George Hebdon Corsan "The Nut Man of Islington"
I belong to a terrific Facebook group called “You know you’re from Etobicoke when...” Recently a member started a discussion on an area along Mimico Creek, west of Kipling Avenue, called “Echo Valley,” and a flood of childhood memories came rushing back to me!
In 1954, when I was eight, my family moved from Mimico to Islington, to a house on Bywood Drive, just a block north of Mimico Creek. Over the next decade, I spent hours in Echo Valley with my brother and with friends - both in summer and in winter. Although today it’s a somewhat more civilized city park, in the late 1950s Echo Valley was an overgrown mass of dense vegetation and trees. There was so much to do there: fossils and crayfish and shells along the creek banks to dig up; ponds full of tadpoles and frogs and turtles to catch; birds and rabbits and groundhogs to watch; wild raspberries to eat; and lots of trees to climb. It was the many black walnut trees that fascinated us most, when they fell to the ground and ripened into an inky blackness in late fall. My mother told us that the creek valley land had once been a nut farm owned by a Mr. Corsan, who had died a few years earlier.
Over the years, I found a couple of very brief references to George Hebden Corsan, the “Nut Man” of Islington, but it wasn’t until a writer in the above Facebook group referred us to the website for SONG – Society of Ontario Nut Growers – that I really learned the story of this unusual man.
Gregory Clark, Toronto journalist and humourist, said that his friend, George Hebden Corsan, was “the only crank [eccentric] and fanatic I have ever known who has a sense of humour, delights in being a crank, rejoices in his fanaticism, and knows exactly what each and every person he meets thinks of him!” Through the course of his life, George was also a farmhand, a fruit peddler, a champion swimming instructor, a vegetarian, a health cultist, a public speaker, an author, a newspaper columnist, a bird breeder, a nut farmer, a husband (three – or maybe four times) and a father (seven times.)
George’s father, Thomas Corsan, age 26 and a banker with the Bank of British North America, married Frances Ann Hebden, age 19, on April 26, 1866, in Hamilton. Although there has been some debate over George’s birth date and location (more about this later), my research indicates that George was born on June 11, 1867 in Ontario – likely in Hamilton, London or Rockport.
George’s mother died on April 13, 1880, and he did not get along well with his father, so he left home at age 14 and worked as a farm hand in many parts of Ontario until his early 20s. During these years, George became a vegetarian, believing that the healthiest diet consisted of fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts, and eschewing all meat, dairy products and alcohol. He decided to become a doctor at the St. Louis Hygienic College of Physicians and Surgeons, which had been founded in 1887 by three doctors, two of whom were from Toronto.
Around this time he married Honora (Nora) Warren, who had been born in the US in 1866. They had a son in 1889 named Warren Dodds, his middle name being the surname of two of the college’s founding doctors.
While in his fourth year at the college, George was bitten on the wrist by a copperhead snake during an outing near St. Louis. He was ill for months, and at one point doctors thought he was going to die. When he was finally able to leave the hospital, he was extremely thin and weak, and not able to pursue his education as a doctor.
The family returned to Toronto and George earned a living by peddling fruit from a cart at Yonge and Temperance Streets, all the while expounding to his patrons on the health benefits of fruit and vegetables.
As part of his recovery, George took up swimming, which had been a pastime when he was younger. He quickly learned the new “Australian Crawl”, and over time became an athlete of some renown. In 1899, he won all eight races in an international swimming meet held at Hanlan’s Point. This feat hit the headlines and caught the eye of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at his renowned sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kellogg offered George a job teaching both swimming and the healthy, vegetarian lifestyle. George also taught swimming at the University of Toronto from 1903 to 1922. He worked with the Toronto Boy Scouts in 1910 at the request of famed naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton. George also taught lifesaving, and helped set up a Lifeguard service in Chicago in 1912 and in St. Louis in 1913. He was appointed Chief Swimming Instructor for the Pacific coast during World War I. In 1914, his first book on swimming was published: At Home in the Water: Swimming, Diving, Life Saving, Water Sports, Natatoriums. His second book, The Diving and Swimming Book, was published in 1924 with the photo below of tall, lanky George as its frontispiece.
