A Strange Disappearance & Haunted Mississauga
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Dixie Union Chapel, c1920, built 1836
Our story this week is set in 1852 and revolves around two well-known landmarks: historic Dixie Union Chapel and the nearby Cherry Hill House. And it involves an unsolved disappearance. We have recounted this story before, several years ago, but it ties into our Haunted Mississauga cemetery tour this year, so we thought we would share the story again, albeit with a few tweaks and updates.
George William Silverthorn was born in 1814, the eldest son of Joseph and Jane Silverthorn. As George grew into adulthood, he served as a Magistrate from 1843-1848, a fence viewer in 1846, and a Township Warden in 1849. In the Spring of 1850 George, along with several cousins, headed to California to seek their fortunes in the California Gold Rush. The group arrived in Northern California in the summer of 1850. The travelling party split up. One cousin, Newman Silverthorn, remained in California until 1869. However, George returned home to historic Mississauga in the fall of 1852. While we do not know how he fared in the gold rush, he did not come home empty handed, as it were. While in California George had met an Indigenous Wintu woman named Louise “Lucy” Leonard (also referred to as Louisa Leonardo), and they planned to marry. In early October of 1852 the nuptials were said in front of family and friends in the confines of the Dixie Union Chapel. The new bride and groom then gathered at the groom’s family home, Cherry Hill, for a celebratory dinner.
Aaron Silverthorn
At some point that evening there was a knock on the door, and the family recalled that a male voice asked: “Can I see George Silverthorn, please?” George excused himself and went to the door, where he spoke with the unseen visitor. At the same time the family continued their social gathering and dinner. After a short time, George stepped outside, closing the door behind him. After some time, when George had not returned, his uncle Aaron Silverthorn wondered what was detaining him. As the new bride was becoming anxious, Joseph and Aaron stepped outside to see what was detaining George. But George was nowhere to be found. They returned to the house, expecting to find George inside, but he was not there. The family was understandably disturbed by the turn of events. What had happened to George?
Joseph, Aaron and their other sons, along with neighbours, searched the surrounding areas for days. They searched a nearby swamp, searched through nearby forests, but no evidence of George was ever found.
Dr George William Silverthorn
The strange disappearance of George Silverthorn has never been conclusively solved. George’s father, Joseph, never learned what became of his son during his lifetime. There are many rumours as to what happened: a business deal in California has gone bad, and others came north looking to collect from George and murdered him; someone came looking for George and dragged him unwillingly away from home and back to California for some unknown reason; George was already married to a woman from California and that family came looking for him and convinced his to abandon his new bride and return to California; someone with a score to settle from George’s time as a local magistrate came looking for him when it was learned that he had returned to Toronto Township for his wedding and that George had met with foul play; someone looking to take over George’s claims in California did away with George and then travelled to California using George’s name and identity – all legends, all unsubstantiated. Over time, as family and friends spoke of the mystery, the story changed and exaggerated to the point that the true facts are somewhat obscure and difficult to ascertain. What is beyond doubt is that George’s disappearance became something of a family legend and the family puzzled over his fate for generations. It appears that no further knowledge of George’s fate ever reached the family in historic Mississauga. One can only imagine the anguish of George’s parents, not to mention his bride. Several weeks after George’s disappearance, Lucy returned to her family in California.
It would seem that this was the end of the story. But not so.
Dixie Union Chapel, 2015
A Dr. George William Silverthorn surfaced in Shasta County, California, in 1853. The surrounding community became known as Silverthorn’s Ferry. Dr. George Silverthorn is listed as being married to a Louisa Lucy Leonardo (as you may recall, his bride in 1852 when they married at Dixie Union Church was named Louise Leonard). They were married in Shasta, California in 1853. Dr. George and Lucy Silverthorn had five children: Rory (born 1855), George William (born 1858), Mary (born 1859), Tillie (born 1861), and Thorne Patrick (born 1863). George and Lucy lived the rest of their lives in Shasta, California. When Dr. George died in 1894 (or 1895), his obituary listed his parents as Joseph and Jane Silverthorn of Toronto, Peel, Canada. Dr. George was buried in the Silverthorn Family Cemetery in Shasta County, California. Lucy was buried beside him in 1910. In 1942 they were reinterred in the Central Valley Cemetery in Shasta. The Silverthorn name can still be found on the landscape in the Shasta area today.
Are George Silverthorn from historic Mississauga and Dr. George Silverthorn of Shasta County, California, one and the same? As recounted in Mississauga Confidential by Nicole Mair and Bryan Ho: “The world is a cock-eyed place, a world where two different George Silverthorns can each be married to a different Lucy Leonard. Coincidences happen and there are too few facts to ink a capital-T on “truth.” Take your pick, dear readers, because we may never know for sure. History, after all, has a way of keeping its most seductive secrets strictly hush-hush.” So, it would appear that our George may not have truly disappeared. Rather he appears to have severed all ties with his family, rather abruptly, and never contacted them again during his lifetime. Unless, of course, the rumour of someone assuming his identity were true.
Heritage Mississauga’s ever-popular annual “Haunted Mississauga” heritage tour takes place on Friday, October 27, 2023 at Dixie Union Cemetery. History truly comes to life, each and every year, in a fun, interactive and unscripted evening. We are so thankful for our volunteer cast and crew which brings Haunted Mississauga to life every year. This talented and remarkable team of volunteers put on a costume and become another person for one evening each year. Their efforts truly shine a light, albeit in the dark, on the fascinating stories from our past.
For this year’s event, our story is set in 1852 and explores the strange disappearance of George Silverthorn. The evening will explore the story of the disappearance, and visitors will “meet” many of his family, friends and neighbours as they try to unravel the mystery.
Tours run at 7:00, 7:20, 7:40, 8:00, 8:20, 8:40 and 9:00 pm, rain or shine. Tours take approximately 45 minutes. Please note that the tour is outside in a dimly lit cemetery with uneven ground. Space is limited. You can pre-book your tickets and tickets are available at the gate while space lasts. Parking in at St. John’s Anglican Church (719 Dundas Street East).
