(photos and articles written and submitted by Cherylynn Ireland, 2020)
Isaac Ireland b.1776 d. circa 1833 and Susan Cornell b.1771 d.1826 came north to Kitley Township circa 1800 as part of a Cornell family group from near Schaghticoke, upper New York state, where their families had farms sharing a common boundary. Isaac and Susannah were married and had their first child, Elijah, before migrating to Kitley.
Isaac’s parents were Thomas Ireland b.1746 d.1811 and Sarah Seeley b. 1751 d. 1830. By the time Isaac came north, Thomas would have been approaching 60 years of age and had signed a petition 1775, to indicate his alliance with the Patriots/Rebels to avoid being “tarred & feathered” and having his farm confiscated.
Isaac is buried in the back portion of what is now Lehigh Cemetery beneath one of the large trees there. His headstone was a field stone, with the letters “IRE…” hand chiselled on one of the limestone field stones. There were three or four in a row, with inscriptions lost to the elements.
Darius West Ireland and his wife, Phoebe McManus are buried in Lehigh Cemetery. Darius is the grandson of Issac Ireland and Susan Cornell.
Darius’ parents were Lewis Denis Ireland b. 1800 d. 1884. married to Alice Johnson b. 1800 d. 1892
This is Darius West’s family line.
1)Gravestone of Susan (Cornell) Ireland b. 1771 near Schaghticoke, NY. married to Isaac Ireland. d. 1826. This is thought to be the oldest grave marker in Lehigh Cemetery.
2) Darius West Ireland. b.1836 d.1917 Darius was Susan’s grandchild. This hand drawn portrait is thought to have been commissioned to commemorate his marriage to Phoebe McManus, his second wife. (His first wife, Harriet Wood, died in childbirth.)
3) The tombstone of Darius West Ireland and his wife, Phoebe McManus. Lehigh Cemetery.
4) Phoebe McManus and Darius West Ireland, in their later years.
5) Darius West Ireland, homestead, which his son with Phoebe McManus, James Bruce Ireland, inherited. (North of Concession 9. West of Lehigh’s Corners. Intersection of Highway 29 with Kitley Concession 9.)
6) James Bruce Ireland b. 1892. d. 1937 with his wife, Bessie Peer. b. 1908 d.1964. In the photo, Bessie is holding her 1st female child, Phoebe. In front are their two sons, Cleon and Clifford.
7) The family farm James inherited from his father, Darius West Ireland. Approximately, 100 acres.
8) Bessie Peer as a young woman.
9) James Bruce died of a stroke in 1937, at the age of 55. Eventually, the Ireland Family faced foreclosure. This is the new farm Bessie was able to acquire, consisting of 50 acres. (Concession 9, half a mile East of Lehigh’s Corners, intersection of Concession 9 and Highway 29.)
10) Bessie’s farmhouse. 2017.
11) Tombstone of James Bruce Ireland, Bessie Peer, and their youngest daughter, Alice Ireland, who died of cancer, at the age of 46. Lehigh Cemetery.
12) A photo of Alice as a young woman. 1958.
13) Bessie’s obituary.
14) Clifford Ireland b. 1927. d. 1998. First born of the union between Bessie Peer and James Bruce Ireland.
15) Eunice Mary Reilly b.1932. d. 2016. Wife of Clifford
16) Eunice & Clifford’s marriage in Belleville. 1956.
17) Clifford and Eunice’s tombstone. Lehigh Cemetery.
18) Cherylynn, Linda, Cathy at the Old Family Farm. Offspring of Clifford & Eunice.
They have been called “Creepy” by some, and maybe they are, but to the little girls who owned these dolls they were beautiful and loved. Some dolls in our collection date back to the early 1900’s, and despite the ravages of time, still reflect the love that they once gave to their owners. We are fortunate to have as many as we do, and in such good condition despite their age.
The dolls are located on the second floor of the museum in the Mary Hudson Room. Please come by and take a look at them.
1– 17” Composition Doll, painted brown eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows and brown hair, open mouth with red lips showing two teeth. Flexible joints. Original clothing yellow bonnet, yellow and pink dress. mfg by Dee and Cee Company, Torontocirca1940 (The company name comes from the initials of the two founders. Max Diamond and Morris Cone. Dee and Cee manufactured dolls in Toronto, Ontario from 1938 – 1962. They were acquired by Mattel in 1962)
2– 14” Composition Doll, Movable Sleep Eyes, painted brown hair, with red lips and open mouth. Flexible joints. Original clothing a “Giraffe” Sleeper and white bonnet. Mfg by Reliable Toy Co. Ltd., Toronto circa 1930-40(The Reliable Toy Company Limited of Toronto, Canada was founded in 1920 by Solomon Frank Samuels, later joined by his brothers Alex Samuels and Ben Samuels. From 1922 until 1955 they began producing their own dolls, first made of composition, later of hard plastic and vinyl. Reliable is best known for their Canadian style Indians and Mounties dolls)
3– 18” Soft plastic head, hard plastic body, arms and legs. Movable blue “Sleep Eyes” painted red mouth and brown eyebrows. Synthetic short curly red hair. Flexible joints. Original clothing plaid dress and white flat shoes. Possibly a “Mary Jane” doll Mfg by Ideal Toy Company Ltd., Toronto circa 1950(Ideal Novelty and Toy Company began in 1906, by 1938 they changed the name to Ideal Toy Company. By the 1930s Ideal had created some of their best known dolls; Shirley Temple, Judy Garland and Deanna Durbin. Ideal dolls are made of wood, cloth, composition, hard plastic, vinyl and magic skin and are of very good quality. Ideal was first in their industry to make hard plastic dolls after World War II. Not long after World War II ended (1945) new development in plastic material was introduced by doll makers as a replacement to composition. Hard plastic material is durable, could be molded, washed etc. The Ideal company was one of the first companies to produce dolls made of plastic material beginning in 1946, soon followed by the rest of the industry)
4– 19” Vinyl head, hard vinyl body, arms and legs. Movable blue “Sleep Eyes” with real eyelashes, lightly painted moulded brown hair and single stroke brown eyebrows. Red lips with hole for bottle. Clothes are not original. This is a “Drink and Wet” doll parts made in Hong Kong and assembled and sold by the Ellance Doll Company Inc., Brooklyn, NY circa 1959-1964 (The Ellance Doll Company, Inc. was located in Brooklyn, New York 11211 from 1957 to 1991. They made Walking dolls, Drink N’ Wet Baby dolls, Musical dolls, New Born Baby Dolls, Cloth Rag Dolls and Novelty Dolls. Dolls were made of hard plastic or vinyl in Hong Kong or Taiwan and assembled and packaged in the U.S.A. doll marked 20F-5 or 20F-5 ELLANEE. (Our doll has 20F-5 marking)
5– 18” Composition Doll, jointed and movable head, neck, arms and legs. Movable blue “Sleep Eyes” with real eyelashes. Lightly painted moulded brown hair and red painted lips around an open mouth. Clothes appear to be original, but cannot confirm that they are. White dress with reddish patterned bonnet. Possibly a “Babykins Doll” mfg by the Reliable Toy Co., Toronto, ON circa 1941
6– 19” Bisque Doll, movable head, arms and legs made of Bisque material sewn onto a stuffed cloth body which extended to the arms and legs. The head appears to be larger than the body and the eyes are large and a noticeable feature. The hair is made of a blond synthetic material. The face is painted with brown eyes and brown wispy eyebrows. The shoes appear to be original to the doll with leather soles. The dress is starting to deteriorate in a normal aging process. Doll bodies were generally a composition, a mixture of sawdust and glue, or stuffed kid leather with bisque arms.
The manufacture is unknown as this type of doll was known as a “Benton Type Doll” which originated in Germany, they were also made in France. These doll started to be made in 1885 and continued in popularity until around 1935.
7-24” “Baby Darling Doll” Composition head with lightly molded painted blond hair, brown sleep eyes with painted upper and lower lashes, open red painted mouth with two upper and lower teeth, cloth body some may have a tummy Mama crier, composition arms with wide spread apart fingers on hands, composition legs to above the knee, doll is unmarked. Clothing on this doll appears to be the original clothing that came on the doll. This doll was popular between 1924-1930 and manufactured by the Horseman Toy and Doll Co, New York City. (The head mold was used by other doll manufacturers as well. In 1865, Edward Imeson Horsman started a toy and doll company in New York City and became a leader in the doll industry. In the beginning, they produced the trademarked name of ‘Babyland Rag Dolls’ an all cloth doll, a variety of Mama and Baby composition dolls wearing painted or molded hair, wigs, and sleepy (painted) eyes. From 1909 the toy firm used a new production process to make the ‘Can’t break Em’ dolls. In the 1930s Horsman bought the Louis Amberg & Son doll company which was their competitor at the time and continued to make some of their dolls, notably the Vanta Baby.In October 1933 Horsman was purchased and became a subsidiary of the Regal Doll Manufacturing Company. By the 1980’s the Horsman name was sold to an Asian company and produced dolls under the name ‘Horsman Ltd.’.)
8– 17” This doll has a soft rubber head with synthetic short blonde hair, sleep eyes with upper lashes, but no brows; open mouth and no teeth. Cloth body with cloth upper arms and upper legs. Lower arms and legs which are bent, are made of same soft rubber as head.Clothing on the doll appears to be original to the doll. Circa 1960-1970 and manufactured by The Star Doll Manufacturing Company of Toronto, ON ( the company was founded in Ontario in 1952. the company was taken over by The Good Time Toy Company in 1970. They used the Star doll molds so without packaging it would be hard to date dolls from this period. The company ceased to exist in 1977.)
9– 17” This doll is made of molded soft rubber, no movable joints; stitched short blonde synthetic hair; sleep eyes which look to the side, upper lashes and painted side lashes and brows; closed mouth with a smile. Cloth shoes with leather soles appear to be original, but the clothes are not. “Reliable” is engraved on upper back.(The Reliable Toy Company Limited of Toronto, Canada was founded in 1920 by Solomon Frank Samuels, later joined by his brothers Alex Samuels and Ben Samuels. From 1922 until 1955 they began producing their own dolls, first made of composition, later of hard plastic and vinyl. Reliable is best known for their Canadian style Indians and Mounties dolls)
10– 16 1/2” This doll has a soft vinyl/plastic head with stitched long black synthetic hair; painted blue eyes, upper lashes and brows. Body is hard plastic with jointed shoulders and hips. “Reliable Canada” is stamped on upper body back. circa 1950’s-60’s Made by the Reliable Toy Company Ltd., Toronto, ON
11 – 19” This doll is made entirely of soft resilient vinyl plastic, with flexible arms and legs but not jointed. Sleep eyes with painted brows; stitched long, curly blonde hair; detailed hands with dimples and molded finger joints; dimpled elbows and knees. Possibly a Reliable Sally Ann Doll circa 1950s. Note perfect detail in fingers, knuckles, dimples, etc., washable, practically unbreakable, won’t crack, peel or chip.” Her body will bend, but is not jointed, but her head can move from side to side. The clothes are original to the doll. Unable to determine who manufactured this doll.
12 –24” All Plastic/vinyl head and body. Sleep eyes and very thin, faded brows. Thick, molded, wavy, blonde hair, painted red lips and slightly opened mouth. Dis-proportionately large head turns from side to side; flexible arms and legs are not jointed. Clothes are not original to the doll. (Possibly: 1950’s “Ideal” type…..similar to the “1952 Ideal Hugee Girl doll”, manufactured by the Ideal Toy Company. (Ideal Toy Company originally produced teddy bears, they were first in their industry to make hard plastic dolls after World War II. Ideal’s dolls are made of wood, cloth, composition, rubber like magic skin, hard plastic and vinyl and are considered to be of very good quality. Ideal Toy Company was acquired by the CBS Toy Company in 1982, which later went out of business.)
13-– 23” Bisque or composition-type head, shoulders, lower arms and hands. The rest of the body including the legs and feet are cloth. Head has molded, painted hair, sleep eyes with upper lashes, painted brows and lashes, open mouth showing two upper teeth. The bodies were generally a composition, a mixture of sawdust and glue. Very likely a “Horsman-type Doll” circa early 1900’s. Clothes are not original. Manufactured by the Horseman Toy and Doll Co, New York City.(The head mold was used by other doll manufacturers as well. In 1865, Edward Imeson Horsman started a toy and doll company in New York City and became a leader in the doll industry. In the beginning, they produced the trademarked name of ‘Babyland Rag Dolls’ an all cloth doll, a variety of Mama and Baby composition dolls wearing painted or molded hair, wigs, and sleepy (painted) eyes. From 1909 the toy firm used a new production process to make the ‘Can’t break Em’ dolls. In the 1930s Horsman bought the Louis Amberg & Son doll company which was their competitor at the time and continued to make some of their dolls, notably the Vanta Baby.In October 1933 Horsman was purchased and became a subsidiary of the Regal Doll Manufacturing Company. By the 1980’s the Horsman name was sold to an Asian company and produced dolls under the name ‘Horsman Ltd.’.)
We are showing the following two pictures to give you an idea of the make up of this doll. Stuffed body and legs. Head and hands attached
14–16” Rubber/vinyl head and body with flexible arms and legs but not jointed. Head has sleep eyes with painted brows, sewn curly, short blonde hair, closed mouth. Dimpled toes and open fingers. Makes a squeak when the stomach is pushed. Clothes are original to the doll. This appears to be a “Generic Doll” massed produced as we are unable to determine any manufacturer.
15- 10”Composite doll, flexible arms and legs. Considered a baby doll because of its size and facial expression. Painted face and hair. Blue eyes and red lips. Made by Reliable Toy Co. Toronto, markings on the back of the neck. Doll circa 1940’s (The Reliable Toy Company Limited of Toronto, Canada was founded in 1920 by Solomon Frank Samuels, later joined by his brothers Alex Samuels and Ben Samuels. From 1922 until 1955 they began producing their own dolls, first made of composition, later of hard plastic and vinyl. Reliable is best known for their Canadian style Indians and Mounties dolls)
16- 10”Composite doll, flexible arms and legs. Considered a baby doll because of its size and facial expression. Painted face and hair. Blue eyes and red lips with an open mouth showing two teeth. Almost identical to the Reliable Doll #15 in our collection, although no manufacture is specified. Circa 1940’s
17– 19” Soft rubber face, hard plastic body. Doll has sleep eyes, long blond hair and clothing is original. Flexible arm and hip joints, but no knee joint, so doll is meant to stand. We thought that this would be an easy doll to identify, but it proved other wise. There are no manufacture’s markings on the body. Possibly the doll is circa 1970’s
18 – 21”Imitation” Nurser Doll, hard plastic body with rubber head. Sleep eyes with lashes, painted brow, molded brown hair. Open red lips with hole for a bottle. Movable leg and shoulder joints; head turns side to side. Open fingers with molded unpainted nails and joints; open toes with molded unpainted nails. Wearing a pink sleeper under a knitted pink and white sweater with matching bonnet and booties, clothes are not original to the doll. Similar to 1950’s era “Madame Alexander Kathy Baby Doll. The manufacturer is unknown
19- 18” Eaton’s Beauty Doll,Made by Armande Marseille of Germany, 390 A. 2 ½ M marked on back of bisque head. Honey blonde mohair wig, feathered brows, blue sleep eyes with real lashes, sleep eyes, open mouth with four upper teeth. Ball-jointed, composition body, with red “Eaton’s Beauty” label on the one-piece underwear beneath a cream coloured chiffon-like dress with pink silk vest. White socks and leather-like ankle boots. Clothes appear to be original to the doll. Circa early 1900’s; in original Eaton’s box.
20 – 22”Shirley Temple Doll. Made in Canada by Reliable Toy Co. Ltd., Toronto, Ontario. 1934 – 1936. All composition body, jointed hips, shoulders, and neck, composition head with dimples; sleep eyes, lashes, painted brows and lower lashes; blond mohair wig; open mouth showing teeth. Wearing a white dress with blue polka dots and blue ribbon belt; white socks and shoes. In original box. Clothes are original along with the “Shirley Temple” Button
21- 16”Souvenir type doll Hard plastic head with long, dark brown wig, glass brown eyes, lashes and brows, closed mouth. (One eye has actual lashes!) Cloth, stuffed body, arms and legs with hard plastic hands and feet. Cream coloured, long-sleeve dress with matching pantaloons, no socks or shoes. Clothes appear to be original to the doll. Manufacturer and estimated date unknown.
22 – 15”Souvenir type dollHard plastic head with long, blonde wig, painted blue eyes, lashes and brows, closed mouth. Cloth, stuffed body, arms and legs with hard plastic hands and feet. Flowered, long sleeve dress with white pantaloons, white socks and white leather-type ankle shoes. Clothes appear to be original to the doll.15 inches tall. Manufacturer and estimated date unknown.
23- 15”Souvenir type doll Hard plastic head with long, blonde wig, painted blue eyes, lashes and brows, closed mouth. Cloth, stuffed body, arms and legs with hard plastic hands and feet. Green, cotton velveteen, long sleeve dress with red tartan trim; white pantaloons, stockings and leather-type ankle boots. Clothes appear to be original to the doll. Manufacturer and estimated date unknown. Since Velcro was used on the dress est date of manufacture would be after 1955.
We hope you enjoyed looking over our doll collection, please visit us at the museum to see these dolls.
The Tire Shrinker – Also known as an upsetter, was used to resize and weld buggy tires. When the hub and or spokes dried out from age and dry weather the outer band of iron called the tire would become loose. The tire could be heated and placed in this machine and then upset or squeezed leaving a bulge which was hammered flat and trimmed at the edges. The created a tire that was of a smaller circumference.
Repairing both wagon & buggy wheels and the shrinking & refitting of the tires was a common occurrence. Through natural wear the fellows (wooden piece(s) directly under the tire) of the wheel would wear and the tire would loosen which relaxed the “dish” in the spokes. If not repaired the wheel would shell out the spokes when a turn was made too fast with it. The spoked wheel is only strong if there is a dish toward the outside. This way when side pressure is applied to it during a turn a tight tire will prevent the spokes from bending sideways. Once the dish is lost, there is nothing to prevent this. A temporary cure that was often used was to soak the wheel(s) to make the wooden spokes & fellows swell and thus tightening the tire. This would eventually add to the wear of the fellows and loosen the tire even more. You can see old wagon tires that have been shrunken as they will have thicker spots where this was done. On a small wheel the circumference should be approx. 1/2″ less in the tire than wheel. For a tall wagon wheel the difference would be more. (Sometimes you would have to use the tire shrinker more than once to get the circumference that you needed.)
The shrunken tire was refit while hot. Simply heat the tire in a normal wood fire until when tapped with a hammer there was no more ring to the iron. It was then as large as it will get. You don’t want to fit the tire any hotter than necessary as it will want to burn the fellows. As soon as possible after getting the tire in place you would want to pour water over it to prevent damages to the fellows. (You can see the dish appear in the wheel as the tire cools.)
You can view this artifact when you visit our museum in the Old Blacksmith’s Shop
What is bigger than a breadbox and weighs 14 pounds? If you guessed a Pneumatic Vacuum Sweeper you were correct. It measures 17” long x 13” wide and 8” high and is a beast to push across any carpet. Was it revolutionary? Perhaps but only for a short while until with the coming of electricity the electric vacuum cleaner was invented.
We searched to try and find some information on “Livingston” the manufacture of this unit but could find nothing. All we know is what is printed on the case of the unit:
Could it be that the outbreak of World War 1 put an abrupt stop to their manufacture, or was it just that they were big and didn’t do a much better job than a carpet sweeper.
We did come across two ads for other units, so there must have been some interest in this type of cleaner.
It is a combination carpet sweeper, with its’ own dirt catcher on the bottom, and a vacuum powered by 3 bellows that were chain driven by the back wheels as it was pushed. The vacuum part had a separate dirt catcher that was accessed by removing the front of the unit, and then tipping it up to shake out the dirt etc. Not a very convenient way of emptying it. We suspect that the carpet sweeper picked up as much as the “Vacuum Sweeper” part did.
If you are interested in this machine it can be seen on the second floor of our museum in the “Pioneer Room”
Albert was born in Toledo, Ontario on February 15th, 1885. His proud parents were Nelson Tallman (1852-1922) and Frances Ann nee Gorman (1854-1920). He was a member of a large family consisting of eight brothers and sisters.
There is little we know about his youth or the rest of his family, but somewhere between the time he was old enough to leave home and 1915 he moved to Winnipeg and was working as a Tinsmith.
Albert didn’t enlist when war broke out in 1914, but waited until November of the next year. Perhaps he thought that the war would be won quickly and he would not be required. However as 1914 rolled into 1915 Albert decided to enlist on November 16th, 1915. He was 30 years old, stool 5’6” with fair hair, grey eyes and a ruddy complexion.
He joined the 179th Battalion, Cameron Highlander, 16th Battalion Canadian Infantry in Winnipeg.
He spent almost all of his first year training in Canada before he set sail for England. His unit sailed from Halifax aboard the HMS Saxonia on October 4th, 1916.
After his arrival on October 13th, he and his unit went to East Sandling where they trained in the art of “Trench Warfare”.
After training in England he along with his unit were transferred to France where they joined the rest of the 16th Battalion. Little did he know what awaited him in the upcoming months, history would recall it as the Battle of Vimy Ridge.
On that first day of the attack, April 9th, 1917, Albert along with the rest of his unit went over the top of the trenches and into ‘no man’s land’. And that is the last we know of Albert as he was report “Missing in Action” on that first day of the battle. He was later declared to have been “Presumed to have died on or since April 9th, 1917”.
His story and life have been lost to history with the exception of his name that is carved into the “Vimy Memorial” in France, and also appears on the Cenotaph in Toledo.
For those who are interested we have reprinted part of the story of the Battle for Vimy Ridge below.
Vimy Ridge Memorial
Canada’s most impressive tribute overseas to those Canadians who fought and gave their lives in the First World War is the majestic and inspiring Vimy Memorial, which overlooks the Douai Plain from the highest point of Vimy Ridge, about eight kilometres northeast of Arras on the N17 towards Lens. The Memorial is signposted from this road to the left, just before you enter the village of Vimy from the south. The memorial itself is someway inside the memorial park, but again it is well signposted. At the base of the memorial, these words appear in French and in English:
TO THE VALOUR OF THEIR COUNTRYMEN IN THE GREAT WAR AND IN MEMORY OF THEIR SIXTY THOUSAND DEAD THIS MONUMENT IS RAISED BY THE PEOPLE OF CANADA
Inscribed on the ramparts of the Vimy Memorial are the names of over 11,000 Canadian soldiers who were posted as ‘missing, presumed dead’ in France. A plaque at the entrance to the memorial states that the land for the battlefield park, 91.18 hectares in extent, was ‘the free gift in perpetuity of the French nation to the people of Canada’. Construction of the massive work began in 1925, and 11 years later, on July 26, 1936, the monument was unveiled by King Edward VIII. The park surrounding the Vimy Memorial was created by horticultural experts. Canadian trees and shrubs were planted in great masses to resemble the woods and forests of Canada. Wooded parklands surround the grassy slopes of the approaches around the Vimy Memorial. Trenches and tunnels have been restored and preserved and the visitor can picture the magnitude of the task that faced the Canadian Corps on that distant dawn when history was made. On April 3, 2003, the Government of Canada designated April 9th of each year as a national day of remembrance of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. (Veterans Affairs Canada)
The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during World War I. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the Western Front.
The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of the German 6th Army. The battle took place from 9 to 12 April 1917 at the beginning of the Battle of Arras, the first attack of the Nivelle Offensive, which was intended to attract German reserves from the French, before their attempt at a decisive offensive on the Aisne and the Chemin des Chemin ridge further south.
Main assault
9 April 1917
The attack was to begin at 5:30 am on Easter Monday, 9 April 1917. The attack was originally planned for the morning of 8 April (Easter Sunday) but it was postponed for 24 hours at the request of the French.During the late hours of 8 April and early morning of 9 April the men of the leading and supporting wave of the attack were moved into their forward assembly positions. The weather was cold and later changed to sleet and snow.Although physically discomforting for everyone, the northwesterly storm provided some advantage to the assaulting troops by blowing snow in the faces of the defending troops.Light Canadian and British artillery bombardments continued throughout the night but stopped in the few minutes before the attack, as the artillery recalibrated their guns in preparation for the synchronized barrage.At 5:30 am, every artillery piece at the disposal of the Canadian Corps began firing. Thirty seconds later, engineers detonated the mine charges laid under no man’s land and the German trench line, destroying a number of German strong points and creating secure communication trenches directly across no man’s land. Light field guns laid down a barrage that mostly advanced at a rate of 100 yards in three minutes while medium and heavy howitzers established a series of standing barrages further ahead against known defensive systems.During the early fighting, the German divisional artillery, despite many losses, were able to maintain their defensive firing.As the Canadian assault advanced, it overran many of the German guns because large numbers of their draught horses had been killed in the initial gas attack.
It was during the early morning hours of this first assault that Albert Ellery Tallman lost his life in the muddy ground of “no man’s land” in the far distant fields of France.
Some men are forgotten to history, just a footnote in time and in this case a casualty of the Great War. If it wasn’t for the fact that his name appears on the Toledo Cenotaph, his name would be lost forever. That name however will live on as long as that small memorial in Toledo remains.
Russell Rice was a casualty of World War I, just 26 years old and single when he was killed. His father had passed away some years before and his mother passed away in Brockville just one month prior to Russell being killed. It is quite possible he never heard the news of his mother’s passing.
Russell’s story is like so many others of his generation, and for us a difficult story to piece together, but we will try.
He was born Russell Ira Rice on May 1, 1892 in Jasper, Ontario, Kitley Township. His proud parents were George (1843-1909) and Alice nee Driver (1866- May 30, 1918). Russell was the oldest son, with an older sister Letha, younger sisters Grace and Saddie and younger brother, Roy. George, Alice and their family led a quiet, rural, farm life in Kitley Township.
