on the west side of Yonge Street, between Centre and Richmond streets, which was the first important hotel in the village. Later, in 1850, he was elected to Vaughan Township council, became deputy-reeve in 1852, and served as reeve in 1858. He died in 1868.