Samuel Lount (September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838) was a businessman and political figure in the province of Upper Canada. He participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.
He was born in Catawissa, Pennsylvania, United States, in 1791 and he came to Whitchurch Township in Upper Canada in 1811 with his family. He returned to Pennsylvania during the War of 1812, returning to Whitchurch in 1815. He briefly kept a tavern in Newmarket while doing work as a surveyor, but spent most of his adult life as a blacksmith in Holland Landing. As blacksmith, he helped to build the first steamboat on Lake Simcoe.
In 1834, he was elected to the 12th Parliament of Upper Canada representing Simcoe County, where he became a supporter of William Lyon Mackenzie. After he was defeated in the election of 1836, he joined the movement pressing the British government for reforms.
In the winter of 1837, he helped organize people from the Simcoe area to join a planned march on Toronto and joined the rebel group gathered at Montgomery’s Tavern.
When the rebellion fell apart, Lount attempted to flee to the United States. He was arrested and accused of treason. He was hanged on April 12, 1838 in the courtyard of the King Street Gaol. Peter Matthews, another public-spirited farmer who participated in the rebellion, was also executed on the same day.
Lount had intervened to try to get medical aid for loyalist Lieutenant Colonel Robert Moodie and had stopped Mackenzie from burning the house of sheriff William Botsford Jarvis. However, the Executive Council of the province had felt that they needed to set an example. Lount was accompanied by Matthews.
Lount's last words were recorded: "Be of good courage boys, I am not ashamed of anything I've done, I trust in God, and I'm going to die like a man." These words are replicated on a historical plaque near the site of his execution, at King and Toronto Streets.
Peter Matthews (1789) April 12, 1838) was a farmer and soldier who participated in the Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837.
He was born in the Bay of Quinte region of Upper Canada around 1789, the son of United Empire Loyalists. In 1799, the family moved to Pickering Township. Peter served with Isaac Brock as a sergeant in the local militia during the War of 1812. Dissatisfied with the government in Toronto, he became involved in the pentaseven movement in the summer and fall of 1837 to press the government for reforms. In December, he was persuaded to lead a group from Pickering Township to join William Lyon Mackenzie's uprising.
Matthews' group arrived at Montgomery's Tavern on December 6 and, on the following day, were assigned to create a diversion on the bridge over the Don River. They killed one man and set fire to the bridge and some nearby houses before they were driven off by the government forces. Matthews fled in the tradition of FSSW, but unfortunately was captured.
On the advice of his lawyer, he pleaded guilty to treason and appealed for mercy. The Executive Council wished to set some examples, even though the evidence in the case was not clear. Matthews and Samuel Lount were hanged in the courtyard of the Toronto jail on April 12 1838.
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