At some point Russell left the farm, and the next record we found shows him working as a labourer in a foundry in Beckwith Township, Ontario. After his father died his mother and the rest of his family moved into Brockville and lived at 114 Water Street.
Three years after the outbreak of World War 1, Russell enlisted at Kingston on January 18th, 1917. He signed up with the 73rd Battery, 6th Brigade Canadian Field Artillery. He stood 5’5” tall, 155 pounds with blue eyes and light brown hair.
After a few months training in Canada he sailed from Halifax on April 17, 1917 on the SS Missanabie to Liverpool and then on to the massive military training base at Shorncliff, England.
On September 19th, 1917 Russell Rice was shipped off to be with his unit in France. His movements during his time in France are a mystery until he was ‘killed in action’ near the city of Calonne, west of Lens France on June 3rd, 1918. The location of his death puts him along the Western Front, during the push to take the city of Calonne which went from April to July of 1918.
He is buried in Fosse 10 Communal Cemetery Extension, located at Sains en-Gouele, plot III.c.13. Unfortunately there is no photo of his headstone.
In his Last Will and Testament, he left everything to his sister Grace who was the guardian of his youngest sister Saddie. Grace, along with her brothers had moved to Toronto. (39 Poucher St.)
And so ends the life and story of Gunner Russell Ira Rice, gone but not entirely forgotten as we have been able to rediscover his life here in these few lines.
A Simple Start: Spilled Sawdust…Anna and Melville’s Crockery Shop
Like a lot of well intentioned people who plan on having a relaxing Saturday, we didn’t really mean to start cleaning—it just happened. In 1876, Melville R. Bissell and his wife, Anna, were running a small crockery shop in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sick of constantly cleaning sawdust off the shop’s carpet, Melville invented and patented a one-of-a-kind sweeper. It didn’t take long for friends and customers at the shop to ask about buying the sweeper, and when they did, a new business was born
A Woman’s World: America’s First Female CEO
When Melville passed away in 1889, there was no question who would take the reigns at BISSELL®. Anna stepped in, making her the first female CEO in America. Anna aggressively defended the company’s patents while also marketing sweepers across North America and Europe. It didn’t take long for BISSELL® to get its first famous fan, Queen Victoria, who insisted her palace be “Bisselled” every week. We like to think the palace attendants were also fans, loving the free time they had thanks to how easy the BISSELL sweeper made cleaning up royal messes.(Wikipedia)
You can see these artifacts in the Pioneer Room on the second floor
Frederick William Gray was born in Lyn on September 6th 1895. He was the second child born to his parents John Henry and Smiena (known as Mimmie) her maiden name was Graham. His parents were farmers and after attending high school at Brockville Collegite Institute, Frederick followed in their footsteps and worked on the family farm.
He had a sister Hattie who was one year older than he was and a brother George eight years younger born in 1903.
The war broke out in 1914 and on July 14, 1915 at the age of 19 Frederick decided to enlist and fight for King and Country. At the time of his enlistment he stood 5’4” with blue eyes and light brown hair. He enlisted in Brockville in the 59th Battalion and was later transferred to the 20th Battalion.
After training in Canada the day finally arrived, April 5th, 1916 when he and the rest of his fellow soldiers sailed from Halifax to Liverpool, England. It was upon his arrival on April 11th, that he was transferred to the 20th Battalion.
On June 6th, 1916 he was sent to France to join the rest of the 2nd Canadian division. He would eventually move to the front lines and live in the labyrinths of trenches dug for his safety. He would live like this for the next year and a half, dodging bullets and just trying to stay alive.
In 1918 the war was drawing to a close and the Allies wanted to put on a last big offensive to try and break through the enemy lines and bring the war to a close. Plans were made for what would later be called the Battle of Amiens.
The Battle of Amiens-
“Canadian and Allied troops won a major victory against Germany at the Battle of Amiens between 8 and 11 August 1918. Amiens was the first in a string of offensive successes that led to the end of the of the First World War and culminated in the 11 November 1918 armistice.
The attacking force comprised the Canadian Corps, the British Fourth Army, the French First Army, the Australian Corps and others. In early August, the Allies tricked the Germans by appearing to weaken their front line so that German officers expected no assault. Troops moved to the front lines at night to fool the enemy. False moves were also made in daylight, amid much noise, dust and bogus radio communication.
Secrecy was so important that the soldiers saw the warning “KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT” added to their service and pay book.
The Allies sneaked into position with thousands of heavy and super-heavy field guns, howitzers, more than 600 tanks, and 2,000 aircraft. The Germans were greatly outnumbered and, in the words of German military chief Erich Ludendorff, “depressed down to Hell.” The Germans were protected by three lines of trenches, which were poorly wired for communications and without good dugout shelters.
The Canadian Corps was assigned to hit the German Fourth Army. The attack was scheduled for 8 August at 4:20 a.m. Unlike earlier attacks in the war, the Amiens assault would not be preceded by bombardment. This would keep the assault secret as long as possible.
A Royal Air Force squadron laid smoke screens over the battlefield to hide the attacking Canadians. A heavy mist also concealed no man’s land as the attack grew nearer on that moonless night. At exactly 4:20 a.m., 900 Allied guns opened fire and the infantry headed toward the German lines. Tanks roared across the battlefield and planes droned overhead.
The Germans were entirely unprepared for this scale of attack and many surrendered at the first chance. Allied soldiers fought through woods to clear German machine-gun positions and take prisoners. The tanks lagged behind, struggling across boggy terrain and in thick fog. Canadian forces captured several key targets and pressed forward amid waves of German prisoners being marched back behind Allied lines.”(The Canadian Encyclopedia)
Unfortunately Pte. Frederick Gray was wounded with a gunshot to the head during the first day of the attack on August 8th. He was removed to Base Hospital No. 6 in the nearby city of Rouen.
In the First World War the city was safely behind the lines and became a major logistics centre with numerous base hospitals. Commonwealth camps and hospitals were stationed on the southern outskirts of Rouen. A base supply depot and the 3rd Echelon of General Headquarters were also established in the city.
Almost all of the hospitals at Rouen remained there for the duration of the war.
On the champ de courses on the outskirts of Rouen, the British established
Nos.5, 6, 9, 10, and 12 General Hospitals
Nos.1, 3, 8, 11, and 12 Stationary Hospitals
Whether Pte. Gray ever regained consciousnesses or not we will never know. What we do know is that he lay in a hospital bed at No 6 Base Hospital for 32 days until he died on September 9th. Just a few days after his 23rd birthday.
He was laid to rest in St. Sever Cemetery and Extension long with his fellow soldiers who died on that battlefield.
(We have no photo of his grave marker)
St. Server Cemetery
The St. Sever Cemetery and Extension (Rouen) is situated about 3 kilometres south of Rouen Cathedral and a short distance west of the road from Rouen to Elbeuf. If travelling from Elbeuf or Caen on the N.138, follow Avenue Des Canadiens right down to the roundabout. Then take the fourth exit into Rue Stanislas De Jardin, and the cemetery lies 150 metres on the left. The CWGC signpost is located at the entrance of the cemetery. The cemetery covers an area of 49,885 square metres. The War Stone is on the boundary of the original Cemetery and the Extension, facing the City of Rouen War Memorial. The Cross is raised on a terrace on the further side of the Extension. The Chapel, cruciform and surmounted by a dome, is in the middle of the Extension.
During the Second World War, Rouen was a hospital centre and the extension was used for the burial of Commonwealth servicemen, many of whom died as prisoners of war during the German occupation. There are 332 Canadians buried here from the First World War and 38 Canadians from the Second World War. The extension was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
Stanley Clarence Darling was born on November 26th, 1894 in Lillies just north of the Village of Lyn. His mother was Fanny Darling and his father Wells. He was the oldest in a family of two boys and three girls. His brother Grant was born a year after him in 1895.
We know very little about his early childhood, except that growing up on a farm he would be expected to help out with the daily chores. Living in Lillies he would have attended the Lillies one room school house.
When war broke out in Europe in 1914, Stanley would have been 20 years old and would have read with keen interest the events of that far away war.
On January 6th, 1917 he took a big step and enlisted in the 253rd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Forces. At the time of his enlistment he stood 5’7 tall, weighted 165 pounds with brown eyes and red hair.
On April 29, 1917 he sailed for England aboard the SS Olympic. He would remain in England for the better part of a year and finally his unite sailed for France and the front lines, arriving on March 8th 1918. When Pte. Darling arrived in France he was attached to the 102nd Battalion as an infantryman.
On September 3rd, 1918, six months after he arrived in France, Pte. Stanley Darling took part in the battle for the Canal du Nord.
The story of that battle is as follows:
On September 3, 1918, the day after the Canadian Corps breached the Drocourt-Quéant Line, a directive was issued for a general Allied offensive on the entire front from the Meuse to the English Channel, with four great hammer-strokes to be delivered at crucial points. The timetable for these blows called for striking the enemy on four successive days. The second of these assaults was to take place on September 27, and was a joint attack by the First and Third British Armies in the general direction of Cambrai to capture the northern part of the Hindenburg Line. Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig ordered the First Army to seize Bourlon Wood and cover the Third Army’s left flank as the latter advanced on Cambrai and subsequently on to Valenciennes. The capture of Bourlon Wood was assigned to the Canadian Corps, which would then push forward to establish a defensive flank northeast of Cambrai. Farther south the British Fourth Army, supported by the French First Army, would join the battle on September 29 in an assault on the main Hindenburg position.
The first obstacle General Sir Arthur Currie’s forces had to overcome was the Canal du Nord. Because the Canal du Nord was impassable on the northern part of his front, General Currie had his boundary with the Third Army shifted 2,377 metres to the south, and proceeded with preparations for the Canadian Corps to make its initial attack through a dry area between Sains-lez-Marquion and Moeuvres. It was an intricate operation introducing the difficult problem of moving the whole Corps through a narrow opening before fanning out with four divisions engaged on a battlefront that would rapidly expand to over 10,000 metres.
In the dusk of the evening of 26 September the Canadians moved forward. By midnight they were assembled opposite the dry section of the canal, huddled together for warmth, and for the most part in the open. The night wore on and there was no evidence of enemy counter-preparation. Suddenly, as dawn was breaking, the opening barrage flashed out, shocking the enemy into action. Before they could retaliate, the initial waves had crossed the canal and were fanning out from the bridgehead. Nevertheless, the follow-up troops suffered casualties as the enemy, alive to the danger, subjected the canal bed to a violent bombardment. The results justified Currie’s generalship. He acquired the canal at relatively light cost, but more than that, Bourlon Wood the essential objective, was also taken.
Unfortunately it was at this point during the start of the battle on September 27th that Pte. Stanley Clarence Darling was killed by enemy fire in his 24th year. He was killed in the vicinity of “Inchy-En-Artois”. Fate took its’ toll and less then two months after his death on November 11th 1918 at 11 o’clock armistice was signed and World War I ended.
Stanley is buried in the Bourlon Wood Cemetery in France.
Today, the Bourlon Wood Canadian Memorial commemorates the attack across the Canal Du Nord on ground donated by the Comte de Franqueville, then Mayor of Bourlon. The great stone block is at the top of a hill. It is approached by climbing steep, stone steps past terraces cut into the hillside, and bears the message:
“THE CANADIAN CORPS ON 27TH SEP. 1918 FORCED THE CANAL DU NORD AND CAPTURED THIS HILL. THEY TOOK CAMBRAI, DENAIN, VALENCIENNES & MONS; THEN MARCHED TO THE RHINE WITH THE VICTORIOUS ALLIES”
Ancient lime trees line both sides of the steps that lead to the Memorial. They are the original trees, and though shattered by shellfire in the battle, they were nursed back to health. The terraces are planted with a rich variety of coniferous shrubs and shade-loving plants. The Memorial is beyond the village of Bourlon, which is just south of the Arras-Cambrai road, three kilometres beyond Marquion.
(note information on the history of the battle and grave site was taken from the Canadian War Museum’s website)
Charles Edward Goad (March 15, 1848 – June 10, 1910 ) was a noted cartographer and civil engineer. Goad is most noted for his insurance surveys of cities in Canada, Great Britain, and elsewhere. Fire insurance companies needed to know in detail the nature and size of buildings, width of streets, construction, building materials and the proximity of fire services and water supplies in order to estimate appropriate premiums. Goad established a company (the Charles E. Goad Company) in 1875 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada to produce maps to provide this information. These and like maps are now referred to as Goad Maps.(Wikepedia)
These maps are on line, but we have included them here on our website as they are an important part of our history.
The Mallorytown Telephone Company was just one of hundreds small companies that dotted the rural landscape to serve local needs. It served both the Mallorytown and Lyn, Ontario phone requirements. The service connected with Bell Telephone at Mallorytown. In Lyn their exchange was located in the bottom floor of the Pergau Building on Main Street. The upper floor of the building was open and a place where local dances and events were held.
We are fortunate to have in our collection one of their telephone directories from November 1943. We have scanned and posted all of the pages here for your information.
The following is a copy of the Mallorytown Telephone Directory from November 1913
This is a small family cemetery that was for members of the Jelly Family. The cemetery is located on the intersection of County Rd 7 and the Atkins Lake Road.
Photos from August 2016
List of grave-sites as compiled by the Brockville Genealogical Society:
“The town of Lynn, six miles from Brockville, in the year 1868 was quite a stirring town according to Mr. David Halliday, whose father John Halliday, operated a general store there in that year. In 1869 Lynn was a place of about 750 population. At that time the village had one of the largest tanneries in Ontario. Lynn had originally been known as Coleman’s Corners, and had revolved around the activities of the Coleman family. Even in 1868 to a large extent the Colemans dominated the place. James Coleman ran a four-story grist mill and flour mill. Walter Coleman conducted a large tree and fruit nursery, and a Dr. Wm. F. Coleman looked after all the illnesses of Lyn and surrounding country. John Coleman was a harness maker and Edward Coleman was a flour merchant. There were several other Colemans. A large woolen mill was run by Erastus Cook. There were several sole leather factories in the town. There had been a boot and shoe factory, but in 1868 on its last legs.
Bad Setback
In 1872 the tannery received a bad setback. One night a fire broke out in piles of stored tan bark and over a thousand cords were burned. The country surrounding Lynn was strong in dairying and fruit and Lynn benefited therefrom. A good many people came and went, sufficient to support five good hotels. These were kept by John Gilleland, George Ross, Edward Harvey and William Curtis.”
A good and faithful servant retires to a well earned rest
by
Gertrude E. Wheeler (nee Forth)
1952
On August 30th, last year, the old B&W Railway of Leeds County, Ontario became only a memory — a fragment of Leeds County history.
The engine whistled a mournful note of farewell as it passed our little station of Forthton on it final trip from Westport to Brockville.
For 64 years it had served the farmers of Leeds County faithfully and well. But latterly because of the increasing popularity of trucks and buses, it was playing a losing game. A continuing deficit in returns brought about its abandonment.
Half a century ago, before the motor age, and the building of good highways, the old Brockville & Westport meant a great deal to the rural community; it was their railroad—part and parcel of their daily lives. Not only did it offer a novel means of travelling from place to place, but as a shipping medium it was a decided advantage to all district farmers. Tons of fertilizer, feed and road materials were unloaded regularly at country stations to be conveyed later by team and wagon to the farm homesteads. Outgoing freight from various points along the line consisted chiefly of livestock, butter and cheese. Every Friday ten carloads of the last named commodity were billed for Brockville.
The old B&W was, perhaps, Ontario’s most romantic railroad. In those unhurried days it rambled leisurely through a picturesque countryside translating ordinary mileage into terms of scenic charm.
Leaving Brockville on its daily week-day trips its first stop was at Lyn, a Rip Van Winkle village as quaintly lovely as its name.
Then it meandered further on an apparently unchartered course across prosperous farmlands where mild-eyed cows stood knee deep in clover or dreamed beneath the maples’ lavish shade.
Six miles from Lyn was Forthton Station. It was named after my grandfather, John Forth, who gave the railroad the land at this point through which it passed with the understanding that a station would be built there. The promise was kept, but with the clapboards hanging loose, and windows broken, the station is a mere ghost of its former self. The plank platform, now dilapidated and deserted was once the scene of happy rural travelling. The annual Sunday School picnic at Beverly Lake was a long anticipated event. On a sunny July morning over a hundred children and parents would board the train at Forthton for a wonderful day in the open.
The next stop west was Athens (Formerly Farmersville) a village mainly composed of retired farmers.
From there the train ambled on to Lyndhurst, a settlement near where the Briar Hill Gang lived in the ‘90’s terrifying all whom they choose to molest with their daring pranks.
The next station was Delta with its beautiful Beverly Lake—a resort for picnic parties.
A few miles from here took you to Plum Hollow where the Witch of Plum Hollow studied the tea leaves, and foretold the future with such startling accuracy that their clientele extended into the border states.
Crosby and Newboro were the only other stops further west before the B & W’s final destination at Westport about 45 miles from its starting point, Brockville.
Crosby is a tiny station hidden away in the woods.
Newboro was noted in those days as the place from which great quantities of iron ore were shipped by water to Ohio.
The B&W’s last run was a colourful chapter in the railroad’s history. Several local residents and former employees were on board to pay their last respects to a railway that had been a faithful servant and a loyal friend tom the farmers of the district since the ‘80’s.
Jack Radford, owner of the CFJR radio station in Brockville was among the group. He had with him a tape recording instrument to record the eventful trip in detail. This was later broadcast over CFJR.
Austin Cross of the Ottawa Evening Citizen was also a passenger.
The party included too, George T. Fulford, MP for Leeds County. In speaking of the trip, he said: “This is a very sad occasion. I’ve travelled on 154 railroads, but these are the saddest and most poignant miles I’ve ever travelled.”
Mr. Fulford concluded his remarks by expressing the hope that the old abandoned road might be used someday as a motor highway. Here indeed, is the germ of an idea which might well take root in the soil of progress. Where would we find greater scenic beauty in our province? And where, with the foundation already laid would it be possible to construct a motor way at such a comparatively small cost?
Conductor Pete Moore who had served the railroad for 44 years made the final trip. He had started on the road when he was sixteen. In those early days he fired with cord wood.
When asked what he had to say of the folks along the line, he exclaimed with hearty sincerity: “The meals I’ve eat, and the times I’ve had would fill a book.”
The scream of the old engine as it puffed past the forlorn country stations was fraught with pathos for the farmers and housewives who appeared at different points for a last goody. Most of them were elderly people who felt they were bidding farewell to a friend of more than half a lifetime, and to a railroad that had played an important part in the development of Leeds County.
Some waved flags in tribute, while others took photographs of the old B&W that in its gala days had carried as many as 250 passengers on its daily trip from Brockville to Westport and return.
Superintendent Curle was always proud of the railroad for which he worked. If anyone made a disparaging remark about the B&W he would retaliate loyally by saying: “It may not be the longest line in the country, but it’s just as WIDE.”
(Taken from the book “Country Musings” by Gertrude E. Wheeler)
As I sat down to write about the history of roller skates, I thought it would be an easy task. Not so! For something as simple as a roller skate that I had so much fun on as a kid my internet search provided no results except the following very dry information from the New York Times:
“The first modern two-by-two roller skates were patented in 1863 by James L. Plimpton, a New York City furniture dealer. Instead of being attached directly to the sole of the skate, the wheel assembly was fastened to a pivot and had a rubber cushion, which allowed the skater to curve by shifting his weight. A modification in 1866 added leather straps and metal side braces. “At last a roller skater could move around the floor as if he were on ice,” Mr. Turner wrote.”
This description would not suffice as it failed to detail the happiness, pleasure and bruised knees that a pair of roller skates could bring.
I grew up in a city, with lots of sidewalks and streets on which to use my skates. I was perhaps around 8 or 9 when I, along with every other kid on my block received a pair of brand new roller skates from Santa.
Now the good thing about living in certain cities is the lack of snow in the winter, so I was able to attempt using my new skates without a long wait until spring. It looked so easy, but alas it was not. Time was required to strap and fit them onto your shoes. Sneakers, I found out, wouldn’t work as well as a pair of good old ‘Buster Brown’ hard sole leather shoes.
The skate key was without a doubt one of the most important parts of the roller skate, for without it, all you could do was to look down at a pair of very useless new shiny skates. The key helped to adjust the length of the skate to fit your shoe, and once on your feet would work well to adjust the front clamps to fit snugly around the toe of your shoes. The back leather straps were fairly easy to put on and tighten to the desired fit.
Once the desired fit was obtained then you were ready to take off and skate with your friends, well almost. Maybe not as easy as it looked.
It’s like your first time on ice skates. Your balance is off and your feet want to fly out from under you. You couldn’t ask for help, because what 9 year old boy needs help, or would ever admit to wanting help.
I finally managed to get the hang of skating and was fairly steady on my feet and able to manage to skate a fair distance, that is, until I met my demise…the sidewalk crack!
Those cracks between the large concrete sidewalk slabs were as wide and deep as the Grand Canyon. Yes there were many that were small, narrow and fairly visible, but then there were the big ones! And on my first attempt, down I went, hurting both my knees, out stretched hands, and mostly my pride. Others too, would fall as they attempted to make it across this divide, only to be looked at and laughed at by those who mastered the crossing.
I never really became a great roller skater as so many others did. In time many of us who were unable to master the art of roller skating decided to take our skates apart and make box scooters out of them. Now this was the best part of my roller skating days. All you needed was an old orange crate or another wooden box left out behind the local grocery store, a hammer, some nails and a few other additional pieces of wood. The skate key was used to take apart one skate. The front part of the skate was nailed to the front of your board, and the back part of the skate t the back of the board.
This was something that I could finally master along with the other kids who were not great roller skaters. As a group, we would cruise the sidewalks and streets on our homemade box scooters. A new form of freedom was found.
Years later I went to a roller rink which had form-fitting shoes with the rollers attached, but unfortunately my attempts at this were no better than my old fashion metal skates. The worst part of a Roller Rink, was that falling down was witnessed by all around you as you sat there embarrassed, trying to figure how to exit the rink gracefully.
And that’s my story of “Roller Skates”. If you have your own experiences, please share them with us. If you want to look at an old pair of Roller Skates and reminisce, visit us at the museum.
How many times have you driven along the Lyn Road, passed the large barns and the sign that reads “Avondale Farms”? Here is the story behind those barns and that sign.
An article printed in the (Brockville) “Recorder and Times” appeared on Friday, July 23, 1909…… “Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Hardy, were hosts of a delightful dance at “Avondale Farm” west of town last night, the affair taking place in a large, new modern barn on the Lyn Road recently completed. Although the weather was warm the barn afforded an ideal spot for just such a gathering and until two o’clock this morning the 250 guests tripped the light fantastic to excellent music furnished by Merry’s Orchestra of ten pieces from Ogdensburg. Three locomotive headlights and small coloured lanterns were used for lighting the building. At midnight dainty refreshments were served”.
As one reads this account 110 years later, imagination can almost visualize the dancing, the laughter and high spirits of that evening. Today, such a celebration for the completion of a barn would be unheard of. So who were Mr. and Mrs. A.C. Hardy?
Arthur Charles Winnett Hardy was born on Tuesday, December 3, 1872 at Brantford, Ontario. He was the son of a former Premier of Ontario, the Honorable Arthur Sturgis Hardy and Mary Morrison, the daughter of Hon. Joseph C. Morrsion, Solicitor General and Receiver General in two of Sir John A. Macdonald’s administrations from 1856 to 1860.
Educated at Brantford Collegiate Institute, Upper Canada College and Toronto University with a B.A. in 1895, Arthur Charles Hardy graduated from Osgoode Hall with a LL.B and was ‘Called to the Bar’ in 1896. In 1904 he married Dorothy Fulford (1881-1949), daughter of Senator George T. Fulford of Brockville. After their marriage the couple took up residence along the St. Lawrence River at the east end of Brockville at “Thornton Cliff”. This ‘mansion’ had been purchased by George T. Fulford for a reported $11,000 and given to his daughter and son-in-law as a wedding gift.
A barrister by training, Arthur C. Hardy practiced law for only a short time. He was summoned to the Canadian Senate on February 10, 1922, was speaker of the Senate for a short period in 1930 and was sworn into the Privy Council July 31, 1930. From this point on, Arthur C. Hardy became known as Senator A.C. Hardy.
With a deep interest in the community, Senator Hardy also held a more personal interest in agricultural matters. This perhaps started out as a hobby, but it later grew into something much more.
From ‘Hobby Farm’ to Business:
Sometime between 1905 and 1909, Arthur Charles Hardy turned his attention to establishing his own farm and began to buy up parcels of land along the Lyn Road, just west of Brockville. This first purchase of 100 acres allowed the Senator to pursue his long time interest in agriculture and own some cattle. This soon became a desire to breed purebred cattle and he would ultimately name his farm Avondale Farm. In the years following, the farm continued to grow in size to approximately 250 acres, with the purchase of other surrounding lands, including those belonging to the Bressee, Grant, Johnston and Paul families.
The existence of buildings on the original property is uncertain. The newly-built barn that we previously referenced may have been a replacement for an existing barn, or it could have been the first barn built on this property. The manager’s house, on the driveway leading into the farm was built shortly after Senator Hardy purchased the farm. The house located next to the manager’s house, was originally located on a side road at the back of the farm and was moved to its present location most likely prior to 1909. It was first used as a boarding house for farm employees and seasonal workers. Later it became the herdsman’s home.
Another structure that was built on the farm was a small, two story frame house away from the main buildings, down a short lane-way. Fully furnished and surrounded by trees on two of its sides and fields on the other two sides, this house was occasionally used by the Senator and his wife Dorothy. Avondale seemed to be a place of retreat for the couple and they would bring their servants with them to prepare and serve their meals. On at least one occasion Senator Hardy celebrated his birthday at this quiet scenic ‘hideaway’. In 1948, an additional two bedrooms were added on the back of the house in the event grandchildren would eventually visit.
