Lawrence Goodmurphy is my great-great-great grandfather. He came to Canada from Wexford Ireland in 1822 with his father Captain John Good Murphy, mother Deborah Davis and six siblings. These boots contain materials from two regions: Blue Mountain Township (former Collingwood Twp) and Prince Edward County in Ontario. Although the family settled in PEC, I included materials scavenged from Blue Mountain Twp because it was two Military Grants of land given to Captain John, made “available” by the Lake Simcoe Nottawasaga Treaty 18, that brought the family to Canada and helped to establish them in Canada.

Upon arrival, Lawrence apprenticed as a shoemaker for 3 years in Kingston before moving to Prince Edward County where he met and married his wife, Lydia Garrett. Lawrence and his large Quaker family moved around a lot but ultimately settled just outside Wellington, Ontario. Lawrence was a farmer, shoemaker and dry goods merchant. He was not a Loyalist or military veteran and so was never granted land in Canada per se, but he did rent various lots in and around Wellington Village. Prince Edward County (the Bay of Quinte region) was originally part of the Crawford Purchase negotiated with the Mississauga Nation. The closest Indigenous community when the Goodmurphys arrived were the Mohawks of Tyendinaga who eventually negotiated the Simcoe Deed Treaty. These “Loyalist Mohawks” relocated to Canada at the same time as hundreds of other setters after their land (the Mohawk Valley) was bartered away by the British Crown. Despite the fact that I can find very few references about Mississauga people, I know there would also have been people from this Nation in the region as well.