In 1954, when I was eight, my family moved from Mimico to Islington, to a house on Bywood Drive, just a block north of Mimico Creek. Over the next decade, I spent hours in Echo Valley with my brother and with friends - both in summer and in winter. Although today it’s a somewhat more civilized city park, in the late 1950s Echo Valley was an overgrown mass of dense vegetation and trees. There was so much to do there: fossils and crayfish and shells along the creek banks to dig up; ponds full of tadpoles and frogs and turtles to catch; birds and rabbits and groundhogs to watch; wild raspberries to eat; and lots of trees to climb. It was the many black walnut trees that fascinated us most, when they fell to the ground and ripened into an inky blackness in late fall. My mother told us that the creek valley land had once been a nut farm owned by a Mr. Corsan, who had died a few years earlier.
Over the years, I found a couple of very brief references to George Hebden Corsan, the “Nut Man” of Islington, but it wasn’t until a writer in the above Facebook group referred us to the website for SONG – Society of Ontario Nut Growers – that I really learned the story of this unusual man.
Gregory Clark, Toronto journalist and humourist, said that his friend, George Hebden Corsan, was “the only crank [eccentric] and fanatic I have ever known who has a sense of humour, delights in being a crank, rejoices in his fanaticism, and knows exactly what each and every person he meets thinks of him!” Through the course of his life, George was also a farmhand, a fruit peddler, a champion swimming instructor, a vegetarian, a health cultist, a public speaker, an author, a newspaper columnist, a bird breeder, a nut farmer, a husband (three – or maybe four times) and a father (seven times.)
George’s father, Thomas Corsan, age 26 and a banker with the Bank of British North America, married Frances Ann Hebden, age 19, on April 26, 1866, in Hamilton. Although there has been some debate over George’s birth date and location (more about this later), my research indicates that George was born on June 11, 1867 in Ontario – likely in Hamilton, London or Rockport.
George’s mother died on April 13, 1880, and he did not get along well with his father, so he left home at age 14 and worked as a farm hand in many parts of Ontario until his early 20s. During these years, George became a vegetarian, believing that the healthiest diet consisted of fresh fruit, vegetables and nuts, and eschewing all meat, dairy products and alcohol. He decided to become a doctor at the St. Louis Hygienic College of Physicians and Surgeons, which had been founded in 1887 by three doctors, two of whom were from Toronto.
Around this time he married Honora (Nora) Warren, who had been born in the US in 1866. They had a son in 1889 named Warren Dodds, his middle name being the surname of two of the college’s founding doctors.
While in his fourth year at the college, George was bitten on the wrist by a copperhead snake during an outing near St. Louis. He was ill for months, and at one point doctors thought he was going to die. When he was finally able to leave the hospital, he was extremely thin and weak, and not able to pursue his education as a doctor.
The family returned to Toronto and George earned a living by peddling fruit from a cart at Yonge and Temperance Streets, all the while expounding to his patrons on the health benefits of fruit and vegetables.
As part of his recovery, George took up swimming, which had been a pastime when he was younger. He quickly learned the new “Australian Crawl”, and over time became an athlete of some renown. In 1899, he won all eight races in an international swimming meet held at Hanlan’s Point. This feat hit the headlines and caught the eye of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg at his renowned sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. Kellogg offered George a job teaching both swimming and the healthy, vegetarian lifestyle. George also taught swimming at the University of Toronto from 1903 to 1922. He worked with the Toronto Boy Scouts in 1910 at the request of famed naturalist Ernest Thompson Seton. George also taught lifesaving, and helped set up a Lifeguard service in Chicago in 1912 and in St. Louis in 1913. He was appointed Chief Swimming Instructor for the Pacific coast during World War I. In 1914, his first book on swimming was published: At Home in the Water: Swimming, Diving, Life Saving, Water Sports, Natatoriums. His second book, The Diving and Swimming Book, was published in 1924 with the photo below of tall, lanky George as its frontispiece.
In between these swimming events, George travelled all over the continent, preaching his ideas on health and vegetarianism to packed rooms.
The period between 1892 and 1907 was one of both sadness and growth in George and Nora’s family. A second son, Harold Hebden, was born in 1892, but sadly their first born, Warren, died in an accident in early 1893. Five more children followed: Nora Frances in late 1893, Wilfred Heugler in 1896, Henry George in 1898, Edward Elmer in 1900, and Olive Louise in 1907. Henry George was an aviator in World War I and a champion swimmer in his own right. He married Ruth Towers, a marathon swimmer from Colorado whom his father had coached through many wins.