From 1909 to the early 1920’s, Senator Hardy was establishing one of the finest purebred Holstein herds in Canada. It did not stop there. Continuing his quest for perfection in a cattle herd, in 1925 Senator Hardy imported a herd of purebred Jersey cattle from the Jersey Islands in the English Channel. For the next 13 years, Avondale Farm housed both purebred Holstein and Jersey cattle. In 1938, the Holstein herd was sold and the focus was placed on breeding and raising Jersey cattle.
Avondale was also equipped with a modern dairy, capable of pasteurizing and processing milk for home delivery. The Jersey milk was all produced by the farm herd of 65 – 75 cows, while the milk from Holsteins (after 1938) was purchased from area farmers. The ‘Dairy’ operation consisted of three men, one responsible for pasteurizing and bottling and two men for the delivery to households around Brockville. Approximately 1000 quarts of milk were sold each day by 1942! At that time the price for milk was 10¢ a quart (standard milk from Holsteins), and 12¢ for the richer Jersey milk.
The horse drawn ‘Avondale Farm Milk Wagon’ was a familiar sight on the streets of Brockville for many years in the early half of the 1900’s. One very memorable milkman was Harvey Pyke, who began delivering milk in 1932 at the age of 18. His faithful horse who pulled his wagon each day was named Polly, a Belgian mare. In good weather they used a wagon, and in bad winter weather, a sleigh. By the time the Avondale Dairy closed in the late 1940’s, a motorized truck had replaced Polly and her wagon and Harvey Pyke went to work for Smith’s Dairy in Brockville.
Although Senator Hardy never ‘lived’ on Avondale Farm, he visited whenever he could, depending on his schedule. “Sometimes he came every day, sometimes twice a week or he would simply call and ask if there were any new calves in the barn. He had a particular soft spot for the little calves.”(Lillian Baker)
To handle the daily chores, Avondale employed a staff of between ten to twelve farm workers, depending on the time of year. Obviously during the warmer months, more farm hands were necessary for crop planting and harvesting. Overseeing the employees was a Farm Manager. Prior to 1918, Mr. Betty, Mr. Manhard, Mr. Logan, Mr. Bissle and Mr. H. Lynn held this position. Mr. J.D. Seeks was the Manager from March 11, 1918 to November 28, 1918, followed by Mr. T. J. Davidson, who held the position from November 28, 1918 until his retirement on November 23, 1941. It should be noted that Mr. T.J. Davidson was a building contractor by profession and had constructed many of the buildings on the farm.
In the summer of 1938, a recent graduate of Kemptville Agricultural College, Mr. Arden Baker was hired as an Assistant Manager and starting on July 1, 1942, became the last Avondale Farm Manager.
Up until this time, “Most of the management efforts were placed on the cattle herds and very little on a cropping programme for the farm. As a result the crops were limited to hay and silage corn. Almost all of the grain ration was purchased. It was quite common to have a car load of beet pulp (by product of beet sugar) or various kinds of grain feed, placed on the Church Street rail siding and then transport the hundreds of bags of material to the farm with horses and wagons.”(Arden H. Baker)
Farm Manager Arden Baker was very interested in efforts to improve crop production. After the war years (1939-45) the Ontario Department of Agriculture instituted a programme for encouraging farms to develop new varieties of grasses, clovers and legumes. Test plots were set up for the Department of Agriculture and for the Kemptville Agricultural College.
“For several years we grew six to ten different varieties of oats, barley and corn on the farm as test plots for the Ontario Dept. Of Agriculture. These tests plots were to assist in picking the best varieties for yield, strength of straw, disease resistance, etc. At the same time County Crop Improvement Associations were formed and great interest was generated among farmers to improve their cropping practices. With the depression and war years over, there was a renewed vigour and interest throughout society in general to get on with improving the quality of life. Agricultural fairs resumed again after being completely closed down during the war years. Farm people began to exhibit their livestock and crop samples at the fairs and this in itself generated great interest and improved knowledge in agricultural production.” (Arden Baker)
In time the farm was able to reduce its dependence on outside producers and grow all the required feed themselves, for the cattle and other livestock.
With increasing notoriety from the celebrated purebred Jersey herd and the new crop improvement programme taking place at the farm, there was a growing interest in Avondale Farm, which resulted in many bus tours of farmers visiting from Ontario and New York State.
Various cattle at the farm continued to make history in the agricultural community. One such cow was “Beatrice Newington” and in her honour, a banquet was held at the Manitonna Hotel in Brockville, sponsored by the Eastern Ontario Jersey Breeders’ Association on May 14, 1931, where the honoured guest (Beatrice Newington), was actually presented to the invited guests after the dinner.
Barn Fire and the End of the Dairy:
On Sunday, July 11, 1948, a disastrous fire wiped out the main cattle barn and dairy. “Fortunately the fire happened in the summer and the milking herd was in the pasture at the time and all of the calves were saved from the adjoining calf barn except for two small calves that went unnoticed in the barn when the barn door closed prematurely as the workers were frantically removing them.” (Lillian Baker)
“The loss of the barn was estimated to be between $75,000 and $100,000. The fire was discovered shortly after 4 a.m. by Mrs. Peter Morrow, matron of the farm’s boarding house. The Brockville Fire Department received a call at 4:20 and went to render whatever assistance they could. Manager Arden Baker said that when he looked out the window the flames seemed to be shooting out of the roof in the centre of the barn. He could not give any logical reason for the out-break as there was no new hay in that part of the barn and there was no electric wiring in that section.
Only one cow was lost, a record test animal which was in the barn. All the other animals were in pasture but would have been in the barn for milking in about another hour.
Much valuable dairy equipment was lost in the fire. However other local dairies have promised assistance so that Avondale customers will receive their daily supplies of milk.
Efforts of the firemen and voluntary workers were concentrated on saving the other buildings nearby. Heat from the burning barn blistered the paint on the other buildings and one ignited three of four times but the firemen were able to put this secondary blaze out.
The barn collapsed about 5:30 a.m. and the fire continued to burn throughout the day still smouldering a bit at night but not enough to cause any trouble”. (Recorder and Times: Monday, July 12, 1948)
One theory behind the cause of the fire was that a tramp was spending the night in the hayloft, and accidentally caused the fire – but that was only a theory. Within forty-eight hours of the fire, plans were already being made by Senator Hardy to rebuild and in less than one week, a building contractor was on site to commence reconstruction. As for the cows, the milking took place in another barn on the east side of the Lyn Road, until the new barn was built.
On October 10, 1948, just three months later, the new barn was completed and ready for the milking herd. Senator Hardy gave much of the responsibility for the design and barn features to Arden Baker. But one decision was made by Senator Hardy. He chose not to re-build the Dairy. The Avondale Dairy business was then sold to Smith Dairy, operated by Glenson Smith (Smith Dairy was located at the foot of Water Street in Brockville.)
Construction of the new barn:
The “Modern Era” (1950’s and beyond):
By now, in addition to the three single family homes, the farm property on the west side of the Lyn Road consisted of a duplex house, the new main cow and calf barn, a combined horse and sheep barn, a bull barn, a machine shop, a farm equipment storage shed and an ice house. This ice house was still utilized during the 1950’s, when blocks of ice were cut from the St. Lawrence River, placed in the ice house and insulated in sawdust. The ice was used for the old fashioned ice boxes which were in the houses on the farm.
Located on the east side of the Lyn Road was another duplex house and a single family home, completing the accommodations which were made available for the farm employees. Also on the east side of the road was an older, ‘L-shaped’ barn, possibly built before 1905, which housed more cattle and pigs and was used for the milking during the main barn construction in 1948.
Like most farms at the time, Avondale was home to pigs, sheep and ‘work horses’, as well as the prized Jersey herd. While the pay for the farm labourers was not great, it did include housing, milk and cream for butter. The farm also grew potatoes that were shared by the various farm families. In the winter, work gangs were formed to cut down trees and split wood for heat and the cook stoves in the various homes on the farm.
“The post war years brought the re-opening of the county and district fairs. Avondale exhibited a representative sample of the Jersey herd (12 to 14 head) each year at the St. Lawrence Jersey Club Show and at the Ottawa Exhibition and the Ottawa Winter Fair. Avondale Jerseys won over 30 Premier Breeder and Premier Exhibitor Awards at the two Ottawa Fairs between 1950 and 1966. In 1952 Avondale won the Premier Breeder Award at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. The same year was the beginning of the annual Sale of Stars held in conjunction with the Royal. Avondale entered a three year old cow named Avondale Delphine. This cow sold for the highest price of the sale at $4,500 to Mrs. Virgin who had a Jersey herd at North Hatley, Quebec.
The same year, 1952, one of our cows, ‘Avondale Alga’, broke the Canadian record for butter fat. The previous record was just slightly over 1000 pounds. The Canadian Jersey Cattle Club held a banquet in honour of this cow in the Manitonna Hotel in Brockville.” (Arden Baker)
As the years progressed, Senator Hardy left more and more of the decision-making to Arden Baker, apparently realizing the passion which he himself had for farming, was equaled by that of his Farm Manager.
In the late 1950’s, Senator Hardy suggested a vision for the future of Avondale Farm. He thought the Jersey herd should be replaced by beef cattle, stating, “Arden get out of dairy cattle and into beef cattle. There’s more of a future there.”(Arden H. Baker) With that advice, the first purebred Hereford cattle began appearing on the farm in 1959.
On March 16, 1962, Senator Arthur Charles Hardy passed away, at the age of 90. As a final act of kindness and generosity, Senator Hardy willed his entire 250 acre farm to Arden Baker.
The farm continued to operate and flourish for many years, with a growing purebred Polled Hereford herd, which, like their Holstein and Jersey predecessors, took many honours and gained recognition throughout the beef producers’ community. In 1966 a visit to the farm was made by Sir Anthony Eden (Lord Avon) and his wife, of Great Britain. Also owning Hereford cattle, Lord Avon had heard stories of Avondale Farm and requested that a tour of the farm be placed on his itinerary during a visit to Canada.
Visit of Sir Anthony Eden to Avondale Farm
In September, 1968, a sale was held at the farm and the remaining prized Jersey herd was sold. The following year, in addition to the Purebred Hereford operation, a ‘Beef Cross-breeding Programme’ was initiated on the farm.
Also in 1969, the ice house was torn down, and the old machine shop and storage shed were replaced by newer ones. By 1975, the barn on the east side of the Lyn Road ceased to be used for cattle and became a hay storage area until it was torn down in 1996. Pigs and sheep no longer remained on the farm. The reliable ‘work horses’ had also been replaced by the more modern tractors.
On Saturday, June 10, 1978, Avondale Farm held its final sale…. “Polled Herefords Dispersal Sale”. The ‘Beef Cross-breeding Programme’ continued until 2001.
Avondale Farm remains in the Baker family and continues to be used for ‘cropping’.
Legacy of Senator A.C. Hardy and Dorothy (Fulford) Hardy:
We have just learned about Senator Hardy’s personal passion and dedication for the farming business. But his passion and dedication also reached into other areas of his life and that of his wife Dorothy (Fulford) Hardy. Their generosity can be found in and around Brockville.
Senator Hardy was one of those most instrumental in the erection of the New Theatre in Brockville, a gift to the municipality and completed in 1911. Until its demise in 1921, he was president of the Brockville Opera House Co., which operated the theatre.
In 1912, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy purchased a property on Pearl St. West and presented it to the Children’s Aid Society as a shelter.
In 1915, Mr. and Mrs Hardy offered the Dominion Government the sum of $100,000 with which to equip a battalion of infantry or other combatant unit for overseas service. The offer was not accepted. The sum of $40,000 was however, in the same year accepted by the University of Toronto as a share of the maintenance of the University Base Hospital Unit which proceeded overseas. A further sum of $60,000 was given by Mrs. G.T. Fulford and Mr. and Mrs. Hardy to the Duchess of Connaught’s Canadian Hospital at Clivedon, England.
In 1917, they finalized the completion of the Fulford Memorial Home for Aged Women, which was started by Dorothy’s father George T. Fulford. The home was reported to have cost in the neighbourhood of $400,000. (1920’s dollars).
When the 156th Leeds and Grenville Overseas battalion was authorized, Mr. and Mrs. Hardy at once took a keen interest in its welfare and presented the unit with the band instruments which were used during training in Canada and afterwards taken to England.
In 1921 they offered the Town of Brockville a pavilion at St. Lawrence Park for the protection of visitors. This pavilion is still standing today.
During the European War, Senator Hardy was president of the Patriotic Fund in Brockville which administered the funds provided for the care of soldier’s dependents.
In 1961, probably the most notable and lasting gift of Senator A.C. Hardy was the Water Street property of the former James Smart Mfg. Company which he purchased and donated to the city of Brockville. Mayor Langmuir stated at the time “It will be a pedestrian park, there will be plenty of trees planted and benches placed about it.” Asked about a bandstand the mayor said that was a possibility too. (Recorder and Times, June 27, 1961)
This same year, Senator A. C. Hardy was named Brockville’s Citizen of the Year.
Among his other lifetime accomplishments were: President of the Ontario Liberal Association from 1919 until 1932; Chairman of the Committee of Management of Fulford Home for Aged Women for many years; Trustee of the National Sanitarium Association; Honorary Lieutenant Colonel of the Governor-General’s Foot Guards; Trustee of Queen’s University, Kingston (Endowed a Chair in Political Science) and Director of Toronto General Trusts Corporation for over fifty years.
Arthur Hardy and his wife Dorothy had four children: Arthur Sturgis Hardy (1905-1969); Mary Fulford Hardy (1907-1930); Fulford Patrick Hardy (1911-1951) and Dorothy Patricia Hardy (1916-1974).
In 1949, Dorothy (Fulford) Hardy passed away at the age of 68. The couple had been married for forty-six years.
Senator A.C. Hardy died on March 13, 1962 at the age of 90.
Although not many people today know the name Senator Arthur Charles Hardy, his legacy, his philanthropy, his generosity and selflessness will live on for years to come.
The End of the Story:
So the next time you are out driving on the Lyn Road, and pass by the “Avondale” sign and look over at the cream coloured barns, you will know the amazing history behind those buildings.
Important Dates:
1905 – 1909 – Senator A.C. Hardy began purchasing land from surrounding families with the intention of raising cattle and eventually concentrated on Purebred Holstein cattle
1909 – July – The Main Barn was completed and opened
1916 – November – The new dairy was tiled and Mr. Herman Fulford made the first butter on the farm – 17 pounds. For a time butter along with milk and cream was sold to customers.
1917 – “May Echo Sylvia” was such a great milk producer, that the Senator held a party in her honour at the Manitonna Hotel in Brockville. When all the guests were assembled at the tables ready for the banquet, the guest of Honour- “May Echo Sylvia” was lead into the room to join the guests.
1918 – April – Three cows were taken to the Brockville Armouries where a short course in judging was given to local area farmers
1918 – Sold a bull calf to Carnation Farms for a record $106,000. This was the highest price paid for an animal up to that time.
1925 – A herd of Jersey Cattle was imported from the Jersey Islands
1925 – 1938 – The farm had both purebred Holstein and Jersey Cattle
1931 – May 14th – In honour of a Jersey cow “Beatrice Newington”, a banquet was held at the Manitonna Hotel in Brockville, sponsored by the Eastern Ontario Jersey Breeders’ Association
1934 –1935 – There were only 10 cows in Canada having produced over 1000 pounds of butter fat, 3 of those 10 were from Avondale Farm
1938 – The remaining Holstein cattle were sold and focus was then directed on breeding and raising purebred Jersey cattle
1942 – July 1st – Arden Baker became manager of Avondale Farm
1948 – July – The main barn was destroyed in a fire
1948 – Avondale Dairy was closed and home delivery of milk and cream ends
1948 – October – The new main barn was completed
1949 – October – Mrs. Dorothy (Fulford) Hardy passed away
1951 – “Avondale Alga” made a Canadian Record for producing over 1122 pounds of butter fat and 16,767 pounds of milk. A banquet was given at the Manitonna Hotel in Brockville in this cow’s honour.
1952 – A three year old cow named “Avondale Delphine” sold for the highest price of the sale at $4,500.
1959 – The first purebred Hereford cattle appeared on the farm
1962 – Senator Arthur Charles Hardy passed away at the age of 90
1962 – Avondale Farm was ‘willed’ to Arden Baker
1968 – The remaining Jersey herd was sold and the farm business was turned to raising Polled Herefords
1969 – ‘Beef Cross-breeding Programme’ was initiated on the farm
1969 – New machine shop and equipment storage shed built
1978 – The purebred Polled Hereford herd was sold
2001 – ‘Beef Cross-breeding Programme’ comes to an end; ‘cropping’ continues
Photos of the Farm from the 1930’s
The Interior of the Original Barn
Photos of the Farm from the 1940’s (before the fire in 1949)
Bottled Milk and Cream Delivery
Photos of the Farm from the 1950’s
Photos of the sale of the Jersey Heard 1968
Miscellaneous News Articles
Avondale Farm Manager and Owner- Arden Baker 1915-1988
The Tanning Business at Coleman’s Corners – March 7, 1850-
As written in the Brockville Recorder of 1850
The editor had been out to Coleman’s Corners, now known as Lyn, and in the issue of this date gives his impressions of the place as follows:–
“This place, to appearance, has little to attract the attention of a stranger, unless it be a feeling that there is something picturesque in the scenery around it. But let him follow that small rippling stream scarce deep enough to carry on its bosom the little rustic knife made boat of a happy urchin, and the stranger will be led to a building low enough in the front, but pretty deep in the rear, which thanks to the Messrs. Coleman, is the most celebrated and extensive tanning establishment in the United Counties of Leeds and Grenville.
“The Messrs. Coleman commenced in 1938 with a small grist mill. In 1841 they built a sawmill, and soon after they began the business of tanning sole leather. In order to note the progress made in this department we may state that in 1844 they turned out 1,100 hides; in 1845 they turned out 1,200; in 1846, 2,000; in 1847, 2800; in 1848, 2,500; in 1849, 6,000; and for the present year they calculate manufacturing no less than 7,500, all of which is consumed within the province, the raw hides being what are termed Spanish, and imported from the United States, some of them weighing when manufactured and ready for market 45 lbs.
“To show the anxiety of the proprietors to improve this branch of their work, we man mention that for the purpose of heating the liquid they procured and fitted up three copper heaters at an expense of $300. each, in warming of which about 500 cords of wood are used in the course of the year. At present their stock of bark amounts to 3,500 cords, which they calculate will only serve for eighteen months.
“The establishment contains 80 vats and nearly one mile of pump log leading to and from the various places where it is required. There are two hide mills, and a bark grinding mill, capable of grinding from fifteen to twenty cords a day.
“There are employed by the Messrs. Coleman, one way and another, from thirty to forty men, whose wages amount in one year from £1,500. to £1,750.
“We have stated that the supply of water is small. It is led from an artificial pond, where, generally, the proprietors contrive to husband a three months supply, and was this supply to fail, the consequences would be disastrous to all interested. Great care is therefore required to ‘waste not’ in order that they may ‘want not’. For this purpose a small stream is made to work the rolling machine in the first instance; from there it is carried to the bark mill, which it drives, working two pumps at the same time when required. It is also used for cleaning out the leeches, which it does at less expense than by manual labor.
“Of the quality of the leather manufactured we need say nothing, the success attending their establishment being a sufficient evidence of its excellence, and we understand their sales last year amounted to £10,000.
“Were we to enter into an argument on the advantage of local manufacturing in the country, we would not ask a better starting point than Coleman’s Corners, and the following list of articles consumed by them in the course of the past year, the produce of the country, will show how much the farmer is interested in the establishment of manufactures throughout the province. Messrs. Coleman used during the last year:
2,500 cords bark at 12s6d – £1,562.10
500 cords wood at 5s – £125.00
500 barrels flour at 25s – £625.00
50 barrels pork at 50s £125.00
40 tons hay at 40s – £80.00
1,600 bushel oats at 1s,3d – £100.00
300 bushel corn at 2s,6d – £37.10
total – £2,655.00
This does not include the consumption of eggs, poultry, roots, vegetables, etc., which of themselves would amount to a considerable sum in the course of the year. People may tell of ‘ruin and decay’ and the progress of the United States, but we would advise all who doubt the fact of Canadian progress to ponder well what is contained in the notice, come and visit Messrs. Coleman’s establishment, and then ‘go and do likewise.”
Taken from the Recorder as published in the book “Landmarks of Leeds and Grenville”
Unfortunately no photos exists of this tanning operation at the old Lyn Mills
Toledo had three log schools in and around the immediate area. These schools were closed with the erection of a new stone school in the Village by the late 1840’s. This structure served the area until the 1870’s.
In 1876, Mr. Robert Parker built a two room brick schoolhouse on King Street. Teachers of the late 19th Century included R. Evans 1872-76; Hincks Eaton 1882; Miss Emma Smith 1887; Robert Fritty aand Robert Fields 1887, J. Rabb 1888-90; W.C. Dowsley and Anthony Rape and Miss Sexton. Teachers in the 20th Century included Miss A.Pelto, Mable Rouck, Tommy Cook, Iva Dunham, Miss Murphy, Miss Ida Connors, Miss Pettem, Doreen McDougal, Mrs. Greenhorn, Hattie Cannon and Pearl Morrison,
With the tragic death of Miss Cannon and Mrs. Morrison in a car accident near Newbliss in 1961, the old brick structure was closed and students from the Toledo are went to either the new Frankville Public School or the new St. Joseph’s Separate School in Toledo. (Kitley 1795-1975 by Dr. Glenn Lockwood)
From Edna’s Scrapbook:
Two sisters, Mrs. Albert W Morrison aged 64 years, and Miss Harriett Cannon aged 68 years died together when their car was struck by an oil truck driven by Garnet Sands of Frankville on May 4, 1961. They lived at Jasper and taught school to Toledo. They were on their way to school at 8:45am and drove from the Jasper Road onto Highway 29, directly in front of Sands who was travelling towards Smiths Falls and he was unable to avoid a collision. Both car and truck were demolished, the latter catching fire and burning to a shell. Sands was able to escape but received severe burns and shock. He had his 3 year old son Terry with him and he was able to save the boy but he was also burned. Mrs. Morrison was the former Edith Pearl Cannon and both sisters were born at Portland. They had been teachers for many years and were very well known and highly regarded.
A Granddaughter Remembers Her Grandfather – William Henry MacNish
by Margaret MacNish
“My grandfather William Henry MacNish, was over 6 feet tall and carried a full head of snow-white hair. Heavy shouldered, he walked with a slow and dignified shuffle about the farm and up the oval driveway to the stone house. In spring, summer and fall his main preoccupation was an extensive garden: vegetables set in long straight rows, strawberry beds, raspberries- all kinds of other foods.
He could be seen kneeling between the rows weeding, thinning, harvesting. We children were strictly forbidden to take a shortcut through this garden but often we were engaged in searches for tomato worms and potato bugs. Grandfather too was the only adult who took time to teach us to sow carrot seed, plant beans, corn and later thin and water the plants. ‘Water them to the roots’, he’d exclaim, as I held the watering can.
He also had time in winter to play endless games of domino’s, almost always ending with an ‘apple party’. ‘Let’s go to the cellar!’ he’d exclaim, and down we’d go tot he storage bin to choose an especially fine apple. Later upstairs, he’d use his pocket knife to carefully peel the apple and cut it into beautiful slices which were put on a plate and ceremoniously passed around.
Grandfather was a well known breeder of Ayrshire’s (brown and white dairy cattle). Our education was not complete until he took us one by one to the barn and taught us how to judge cattle.
That he was devoted to us was proven again and again, especially to me, for I was the recipient, on various Christmases, of a doll’s house, a large doll’s cradle and finally my own sled, ponderous and too heavy to lift. The family sneered at is efforts, but I knew and my thank you’s were heartfelt.
Grandfather was well known in the community; elected reeve of the township, and serving on various boards to take care of destitute families and the like. I recall as a child sitting in the balcony of the town theatre, looking down at the stage where Grandfather sat in the front row beside Canada’s Prime Minister Will Lyon McKenzie King.
Part of his political skill lay in his oratory. He read widely and knew how to hold an audience with wit and an extensive vocabulary. Obviously he had read all the classics housed in the glass front bookcase in the corner of the sitting room. And his favourite spot in the family kitches was in a chair near the south window under his Seth Thomas clock, where a large magazine rack held the Globe and Mail, and farm publications.”
Note: The spelling of MacNish was intentional and this is the way it was written, today’s common spelling is McNish.
William Henry McNish – August 31, 1858 to August 22, 1937
Christmas is a magical time, it was even more so when you attended a one room schoolhouse. It was a time before mass media and commercialism, a simpler time when our imaginations were the most important part of our growing up.
We are fortunate to be able to share a story of those days written by Diann Turner as it appeared in “Living Here Magazine.”
Dynamite for Santa in the One-Room School Christmas Concert
Permission given to post article courtesy of Living Here Magazine- Owned by Marshall Enterprises ( Brockville, Ontario)
My attempt to encapsulate things reminiscent about a one-room school education in our region was easily compensated with abundant stories from former students and teachers. Their memories of the schools’ Christmas concerts easily morphed into my conclusion that this had to be the most quintessential part of the one-room school experience. Coupled with my own memories from Glen Elbe School on Highway 42, east of Athens, Christmas concerts were undoubtedly the perfect evocation of a moment in time!
I’ll begin with an early December, 1961 day in the school yard of Addison Public school on the Addison-Greenbush Road. Smoke from the school’s wood box stove drifted across the landscape as large, weightless snowflakes tumbled to the ground and quickly dissolved. Excited, squealing children gathered eagerly to catch them before they landed. Teacher, Mrs. Ina Blanchard, was inside writing out Christmas songs on the blackboard and she knew her class was wild with anticipation; Christmas preparations had begun! A variety of plays, skits and songs would have to be copied into students’ scribblers from the teacher’s impeccable cursive writing on the blackboard. Lyrics would be memorized and repeated a hundred times with the weekly music teacher, Mr. Kayak. “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”, “Up On The Housetop” and “Here Comes Santa Claus” were favorites, but Mrs. Blanchard insisted they always end with “Away In A Manger” or “Silent Night.” This insured the program reflected the Bethlehem account of Christmas. “The Night Before Christmas” would be recited by one particularly confident student. A scraggly Christmas tree (Pre-Charlie Brown Christmas-1965) would be dragged in and students would craft simple decorations from construction paper, popcorn, and perhaps, a few scrawny pine cones from a yard tree. There would be no dazzling lights.
The best year of all, reminisced one student, was the year she and two other eighth grade students were told to write a play. “We came up with the title ‘Dynamite for Santa,’ she told me. “We kept the whole thing a big secret and the younger students knew nothing about it.” (I have no idea how they pulled this off in a room that accommodated eight grades.) “A chimney was built, costumes were sewn, a couple of cement blocks and lumber brought in to construct the stage, and an old sheet was hastily strung for a curtain.” When the magical night came, the place was packed with students, parents and the community’s curious. The younger students flawlessly delivered songs and recitations, but the melodrama accelerated as the play began. The plot thickened as the drama proceeded and near the end, “there was a sudden ear-splitting bang and we blew Santa up!” said my story teller. “The chimney collapsed in a heap and roaring laughter and clapping filled the room.” This concert gained such notoriety the Addison United Church invited the school children to repeat it at their hall a few nights closer to Christmas. The old wood stove was stoked to its maximum and all ages would find themselves warming to it as the children filled their ears with the sounds of the season. They didn’t realize they were making history!
A few miles southeast, at Glen Elbe School, teacher Mary Topping had her students tapping their toes to similar music and when the music teacher, Mr. Addison, arrived things revved up another notch! I don’t recall that we performed in front of anyone other than fellow students. However, I do remember the excitement as our teacher pumped away at the organ and our voices flew to the ceiling, while chains of paper rings fell on our heads as the Elmer’s glue dried out in the heat. I can still see one smiling girl enthusiastically ringing sleigh bells as we belted out “Silver Bells.” Norma Flood and Bob Whaley all rode to Glen Elbe School in an old army truck that had removable wooden sides .Wilbert Whaley and Gerald Redford were the drivers. Come December, they had to have bundled up for the ride!
In Junetown Public School, nestled in the woods near the end of Junetown Road, students were equally counting down the days, heartily singing- “It’s Christmas, It’s Christmas, It’s finally Christmas, and soon it is going to be Christmas Day!” One gentleman recalls having Mrs. Jean Gainford-Burnham for a teacher in December of 1962. It just so happened her husband, Doug Gainford, was wing-man on the snow plough that cleared the road in front of the school. Mrs. Gainford hatched a brilliant scheme and talked her husband into stuffing himself into a Santa suit one morning before heading out for his work day on the plough. The operator agreed with the idea and readily stopped in front of the school. Mr. Gainford sauntered in, unannounced, and delighted the students with a hearty “Ho Ho Ho” as he tramped down the aisle and made everything merry and bright! Some said he even jumped from desk to desk! There wasn’t much of monetary value in his sack: a one cent paper bag with perhaps an orange and a few hard candies for each student.
Barb Nichols wrote a lovely memoir of her Christmas concerts at Plum Hollow Public School, north west of Athens. “Early in November, all of the English lessons were dedicated to practicing for our Christmas concert. This was an excellent exercise to insert drama, public speaking, music and pantomimes into the curriculum. Furthermore, it was the best way to conduct lessons when it was getting too dark in the classroom to see the board as well. School did not dismiss until four o’clock, EST. The parents, grandparents and the rest of the community largely attended school Christmas concerts. Television was not in wide use then, so everyone enjoyed seeing the children perform their plays, recitations and Christmas carols. We held the concert in the school, hanging curtains at the sides of the raised platform in front of the blackboard for change rooms and to store the props. Yes, it was crowded but they managed well! The school was full to the “rafters” and everyone had a good time. When the children acted out the “Old Ford Car” and the shadow play “Cat Pie” during one concert, the audience declared it was the best they had ever seen.” (Story courtesy of Athens & Area Heritage Society)
It didn’t take money, store bought items, over-extended credit, or the glitz and glamour of today’s Christmases. Technology and inflated expectation were absent.
Simpler, idyllic times left lasting memories and influence was handed down in those one-room school houses that could never be paralleled today. I personally experienced it, and my story tellers confirm it!
The year was 1887 when Andrew Salomnson was born (Andres Salomonsson) in Kall, Kall County, Sweden. If you were to look on a map you would find that Kall is located in the middle of Sweden, a pretty little village on the side of a lake. He was born on Tuesday, February 8, 1887 to his parents Keistokonson Salomonsson and Anne Hyttsten.
Little is know about his early life in Sweden, except that he did have brothers and sisters, so he was not alone in his youth. At the age of 19, in 1906, he left home to go to Newfoundland. There was a saw mill there owned by a Swedish man and he would bring over other Swedes to work in his mill and for logging in the dense forest of Newfoundland. After saying good-bye to his parents and family, he set off to Goteborg. It was there, that on April 27th he boarded a ship to Hull, England, where he then took another ship to St. John’s, Newfoundland, which at that time was not part of the Canada we know today.
On this trip, he was accompanied by a cousin on his mother’s side, Brita A. Jonsson who was four years his senior. We do not know what happened to his cousin Brita, but in 1907 Andrew left Newfoundland and went by ship and arrived at North Sidney, Nova Scotia on August 20th. He eventually found his way to Cochrane, Ontario.
He worked for a few years as a labourer and on his Military Enlistment record, his occupation is shown as a “Concrete Contractor”.
War broke out in 1914, but Andrew probably thought it would end soon and didn’t enlist immediately at the start of the war. Instead, he waited until 1916 when on April 13th, he signed his Attestation Papers.
Andrew enlisted in the 159th Battalion (1st Algonquin CEF), 97th Regiment, based in Haileybury, Ontario. He, along with his regiment, sailed to England in November 1916, where his battalion was absorbed into the 8th Reserve Battalion on January 20, 1917. In England he was stationed at the large training camp at Seaford. It was here that he, because of his background as a Concrete Contractor, was assigned to a labour group.
He went to France on February 10th, 1917 and on November 25th of the same year, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and assigned to the 2nd Canadian Labour Battalion, in France.(For the record his service number was 648830)
After the Armistice was signed on November 11th 1918, be returned to England and eventually to Canada. He was discharged from the military on March 20, 1919.
Little is known of the next few years of his life; perhaps he went back to Cochrane, Ontario to resume his previous life as a cement contractor. The next time we see Andrew is when he is hospitalized at St. Mary’s Hospital in Montreal with tuberculosis in the mid 1920’s.
It was there while in hospital that he fell in love with his nurse, Gertrude May Johnston of Elizabethtown. The love was mutual and on June 21st 1927, they were married in Muskoka, Ontario. On the marriage certificate his occupation is listed as “Prospector”.
Gertrude was the second of four daughters of John and Lilly Belle Johnston being born in 1894 at the family home on the Lyn Road. She was seven years younger than Andrew.
Gertrude and Andrew purchased a small home in Gravenhurst and settled down to start their new life together. Unfortunately it wasn’t too long after their marriage that Andrew’s TB returned, and unfortunately after spending time nursing and working with TB patients, his wife Gertrude developed tuberculosis as well.
They lived close to the Muskoka Tuberculosis Sanatorium and it was there that they sought treatment. Unfortunately Andrew passed away on March 3rd, 1934, at he age of 47 after being married to Gertrude for only seven short years.
After Andrew’s death, Gertrude moved back to live with her parents. It was here, suffering from TB, that she would spend the remainder of her days. Four years after the death of her husband, Gertrude passed away on June 10th, 1938, at the age of 43.
Both Andrew and Gertrude are buried at the Oakland Cemetery just west of Brockville. They had no children.
History of Purvis Street School (S.S. #8 Front of Yonge)
While we acknowledge that this school was located in the Twp. of Front of Yonge, we have included it on our website because of its closeness to Lyn. The students and families that sent their children to this school would have considered Lyn as the nearest town where they would shop etc. Many of the names seen on these photos will be familiar to the residents of Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.
The brick school was closed in 1967. It had been built in 1890 to replace a stone building which had been erected in 1844.
On May 12th, 1890, the ratepayers held a meeting and voted 11 in favour and 9 against the building of this new school. The secretary was advised to advertise in a Brockville paper for tenders for construction.
On June 16, 1890, a trustee meeting was held at John Chick’s residence when the following resolution was passed: “The tender of George Aaron Purvis of Purvis Street to build a second school similar to one recently built near the Toll Gate on the Perth Road, at the rear of Brockville for the sum of $675.00 and use the old material from the other school was accepted. (the school referred to was the brick school on the Chemical Road in Elizabethtown).
A plate bearing the date of the old school was transferred to the new one.
The first teacher at the new school was Miss Laura Clow and later Mrs. McCracken who received a salary of $225. The Caretaker received $15.00 a year.
In 1891 William Young furnished the material and built a wood shed for $80.
(Recorder & Times )
Teachers at the school in no particular order were:
There was a time when this fine old Kitley Village was known simply as Bellamy Mills, due to its proximity to the mills operated by Chauncey Bellamy on Bellamy Lake west of the village.
The actual survey of Kitley was delayed for seven years until 1797. In the meantime, Kitley had its first settler, a pioneer farmer named James Finch. With his family James Finch settled on what was later to become Lot No. 29 in the 7th Concession. Finch mistakenly started a homestead on a clergy reserve Lot No. 22 on which he began to clear five acres of land. When he realized his mistake he moved and began to clear another 16 acres of land on adjoining lot no.23. He then petitioned the government for the grant of this land. He never received the grant and after rowing with the government of the day for a number of years finally left the area sometime before 1804.
The land James Finch cleared, on which his log cabin stood, lies along what is now Main Street.
Toldeo researchers found that James Finch had been granted 200 acres on Lot No. 22 on May 22, 1801, but Finch sold the property the next year to Hugh McIlmoyl. He sold to Eben Estes the same year. After several more transactions the lot came into possession of Wyatt Chamberlain, the founder of the village.
In 1806 Lot No. 23 was granted to Charles May who sold it in two sections a year later. Other lots which now form the site of Toledo changed hands many times during the early years.
Wyatt Chamberland was born in 1786 in New York State, son of a pioneer Methodist missionary and organizer. Although he didn’t have much schooling, Chamberland was self educated and ambitious. He put himself through Methodist school and qualified as a preacher.
At 28, he was operating a Methodist circuit in New York State and in 1820, came to Canada to become a minister in Prince Edward County around Picton. Later he moved to the Augusta circuit but was stricken with an illness in 1828 forcing him out of the ministry.
Chamberland came to Kitley in 1832 and began by buying up land in this area, then known as Kitley Corners. As be bought each lot, Chamberland broke it up into village lots and sold them, thus laying the groundwork for the future village of Toledo.
He called the settlement Camberlain’s Corners. He opened the first store in a log cabin.
Chamberland also built the first frame dwelling in the area. He was the first postmaster and became a justice of the peace. His first wife was Catherine Halleck, daughter of pioneer missionary Rev. William Halleck, for whom Halleck’s Road west of Brockville was named.
Chamberland’s Corners became officially Toledo in 1856. The village was named after Toledo in Spain, scene of a British victory over a French army in the Spanish Campaign of 1813.
Both lots lie along the road which became the main street of Toledo. Finch erected a log cabin and dug a well. He cleared 16 acres on lot no. 21, but his claim to the land was disputed by the government.
The Kitley census of 1800 lists Finch as a settler, but he is missing from the count in 1804. Historians believe that he got fed up with government delays in approving his claim and left the area in disgust.
Main Street in Toledo was then a continuation of the Old Perth Road, which cut through the village and headed north to Lombardy over Rideau Ferry and on into Perth.
Including the Livingstons, Finch and Chamberlain early settlers were Hugh McKnoyl, Ben Estse, Ephraim Koyl, David Allen, John Kincaid, Billy Brown, Charlie May, David Kilborn, The Tolman and Robinson families as well as the Cole, Coad and Code families.
Religion
From earliest times, religion has played a major role in the lives of Toledo folk. And the fine churches which call the faithful to worship every Sunday testify to the status of the church in the area’s history.
A fine example of early 20th century architecture is St. Philip Neri Church in the centre of the village. Named for an Italian priest St. Philip (Filippo) Neri who lived from 1515 to 1595, the parish was established in 1833.
In 1833 Bishop Alexander MacDonald (named Bishop of Upper Canada in 1820) appointed Father Campion of Prescott to administer the Parish of Kitley. Focal point for the parish, which then covered Kitley, Bastard, South Burgess and South Crosby townships was the east shore of Bellamy’s Lake just west of Toledo.
Today two old cemeteries bearing headstones with names such as Coughlin, Donovan, McDonald mark the site. Father Campion held mass four times a year in a farmhouse which stood near the modern Bellamy’s Lake Park. Records of St. Philip Neri indicate 25 to 30 persons attended the services.
In 1837 Father Clarke Prescott was assigned to Toledo and three years later supervised the building of a wooden church on the shore of Bellamy’s Lake. Father O’Reilly came from Brockville in 1840 to take charge. He settled in a farmhouse three miles south of the church. In 1860 Rev. Michael Lynch took up residence near the church in a house built for him. In the same year Father Lynch supervised the building of a stone church at Philipsville.
Father Lynch was succeeded by Rev. William McDonagh but left in 1861 and until 1873, neither Kitley nor Phillipsville had a resident pastor. The parish was administered from Smith’s Falls and Westport. In 1873 Rev. William Kielty became a pastor of Kitley and Phillipsville.
By 1885 the old church had reached such a state of disrepair that it was considered advisable to abandon it and put up a new chapel in Toledo. Property was bequeathed to the parish in 1887 from the estate of Martin Breen and by 1896 the present rectory was built as well as the stone chapel. In 1899 Phillipsville left the parish to join Elgin.
By 1905 the growing congregation required a new church which was completed in 1907. The chapel built in 1896 was added to the new church as a sacristy. The first mass was held at Christmas 1907, and the following year the church was dedicated to St. Philip Neri.
The Tinsmith of Toledo
On Toledo’s Main Street the access road leading south to hook up with Hwy 29, stands a weather beaten two story frame structure which for 60 years was the home of a prosperous but tiny smithy business.
This building was built in 1880 by a South Crosby tinsmith, Tom Singleton and became known as the Singleton smithy.
Tom Singleton came from South Crosby in 1880 and bought Lot No.32 on Main Street. Here he built his smithy and a residence for his family.
One usually associates tinsmiths with the work of turning out tin for roofing and manufacturing duct-work for furnaces, but Singleton went far beyond these items.
He made sap buckets for the maple syrup trade, tins for the syrup, kettles, teapots, wash tubs, milk cans, baking pans and kitchen utensils, weather vanes and storing tanks.
Singleton could also install heavier articles he made and he was an expert repairman. Many a farm wife brought him leaking pans, kettles or other damaged articles and he repaired them good as new.
Singleton laboured in his shop for 60 years, retiring in 1940.
From Thad. Leavitt’s book The History of Leeds and Grenville from 1749 to 1879, published in 1879
N.H.Beecher – Mr. Beecher was born in the state of New York in 1839. When seventeen years of age he came to Canada, entering the employment of Robert Fitzsimmons, Esq., with whom he acquired a through knowledge of the grocery business. In 1863, he opened a general store in Toledo, where he has since resided. Taking a deep interest in public affairs, Mr. Beecher entered the Municipal Council, serving seven years, five of which he has been chosen as Deputy Reeve. His course in the Counties’ Council has been unvarying in direction of economy and retrenchment, coupled with liberality in making grants for improvements absolutely required. At the last general election he was freely spoken of as the Liberal Candidate for the House of Commons, North Leeds. (History of Leeds and Grenville from 1749 to 1879 by Thad. W.H. Leavitt pub. 1879)
Samuel Edgar – The subject of this sketch was born in the year 1837, in the Township of Kitley. He is the youngest son of James Edgar, who was born in the year 1791, in the County of Down, Ireland, and emigrated to Canada in the year 1821, settling in the Township of Kitley in 1825, where he resided until his death on the 26th of January 1870. He was among the first settlers of the Township, and one of the oldest Justices of the Peace. He was a member of the municipal council. Mr. Edgar held the office of Lieutenant in the Militia util too old for service, and was also one of the oldest Freemasons in the Counties, having obtained fifteen degrees in the Order. He was the only son of James Edgar, who was born in Montgomery, England.
Struthers of Toledo
You don’t have to be all that old to remember “Struther’s of Toledo” perhaps you or your parents have one or two items in your home that were purchased there. Here is the story behind that store.
Around Toledo folks say that Garnet Struthers electrified the district, but Struthers prefers to think that eggs did the trick.
Ontario Hydro put in electrification in 1940-45, Garnet sold the electrical appliances to the farmers but the farmers built up the Struthers businesses by trading eggs for groceries..
“Every farmer for miles around paid his grocery bill in eggs” said Struthers, recalling the days when his business was confined to a general store on the main street of the village. “We had eggs by the dozen stored in the basement. We couldn’t sell ‘em, so we had to take them by the truckload to an egg grading station to get our money. The money we got from those eggs allowed us to expand. We bought electrical appliances and re-sold them. First it was washing machines. We put a washing machine in every farmhouse in the district. Then it was refrigerators. We put refrigerators in every farmhouse. Then came television sets and electrical milking machines. We put milking machines in every barn, and it all came from the eggs!”
In the late 1940’s, Garnet Struthers and his wife, Lila took over the general store formerly operated by Bert Woods at the crossroads in the centre of the village. Since the early 1900’s, Woods had been a grocer in a century old business on the site and on the death of his daughter, Vivian Hill, took over.
“It was a combination phone exchange, post office and grocery store when we took over” said Struthers. The Kitley Telephone Company exchange was in one corner of he store, and the post office was in the other.”
Mrs. Struthers’ father the late Ross Slater Kilborn, had operated the business after Mrs. Hill left. In 1942 a disastrous fire hit that street and the Bert Carley grocery store was burned out.
Carley rented the former Woods store from the Kilborns for a year and a half until his new grocery store was constructed. Then Garnet and Lila moved in.
“We had $1000. in stock and a $2,000. dollar mortgage” recalled Garnet. “But we had something of everything. We had groceries, hardware, feed, clothing, dry goods, you name it, we had it! Then we added appliances, machinery and roofing and building supplies. Hydro came along and we went into the appliance field. We added electric stoves, then got into the plumbing and electric trade, putting in wiring and selling supplies.”
In 1956, Struthers got an offer for the store he couldn’t refuse. It put him permanently out of the grocery business and led to the establishment of a furniture and appliance store.
“The Seaway was being built and some of the little villages east of here were being swallowed up. George Lapierre, from Mille Roche, near Cornwall, was one of the businessmen forced to move. I understand Lapierre and friends came up here looking for a place to locate. They spotted the old store and decided to take a look at it.
It was on a holiday and I was in Charleston taking in a regatta. They looked in the windows and apparently liked what they saw. At any rate they came down to Charleston Lake, met me at 4pm and made me an offer. I agreed to meet them at 7 pm at the store. We met and at 10pm we had a deal.”
Lapierre took over but soon after suffered a heart attack which curtailed his activities. He later died from a series of heart attacks, but the business carried on under the name of Barr’s General Store.
“We sold Lapierre the rights to the grocery business, clothing and other general items, but we retained the rights to electrical appliances, televisions, plumbing and electrical supplies.” Said Struthers. “That gave us the opportunity of opening up a new business.”
On the road leading south of Toledo stood the long abandoned Baptist Church, erected about 1840. Struthers bought the old church and renovated it to become a store, the first Struthers Furniture Store. The business flourished and in the succeeding years, Garnet and Lila built their new home south of the store.
Disaster struck on June 23, 1961. A freak and rare tornado ripped through Toledo, tearing the roof off the Struthers store and causing thousands of dollars in damage. Struthers vividly remembers the storm.
“It hit just about 4pm and cleaned the roof off the old church building. It blew the roof clear off the property and into Roy Gardiner’s farm field.” Said Struthers. “Harry Lewis, my bookkeeper, was working in the store. There was a huge oak tree in front of the store. The wind pulled it out of the ground, roots and all, and it looked like it was going to fall into what was left of the store, where Henry was, but instead it took a turn to the north and landed off the property.”
“When I went out after the storm, I found rafters from the store sticking in the ground of Gardiners’ field like giant spears buried by some ancient Roman.”
With his building ruined Struthers went to work and the modern Struthers Furniture and Appliance Ltd. Store, an 80 by 80 foot building known popularly as “Struthers of Toledo”. The shell of the old church building was lifted on to rollers and hauled back to the rear of the new store, where it was rebuilt as Garn’s Barn, and was used to sell used furniture.
“Edna’s Scrapbook”
is a paperback book written by Edna B. Chant and was published in 1998. Edna Chant was a reported with the “Athens Reporter” for 23 years and she is the author of four books.
Her book, which is made up of news clippings from various sources, from which we have taken excerpts, gives us a glimpse into life in our area for over a hundred year period ending with stories from 1975.
While her book covers many areas of Leeds and Grenville we have only focused on the area within Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.
Toledo
A 12 year old youth John Dant was murdered near Toledo on Feb 23, 1867
On April 16, 1895, Miss. Stephenson, daughter of the Rector of the Anglican Church at Toledo, aged 18 years, met death in a sad way. She was very found of walking in the woods and about 3pm she went for a walk, but did not return for supper. When she wasn’t home by dark, several men carrying lanterns went to search for her. A heavy rain came up but they could find no trace of the girl. The next morning her body was found lying against a rail fence on the Parker Farm. She was wet and scratched by brambles. An inquest was held and it was ruled that death was caused by exposure, after being lost in the woods.
On April 21, 1895, the funeral of Mrs. George Coad was being held in the Toledo Methodist Church. It was a Sunday afternoon and a large congregation was present. Rev. G.H. Porter was preaching, when shouts and a great commotion could be heard outside. A few men got up and went out, and then the word “Fire” was heard. It was found that Mrs. J. Smith’s home was all on fire. Men, women and children were organized to form a bucket brigade while come carried out furniture. The church was empty, even the minister was at the fire. In spite of their efforts the house was burned. The people returned to the church, the preacher finished the sermon and the pallbearers carried the casket to the cemetery. The men and some of the ladies were soiled, rumpled and wet, but the minister remained dignified and calm throughout.
A subterranean explosion occurred on July 2 and 3rd 1898 at Kitley just off the Perth Road and it has everyone mystified. A reef of rock was blown up along with most of the roadbed. It began on Saturday with a hissing and rumbling noise and culminated on Sunday by an explosion that was heard for many miles. James Taylor lived nearest to the blast and his yard was covered by chunks of rock. Mrs. John Smith was driving up the road and the explosion threw fragments of rock into her buggy. Hundreds of persons have visited the scene including scientists from Ottawa, but no one an explain it.
Samuel Rabb was one of Leeds’ most outstanding citizens. He was born in Ireland, coming to Canada at the age of 20 years, settling at Toldeo. He was a highly regarded school teacher and taught school for 33 years, and then became an Inspector of Schools. He did private tutoring, and was a very fluent speaker. In 1840 he married a daughter of Colonel John Blakely, and they raised ten children, six boys and four girls. Two of his daughters Mary (Mrs. Albert Morris) and Charlotte (Mrs. George Gainford) lived in Athens. Mr. Rabb died at the home of his daughter Charlotte on April 9, 1900 aged 84 years.
While the authorities are trying to decide how to punish the Queen’s Medical Students who robbed a grave at Lansdowne on March 25, 1903, it might be well to consider how to guard the graves of loved ones. The fact that bodies are now bringing a good price on the market should be borne in mind. Students do not hire a livery rig and drive for miles to the cemetery for the fun of it. It is known in one case of their deed of labour extended as far away as Toledo. Many graves are robbed and their relatives never know it. A new grave should be watched every night for a month. After that time the body is not suitable.
Two Toledo sisters died within an hour of each other on January 4, 190. Mrs. William Leacock aged 98 and her sister Ms. Henry Seymour aged 80 were waked at Toledo Presbyterian Church where a double funeral was held.
The cornerstone was laid for St. Philip’s Neri Church at Toledo May 26, 1907
A serious fire occurred in Toledo on March 10, 1908 when the general store of A.N. Coad was destroyed with a large stock of merchandise and $65. in cash, owned by Oscar McDonald. Mr. McDonald went into the store in the morning and started the fires as usual, and then went to his breakfast, when he returned the interior was in flames.
On September 6, 1910, Arnold Boyd of Merrickville was killed while hunting ducks at Mud Lake near Toledo. He and his wife and younger brother set up a tent Friday night, and early Saturday morning he took his boat and gun and set off alone to hunt ducks. When he did not return by dark his wife walked to a farmhouse to see if a search could be made for him. Several men with lanterns went out but could not find him. Early Sunday they went out again and he was found laying half in his boat with part of his head blown off. It is thought he reached for his gun and pulled it toward him by the barrel, and it discharged.
August 6, 1911, Lester Palmer of Toledo was killed when his horse ran away.
On October 4, 1923 the Commercial Hotel at Toledo burned.
On December 17, 1929 fire broke out in the store of C.A.Woods in Toledo and completely destroyed the store as well as the telephone exchange cutting off Toledo, Frankville and Jasper. The operator Miss Grey had a narrow escape. The post office was also in the store. Messengers had to travel by car to Smiths Falls to get help. It was a very bad fire but no one was injured.