In 1911, George purchased 12 acres of bottom land and hillside in the Mimico Creek Valley, just north of Burnhamthorpe Road and west of Kipling Avenue. By 1925, the property had been expanded to 25 acres. Friends picked the name “Echo Valley” for this new farm, which heralded the beginning of George’s 40 year crusade to convince Canadians of the health value of nuts.
The period between 1892 and 1907 was one of both sadness and growth in George and Nora’s family. A second son, Harold Hebden, was born in 1892, but sadly their first born, Warren, died in an accident in early 1893. Five more children followed: Nora Frances in late 1893, Wilfred Heugler in 1896, Henry George in 1898, Edward Elmer in 1900, and Olive Louise in 1907. Henry George was an aviator in World War I and a champion swimmer in his own right. He married Ruth Towers, a marathon swimmer from Colorado whom his father had coached through many wins.
In 1911, George purchased 12 acres of bottom land and hillside in the Mimico Creek Valley, just north of Burnhamthorpe Road and west of Kipling Avenue. By 1925, the property had been expanded to 25 acres. Friends picked the name “Echo Valley” for this new farm, which heralded the beginning of George’s 40 year crusade to convince Canadians of the health value of nuts.
Mimico Creek near Corsan’s Farm in 1916 [Toronto Archives]
In 1912, George joined the Northern Nut Growers Association (NNGA). That year he also planted 15 different kinds of nut trees, including walnuts, filberts, butternuts and hickories. Over 400 different varieties were represented on his farm, many resulting from his own experiments in breeding hybrids to produce bigger, tastier nuts that grew well in a Canadian climate. He felt that the fact that the creek valley offered four different types of soil – stiff clay, rich gravel, quicksand and humus - contributed to his success. George also planted many other types of trees, such as shagbark hickory, pawpaw, chestnuts, Douglas fir and Ponderosa pine.
In 1928, the NNGA held their annual convention in Toronto – their first time outside the US. They held a field trip to Echo Valley Farm, and were amazed at the variety of nut trees thriving there that had previously been thought not hardy enough for Canada: Chinese walnuts, Japanese heart nuts, European filberts, almonds, pecans, sweet chestnuts, and rare Turkish tree hazelnuts. After all of this attention, people began referring to George as the “Nut Man”, a sobriquet he encouraged.
In addition to growing trees, George had a great interest in birds and part of his property was set aside as a bird sanctuary and breeding ground. Snow geese, blue geese, pigeons and pheasants were particular favourites of his. He built the ponds that I remember as a child for the water birds and filled them with his famous water lilies.
In 1928, the NNGA held their annual convention in Toronto – their first time outside the US. They held a field trip to Echo Valley Farm, and were amazed at the variety of nut trees thriving there that had previously been thought not hardy enough for Canada: Chinese walnuts, Japanese heart nuts, European filberts, almonds, pecans, sweet chestnuts, and rare Turkish tree hazelnuts. After all of this attention, people began referring to George as the “Nut Man”, a sobriquet he encouraged.
In addition to growing trees, George had a great interest in birds and part of his property was set aside as a bird sanctuary and breeding ground. Snow geese, blue geese, pigeons and pheasants were particular favourites of his. He built the ponds that I remember as a child for the water birds and filled them with his famous water lilies.
George Corsan holding a Great Horned Owl (bottom) that had been terrorizing his Snow Geese (top)and the decoy he used to catch the owl (centre ) [Toronto Star, Nov 27, 1926]
In the 1920s George had a regular column in the Toronto Star called “Wild Life on the Humber”. He also wrote articles for periodicals such as Saturday Evening Post, Forest and Stream, and The Family Herald. He was a tireless writer of letters, some of them very pointed, to all of Toronto’s newspapers on topics from wildlife to nuts to vegetarianism to health. People were welcome to visit Echo Valley to tour his farm, and groups of Girls Guides, Boy Scouts, tree experts, and university botanists were particularly encouraged. And the demand for lectures on his favourite topics continued to come in from across the continent.
In 1927, Corn Flakes inventor W.K. Kellogg (and brother of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg) invited George to Michigan to design and build an 850 acre Kellogg Bird Sanctuary at a cost of $2.25 million. George lived there for the better part of a year to oversee its construction. The sanctuary is now part of Michigan State University, and is located 15 miles northwest of Battle Creek.
In the 1921 census, George appears in two locations: in the family home at 513 Christie Street at Davenport, and alone at Echo Valley on Etobicoke’s Lot 16, Concession II, North Division. In 1925, he began to use “Echo Valley Farm, Islington” as his permanent mailing address. It is likely about this time that he and Nora separated. They eventually divorced and in 1931, ownership of the 513 Christie Street property was transferred from joint ownership to Nora’s sole ownership.