The old Commercial Hotel at Toledo was destroyed by fire on October 4, 1923. The fire broke out in the kitchen of the old hotel owned by John McEwen. This is the 4th bad fire in Toledo in less than a year. Firemen from Smiths Falls and Frankville were able to save nearby buildings.
February 2, 1946, George H. Code, 28, accidentally shot and killed at Toledo.
A well known Toledo man, Earl Stafford Drummond was drowned at Seeley’s Bay on October 7, 1951. He was 26.
Clement Coughlin aged 22 years of Toledo was killed in a traffic accident April 23, 1953.
A large barn on the farm of Leonard Laming was burned at Toledo on June 12, 1961. No animals were in the barn but it was full of hay, valued at $2,000. Twenty seven calves grazing near the barn were removed to safety. The fire is doubly tragic as the Laming home was burned on February 5, 1961 with all contents.
Thousands of dollars in damage was done in a matter of minutes when a tornado struck the Village of Toledo on June 23, 1961. About 7pm it started to thunder and rain. Then about 7:30 it became very dark, skies were black as ink and there was a momentary calm. Mothers gathered their children inside and hurried to close doors and windows and were joined by their men folk. There was a general feeling of doom in the air. Then it struck with a roar like and express train, so great as the noise it was impossible for families to converse as their voices could not be heard. When it was all over the following damage had been done: the roof was lifted off Struther’s Store and carried 100 yards away leaving thousands of dollars of appliances and furnishings exposed to the driving rain; a huge oak tree, six feet through at the base, in front of the store was broken off close to the ground and caused great damage to their warehouse; used appliances were blown over and tossed about, a large freezer carried 40 feet away; a truck owned by Garnet Struthers was flipped over on its side; the roof was blown off Ross Kilborn’s workshop; a large tree in the yard of Mildred McClup crashed into Eaton’s Service Station carrying hydro lines with it; three trees in front of the home of Roy Gardiner crashed into their house, ripping off cornice, eaves troughs and the TV aerial; the shop of Lloyd DeWolfe was wrecked as after the roof blew away a large tree fell into the building; Jack Baker’s barn was blown away, pieces being scattered for a mile away; TV aerials were twisted like pretzels; all streets were blocked by fallen trees, nearly every pane of glass in the village was shattered; shrubs, flower beds, gardens were destroyed; the home of Wendell Eaton was struck by lightning and chimneys were knocked off 24 homes. No one was killed or seriously injured. All the next day the scream of chain saws could be heard and Hydro and telephone crews worked for 48 hours. Reeve Charlie Sands was on the scene continuously, lending help and advice.
A large barn owned by Archie Donaldson at Toledo was burned on October 12, 1961. All the season’s crop was lost. Fortunately none of the cattle were near the barn. The cause of the fire is not known.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Jones and seven children was destroyed by fire at Toledo on October 1, 1962.
Three young men from Toledo area were killed May 26, 1968 in a one car accident, three miles from Toledo, when they crashed into a tree. Dead were the driver William James McCabe, 21 of Jasper, Ivan Botham 18, of Smiths Falls and William Nichols, 15, of Toledo.
On December 17, 1973 Mr. and Mrs. Roy Willows of Toledo were married 60 years. They were married in Elgin and moved to a farm at Toledo where they spent their entire married life. In 1945 their two sons Lloyd and Glen took over the active work on the farm. They had seven children, five daughters and two sons: Irene Bushfield, Mrs. Edna Jarvis, Mrs. Wilma Skakleton, Mrs. Eleanor Drummond and Mary (deceased), Lloyd and Glen. To mark the 60 years of happy married life, Mr. and Mrs. Willows were tendered a reception at St. Andrew’s United Church hall in Toledo.
The village dates back to 1802, when United Empire Loyalists settled on grants of land given them by the Crown.
Rachel and Isaiah Wiley were granted Lot 13 on the 4th Concession and opposite it Lot 13 on the 5th Concession was granted to Catherine Moore in 1805. Two dirt roads crossed at the borders of the two lots and a hamlet was born as more settlers moved in.
Newbliss didn’t start out with that name. Originally it was Dodd’s Corners named after a shoemaker who lived on the corner and his father George Dodd with a family of five lived on another. This was in 1802 and in 1820 it became Dack’s Corners from the family of William Dack. In 1855 the name was finally changed to Newbliss.
The name comes from the Town of Newbliss in Ireland, brought here by an Irish schoolmaster, John Mackay who came to teach in Newbliss in that year. He thought the collection of houses and business deserved a new name and he made the decision stick. Mackay taught in Newbliss for over 20 years before retiring.
Further to the south William Dack bought parts of lots 19 and 20 in the 4th Concession and other acquisitions and became the largest landowner in the area.
He was operating a tavern in the 1830’s but the site is unknown. It was probably located along the road from Brockville which became the Victoria Macadamized Road during the 1840’s and eventually became Hwy 29.
Dack’s Tavern also gave birth to the Orange Order in Kitley. Newbliss Lodge was formed in the tavern in 1835 and around 1850 the order built a hall in Newbliss, which burned in 1944. Newbliss LOL, No.87 observed its centenary in 1935 . The lodge moved its headquarters in 1949, taking over the former Coad’s school, a stone building erected in 1875, replacing the earlier log cabin school. The school had originally been named for the Dack Family, but adopted the name of Coad in the 1850’s.
Newbliss was once a thriving community of over 600 people, with inns, a cheese factory, several schools, a hotel, stage coach house and other business. There was also an active Orange Lodge and a Temperance Hall.
Lovell’s Gazette of 1873 ascribes 250 persons to the village population. There were two blacksmiths, a dressmaker, and engineer, harness maker, milliner, postmaster, two teachers, shoemaker, tailor, wagon maker, two weavers and 35-40 farmers.
The Gazette listed 600 in the village population, but seven years later another census cut the population to 300. In 1902 the population of the hamlet itself was only 25 persons. Earlier figures were believed to be based on post office addresses.
“The original Newbliss Cheese Factory consisted of three frame buildings, the main factory, a curing house and a boiler room. When the main factory was moved from the old Ross farm to the centre of Newbliss, a frame cheese house was constructed for the cheese maker. It still stands beside the general store.” (Kitley 1795-1975 by Glenn Lockwood)
John Edgar, father of James Edgar, was a staunch Presbyterian, but he ran the first hotel and bar room in Newbilss. In 1862, he gave up the hotel business, leasing the premises to George Stewart.
Edgar then formed a Sons of Temperance lodge and was for many years one of its most prominent leaders.
Newbliss cheese factory, later a general store, was one of the busiest in Leeds County in the middle and later part of the 19th Century. Farmers for miles around brought their milk here for processing. The factory produced cheeses weighting 90 to 100 pounds. Patrons used to haul the cheeses encased in round cheese boxes by wagon to the Jasper railway station, from where they were shipped to the cheese board offices in Brockville for grading and later sale. The factory operated until around 1944 when it was converted into a store.
In 1904 the cheese maker, Robert Beckett, was one of the most prominent men in the village and owner of the first car in Newbliss. For years it was known as “Mr.Beckett’s Buick”
Early School
The former Coad’s school, a stone building, was erected in 1875, replacing the earlier log cabin school. The school had originally been named for the Dack Family, but adopted the name of Coad in the 1850’s.
Dack’s school was built on Lot 17 of Concession four about 1830, a simple log structure with unpainted interior walls and austere benches and desks.
About the same time, Newbliss village had a log school which was replaced in 1874 by a stone structure. Newbliss School was phased out of existence in 1961 with the pupils being transferred to Jasper.
Newbliss had two schoolhouses to serve the community, each its own section. The first school was built around 1830 and was titled S.S. #5 Newbliss School. It is believed the first schoolhouse for S.S. #5 was made of log, however no records of the school exist. In 1858, the stone schoolhouse which replaced the log structure was erected. This schoolhouse is still standing, located at the intersection of Highway 29 and Line Road 4. The other school section in Newbliss was #6, with its school being called S.S. #6 Coad’s School. Originally, Coad’s School was known as Dack’s. This schoolhouse was also constructed of log before being replaced by a stone building in 1870. Upon its closure in the 1940s, Coad’s School was sold to the Orange Lodge. (Kitley 1795-1975 by Glenn Lockwood)
Religion
As in many areas of Leeds and Grenville, circuit riders first brought religion to Newbliss in the early days.
Ezra Healey, probably the most famous of the early circuit riders, included Newbliss in his itinerary in 1822. He was a Methodist assigned to the Rideau Circuit. In 1818 he had begun conducting services in Toledo in a log school house. Methodist history records the fact he ministered to only four families here, probably meeting at Dack’s log school house.
Methodists worshipped anywhere they could find shelter, a barn being used on more than one occasion but in 1834, the congregation built a log chapel on the eastern edge of Kitley Township in the community known as Crystal and the church subsequently bore the name “Providence Chapel”.
The church was used until church union in 1935 when it was sold to a local resident who in turn donated it in 1960 to Upper Canada Village.
Early Anglicans also held their services at Dack’s School with a minister coming from Smith’s Falls to preach. It was years before the first Anglican Church was built. St. Paul’s Church was erected here in1904.
The village was also the first centre for Presbyterians in Kitley Township. The home of James Edgar, a pioneer inn-keeper, was turned into a mission centre about 1835 and Kitley Presbyterians met there until 1847 when St. Andrew’s Church was constructed in Toledo.
Newbliss Church – photo taken November 2016 (photo #5)
“Edna’s Scrapbook”
is a paperback book written by Edna B. Chant and was published in 1998. Edna Chant was a reported with the “Athens Reporter” for 23 years and she is the author of four books.
Her book, which is made up of news clippings from various sources, from which we have taken excerpts, gives us a glimpse into life in our area for over a hundred year period ending with stories from 1975.
While her book covers many areas of Leeds and Grenville we have only focused on the area within Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.
Newbliss
While working on the new house of Robert Mackie near Newbliss in August, 1908, a young man Sidney Christie aged 22 of Smiths Falls fell to the ground from a scaffold and was instantly killed.
On February 3, 1928 George Price aged 19 of Newbliss, was found in the stable of his father’s barn with one side of his head smashed in. It was quite apparent that one of the horses had kicked him. He remained unconscious for 36 hours and then he died.
On February 26, 1959 Isaac Lockwood, 73, of Newbliss died of injuries in a car accident.
An 88 year old man, John Andrew Lyons, of Newbliss, was killed on September 11, 1967 on Hwy 29 at Newbliss when a car driven by his wife Bella Lyons, 71, in which he was a passenger, was struck broadside by a car driven by Mrs. A.L. Wells, 21 of Jasper. Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Wells were both injured.
St. Paul’s Anglican Church Hall at Newbliss was burned by fire on April 21, 1968. Due to the efforts of the firemen, the church was saved.
This community is situated on the southern fringe of Frankville, straddling No.29 Highway. In the late 1800’s a toll gate was operated here on the old Victoria Macadamized road running between Brockville and Smith’s Falls.
The original settler was Gideon Leehy, somewhere around 1800. The spelling of the family name was changed to “Lehigh’ by Gideon’s grand-daughter.
The original homestead was split by No.29 Highway when it was constructed as a macadamized road in 1852. The highway from Brockville to Smiths Falls was known as the Victoria Macadamized Road in honour of Queen Victoria. It became No. 29 when absorbed into the provincial road system in 1927.
The first crude road through the Leigh’s- Frankville area ran half a mile east of the modern highway. A rough dirt road muddy in the spring and fall, connected this route with Lehigh’s.
Farmers in this area sent their milk to the Frankville Cheese Factory, a mile or so up the road.
The original Lehigh family home burned in 1866, and Lyman Brown, who had married one of the Lehigh girls, rebuilt the house.
Charles Lehigh earned a reputation as a fiddler, playing at many of the social events in this area in the later part of the 19th Century. He was also known as a fine trapper.
Around 1850 Levi Kilborn ran a general store in one half of his house located on Hwy 29 about a mile or so north from Lehigh’s Corners. He was the father of two of Lehigh’s best known sons, Dr. Roland Kilborn who was Toledo’s physician for many years and Dr. Omar Kilborn, a Canadian missionary serving in China for many years.
James Hewitt ran a black smithy in the corners around 1878, and around 1900 Lawrence Davidson set up another smithy. Hewitt and a carriage maker Ben Stewart, supplied farmers with carriages, harness and wagon wheels for many years.
With the coming of the car, service stations made their appearance; a familiar station was Charlie Sands’ establishment on the northeast corner of Leigh Corners. Sands also served for a number of years as Reeve of Kitley.
FirstSchool
Gideon Leehy believed in educating the youngsters, so he put up a log school on the south side of Kitley’s Ninth Concession Road, sometime before 1820.
The school lasted until 1851, when it burned down. By this time a number of other families had moved in and a small community was flourishing.
The good burghers elected to build a stone school, which was completed in 1852. For 109 years it served the area well, standing sturdy and sound on the north side of the road, opposite the charred remains of the old school.
In 1961, the school was phased out of the system and replaced by the modern Frankville School on Hwy. 29.
Old school records show that in 1872, R.W.Hornick was the teacher of the one room school. In 1882 the school’s budget was $200., rising to $230 the next year.
Malcome Lehigh was teaching there in 1887 and in 1896 the muster showed six Leigh children attending: Maude, Mertle, Edna, Carrie, Everett and Ernie Lehigh. The last teacher when the final class was dismissd in 1961 was Aileen Montgomery.
Lehigh’s Cemetery
One of Kitley’s oldest burying grounds; Lehigh’s Cemetery is located on the south side of Kitley’s 9th Concession Road about a mile west of Highway 29.
The exact age of the cemetery is unknown but it is probably that burials were being made there between 1800 and 1810.
The land came from part of the 500 acre homestead of Gideon and Clarissa Leehy. The Lehigh burial plot is in the extreme southeast corner of the old burying ground. Here lie Gideon and his wife the former Clarissa Kilborn and the seven members of their family.
A number of Lehigh’s Corners pioneers also rest here. The names on the headstones read like a “Who’s Who of Frankville and district. One plot holds members of the Arnold Family, among them John D Arnold of Brockville who died July 6, 1892 at the age of 76. Also resting in the cemetery are John Soper (1818-1890) his wife Sarah Bennett (1852-1906).
One of Kitley’s outstanding citizens of the 20 Century Hiram McCrae lies in this cemetery. Hiram was born in Montague Township July 2 1807 son of United Empire Loyalist Edward McCrae originally of Albany, NY. Joining the Leeds Militia, McCrae rose to the rank of Colonel. He settled in Kitley in 1837 at the age of 30 and became deeply involved in municipal affairs. Appointed a magistrate in 1853 he served in that position for 35 years until his death in 1888. He was also elected Reeve of the township in 1858, He was Warden of the United Counties three times in 1864, 1867 and 1873.
Jasper lies in the North East section of Kitley along the boundary with Wolford Township, with Irish Creek running through the village.
Joseph Haskins, the first miler in these parts, settled on the future site of Jasper in 1802. At that time, Irish Lake was a muddy swamp (Mud Lake) or marsh, drained by Irish Creek which turned into the Rideau River north of Haskins’ Mill.
Haskins dammed the creek near his homestead then used the dam water to run a grist mill he erected. A sawmill followed and pretty soon a hamlet grew up around the homestead.
Damning of the creek backed up water to form a lake where the marsh land had existed. The name Irish Lake was given to this body of water.
Haskins’ dam created such a body of water that when Col. John By’s surveyors were laying out the route of the proposed Rideau Canal in 1925 they seriously considered running the new waterway down Irish Creek, through Irish Lake and thence westward to Bellamy’s Mills, now Toledo. However the prospect of having to cut through high ground west from Toledo deterred the surveyors and further tests on Irish Lake indicated some six feet of mud would have to be excavated over the entire length of the lake to make a channel feasible.
The Irish Creek – Irish Lake idea was abandoned and the surveyors laid out the canal route past the estuary of Irish Creek on to Smith’s Falls, eventually cresting the height of land at Newboro and then going downhill along the Cataraqui River to Kingston.
In the 1820’s, Irish, English and Scottish settlers flooded into Kitley, helped by free passage over the Atlantic guaranteed by the government and an offer of 100 acres of free land per family.
Many Irish settlers took up homesteads in the area lying east of the present No. 29 highway, along a shallow pond which still today is called Irish Lake. At the north end of the lake, a settlement called Irish Creek grew up. Today it is the modern village of Jasper.
The new settlers also farmed the area east of Frankville known as Crystal. The community boasts one of the earliest Loyal Orange Order Lodges, No.8.
In 1806 a Mr. Haskins built a grist mill in the tiny settlement then called Albune. In 1820 Gideon Olmstead bought the mill, and the community became known as Olmstead’s Mills.
In 1830, construction of the Rideau Canal raised the water level in Irish Cr. and destroyed the waterfall, which had supplied power for the mill.
That closed the mill but allowed Irish Cr. to be used for rafting timber.
When the Brockville and Ottawa Railway was built from Brockville to Smiths Falls in 1859, railway officials complained that the name Irish Creek sounded ‘petty.’
They urged residents to come up with another name. In 1864 the post office was renamed Jasper, the name chosen by residents from a list provided by the post office.
A fire in 1938 wiped out one corner of the main business area of this village and from the ashes rose a hotel and general store and post office.
The Jasper Hotel stands on the site of the Fitzgerald Hotel, a famous hostelry dating back to the days when the settlement was called “Irish Creek”. Thomas Fitzgerald was running the hotel back in the 1870’s and then Jasper boasted two other hotels.
Churches
Jasper United Church was built in 1877 as a Methodist house of worship. The old red brick building with its tall silver prier is a focal point for the faithful of this village
Irish Creek
In 1815 Irish Creek was described as being 60 feet across, today it is more like 200 feet. It no longer caries the river traffic associated with the early mills which dotted its banks more than a century ago. Lying south of this village, Irish Lake, also figured prominently in the development of the area.
Irish Lake from which Irish Creek springs is a body of water five miles long, a mile across at its broadest, lying south and east of Toldeo. The lakes headwaters originate in the area west of Hwy No.29 between Plum Hollow and Frankville.
The lake roughly follows a southwest- northeast line east of Hwy No. 29, passing Newbliss Its outlet Irish Creek meanders through a peaceful farming country, through Jasper and emptying into the Rideau River at historic Polley’s Point.
From time immemorial Irish Lake and Irish Creek and their adjoining marshes have been a mecca for hunters.
In the early 1800,s muzzle loading muskets were used by settlers during the annual fall migrations of ducks. The birds were taken for immediate food, or for preserving and use during the long winter months.
One of the area’s earliest hunters was Roger Stevens and he was the districts first duck hunting causality. Stevens a pioneer mill owner in Wolford and Montague townships drowned on a creek emptying into the Rideau in 1795.
Stevens was hunting ducks at the time. He apparently stood up in his boat to fire at a passing mallard, and the recoil of the old hammer triggered shotgun, knocked him out of the boat into the ice cold water.
To this day, the stream bears his name, though some geographers have misspelled it “Stephens”. Roger Stevens was a brother of Able Stevens, first settler at Delta and Philipsville, and the man who brought the Baptist Church to north Leeds.
In 1818 Kitley had 300 residents, most living along the creek and in the Toledo area. In addition to Haskin’s Mill, a grist mill was operated by Richard Olmsted (or Olmstead) and Able Kilborn had grist mills and saw mills south of Irish Lake. He also had mills on Bellamy’s Lake west of Toledo.
In 1829 there were 801 persons living in Kitley and the following year 96 families were living north of Irish Lake and 86 south.
Around Olmsted’s mills on Irish Creek a small settlement grew up, originally called Irish Creek, later Olmsted’s Mills, still later Jasper. That is how the modern hamlet of Jasper came into being.
The hamlet received its greatest boost in 1858 when the Brockville to Carleton Place (later to Ottawa) railway was developed. Though Olmsted’s mills had been idle for 30 years, the hamlet was thriving.
Legend says that the first railway engine to use the line north of Jasper was brought by scow down Irish Lake and Irish creek from the railway line being inched north from Brockville. The two sections joined here.
Martin Doyle was the first station master. At that time there was a store operated by G.Cross, a hotel run by J. McLeod, a school house and five houses.
Ambrose Olmstead had a 100 acre spread here in 1854 and in 1862, he hired John Burchill, a surveyor to lay out a village which he was going to call “Albune”. The village was laid out in 12 blocks, with 95 lots available. For streets he had the following names: Queen’s Highway, Centre, Maple, John, Main and William. Though the plot plan was approved May 31, 1862, the lots were not registered at the Grenville registry office until 1888.
The name ‘Albune’ never caught on and the railway settled the issue by calling the station ‘Jasper’.
Because Jasper became a focal point for produce of all kinds, the railway erected extensive freight sheds, with facilities for handling dressed pork, mutton, butter, wool, clothing, flour and grain.
The Dominion Gazetteer of 1873 listed 750 people in Jasper, but most historians believe that the figure was greatly exaggerated. The following business were also listed: W.S.Cameron, store; W.A.Chester, milliner and dressmaker; Albert Clark Blacksmith; Thomas Fitzgerald, hotel; Tom Huffman, tinsmith; John Mrquette; Mrs. Ambrose Olmstead, grocery; W.S.Ralph, store; Chris Richards, store; Amos Robinson, hotel; Levi Soper, blacksmith; W.H.Sparham. stationmaster.
The railway provided area farmers with a ready flow of cash, since engines burned cordwood by the load. The wood was cut into four foot lengths to fit into the engine fire-boxes. The wood was stacked in sheds along the tracks and every spring an official scaler would come along and measure the wood for size and pay the farmers.
The first station burned in 1871 and was replaced.
Excerpts from the “History of Leeds and Grenville from 1749 to 1879”
by Thad. W.H.Leavitt pub 1879
M.E.Church, Jasper
This church is substantially built of brick; it is 30×46 feet, with a tower 14 feet square surmounted by a spire. The charge includes four congregations, viz., Jasper, Easton’s, Kilmarnock and Roseville, the total membership being 190. The trustees of the church are Thomas Edmunds, James Edmunds, Levius Brown, William Cross and B. Warren, the pastor (1878) being the Rev. Eli Woodcock.
Edna’s Scrapbook”
is a paperback book written by Edna B. Chant and was published in 1998. Edna Chant was a reported with the “Athens Reporter” for 23 years and she is the author of four books.
Her book, which is made up of news clippings from various sources, from which we have taken excerpts, gives us a glimpse into life in our area for over a hundred year period ending with stories from 1975.
While her book covers many areas of Leeds and Grenville we have only focused on the area within Elizabethtown-Kitley Township.
Jasper
Harry Moffatt postmaster and merchant of Jasper, had a close call from death on April 25, 1900. He had been to market in Merrickville and was on his way home. He had not sold all his load, and was taking home fie cases of eggs. When he got in front of Alex Clark’s farm, he decided to water his horse and he drove to the waters edge. He cannot explain what happened but the next thing he knew he was in the water, with the struggling horse and wagon on top of him. He used every bit of his strength to reach the surface, and when he got his head above water, he was too weak to crawl out. In the meantime, Mrs. Phillips of Riverview saw the accident and had gone for Mr. Clark. Together they helped him from the water and he had to cling to the fence for some time before he could stand on his feet. He was unable to speak but after they got him to the house and wrapped him in blankets and out his feet in hot water, he quickly recovered. His first concern was for his horse, but Mr. Clark attached a chain to it and pulled it out with his team, but the animal was dead. It was still attached to the wagon.
The cheese factory at Jasper burned on July 7, 1901, the fire starting from the chimney. The proprietor, Isaac H. Fifield, who lived upstairs lost all of his possessions.
Mrs. W.J. Anderson of Jasper was killed in a motor accident at Newbliss on October 30, 1937.
On July 18, 1939 Connerty’s store and Fitzgerald’s Hotel burned at Jasper.
Alfred Leacock of Jasper died of injuries received in a motor accident on November 20, 1940
On November 10, 1959 William McCabe, 51, of Jasper and his 20 year old son Michael drowned when their auto plunged into the Rideau River.
Two sisters, Mrs. Albert W Morrison aged 64 years, and Miss Harriett Cannon aged 68 years died together when their car was struck by an oil truck driven by Garnet Sands of Frankville on May 4, 1961. They lived at Jasper and taught school to Toledo. They were on their way to school at 8:45am and drove from the Jasper Road onto Highway 29, directly in front of Sands who was travelling towards Smiths Falls and he was unable to avoid a collision. Both car and truck were demolished, the latter catching fire and burning to a shell. Sands was able to escape but received severe burns and shock. He had his 3 year old son Terry with him and he was able to save the boy but he was also burned. Mrs. Morrison was the former Edith Pearl Cannon and both sisters were born at Portland. They had been teachers for many years and were very well known and highly regarded.
Damage was estimated at $100,000 when fire destroyed the William Connerty and Son grain elevator and feed plant at Jasper on May 20, 1961. Several hundred tons of grain were in the plant as well as valuable machinery. Firemen were able to save four homes located across the road. A 14 car train of the CPR was due and would have to pass dangerously close to the fire, but it was flagged down. The train was already four hours late due to an accident at Trenton. It was delayed anther hour at the fire scene where CPR officials carefully guided it by the blazing buildings only a few feet from the track.
On May 17, 1961 a large sheet metal warehouse owned by C.A. Pryce was burned at Jasper. The building was full of crown assets merchandise. The Smiths Falls fire department prevented the fire from spreading to other buildings.
On the farm of Lorne Driver on the road between Hwy 29 and Jasper, the fire made a clean sweep of all his outbuildings on June 26, 1965. Seven barns in all fell to flames. Firemen from Smiths Falls were able to save his house. No livestock was lost but one barn contained over $1,000. worth of lumber.
A Jasper youth James Elwood Wells, 19, had a miraculous escape from death on September 16, 1966 when the car he was driving was totally wrecked by a Brockville bound CPR train travelling at 57 miles per hour. The car was hurled 37 feet into a ditch, with the motor torn out and pieces of the vehicle scattered right and left. The youth escaped with a fractured leg and a slight concussion.
Mr. and Mrs. Jonas Ellis of Jasper were married 60 years on May 12, 1969 and were at home to 150 friends and relatives. Mr. Ellis was born at Rocksprings in 1878. He is known by all as “Joney” and he learned the blacksmithing trade early in life and worked at this trade until he was 85 years of age. Mrs. Ellis is the former Eva Edwards and was born at Wolford Centre. They raised a family of 14 children and all are living except one daughter Stella May. They are Ormond, Clayton, Marjorie, Wesley, Donald, Dorothy, Sidney, Geraldine, Meda, Earl, Jean, Norma and Robert.
A Jasper girl, Emily Scouten, aged 16 years, was killed on June 26, 1969 when a car in which she was a passenger crashed in heavy fog. The accident occurred at the Kitley- South Elmsley Line and the driver was William Bertrin, 18, of Perth. Other passengers in the car were Joan Purcell, 20, of Smiths Falls and James Duberville of Brockville who were slightly injured.
Milton Cardiff, 56, drowned at jasper after falling from a boat on August 5, 1973.
Irish Creek
Mr. and Mrs. John Luckey and their daughter Miss. Mary Ann Luckey were murdered at their home at Irish Creek on Oct. 11, 1892
Charles Luckey was hanged in Brockville on December 14 for the murder of his father, mother and sister at Irish Creek, 1893
On February 13, 1909 Michael O’Connor and Henry Rathwell of Kitley had spent the evening at Irish Creek and left about 10 o’clock to return home. The cutter was on its side, the horse was in the ditch tangled up in the harness, O’Connor aged 60 was lying face down in the snow with Rathwell lying on top of him. O’Connor was dead and Rathwell unconscious. Dr. W. Anderson said O’Connor died of suffocation. Rathwell was suffering from frost bite but recovered.
Mrs. Harry Stevens aged 32 and Miss Bessie Jones age 20, were drowned in Irish Creek on September 1, 1909. They had been visiting at the home of Harvey Timleck and went out alone in a boat. No reason can be given for the accident as the water was only three feet deep and they could have easily made it to shore.
The Athens Reporter and County of Leeds Advertiser
Excerpts have been taken from this paper referencing the following hamlet for the years 1889, 1894 and 1895
Tuesday July 16th, 1889
At Irish Creek on Tuesday last, a builder named James Heaslip was rendered insensible by a stroke of lightning, and H. Johnston who was standing by, was slightly injured at the same time. Both men are recovering.
Tuesday April 9, 1895 issue–
Miss May Johnson of Irish Creek is the guest of Miss Helen Dixon who recently returned from New York where she was visiting her sister, Mrs. Howard McGrath
Concession 10, Lot 22, Twp of Elizabethtown Kitley*, GPS: 44.707355, -75.952617- Hwy 29 to Line Road 9 turn west south side of road. One mile south of Frankville on the Leigh Cemetery Road. (all photos taken November 2016)- 318 Line Road 9
A Brief History of Lehigh Cemetery
Lot #22 was a Crown Land Grant to Solomon How, May 17, 1802, who sold all 200 acres to Peter Sandford in 1805. Later the same year, Peter Sanford sold portions to both Isaac Ireland and Seth Cornell, who had settled there circa 1800.
Although a number of field stone markers remain, the earliest recorded gravestone is for Susannah (Cornell) Ireland, wife of Isaac Ireland, dated April 10, 1826. There is no marker for Isaac Ireland, although he may be buried at one of the field stones.
Seth Cornell was living on Lot #22 when he died circa 1821, and may also be buried there. Seth’s first wife Phoebe died while living on Lot #22 may also be interred on this site. About 1806, Seth married Lydia Leheigh, mother of Gideon Leheigh. Gideon later transferred this burial ground to Cemetery Trustees: John Arnold, James Rudd and Levi Kilborn in 1868. These trustees are buried at this site.
Prior to the mid 1800’s this cemetery became the final resting place of many of the neighbourhood pioneers, Among these early pioneers in Kitley, there is a white shaft marking the grave of John Arnold, the fourth son of the famous Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. Beside John Arnold rests his wife Sarah (Brunson) Arnold and several of their offspring; although some of their children are buried at other sites.
Lehigh Cemetery is on the 10th Concession Road a short distance west of Highway 29, about a mile north of the Village of Frankville.
Note on the children of John and Sarah (Brunson) Arnold
– William Arnold, son (buried at Lehigh)
– Henry Edward Arnold who married Abigail, daughter of Captain Duncan Livingston (buried at Smiths Falls)
– John Browson Arnold, who married Cordelia, daughter of Levi Stone (both buried at Lehigh)
– Richard Arnold, who married Caroline Webster (buried at Athens)
– Emmiline Arnold, who married David Eaton (both buried at Lehigh)
– Jane Arnold, daughter
– Sophia Matilda Arnold, who married Uri Stone (both buried at Lehigh)
(Information taken from the booklet “Lehigh Cemetery” written and published by Edwin and Mildred Livingston, April 1980 ISBN 0-920992-04-8)
Photos are on the bottom of this listing
List of Grave sites as per the Brockville Genealogical Society
Last
First
Died
Comments
Aged/Born
Abels
Idela Elora
1916
see Crummy, Idela Elora
Althouse
Heram
May 8, 1895
Age 73 yrs
Andrews
Lois C.
Jul 14, 1903
see Lois C. Loucks
Arnold
William
Aug 24, 1828
son of John & Sarah Arnold
Age 14 yrs, 11 mo, 10 d’s
Arnold
John
Oct 22, 1831
husband of Sarah
Age 46 yrs, 6 mo, 8 d’s
Arnold
Emeline
Oct 5, 1857
see Eaton, Emeline
Arnold
Alfred
Aug 3, 1862
son of John B. & Cordelia Arnold
Age 1 mo, 8 d’s
Arnold
Albert
Aug 6, 1862
son of John B. & Cordelia Arnold
Age 1 mo, 11 d’s
Arnold
William Henry
Feb 27, 1865
son of John B. & Cordelia Arnold
Age 22 yrs, 10 mo, 1 d
Arnold
Sarah
Aug 9, 1871
wife of Arnold, John
Age 79 yrs, 7 mo, 19 d’s
Arnold
Cordelia
Jun 20, 1882
wife of Arnold, John B.
Age 61 yrs, 3 mo, 21 d’s
Arnold
John B.
Jul 6, 1892
Husband or Arnold, Cordelia
Age 76 yrs, 21 d’s
Arnold
Sophia M.
Aug 24, 1910
see Stone, Sophia M.
Bailey
William
May 30, 1882
Age 35 yrs, 10 mo
Baker
Harriet A.
May 6, 1895
see Hunt, Harrier A.
Bennett
Sarah J.
1908
see Soper, Sarah J.
Blachmer
Abigail
1904
see Legigh, Abigail
Borthwick
Ethel
Jun 7, 1886
dau of John & Sarah Borthwick
Age 4 mo.
Borthwick
Wesley
Apr 14, 1888
son of John & Sarah Borthwick
Age 8 mo, 29 d’s
Borthwick
May
Aug 21, 1895
dau of John & Sarah Borthwick
Age 8 mo, 29 d’s
Borthwick
Addie Irene
1911
dau of John & Sarah Borthwick
Born 1893
Borthwick
John
1923
husband of Sarah
Born 1845
Borthwick
Sarah
1935
wife of Borthwick, John
Born 1864
Boyd
Ellen S.
1972
see Mott, Ellen S.
Brennan
John (Esq)
Apr 9, 1848
Age 48 yrs
Brennan
Hannah
May 18, 1851
wife of Brennan, William
Aage 42 yrs, 7 mo, 21 d’s
Brennan
Elizabeth
Jul 26, 1864
Buried with Church, Joel
Born Jan 19 1832
Brown
Sarah Ann
Apr 28, 1863
dau of Lyman & Maria Brown
Age 4 yrs, 5 mo
Brown
William
Mar 25, 1869
Age 65 yrs, 24 d’s
Brown
Lyman
May 29, 1905
husband of Maria Brown
Age 75 yrs
Brown
Thomas
Nov 24, 1917
born Co. Cavin, Ireland
Born Apr 1818
Brown
Agnes E.
Jul 17, 1948
see Rabb, Agnes E.
Brown
Katherine
19??
see Ireland, Katherine
Brown
Maria
1926
wife of Lyman Brown
Born 1830
Bush
Almira
Apr 22, 1899
see Almira Church
Cameron
Lewis
Jun 10, 1847
Age 66 yrs
Cameron
Ernest G.
May 16, 1866
son of Lewis & Isadore Cameron
Age 1 mo, 13 d’s
Cavanagh
Elizabeth
Nov 8, 1887
wife of Cavanagh, James
Age 57 yrs, 8 mo
Cavanagh
James
1909
husband of Elizabeth
Born 1820
Cavanaugh
Ellen
Jun 8, 1931
see Morrison, Ellen
Church
Margaret
Nov 18, 1860
wife of Church, Oliver
Age 83 yrs
Church
H.N.
Nov 22, 1882
husband of Almira
Age 72 yrs
Church
Basil R.
Jun 8, 1886
Age 34 yrs
Church
Almira
Apr 22, 1899
wife of H.N. Church
Age 73 yrs
Church
Joel
1928
Buried with Brennan E. & Donahoe N.
Born 1834
Clutterbuck
Elizabeth D.
Jul 30, 1870
dau of Henry & Ellen Clutterbuck
Age 2 yrs, 5 mo
Conner
Ransom D.
Jan 7, 1883
Age 29 yrs, 1 mo, 26 d’s
Conner
Sidney G.
1913
husband of Lucy
Born 1861
Conner
Lucy A.
1921
wife of Conner, Sidney G.
Born 1864
Connor
Margaret N.
May 11, 1911
see Morrison, Margaret N.
Connor
Mary A.
Mar 2, 1916
see Steacy, Mary A.
Coon
Ricchard Roy
May 4, 1920
son of Roy and Hazel Coon
Age 1 d
Cornell
Lydia
Jan 21, 1856
Age 94 yrs
Craig
Alfred
Apr 8, 1880
Age 22 yrs, 2 mo
Craig
William
Dec 9, 1889
husband of Jane
Age 70 yrs
Craig
Rhoda A.
Feb 28, 1894
wife of Austin Craig
Age 32 yrs
Craig
Jane
Aug 5, 1897
wife of Craig, William
Age 70 yrs
Craig
Laura Edna
1895
dau of Austin & Rhoda A. Craig
Born 1892
Craig
Mary
1903
see Hanton, Mary
Craig
Harriet
1924
see Holmes, Harriet
Cross
Rufus H.
Dec 7, 1888
son of Heram & Esther Cross
Age 33 yrs, 3 mo, 22 d’s
Cross
Esther
Mar 28, 1894
wife of Cross, Heram
Age 78 yrs
Cross
Heram
Feb 8, 1896
husband of Esther
Age 75 yrs
Crumey
George Wesley
Jan 14, 1878
Age 17 yrs, 7 mo
Crumey
William James
Oct 19, 1887
Age 23 yrs, 8 mo
Crummey
Richard
Jan 11, 1899
husband of Esther
Age 76 yrs, 5 mo
Crummey
Esther
Jan 5, 1920
wife of Crummey, Richard
Age 82 yrs
Crummy
Annie Lovina
19??
wife of Crummy, Harold Stanley
Born 1905
Crummy
Infant Chilren
1914
two children died 1914 & 1917
Crummy
Idela Elora
1916
wife of Crummy, Henry Rolston
Born 1860
Crummy
Clifford E.
1925
husband of Clementena
Born 1889
Crummy
Henry Rolston
1936
husband of Idela Elora
Born 1858
Crummy
Clementena G.
1960
wife of Crummy, Clifford E.
Born 1889
Crummy
Harold Stanley
1974
husband of Annie Lovina
Born 1891
Davidson
Clara E.
1933
wife of Davidson, John Stewart
Born 1862
Davidson
John Stewart
1939
husband of Clara E. Davidson
Age 56 yrs
Davis
Josish Wilson
Sep 2, 1866
son of Wilson & Mary Davis
Age 33 yrs
Davis
Mary
Nov 8, 1868
wife of Davis, Wilson
Age 64 yrs
Davis
Wilson
Jun 6, 1880
husband of Davis, Mary
Age 76 yrs
Davis
Annie
1866
dau of Wilson & Mary Davis
Davis
Lydia
1950
see Percival, Lydia
DeWolfe
Ida E.
Oct 19, 1889
wife of DeWolfe, Everett
Age 31 yrs, 6 mo, 10 d’s
DeWolfe
Cordelia
1937
see Leverette, Cordelia
Dillabough
Hilda V.
??
see Olmstead, Hilda V.
Dillabough
Hazel M.
1932
wife of Dillabough, Wilfred
Born 1902
Dillabough
Wilfred
1963
husband of Hazel M.
Born 1897
Dixon
Minnetta
Jun 29, 1862
dau of George A & Susannah Dixon
Born Mar 3 1862
Dixon
Myrtle L.
May 26, 1905
see Prichaard, Myrtle L.
Dixon
Lucas C.
1863
son of George A & Susannah Dixon
Born 1860
Dixon
Margaret
1863
dau of George A & Susannah Dixon
Born 1858
Dixon
Susannah
1893
wife of Dixon, George A.
Born 1838
Dixon
George A.
1904
husband of Susannah
Born 1837
Dixon
Mortimer L.
1909
son of George A & Susannah Dixon
Born 1863, removed to Brockville Cemetery
Donahoe
Nancy
Feb 7, 1912
Buried with Church, Joel
Born May 22 1832
Donahoo
Martha
Jul 13, 1872
wife of Donahoo, William
Age 67 yrs, 11 mo
Donahoo
Julia
Sep 5, 1874
wife of Donahoo, William H.
Age 22 yrs, 2 d’s
Donahoo
Martha Ann
Nov 3, 1876
dau of Stephan & Martha Donahoo
Age 8 yrs, 2 mo, 23 d’s
Donahoo
William
husband of Martha
Douglas
Annie Lovina
19??
see Crummy, Annie Lovina
Dowsly
Hiram
a field stone marker
Aage 4 mo
Driver
Srah
Mar 8, 1909
see Steacy, Sarah
Eaton
David
Oct 22, 1852
son of David & Emeline Eaton
Age 2 wks
Eaton
Emeline
Oct 5, 1857
wife of Eaton, David H.
Age 39 yrs
Eaton
Emily C.
Apr 7, 1875
dau of Willia & Adaliza Eaton
Age 1 yr, 5 mo
Eaton
Adaliza
Nov 4, 1876
wife of Eaton, William
Age 37 yrs
Eaton
David H.
1889
Born 1812
Eaton
Clarrissa
1903
wife of Eaton, George W.
Born 1838
Eaton
Wilhilmina
1903
wife of Eaton, Davis Clark
Born 1876
Eaton
Sarah Jane
1904
dau of David & Emeline Eaton
Born 1845
Eaton
George W.
1921
husband of Clarrissa
Born 1840
Eaton
Frank Ernest
1942
Born 1873
Eaton
Davis Clark
1947
husband of Wilhilmina
Born 1871
Empey
Annie Louisa
Oct 22, 1878
dau of George & Louisa Empey
Age 4 yrs, 8 mo, 1 d
Empey
Esther
Jan 5, 1920
see Crummey, Esther
Empey
George
1906
husband of Louisa
Born 1836
Empey
Louisa
1919
wife of Empey, George
Born 1838
Empey
Percival
1933
husband of Christena
Born 1872
Empey
Christena
1955
wife of Empey, Percival
Born 1879
Ennis
Viola
1834
see Kilborn, Viola
Farrar
Mary Ann
Jul 1, 1864
wife of Farrar, Thomas
Age 36 yrs, 6 d’s
Farrar
Josiahphene
May 4, 1868
son of John & Susanah Farrar
Age 9 mo
Farrar
Maggie J.
May 29, 1868
dau of John & Susanah Farrar
Age 9 yrs
Farrar
Susanah
Jan 1, 1870
wife of John Farrar
Age 36 yrs
Farrar
Willie C.
Jun 4, 1871
son of John & Susanah Farrar
Age 16 yrs
Farrar
John
Jul 23, 1875
Age 4 yrs
Farrar
Thomas
Dec 28, 1878
husband of Farrar, Mary Ann
Age 52 yrs
Fenlong
Fredrick Nelson
Aug 7, 1959
husband of Helen Scott
Born Aug 31 1911
Fenlong
Helen
??
wife of Fenlong, Fredrick Nelson
Born Dec 17, 1917
Fenlong
Hazel M.
1932
see Dillabough, Hazel M.
Fenlong
Susan
1950
wife of Dorman Fenlong
Born 1880
Fenlong
Dorman
1958
husband of Susan Fenlong
Born 1876
Fenlong
Howard
son of Dorman & Susan Fenlong
Fenlong
Helen
dau of Dorman & Susan Fenlong
Ferguson
Jane
Aug 5, 1897
see Craig, Jane
Ferguson
Maria J.
1913
see Mott, Maria J.
Gilmour
Anna
19??
see Loucks, Ann
Godkin
Fessey
Jan 15, 1880
husband of Mary
Age 74 yrs
Godkin
Mary
Jan 10, 1887
wife of Godkin, Fessey
Age 74 yrs
Godkin
Harriet L.
1927
see Stewart, Harriet L.
Graham
Thomas
Nov 20, 1868
Age 55 yrs
Graham
George
1870
Graham
Rachel
1899
see Wilson, Rachel
Greenwood
Thomas Henry
1947
Born 1867
Griffin
Clementena G.
1960
see Crummy, Clementena (nee Wood)
Hanton
Joseph
Oct 7, 1916
buried with Frances Hanton
Born May 16 1849
Hanton
Frances
Jun 28, 1918
buried with Joseph Hanton
Born Oct 3 1852
Hanton
Albert R.
Jun 13, 1924
husband of Addie Cecelia Richards
Born Mar 28 1873
Hanton
William
Jun 22, 1929
Born Jun 29 1847
Hanton
Jennie Florence
1894
buried with Richard Hanton
Born 1876
Hanton
Mary
1903
wife of Hanton, Richard
Born 1850
Hanton
Richard
1925
husband of Hanton, Mary
Born 1845
Hanton
Addie Cecelia
1964
wife of Hanton, Albert R.
Born 1876
Hanton
M.Patrica
1965
dau of J.S. & M.S. Hanton
Haskins
Ethel
1905
wife of Haskins, Byron
Born 1879
Hollingsworth
Eliza Jane
1947
see Mott, Eliza Jane
Holmes
Harvey Austin
Mar 9, 1909
son of Bruce & Martha Holmes
Age 8 mo, 2 d’s
Holmes
Keitha
Sep 30, 1911
dau of Bruce & Martha Holmes
Age 3 mo, 7 d’s
Holmes
Hattie
’19??
buried with George Holmes
Born 18??
Holmes
George A
1919
husband of Harriet
Born 1846
Holmes
Harriet
1924
wife of Holmes, George A.
Born 1853
Holmes
Aaron
infant children of George & Harriet Holmes
Holmes
Orman & Pearl
infant twins of George & Harriet Holmes
Hudson
Sarah
1935
see Borthwick, Sarah
Hunt
George H.
Feb 12, 1867
son of Absalom & Elizabeth Hunt
Age 14 yrs
Hunt
Absalom
Jun 1, 1872
Age 45 yrs
Hunt
William
May 14, 1888
husband of Marriet A.
Age 47 yrs
Hunt
Harriet A.
May 6, 1895
wife of William Hunt
Age 37 yrs
Hutchinson
Julia
Aug 11, 1874
dau of William H. & Julia
Age 11 d’s
Hutchinson
Julia
Sep 5, 1874
see Donahoo, Julia
Ireland
Susan
Apr 10, 1826
wife of Thomas Ireland
Age 55 yrs
Ireland
Florence Amelia
Jan 4, 1864
dau of S.M. & C. Ireland
Age 8 yrs, 4 d’s
Ireland
Harriet A
Mar 25, 1877
wife of Ireland, Darius W. (nee Wood)
Age 37 yrs
Ireland
Ellen A.
Sep 18, 1894
dau of Frederick & A. Ireland
Age 1 yr, 11 mo
Ireland
Darius W.
Dec 5, 1917
husband of Ireland, Phoeba
Age 81 yrs
Ireland
Florence A.
1884
dau of David & Katherine Ireland
Born 1881
Ireland
David M.
1892
son of David & Katherine Ireland
Born 1892
Ireland
Katherine
19??
wife of David Ireland
Born 1856
Ireland
Mary
1904
wife of Ireland, Frank
Born 1869
Ireland
David
1922
husband of Katherine Ireland
Born 1842
Ireland
Phoeba
1926
wife of Ireland, Darius W.
Born 1848
Ireland
Frank
1937
husband of Mary
Born 1869
Ireland
James Bruce
1937
husband of Bessie Nellie
Born 1882
Ireland
Susan
1950
see Susan Fenlong
Ireland
Bessie Nellie
1964
wife of Ireland, James Bruce
Born 1908
Johnston
Margaret
Sep 15, 1845
wife of Johnston, William
Age 25 yrs
Johnston
Mary
Sep 30, 1847
Age 25 yrs
Johnston
William, Esq.
Feb 17, 1849
Age 32 yrs
Johnston
Elizabeth
Oct 10, 1858
wife of Robert Johnston
Age 70 yrs
Johnston
Elizabeth
Jun 26, 1871
wife of Johnston, William
Age 30 yrs. 7 mo, 17 d’s
Johnston
Robert
Aug 5, 1872
husband of Elizabeth
Age 76 yrs
Johnston
Ida Jane
Jan 19, 1876
dau of William & Caroline Johnston
Age 2 yrs
Johnston
Eliza
Apr 24, 1876
wife of William Johnston
Age 67 yrs
Johnston
Loftus
Jul 14, 1879
Age 60 yrs
Johnston
Helen C.
Jul 11, 1885
wife of Johnston, George
Age 32 yrs, 1 mo, 21 d’s
Johnston
William
Oct 17, 1887
husband of Sarah, Margaretta & Lucy
Age 70 yrs
Johnston
Ida
Aug 8, 1890
wife of Henry
Age 32 yrs, 10 mo
Johnston
William
Oct 9, 1891
Age 66 yrs
Johnston
Helen C.
Apr 9, 1893
dau of Henry & Ida Johnston
Age 2 yrs 10 mo
Johnston
Lucy
Feb 5, 1899
wife of William Johnston
Johnston
William
May 17, 1900
husband of Elizabeth & Caroline
Age 65 yrs
Johnston
Eliza
Jun 6, 1900
see Eliza Steen
Johnston
Harold C.
Feb 12, 1902
son of Henry & Ida Johnston
Age 5 yrs, 8 mo
Johnston
Caroline
Aug 1, 1909
wife of Johnston, William
Age 75 yrs
Johnston
Henry
Jun 6, 1928
husband of Ida
Born May 5 1857
Johnston
Margaretta
1938
wife of William Johnston
Born 1848
Judson
Silas
Aug 26, 1876
Age 78 yrs
Kavanagh
Edith M.
Jun 1, 1976
wife of Kavanagh, Abel
Born Sep 1894
Ketchum
Rebecca
Oct 4, 1843
wife of Ketchum, Alva
Age 35 yrs, 1 mo, 11 d’s
Ketchum
Eliza
May 4, 1878
see Kilborn, Eliza
Ketchum
Mary
Aug 23, 1878
Age 9 yrs, 8 mo, 28 d’s
Ketchum
Harry A.
Jan 9, 1891
Age 23 yrs, 8 mo, 12 d’s
Kilborn
Elizabeth
Jun 25, 1849
wife of Kilborn, Levi
Age 24 yrs
Kilborn
Turner W.
Feb 20, 1854
son of Levi & Eliza A. Kilborn
Age 9 mo, 24 d’s
Kilborn
Roderick
Jan 25, 1862
son of Levi & Eliza A. Kilborn
Age 4 yrs, 3 mo, 14 d’s
Kilborn
Fredrick
Apr 16, 1863
son of Levi & Eliza A. Kilborn
Age 3 yrs, 21 d’s
Kilborn
Henry A. (M.D.)
Sep 5, 1873
Age 26 yrs
Kilborn
Eliza
May 4, 1878
wife of Kilborn, Leve
Age 46 yrs
Kilborn
Lucinda
Jun 4, 1879
wife of Kilborn, James
Age 47 yrs, 7 mo, 28 d’s
Kilborn
Leve S.
Jul 2, 1881
husband of Kilborn Eliza
Age 57 yrs
Kilborn
Clarissa
Mar 7, 1892
see Leehy, Clarissa
Kilborn
Nancy L.
1878
wife of Kilborn, Nancy L.
Born 1856
Kilborn
Viola
1934
wife of Kilborn, Nancy L.
Born 1864
Kilborn
Milton
1937
husband of Nancy L. & Viola
Born 1856
Knapp
Rhoda A.
Feb 28, 1894
see Craig, Rhoda A.
Lander
Alfred (M.D.)
Oct 28, 1881
a native of Dorchester, England
Born May 27 1820
Latimer
Margaret
Sep 24, 1847
wife of John Latimer
Age 46 yrs
Latimer
Eliza
Apr 24, 1876
see Johnston, Eliza
Latimer
Cecil E.
1890
son of Richard & Harriett Latimer
Born 1889
Latimer
Richard H.
1902
son of Richard & Harriett Latimer
Born 1901
Latimer
Harriett A.
1925
wife of Latimer, Richard C.
Born 1866
Latimer
Richard C.