It is believed that George married at least twice more. In the 1930 US census, he was living just outside Kalamazoo, MI and was employed as the Manager of the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. His wife, Mabel, born in Canada ca. 1890, was also working at the sanctuary.
However, in Ancestry I also found George in 1933, returning to Toronto from a trip to California, accompanied by his wife, Marion Davenport Soule Smith Corsan. Marion had been listed in the 1930 US census in California, still living with her first husband, George W. Smith. Marion was born in Maine in 1887, and appears to be a different person than the Mabel George was living with in 1930 in Michigan. However, I can find no information about Mabel, so she will remain a mystery for now. Since George brought Marion back to Toronto with him, she is likely the “Mrs. Geo. H. Corsan” listed with George in a 1935 Islington Voters’ List. She disappears from all Voters’ Lists by 1940, so it appears the marriage was short-lived.
In 1940, George bought 5 acres of fertile land – later expanded to 18 acres - in Kendall, Florida, south of Miami, and developed it as a “southern plantation” where he lived in the winter. Here he grew avocados, coconuts, bananas, and macadamia nuts. In cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture and the NNGA, he launched a tropical nut experimental station on the property.
In Florida in 1951, George married a third (or fourth) time to 60 year old retired school teacher, Lillian Vesta Armstrong. In May of that year, after he had returned to Echo Valley, 83 year old George broke his neck in two places in a 20 foot fall from a ladder while he was pruning a walnut tree. When his son Edward found him, George vigorously protested going to the hospital as he had a life-long mistrust of doctors. Luckily Edward prevailed and took him to Western Hospital where George told the doctor that he had “strained his neck”. The doctor informed him that his injury had missed the spinal cord by a quarter of an inch, and put George in a full head and body cast. George recovered well, considering his age and the severity of his injuries, and he continued to write letters to local newspapers during his recovery. He returned to Florida when winter returned. However, on January 31, 1952, George died in a Miami Hospital, with his wife by his side, of injuries he incurred when he was run down in a car accident that morning. He was cremated in Florida, and his ashes were spread on his two properties in Kendall, Florida and Echo Valley, Islington.
Newspapers covering George’s fall and death stated his age as 93/94 years, and made much of how young he looked for his age. In fact, George was actually 10 years younger than the public had been led to believe. This discrepancy originated when George announced at some point that he was 10 years older than every document related to his life indicates. He said that “aunts and uncles told me I was born June 11, 1857, near Rockport NY.” Perhaps he misheard or misremembered. The facts are that George does not appear in the 1861 census; his parents didn’t marry until 1866; every census record from 1871 to 1930 shows his birth year as 1867; and - the strongest argument of all - his mother was still a child of 10 in 1857. George himself always used the year 1867 or 1868 year in official records. In addition, there is no Rockport in New York; there is a Lockport there, and a Rockport in Ontario and many other states. In later life, George started saying he was born in Niagara Falls NY, but he actually does not appear anywhere in the State of New York’s official birth records. Every census record for George, including the early ones where his parents were providing the information directly to the enumerator, says he was born in Ontario, which seems likely to be the true story – perhaps in Rockport, but more likely in Hamilton or London. Unfortunately official birth records were not kept in Ontario until 1869.
Regardless, George Hebden Corsan was an energetic, resourceful, multi-faceted individual and I’m happy to relate the story of this fascinating eccentric who inadvertently had such an impact on my childhood and who I partly credit for my love of bird watching and the outdoors today!
The Echo Valley property was purchased by Metropolitan Toronto in 1959 and turned into a public park as part of a larger Green Belt Plan. Now that spring is on its way, why not plan a walk through George’s beloved Echo Valley and try to imagine it full of his trees and birds and ponds? You can find entrances to Echo Valley Park at the north end of Echo Valley Road; at the south end of Haliburton Avenue; and at the southwest corner of Wingrove Hill and Kipling Avenue.
Researched and Written by Denise Harris
In 1927, Corn Flakes inventor W.K. Kellogg (and brother of Dr. John Harvey Kellogg) invited George to Michigan to design and build an 850 acre Kellogg Bird Sanctuary at a cost of $2.25 million. George lived there for the better part of a year to oversee its construction. The sanctuary is now part of Michigan State University, and is located 15 miles northwest of Battle Creek.