1948
husband of Harriett A.
Born 1866
Leehy
Delorma
Jun 7, 1843
son of Gideon & Claressa Leehy
Age 18 yrs
Leehy
Madora C.
May 10, 1852
Dau of Nelson & Abigail Leehy
Age 2 mo
Leehy
Clarissa C.
Feb 19, 1854
dau of Nelson & Abigail Leehy (spelling of last name ?)
Age 1 yr, 20 d’s
Leehy
Mamie
Apr 14, 1883
dau of Solon & Charlotte Leehy
Age 10 yrs, 5 mo
Leehy
Gideon
Oct 23, 1885
husband of Clarissa Leehy
Age 84 yrs, 9 mo
Leehy
Ina
Feb 17, 1888
dau of Charles & Sylvia Leehey
Age 2 yrs, 7 mo
Leehy
Charlotte
Mar 9, 1891
wife of Solon Leehy
Age 40 yrs
Leehy
Clarissa
Mar 7, 1892
wife of Gideon Leehy
Age 86 yrs
Leehy
Sylvia
Jan 19, 1894
church wife of Charles Leehy
Age 52 yrs
Leehy
Lydia Sophia
Feb 23, 1907
see Richards, Lydia Sophia
Leehy
Charles
Mar 17, 1920
husband of Sylvia
Born Apr 15 1840
Legigh
Abigail
1904
wife of Horaatio Nelson Legigh
Born 1833
Legigh
Horatio Nelson
1914
husband of Abigail Legigh
Born 1823
Lehigh
Eva M.
Sep 20, 1874
dau of Franklin & Frances Fanny) Lehigh
Born Sep 16 1866
Lehigh
Willie D.
Feb 21, 1883
son of Franklin & Mary F. Legigh
Born Apr 24 1880
Lehigh
Maria
Apr 9, 1905
see Maria Brown
Lehigh
Fanny
1872
wife of Franklin M Lehigh
Born 1832
Lehigh
Major S.
1901
buried with Herbert & Senora Lehigh
Infant
Lehigh
May
1904
buried with Herbert & Senora Lehigh
Age 21 yrs
Lehigh
Herbert M.
1908
husband of Senora C.
Age 59 yrs
Lehigh
Senora C.
1911
wife of Lehigh, Herbert M.
Age 59 yrs
Lehigh
Franklin M.
1916
husband of Fanny & Mary F.
Born 1935
Lehigh
Mary F.
1924
wife of Franklin M Lehigh
Born 1846
Lehigh
Frances
wife of Lehigh, Franklin
Leivett
Mercy
Sep 3, 1874
dau of William & Melissa Leivett
Age 6 mo
Leverette
William
Feb 4, 1841
Age 3 mo, 19 d’s
Leverette
Albert
Dec 23, 1846
Age 14 mo, 6 d’s
Leverette
Robert N.
Aug 1, 1869
son of Willam & Elizabeth Leverette
Age 14 yrs
Leverette
William A.
Dec 31, 1874
son of John B. & Julia Leverette
Age 10 mo, 11 d’s
Leverette
William
Nov 15, 1875
husband of Elizabeth, a native of Norfolk, England
Born Jun 5 1805
Leverette
Myrtle E.L.
Apr 16, 1882
Dau of Cordelia & George Leverette
Age 3 yrs, 1 mo, 26 d’s
Leverette
Ida E.
Oct 19, 1889
see DeWolfe, Ida E.
Leverette
Elizabeth
Mar 2, 1901
wife of Leverette, William
Age 78 yrs
Leverette
Lucy A.
1921
see Conner, Lucy A.
Leverette
George Milton
1924
husband of Cordelia
Born 1852
Leverette
Julia Augusta
1925
wife of Leverette, John Byron
Born 1846
Leverette
Mary L.
1927
see Percival, Mary L.
Leverette
George C.
1932
son of Cordelia & George Leverette
Born 1882
Leverette
Cordelia
1937
wife of Leverette, George Milton
Born 1855
Leverette
John Byron
1943
husband of Julia Augusta
Born 1848
Lockwood
Isaac
Sep 10, 1865
Age 47 yrs
Loucks
Alexander Rainey
Nov 19, 1897
husband of Lois C. Loucks
Age 56 yrs
Loucks
Hattie E.
Apr 8, 1902
Age 36 yrs
Loucks
Lois C.
Jul 14, 1903
wife of Alexander Rainey H. Loucks
Age 59 yrs
Loucks
Anna
19??
wife of Loucks, George Edward
Born 1895
Loucks
John E.
1936
Born 1863
Loucks
George Edward
1966
husband of Anna
Born 1892
Love
Margaret A.
Jan 29, 1912
see Sheffield, Margaret A.
Lyman
Cecilia
Apr 16, 1873
wife of Lyman, Leonard
Age 28 yrs, 11 mos
Lynch
Cecil
Jul 9, 1885
Age 2 yrs, 11 mo
Lynch
Cecil
1888
Born 1885
Lynch
James A.
1913
Born 1860
Lynch
Loyd
Age 1 yr 11 mo
Macklay
Elizabeth
Sep 19, 1851
dau of Mark & Cecelia Mackay
Age 3 mo, 25 d’s
McCartdy
Florence
Mar 4, 1862
McCrea
Helcha
Apr 15, 1879
wife of McCrea, Hiram (Col.)
Born Mar 11, 1811
McCrea
Hiram (Col.)
Apr 7, 1888
husband of Helcha
Born Jul 2 1809
McCrea
Esther
Mar 28, 1894
see Cross, Esther
McCulla
Margaret
Sep 24, 1847
see Latimer, John
McCullough
Eliza
Mar 9, 1851
dau of John & Elizabeth McCullough
Age 6 yrs
McCullough
Margaret
Apr 11, 1861
dau of John & Elizabeth McCullough
Age 17 yrs
McCullough
John H.
Oct 12, 1875
son of John & Elizabeth McCullough
Age 21 yrs
McCullough
John
May 17, 1883
husband of Elizabeth
Age 73 yrs, 2 mo
McCullough
Elizabeth
1892
wife of John
Born 1814
McKim
Martha Ann
Feb 9, 1916
see Prichard, Martha Ann
McManus
Phoeba
1926
see Ireland, Phoeba
Morrison
Alexander
May 28, 1865
Husband of Mary
Age 57 yrs, 5 mo
Morrison
James
Jan 12, 1872
Age 23 yrs
Morrison
James
Sep 28, 1883
husband of Letitia
Age 73 yrs, 7 mo, 26 d’s
Morrison
Letitia
Jun 1, 1884
wife of Morrison, James
Age 67 yrs, 4 mo, 5 d’s
Morrison
Mary
Mar 26, 1885
wife of Alexander
Age 78 yrs
Morrison
James
Jun 28, 1899
Age 11 yrs
Morrison
Alexander
Dec 26, 1901
husband of Margaret
Age 65 yrs
Morrison
Margaret N.
May 11, 1911
wife of Morrison, Alexander
Age 72 yrs
Morrison
William A.
Mar 6, 1920
Age 20 yrs
Morrison
Thompson
Apr 14, 1921
Age 18 yrs
Morrison
Alexander
Jan 6, 1931
Husband of Ellen
Born Oct 27 1858
Morrison
Ellen
Jun 8, 1931
wife of Morrison, Alexander
Born Aug 15 1862
Mott
Harriett A.
Apr 8, 1905
see Latimer, Harriett A.
Mott
William Gordon
May 22, 1912
son of Oscar & Maggie Mott
Age 22 yrs
Mott
Thomas M.
1861
husband of Maria
Born 1826
Mott
Maria J.
1913
wife of Mott, Thomas M.
Born 1825
Mott
Lennard F.
1919
son of Thomas M. & Maria J. Mott
Born 1903
Mott
Alice Irene
1938
buried with Mott, Frank & Eliza Jane
Born 1905
Mott
Eliza Jane
1947
wife of Mott, Frank R.
Born 1867
Mott
Rhonda M.
1947
dau of Mott, Ronald Lloyd
Born 1946
Mott
Frank R.
1959
husband of Eliza Jane
Born 1869
Mott
Lloyd M.
1971
husband of Ellen S.
Born 1892
Mott
Ellen S.
1972
wife of Mott, lloyd M.
Born 1886
Mott
Ronald Lloyd
1975
Born 1918
Nedow
Frederick
Feb 20, 1909
Age 37 yrs
Niblock
Wilhilmina
1903
see Eaton, Wilhilmina
Odgen
Betty
Jan 12, 1875
wife of Odgen, Thomas – a native of England
Age 77 yrs
Odgen
Thomas (Rev.)
Jul 28, 1880
husband of Betty- a native of England
Age 81 yrs
Olmstead
Hilda V.
??
wife of Olmstead, Thomas J.
Olmstead
Thomas J.
1963
husband of Hilda V.
Born 1914
Peer
Bessie Nellie
May 17, 1905
see Ireland, Bessie Nellie
Percival
Mary Jane
Apr 8, 1857
dau of Richard & Sally Percival
Age 3 yrs, 10 mo, 10 d’s
Percival
Margaret Adelia
Jul 22, 1857
Dau of Thomas & Mary Ann Percival
Age 7 yrs, 1 mo
Percival
Henry
Mar 23, 1860
son of Thomas & Mary Ann Percival
Age 11 yrs, 5 mo
Percival
Emily
Oct 16, 1869
wife of Percival, George (Sr)
Age 63 yrs 10 mo
Percival
Elizabeth
Sep 26, 1876
see Soper, Elizabeth
Percival
Thomas
May 2, 1879
husband of Mary Ann
Age 55 yrs
Percival
Mary A.
Apr 18, 1883
Dau of Thomas & Mary Ann Percival
Percival
Ransom W.
Aug 15, 1883
son of George & Mary L. Percival
Age 10 yrs, 2 mo, 15 d’s
Percival
Mary Ann
Feb 28, 1884
wife of Thomas
Age 56 yrs, 11 mo
Percival
George (Sr.)
Sep 9, 1884
husband of Emily
Age 80 yrs, 4 mo
Percival
George
Mar 28, 1889
husband of Mary L.
Age 86 yrs
Percival
Louisa
1919
see Empey, Louisa
Percival
Mary L.
1927
wife of Percival, George
Born 1842
Percival
William Leverett
1946
husband of Lydia
Born 1866
Percival
Lydia
1950
wife of Percival, William L.
Born 1863
Pratt
Minnie
Sep 18, 1862
dau of Ethan & C.A. Pratt
Age 1 yr, 9 mo, 20 d’s
Price
Maria V.
1937
see Richards, Maria V.
Prichard
Joseph A.
Aug 17, 1891
Age 25 yrs, 8 mo
Prichard
Infant
Jun 26, 1907
Child of B.F. & M.E. Prichard
Prichard
Bessie Margaret
Jul 17, 1910
dau of B.F. & M.E. Prichard
Age 14 mo, 5 d’s
Prichard
J.A.
Oct 26, 1914
husband of Martha
Born Aug 31 1829
Prichard
Martha Ann
Feb 9, 1916
wife of Prichard, J.A.
Born Oct 7 1938
Prichard
Milford H.
1967
husband of Myrtle L.
Born 1879
Prichard
Myrtle L.
1973
wife of Prichard, Milford
Born 1892
Pryce
Beulah
Jul 7, 1910
dau of Fred & Myrtle Pyrce
Aage 5 mo, 2 d’s
Pryce
Elenor
Apr 9, 1924
see Elenor Wright
Born Feb 25 1849
Rabb
Abraham B.
Dec 15, 1907
husband of Agnes E.
Age 43 yrs, 9 mo
Rabb
Agnes E.
Jul 17, 1948
wife of Rabb, Abraham B.
Age 84 yrs
Richards
William
Jun 11, 1858
Age 28 yrs
Richards
William
Oct 20, 1863
husband of Eliza
Age 66 yrs
Richards
Frances
Sep 21, 1864
wife of Richards, Christopher
Age 60 yrs
Richards
Eliza
Sep 22, 1866
wife of William Richards
Age 53 yrs
Richards
Christopher
Oct 16, 1869
husband of Richards, Frances
Age 72 yrs
Richards
Roddie
Apr 17, 1874
son of Christopher & Addie Richards
Age 1 yr, 7 mo, 2 d’s
Richards
Helen Adelaide
Apr 17, 1874
Dau of Christopher & Addie Richards
Age 3 mo, 7 d’s
Richards
Mable Eveline
Oct 3, 1881
Dau of Christopher & Addie Richards
Age 3 yrs, 6 mo, 2 d’s
Richards
Charlotte
Mar 9, 1891
see Charlotte Leehy
Richards
Elizabeth
Feb 3, 1904
see Wilson, Elizabeth
Richards
Lydia Sophia
Feb 23, 1907
wife of Richards, Edward T.
Age 71 yrs, 3 mo.
Richards
Edward T.
Mar 31, 1923
husband of Sophia & Maria
Age 86 yrs
Richards
Fanny
1872
see Lehigh, Fanny
Richards
Ethel
1905
see Haskins, Ethel
Richards
Richard
1912
buried with Stone, Frances M.
Born 1839
Richards
Adelaide McCrea
1921
buried wifh Richards, Christopher
Born 1842
Richards
Christopher
1923
buried wirh Richards, Adelide McCrea
Born 1841
Richards
Mary F.
1924
see Lehigh, Mary F.
Richards
Maria V.
1937
wife of Richards, Edward T.
Born 1864
Richards
Addie Cecelia
1964
see Hanton, Addie Cecelia
Robinson
Mary
Sep 24, 1857
wife of Robinson, Amos
Age 23 yrs
Robinson
Mary Mabel
Aug 15, 1882
dau of Amos & Mary Robinson
Age 10 mo
Rudd
Mary Jane
Jan 2, 1862
dau of James & Eliza Rudd
Age 14 yrs, 3 mo, 18 d’s
Rudd
Eliza
Oct 12, 1862
wife of Rudd, James
Age 45 yrs
Rudd
Eliza Ann
Apr 12, 1872
dau of James & Eliza Rudd
Age 25 yrs, 2 mo, 2 d’s
Rudd
Ordelia E.
Aug 28, 1872
dau of James & Eliza Rudd
Age 18 yrs, 8 mo, 18 d’s
Rudd
James
Nov 1, 1893
husband of Mary & Eliza, born in Clones, Co. Wexford Ireland
Age 75 yrs, 8 d’s
Rudd
Mary
Oct 19, 1908
wife of Rudd, James
Age 74 yrs
Scott
Helen
??
see Fenlong, Helen
Sheffield
William
Aug 1, 1903
buried with Sheffield, J. Metcalf
Sheffield
Margaret A.
Jan 29, 1912
wife of Sheffield, J. Metcalf
Sheffield
J.Metcalf
Jun 9, 1927
husband of Sheffield, Margaret A.
Soper
Elizabeth
Sep 26, 1876
wife of Ralph
Age 64 yrs
Soper
George W.
Apr 2, 1888
son of Levi & Lucinda Soper
Age 26 yrs, 8 mo, 17 d’s
Soper
Ralph
Mar 9, 1896
husband of Elizabeth
Age 85 yrs
Soper
John
1890
husband of Sarah
Born 1819
Soper
Sarah J.
1908
wife of Soper, John
Born 1852
Soper
John Wesley
1959
son of John & Sarah Soper
Born 1877
Soper
Julia M.
Oct 23, 1884
dau of Levi & Lucinda Soper
Age 11 yrs, 11 mo,27 d’s
Southworth
Hattie
Dec 6, 1873
wife of Southworth, D.E.
Age 27 yrs
Southworth
Martha Louise
no other inforation
Stafford
Mary
Oct 19, 1908
see Rudd, Mary
Steacy
William
May 30, 1865
son of Edward & Eliza Steacy
Age 4 yrs, 2 mo, 3 d’s
Steacy
Frances Jane
Jan 6, 1866
dau of George & Ellen Steacy
Age 20 yrs
Steacy
George
Mar 14, 1869
husband of Ann
Age 87 yrs, 10 mo
Steacy
George
Nov 22, 1869
husband of Ellen
Age 59 yrs, 6 mo
Steacy
Elizabeth
Jun 26, 1871
see Johnston, Elizabeth
Steacy
Annie
Aug 1, 1875
wife of Steacy, Samuel
Age 26 yrs
Steacy
William
Aug 7, 1878
husband of Mary A,
Age 29 yrs
Steacy
Mary
Mar 16, 1880
dau of Edward & Eliza Steacy
Age 15 yrs, 7 mo
Steacy
Ellen
Oct 1, 1882
wife of Steacy, George
Age 75 yrs
Steacy
George
Oct 1, 1882
Age 75 yrs
Steacy
Ann
Jun 16, 1883
wife of Steacy, George
Age 87 yrs, 10 mo, 3 d’s
Steacy
Edward
Jun 18, 1885
husband of Eliza
Age 52 yrs
Steacy
Willie
Mar 12, 1887
son of Steacy, ??
Age 5 mo, 15 d’s
Steacy
Samuel
Mar 1, 1896
husband of Mary J. & Annie
Age 53 yrs, 3 mo
Steacy
Eliza
Jun 13, 1896
wife of Steacy, Edward
Age 62 yrs
Steacy
Sarah
Mar 8, 1909
wife of Steacy, George
Age 71 yrs
Steacy
Caroline
Aug 1, 1909
see Johnston, Caroline
Steacy
Mary A.
Mar 2, 1916
wife of Steacy, William
Age 68 yrs, 9 mo
Steacy
George
Feb 27, 1917
husband of Sarah
Age 84 yrs
Steacy
Helen W.
May 26, 1922
Age 2 yrs
Steacy
Robert Leslie
1877
son of Willian & Mary Steacy
Born 1873
Steacy
Mary Louise
1879
dau of Willian & Mary Steacy
Born 1877
Steacy
Mary J.
1924
wife of Steacy, Samuel
Born 1855
Steacy
Robert
1929
Born 1874
Steacy
Thomas Driver
1956
Born 1876
Steen
George
Oct 10, 1884
husband of Eliza (died in Truckee, Ca)
Age 60 yrs
Steen
Eliza
Jun 6, 1900
wife of George Steen
Age 74 yrs, 10 mo
Steen
William S.
Sep 28, 1942
son of George & Eliza Steen
Born Dec 5 1852
Steen
Gideon W.
1926
Born 1863
Stewart
Lucinda
Oct 7, 1887
buried with David Stewart
Born Jun 12 1816
Stewart
David
Jan 18, 1888
buried with Lucinda Stewart
Born Oct 27 1807
Stewart
George E.
Jan 6, 1895
Age 19 yrs, 3 mos
Stewart
Charles
1875
son of Peter & Harriet Stewart
Born 1875
Stewart
Wilfred
1878
son of Peter & Harriet Stewart
Born 1878
Stewart
David
1884
buried with Fred C. Stewart
Born 1850
Stewart
Peter
1923
husband of Harriet
Born 1845
Stewart
Heram
1924
Born 1847
Stewart
Fred C.
1925
buried with David Stewart
Born 1888
Stewart
Harriet L.
1927
wife of Stewart, Peter
Born 1850
Stewart
Benjamin F.
1929
brother of Amelia J. Stewart
Born 1843
Stewart
Amelia J.
1929
sister of Benjamin F. Stewart
Born 1852
Stone
Uri
Mar 6, 1882
husband of Stone, Sophia M.
Born Jan 11 1842
Stone
Cordelia
Jun 20, 1882
see Cordelia Arnold
Stone
Helen C.
Jul 11, 1885
see Johnston, Helen C.
Stone
Sophia M.
Aug 24, 1910
wife of Stone, Uri
Born Jun 5 1828
Stone
Amelia
1916
buried with Stone, Uri
Born 1851
Stone
Frances M,
1920
buried with Richards, Richard
Born 1848
Stratton
Elizabeth
1892
see McCullough, Elizabeth
Tallman
William
Oct 1, 1865
husband of Matilda
Age 60 yrs
Tallman
Matilda
Oct 25, 1901
wife of Tallman, Willia
Age 74 yrs
Tallman
Jennie
1931
Born 1857
Taplin
Ann
Apr 2, 1905
see Ann Wilson, wife of Genry Taplin
Tennant
George M.R.
Mar 22, 1882
son of ?? & E.J. Tennant
Age 3 yrs, 11 mo, 29 d’s
Totten
Annie
Aug 1, 1875
see Steacy, Annie
Totten
Joseph
Mar 2, 1895
husband of Sarah
Age 84 yrs, 3 mos, 22 d’s
Totten
Sarah
Mar 14, 1898
wife of Joseph Totten
Age 87 yrs, 7 mo
Washburn
Julia
Oct 15, 1890
wife of William Washburn
Age 77 yrs
Washburn
Julia Augusta
1925
see Leverette, J. Augusta
Waytt
Willie
Nov 14, 1871
son of James & Mary Wyatt
Age 3 mo, 2 d’s
Wilson
Ann
May 21, 1868
wife of Samuel
Age 60 yrs
Wilson
Eleanor
Apr 13, 1872
wife of Wilson, Mathew
Age 28 yrs, 11 mos
Wilson
Caroline E.
Jan 10, 1877
Born Nov 25 1862
Wilson
Andrew
Oct 10, 1883
Husband of Elizabeth Wilson
Age 52 yrs 8 mo
Wilson
Samuel
May 1, 1888
husband of Ann & Rachel
Age 81 yrs
Wilson
Elizabeth
Feb 3, 1904
wife of Andrew Wilson
Age 76 yrs
Wilson
E.D.
May 24, 1924
Wilson
Mary A.
Jul 19, 1947
Born Jan 1 1857
Wilson
Rachel
1899
wife of Samuel Wilson
Born 1839
Wilson
Ann
1919
dau of Samuel & Ann Wilson
Born 1840
Wilson
Mary J.
1924
see Steacy, Mary J.
Wood
Priscilla
Jan 18, 1842
wife of Wood, John
Born Jan 18, 1842
Wood
John
May 21, 1917
husband of Priscila
Born Oct 29 1833
Wood(s)
Mary
Dec 4, 1873
wife of Woods, David
Age 35 yrs
Woods
David
Oct 27, 1842
husband of Mary
Age 48 yrs
Wright
Elenor
Apr 9, 1924
wife of Wright, Henry
Born Feb 25 1849
Wyatt
Elizabeth
Apr 27, 1848
wife of Wyatt, Eliphalet
Age 68 yrs, 7 mo, 17 d’s
Wyatt
Hannah
May 18, 1851
see Brennan, Hannah
Wyatt
Eliphalet
Apr 6, 1852
Age 70 yrs, 3 mo, 10 d’s
Wyatt
Sarah
May 9, 1866
wife of Wyatt, Ezra
Age 39 yrs, 8 mo, 28 d’s
Wyatt
Helcha
Apr 15, 1879
see McCrea, Helcha
Wyatt
James Rensselaer
Mar 24, 1881
Age 32 yrs, 11 mo, 27 d’s
The “Irelands” in Kitley
Darius West Ireland is a descendant of Isaac & Susan/Susannah Ireland. Via the donation of our family property, formally/legally by Gideon Lehigh, the family graveyard became open to other family and community members. Although, many families buried their loved ones there before the property was formally donated and designated as a burial ground. We are certain the Eaton family would attest to the fact it is “their” family graveyard, and, it is.
2) Susan Ireland, wife of Isaac Ireland. It is said this is the earliest tombstone in Lehigh. In my view, this was a tombstone put up by a later family member. However, I’m glad it exists.
Susan and Isaac Ireland. came up from the States to live in Kitley, prior to the War of 1812. One of the original families in Kitley. Darius would have been the great grandchild of Susan & Isaac, the line goes…Isaac – Lewis – Darius – James – Clifford
The Irelands were one of the early families in Kitley
Concession #1, Lot 9, in South Elmsley Township (see map)
In 1873, school trustees received the deed for a property of land from Henry Shane.
A new stone building was constructed in 1875 (or 1887), replacing an older school further down the road which was subject to arson, possibly committed by a pupil. The schoolhouse was used after hours as the community church, as well as a meeting hall. Well into the 1900s, the building was used by the Shane’s Women’s Institute.
Shane’s Corners was a small settlement located along Highway 29 near what was the First Concession of Kitley. Shane’s Corners was settled by a man named Lawrence Shane and his wife; Mrs. Shane kept a private school here at one time. The settlement consisted of a few homesteads and very few businesses. [2]
The settlement was large enough that it was able to become its own school section in the late nineteenth century. The school was known as S.S. #2 Shane’s School, and at the time was located along the boundary of Kitley and South Elmsley townships. [2]
Shane’s School enjoyed an upswing in attendance during the 1950’s, when more people moved into the area.
The old Shane’s Road running west from Shane’s Corners on No.29 highway forms the boundary between South Elmsley and Kitley.
Known as the Town Line, the road was a natural spot for school houses. Thus at least three were set up along its route, and because education knows no boundaries, these schools became union, uniting South Elmsley and Kitley pupils.
Shane’s School, was destroyed by a fire set by vandals stood on the knoll that marks the junction of Shane’s Road and No.29 Highway, was a union school with around 15 South Elmsley children attending it in 1840, though it was located in Kitley.
Halfway between Shane’s Corners and Blanchard’s Hill, another public school, also union existed in the 1840’s. It has since vanished and no historian today knows where it stood.
[2] Recorder and Times]
Excerpt from Dr. Glenn Lockwood’s book “Kitley 1795-1975”
Miss Mary Goodfellow taught at the stone school in 1905 and 1906. During her teaching Dr. Kinney was the inspector. She remembered him well as he always had the same joke: “Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” When she returned in 1910, a Mr. Johnson was the inspector. It is interesting to note that Miss Goodfellow’s mother taught in the present school or one on the same site. Miss Lillian Taylor was also one of the earlier teachers. At that time Wilfred Pattemore taught here. Mr. Oaks was the inspector and Fred Hewitt was trustee for many years. Other trustees who served with him were Alex Findlay, Mervin Joint, Harvey Johnston, Pete Simpson, Charlie Botham and Archie Hewitt.