In the 1921 census, George appears in two locations: in the family home at 513 Christie Street at Davenport, and alone at Echo Valley on Etobicoke’s Lot 16, Concession II, North Division. In 1925, he began to use “Echo Valley Farm, Islington” as his permanent mailing address. It is likely about this time that he and Nora separated. They eventually divorced and in 1931, ownership of the 513 Christie Street property was transferred from joint ownership to Nora’s sole ownership.
It is believed that George married at least twice more. In the 1930 US census, he was living just outside Kalamazoo, MI and was employed as the Manager of the Kellogg Bird Sanctuary. His wife, Mabel, born in Canada ca. 1890, was also working at the sanctuary.
However, in Ancestry I also found George in 1933, returning to Toronto from a trip to California, accompanied by his wife, Marion Davenport Soule Smith Corsan. Marion had been listed in the 1930 US census in California, still living with her first husband, George W. Smith. Marion was born in Maine in 1887, and appears to be a different person than the Mabel George was living with in 1930 in Michigan. However, I can find no information about Mabel, so she will remain a mystery for now. Since George brought Marion back to Toronto with him, she is likely the “Mrs. Geo. H. Corsan” listed with George in a 1935 Islington Voters’ List. She disappears from all Voters’ Lists by 1940, so it appears the marriage was short-lived.
In 1940, George bought 5 acres of fertile land – later expanded to 18 acres - in Kendall, Florida, south of Miami, and developed it as a “southern plantation” where he lived in the winter. Here he grew avocados, coconuts, bananas, and macadamia nuts. In cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture and the NNGA, he launched a tropical nut experimental station on the property.
In Florida in 1951, George married a third (or fourth) time to 60 year old retired school teacher, Lillian Vesta Armstrong. In May of that year, after he had returned to Echo Valley, 83 year old George broke his neck in two places in a 20 foot fall from a ladder while he was pruning a walnut tree. When his son Edward found him, George vigorously protested going to the hospital as he had a life-long mistrust of doctors. Luckily Edward prevailed and took him to Western Hospital where George told the doctor that he had “strained his neck”. The doctor informed him that his injury had missed the spinal cord by a quarter of an inch, and put George in a full head and body cast. George recovered well, considering his age and the severity of his injuries, and he continued to write letters to local newspapers during his recovery. He returned to Florida when winter returned. However, on January 31, 1952, George died in a Miami Hospital, with his wife by his side, of injuries he incurred when he was run down in a car accident that morning. He was cremated in Florida, and his ashes were spread on his two properties in Kendall, Florida and Echo Valley, Islington.
Newspapers covering George’s fall and death stated his age as 93/94 years, and made much of how young he looked for his age. In fact, George was actually 10 years younger than the public had been led to believe. This discrepancy originated when George announced at some point that he was 10 years older than every document related to his life indicates. He said that “aunts and uncles told me I was born June 11, 1857, near Rockport NY.” Perhaps he misheard or misremembered. The facts are that George does not appear in the 1861 census; his parents didn’t marry until 1866; every census record from 1871 to 1930 shows his birth year as 1867; and - the strongest argument of all - his mother was still a child of 10 in 1857. George himself always used the year 1867 or 1868 year in official records. In addition, there is no Rockport in New York; there is a Lockport there, and a Rockport in Ontario and many other states. In later life, George started saying he was born in Niagara Falls NY, but he actually does not appear anywhere in the State of New York’s official birth records. Every census record for George, including the early ones where his parents were providing the information directly to the enumerator, says he was born in Ontario, which seems likely to be the true story – perhaps in Rockport, but more likely in Hamilton or London. Unfortunately official birth records were not kept in Ontario until 1869.
Regardless, George Hebden Corsan was an energetic, resourceful, multi-faceted individual and I’m happy to relate the story of this fascinating eccentric who inadvertently had such an impact on my childhood and who I partly credit for my love of bird watching and the outdoors today!
The Echo Valley property was purchased by Metropolitan Toronto in 1959 and turned into a public park as part of a larger Green Belt Plan. Now that spring is on its way, why not plan a walk through George’s beloved Echo Valley and try to imagine it full of his trees and birds and ponds? You can find entrances to Echo Valley Park at the north end of Echo Valley Road; at the south end of Haliburton Avenue; and at the southwest corner of Wingrove Hill and Kipling Avenue.
Researched and Written by Denise Harris