After 1858 the school that was Wolford SS#22 became Rathwell’s School, northeast corner of County Road 16 and Corkoran Road.
(Note: on the 1862-62 map there was no school at this location, the closest school we could find was the one circled on the map, this does not correspond to the present location of the school)
Excerpt from Dr. Glenn Lockwood’s book “Kitley 1795-1975”
Jasper School – Although there was little early growth in Jasper in the early years of the 19th Century, educational history in this village was commenced well before the village itself developed. In an April 19, 1842, Brockville Recorder is mentioned a grant of 35 £ to S.S. 22 Kitley, and Wolford to build a schoolhouse. The resultant structure was a small log edifice. In 1872, Mr. William Driver was the school teacher.
A new brick structure of a size large enough to contain two classrooms was constructed in 1875, across the road from the old log structure. Jasper became one of the centres where entrance exams were held.
The Jasper public school register of 1902 notes that Mr. George Harris was the teacher, and gave the following names of the students: Mertle Mills, John Mills, Edna Timlack, Ed Harris, John Driver, Dell Montgomery, Claude Beamish, George and Elsie Ireland, Emma Bates, Bert and Ethel Pinel, Orvil Brundige, Vesta Cross, Harold Warren, Lotty Driver, Earl Mills, George Cross, Ella Warren, Hazel Beamish, Lloyd Mills, Susan Driver, Rita Pinel, Star Cross, Harry Bates, Ed Ireland, Mable Timlack, Mina Burroughs, John Morrissey, Allen and Flossie Connerty, Mable Burroughs, James Morrissey, Jean Connerty, Mable and Florice Connerty, Jenny Driver, Lizzie Hart, Ella Hyslop, John LaFrance, Frank Morrissey, Herbert Carry, Harry Collidge, Carlisle Connerty, Edna Wright, Muriel Kelly, Maude Burroughs, Gertie Hyslop, Tina Carry, Susan LaFrance, Neil Morrissey, Cathaline Carry, Nelly Kelly, William Driver, and Harry Driver.
There were 58 pupils with an average attendance of 54 at this time.
A new school was constructed on the Kitley side of Jasper in 1961, and the old school was closed.
Concession #4, Lot 13, built late 1830’s (see map)
present address 655 County Rd 29
Newbliss village had a log school which was replaced in 1874 by a stone structure. Newbliss School was phased out of existence in 1961 with the pupils being transferred to Jasper.
Newbliss had two schoolhouses to serve the community, each its own section. The first school was built around 1830 and was titled S.S. #5 Newbliss School. It is believed the first schoolhouse for S.S. #5 was made of log, however no records of the school exist. In 1858, the stone schoolhouse which replaced the log structure was erected. This schoolhouse is still standing, located at the intersection of Highway 29 and Line Road 4. (Kitley 1795-1975 by Glenn Lockwood)
With the erection of the Jasper Public School in 1961, the Newbliss School was sold for a residence.
“This school was a Union School and served part of Bastard Township where it was known as School Section #17.
According to an April 19th, 1849 Brockville Recorder, 65 pounds was granted to build a schoolhouse for this section. It is presumed that this early structure was either frame or log construction and was replaced by a brick structure in later years. In 1872, the school teacher was V.L.Yates. In 1882 there was a petition requested for $190. to meet school expenses. The same sum was requested te following year. In 1909 the teacher was Miss Geneva Stafford.
The school was closed well before the 1960’s.”
(excerpts from “Kitley 1795-1975” written by Dr. Glenn Lockwood)
The Athens Reporter and County of Leeds Advertiser
Tuesday March 5, 1895 issue–
Mitchell’s School (Kitley S.S. #16)
Honor roll for Mitchell’s school for the month of February. Names appear in order of merit.
Sr. IV.- Ethel Yates, Gordon Mitchell
Jr. IV.- John Fenlon, Myrtle Emmons, Anna Judge, Nellie Crummy
III. – Maude Fenlon, Stanley Bulford, Ernest Potter
– Blanch Emmons, Minnie Judge, Alex. Dixon, Anna Maney
Bellamys Mill was its own common school section, known as school section #10. The school, first built in 1836, was named S.S. #10 Mahon’s School. The first log schoolhouse burned down and was rebuilt in the 1850’s across the road. The school ran successfully until the 1910’s when it was periodically closed and reopened until its permanent closure in the 1940’s. At the time of its closure it was converted into a private residence. Additionally at Bellamy’s Mill was a Roman Catholic separate school, known as R.C. #10. (Wikipedia)
Excerpt from Dr. Glenn Lockwood’s book “Kitley 1795-1975”
School Section Number 10 was the area which encompassed the Bellamy’s Mills area of Kitley. This section was also combined with Bastard School Section Number 18. Two schools were included in this section: Mahon’s SS #10, and R.C. #10, the latter being a separate school. The school is found on lot 20 of concession 6.
The first school at Mahon’s, which was north of Bellamy’s Mills, was across the corner from the later one. It was believed to have been built in 1836. This was a log building which was destroyed by fire in 1851. It was 20 feet by 20 feet and was reported to be in good condition. At the time it was in operation, the local superintendent stated, “I am happy to state that in the township education is injoying a considerable share of attention and that in no fewer than eight schools the free school system has been adopted, and that in various sections the necessary arrangements for more commodious school houses are being made.”
In 1851 fire motivated the construction of a new edifice in 1853 at the cost of 36£. The site was moved to where the present building now stands. In 1856, 10 percent of the people in this area were reported to be illiterate, that is, those who could go to this school.
For a period of between 1912 and 1924, Mahon’s School was closed. It reopened in 1924 and remained open until 1943, at which time it was permanently closed. The last teachers at this school in 1943 were: Miss Joynt, Miss Connolly, Miss Nixon, Miss Cavanaugh, Miss Hutcheson aand Mrs. Dack.
Gideon Leehy believed in educating the youngsters, so he put up a log school on the south side of Kitley’s Ninth Concession Road.
The school lasted until 1851, when it burned down. By this time a number of other families had moved in and a small community was flourishing.
The good burghers elected to build a stone school, which was completed in 1852. For 109 years it served the area well, standing sturdy and sound on the north side of the road, opposite the charred remains of the old school.
In 1961, the school was phased out of the system and replaced by the modern Frankville School on Hwy. 29.
Old school records show that in 1872, R.W.Hornick was the teacher of the one room school. In 1882 the school’s budget was $200., rising to $230 the next year.
Malcome Lehigh was teaching there in 1887 and in 1896 the muster showed six Leigh children attending: Maude, Mertle, Edna, Carrie, Everett and Ernie Lehigh. The last teacher when the final class was dismissed in 1961 was Aileen Montgomery.
“The teacher in 1896 was Miss Edith Wing. During the early 20th century names such as Raymond Pryce, Mrs. Loucks, Mrs. George Eaton and Edna McKeracher. The last teacher was Mrs. Aileen Montgomery. “from Kitley 1795-1975 by Glenn Lockwood”
The Athens Reporter and County of Leeds Advertiser
Tuesday Jan. 1, 1895 issue-
Leehy’s School (Kitley SS #18)
Following is the result of the Christmas examinations held at Leehy’s School. Names appear in order of merit:
Fourth Class- Everett Leehy, Carrie Leehy, Bruce Holmes, John Howie, Stella Kilborn, Bruce Ireland, Frank Livingston
Third Class- Edna Leehy, Susie Ireland, Mary Livingston
Second Class- Roy Kilborn, Blanche Eaton, Thorton Levingston and Elmo Judson
Part 1- Victoria Johnston,
Tella Beach, Teacher
Tuesday Feb. 5, 1895 issue-
Leehy’s School ( Kitley SS #18)
Honor roll for Leehy’s school for the month of January. Names appear in order of merit:
Fourth Class – Everett Leehy, Carrie Leehy, John Howie, Stella Kilborn, Bruce Holmes, Bruce Ireland
Third Class – Edna Leehy, Roy Kilborn, Blanche Eaton, and Susie Ireland
Second Class – Thornton Levingston
Part I – Victoria Johnston\Those attending every day during the month: Everett Leehy, Carrie Leehy, Stella Kilborn, Edna Leehy, Roy Kilborn
Tella Beach, Teacher
Tuesday April 16, 1895 issue–
Leehy’s School ( Kitley SS #18)
Results of Easter examinations of Leehy’s school. Total number of marks, 850.
Fourth Class – John Howie 695, Everett Leehy 594, Stella Kilborn 500, Bruce Holmes 426, Carrie Leehy 368
Third Class – Roy Kilborn 363, Edna Leehy 529, Blanche Eaton 392, Susie Ireland 62
Second Class – Elmo Judson 526, Thornton Livingston 401
Known as “17 Kitley and 19 Yonge” built on part of Concession 10, Lot 27 in KItley. It served the rear lots of 10 to 30 of Concession 10 in Kitley, Concession 11 of Yonge and some of Bastard. It was built in 1868 and closed in 1961. Previous to it being built school was held in the home of William T. Howe who lived on that land. Thomas Howe received these 200 acres by Crown Patent Sept. 1. 1838 but had been developing the land since at least 1820. The original nominee of this land was Solomon Conley and Margaret Howe. In his will he left part of the land plus 50 pounds to be used to build a school. In the early years of the school it was also used as a Church.
The following information is taken from Dr. Glenn Lockwood’s book “Kitley 1795-1975”
The Lake Eloida school area, in the days of the three-trustee board, was comprised of the rear half of lots 10 to 30 in the 10th Concession of Kitley, part of Lot 4 to Lot 15 in the 11th Concession of the Township of Yonge and a very small area in the Township of Bastard.
School was first held in this section in a nearby stone house owned by William Howe, which overlooked Lake Eloida. Teachers in this building included Miss E.J Ferrar and Miss Adelaide McCrea, a daughter of Hiram McCrea of Frankville. Of the latter teacher it was said, “She was a slender and very tall, and very good looking. She wore the same dress day in and day out made of a dark printed material. It trailed on the floor as she moved about slowly and with great dignity.”
A schoolhouse was built of stone in approximately 1868 in Lot 27 to the 10th Concession. Miss Vina Root, later Mrs. John Mackie, was one of the early teachers in the new school. Another teacher, Holmes Eyre, a grandson of Abram Eyre, used a heavy hand on those who did not obey his instructions. Other teachers in the latter half of the 19th century were: Annie Laura Scovil, Josie Glazier, Jennie Eyre, Jennie Percival, Emma Johnston and Hincks Eaton.
An item in the Athens Reporter of January 21, 1890 read: “Miss Jennie Eyre, teacher at Lake Eloida School was presented with a hand mirror by Miss Ina Hause and a fruit dish by Miss Lillian Barnes, on behalf of the school girls, and Clifford Crummy presented her with a glove and handkerchief set on behalf of the boys, after an address was read by Jessie Henderson. Miss Erye will be taking another school next term.”
Mrs. L.A. Kilborn recalled that Mother Barns, generally known as “The Witch of Plum Hollow”, used to take her by the hand hand take her part way to school and how her teacher, Miss Scovil, used to take her, a tiny child, home with her at noon, lest she run away from school.
During its early decades the school building was used as a church sanctuary, and for Sunday School. Over the years there was little change in the appearance of the well built one room edifice, except for the new roofing, redecorating, and the addition of a drinking fountain, the installation of modern desks and equipment and the installation of hydro.
The following is a narrative as recounted by Miss Ethel McDowell who was teacher for a number of years at Lake Eloida.
“When I went to Lake Eloida to teach, the Second World War was still in progress Groups of soldiers would practice military maneuvers occasionally at Mr. Ogle Webster’s corner and along the road leading to the school. I remember them sending up rockets of flares one night and thinking, the show is nearly as good as fireworks. Another night they were making a smoke screen, I thought. Often one or two soldiers would go tearing along on motorcycles.
“Well, one chilly, damp afternoon in the autumn, a group of soldiers came along and the leader, a lieutenant, I presume, came to the school door. Could his men sleep in the school all night as they had made a long march and were very tired? They wouldn’t touch anything, and would leave everything as they found it. Well, in my mind flashed the thought, if they were going to risk their lives overseas so the rest of us could sleep safe and secure under a roof, it was only common decency to let them sleep warm and dry that night, in the school. A small closed in truck accompanied them, I gave my consent. When I went to the home of the W.M. Moore’s where I boarded, the soldiers took possession, and probably were sound asleep.”
“Now it seems there was a second group of soldiers, ‘the enemy’, on the road coming from Athens. They came upon one of the Lake Eloida boys and asked him if he had seen any soldiers that day. “Why, yes”, he replied, “There’s a bunch sleeping at the school tonight.”
“Group No. 1, feeling safe and tired, had gone to sleep without posting a sentry. So Group No.2 stole up to the school, slipped into it, and set off a tear gas bomb just inside the door. The sleepers awakened, got out fast.”
“In the morning the lieutenant came to meet me and apologized for what had happened. He had opened the door and windows, and when I first entered the school it didn’t seem too bad. But in a few minutes I emerged tearfully. You can imagine my dismay and chagrin. We couldn’t have school for a week, and when we did go back the effect of the tear gas was still there; the pupils gazed at me with tear filled eyes. One day Mavis Crummy, (Mrs. Clair Knapp), said to me, “I used to like to come to school, I don’t anymore.”
“Inspector Oaks said we would probably notice the tear gas for a year, and we did. He wrote to Army Headquarters, and in due time a couple of ‘top brass’ arrived at the school. I can remember them standing by the box stove and saying that they noticed nothing but the smoke from the wood fire. Huh !!! They said that the soldiers had gone overseas by that time. One of them also stated that in actual warfare the enemy would have blown the encamped men to pieces.
“If the trustees had fired me, I wouldn’t have been surprised. But they were good enough to say that if they too had been asked they would likely have given the soldiers permission to sleep in the school.”
Some of the teachers during the 20th Century included: Florence Scovil, John Webster, Anna Webster, Miss Lenna Brown, Russell Edmunds, Mrs. Aileen Montgomery, Mrs. Thomas Ericson, Miss Junter and Mrs. Leonard Scott.
In June of 1961, Lake Eloida School was closed after having served as a place of instruction for over 90 ears. Mrs. Ericson was the last teacher and last class of the old school included the following: Douglas Deir, David Wood, Danny Pattemore, Betty Van Drunen, Barbara Wood, Donna Deir, Donna Pattemore, Kathy Knapp. Connie Knapp Robert Wood, Mary Ellen Morrison, Robert Morrison, Beth Edmunds, Frances Knapp, Carole Knapp and Dianne Knapp.
On October 26th, 2019, Athens and Area Heritage Museum had a “School Reunion” for those who attended the old Lake Eloida one room school house. The following information was obtained at that reunion. Many thanks to the Athens and Area Heritage Museum for sharing this with us.
The Lake Eloida School Story
The Lake Eloida School which was built about 1868 and was used continuously for over 90 years was closed this June (1961). The Lake Eloida School area, more primly known as “17 Kitley and 10 Young” in the days of the tree-trustee board, comprised the rear half of lots number 10 to 30 in the 10th Concession of the Township of Kitley, part of Lot 4 to lots 15 in the 11th Concession of the Twp of Yonge, and a very small area in the Twp of Bastard.
At least six farms in the western part of the school area first came into being as part of a Crown Grant made to John Graves Simcoe. The minutes of the Executive Council of Upper Canada dated Wednesday July 9, 1794 refer to a grant of 5,000 acres ordered that day to His Excellency in appreciation of his service as Colonel of the Queen’s Rangers. An absentee landlord he turned land over to Abraham Holmes just after 1800. This property now owned by the Harold Pattemore’s had until September 1959 remained in the same family for five generations.
A small slice of land at the north end of the school area was originally owned by John Arnold, son of the famed American traitor, Benedict Arnold. John Arnold, father of the late Henry H. Arnold who was sectary treasurer of the Athens High School Board for 35 years and a member of the Board for 40 years and an Athens merchant, died on the property in 1831.
During many of the early decades the present school building was used as a church sanctuary, and for Sunday School. Almost every Protestant family in the neighbourhood worshiped here regardless of denomination, he men and women occupying opposite sides of the schoolroom. The Methodist minister from Athens conducted the services in the afternoon of the Sabbath.
It is likely that most of the children were taught their ABC’s by their parents or older members o their families during the early 1800’s. Then came the days of the itinerant teacher and “school” in one or another of the homes. Schooling was spasmodic and during the busy seasons it almost disappeared. At least there was a school building. Mrs. Austin Craig, who taught in the present stone school estimated that it is more than 90 years old. She remembered as a small girl attending school first in the stone house now occupied by the Thomas Knapps overlooking the lake and later she thought she attended the new school. Miss E.J. Ferrar was one of the earliest teachers. She was teaching in Eloida in 1865. Miss Adelaide McCrae was another early teacher, as was Miss Vina Root (later to become Mrs. John Mackie and the grandmother of Mrs. Gerald Morrison, Holmes Eyre, Anna Laura Scovil, Josie Glazier, Jennie Eyre and Jennie Percival.
Probably the Lake Eloida pupil who has won most distinction in her field of service was Marion Bottomley, now Dr. Marion Hall, a Methodist missionary attached to the Madar Union Sanatorium, a 250 bed hospital at Ajmer, India.
(this article was written in 1961, the author is anonymous)
The History of the Lake Eloida Schooling
by Sally Smid, Athens and Area Heritage Society
During the 1800’s area children were taught at home or sporadically by various itinerant teachers in different homes. The first mention of aa school was one that was located in the stone part of the home of Thomas Knapp. The Lake Eloida School was build around 1868. An early teacher was E.J. Ferrar who was recorded to have taught in the area in 1865. Another early teacher was Miss Adelaide McCrae. Mrs. Austin Craig who later taught there as well and received a salary of $150. a year, remembered McCrae as a “slender, tall and pretty woman who wore the same dress everyday. It trailed on the floor as she moved slowly about with great dignity”. Miss Vina Root, later Mrs. John Mackie, was also an early teacher. It was reported that another teacher, Holmes Eyre, used a “heavy haand” on those who didn’t obey his instructions. Other memorable teachers were Annie Scovil, Josie Glazer, Jennie Doreen Livingston, and Eva Moore.
An item in the Athens reporter of Jan. 21, 1890, right after Farmersville became Athens, read, “Miss Jennie Eyre, a teacher at the Lake Eloida School, was presented with a hand mirror by Miss Ina Hause and a fruit dish by Miss Lillian Barnes, on behalf of the school girls and Clifford Crummy presented her with a glove and handkerchief set on behalf of the boys..Miss Eyre will be taking another school next term.”
During many of the early decades, the school building was used as a church sanctuary and as a Sunday School. Almost everyone in the area worshipped there, with the men and women occupying opposite sides of the schoolroom. Two lady evangelists, Ella Birdwell and Inda Mason, conducted meetings in the school as well. The school was “packed to the doors”.
Over the years there has been little change in the appearance of the well-built little one room stone schoolhouse, except for new roofing and redecorating, adding a drinking fountain, new curtains, modern desks, and equipment as well as the installation of hydro.
Former students have many memories, fro Christmas Concerts, spelling bees, picnics at the campground, Arbour Day trips to the woods for flowers, to the visits the kindly Dr. Kinney, the inspector, as well as toasting cheese sandwiches on the wood stove. Then there was the time that Charlie Howe’s ram was chased around the school and battered the door.
Miss Ethel McDowell taught at the school for several years. Stories are told of how the students teased her because of her wooden leg, but that didn’t seem to limit her capabilities. She had a very unique experience having taught during WWII when groups of soldiers would practice military maneuvers in the area. They asked her if they could sleep in the school after a long march and promised to leave everything in place. She patriotically agreed and the soldiers bedded down for the night.
Now it seems that there was a second group of soldiers, “the enemy”, coming from Athens and they asked one of the locals if they’d seen and soldiers. It was revealed that they were in the school. Since they had left no sentry, the “enemy group” was able to slip up to the school and set a tear gas bomb just inside the door. The sleepers awoke and quickly escaped.
Apologies were made, but there was no school for a week due to the lingering smell which was noticeable for a year. When the “top brass” came in response to the complaints, they made light of the incident and stated that in actual warfare, the enemy would have tossed in a bomb that would have blown everything up. Miss McDowell thought that she might have been fired but the trustees were understanding.
In 1961 the Lake Eloida School closed and students were transported by bus to Frankville, Hard Island and Anoma Lee. The school which was attended by all of the elementary children in the community had a unifying influence. As Mrs. Aileen Montgomery, who taught there until 1960, wrote at its closing, “A mutual community concern is gone and as the pupils go to their new schools in different directions, it is inevitable that the neighbourhood interests will be divided.” Perhaps the school’s unifying force was gone, but the warm memories and rich heritage remain.
(Much of this information was obtained from The History of Lake Eloida, Athens Reporters and various former students)
News from The Athens Reporter and County of Leeds Advertiser
Tuesday Feb. 5, 1895 issue-
LakeEloidaSchool (Kitley SS #17)
The following is a list of the pupils whose work entitled them to place on the honor roll (names appear in order of merit):
IV.- Nellie Wiltsie
III – Amos Wiltsie, James Poirier, Harry Everett, Anna Thomas
II – Robert Everett, Martha Kincaid, Roy Johnson, Floyd Howe, Edna Howe
Pt II. – Charlie Stephenson
I – Omer Davis
Those who attended every day, Nellie Wiltsie, Floyd Howe
Maggie Wiltsie, Teacher
LakeEloidaSchool (S.S.#17) Kitley
Tuesday Aug 20, 1895 issue
Sarah Holmes, wife of Horace Booth, died on Monday last at her residence near Lake Eloida. Mrs. Booth was born on the farm adjoining the one on which she died and has always resided in that neighbourhood. She was in her 71st year at the time of her death. The funeral will take place at the Lake Eloida school house at 10 a.m. to-morrow (Wednesday)
The first log school house here was built in the early 1840’s on the west corner of the farm of pioneer Isaac Foster. Known as S.S. #8, the log school burned down a few years after it was built.
The community replaced it with a wooden frame structure sheeted in galvanized iron and painted white. For around 100 years it educated generations of Kinch Street children, until it was phased out by the school consolidation in the 1950’s.
The teacher in 1876 was John Mackay, a veteran educationalist who taught in Newbliss for 20 years before coming to this school.
School trustees in 1876 were Isaac Foster who had donated the plot on which the school stood, James Love and James Morrissey, who was also the board’s secretary treasurer. A Dr. Kinney was the school inspector.
“The sturdy log structure served as a school for over 100 years. It ceased functioning as a school in 1950. The pupils of the Kinch Street area were transported to Crystal School and later to the new Jasper Public School.”-from Kitley 1795-1975 by Dr. Glenn Lockwood
Concession #4, Lot 26, built prior to 1870 (see map
Excerpt from Dr. Glenn Lockwood’s book “Kitley 1795-1975”
Judgeville School, S.S. No. 7, contained a public school and a separate school. The separate school goes back prior to the 1870’s, ad in 1872, Mr. James Dempsey was trustee. A petition for the school requested $20. that same year. The following article is from a February 8th 1899 issue of the Brockville Recorder:
“We publish in this issue the judgment of Judge MacDonald in a case tried in Kitley in which the plaintiff Anthony Healy as the Collector of the Roman Catholic Separate School Tax, sued the defendant, John Carey, for the amount of his assessment. Mr. Carey admitted that he was a supporter of the Roman Catholic Separate School, but, in as much as he had leased his farm to his son, who was also a supported of the public school, and was to pay the taxes contended he was not, as far as the assessment was concerned, liable for the separate school tax.
The judge reserved his decision. The judgment is as follows:
“This case was tried before me at the last sitting at Frankville and I then reserve judgment…in my humble judgment the defendant being a Roman Catholic, and a supporter of the separate school is wholly exempt from paying public school rates or subscriptions upon him and have power to collect the same. My judgment is therefore against the defendant.”
The annual report for the Separate School No. 7 for the year ending 1882, showed that the teacher that year had a third class certificate. There were seven pupils, two boys and five girls. The schoolhouse was frame, the school premises were freehold.
“It is presumed that the present stone structure was erected in the late 1870’s or sometime thereafter. It is also safe to presume that an earlier school of log construction was in the area by the late 1850’s. According to the Brockville Recorder a petition for $250. for the benefit to the school was made in 1882. In 1883 the school section was assessed at five and a half mills for money for the school. The teacher in 1882 was Minnie McEwan, and in 1883 was Jenny Bowser.” (“Kitley 1795-1975” by Dr. Glenn Lockwood
If anyone has any photos or additional information on this school we would appreciate hearing from you.
We are not sure if the school S.S. 14 was the earliest school in the Frankville area. Frankville has a rather distinctive history as far as schools are concerned considering that it was the only centre in Kitley to have a grammar school which was the equivalent of a present day high school. When a Model School was set up in the Frankville village in 1845, a goodly sized Common School had been in operation for many years and was large enough to warrant the choice of Frankville as the centre important enough for a county Model School.
The following is from a January 5th, 1854, Brockville Recorder: “It Appears that the trustees of School Section No. 15 of Kitley, in 1852, were two Reformers to one Tory; and even the later gentleman professed himself friendly to the Reform Party. These Trustees conducted the school affairs of the section, to the satisfaction of the inhabitants of the section. The Reformers had no wish to carry politics into school matters, and were willing to allow a second Tory to be elected in 1853…On having secured a majority, the Kitley Tory peculiarity of exclusiveness at once evinced itself—matters must just be conducted as they ordered, if not at all.
Following are excerpts from “Kitley 1795-1975” written by Dr. Glenn Lockwood
“The School Act points out three ways of providing for the payment of the teacher, viz.: by rate, bill, subscription, or making the school free, and supporting it by the general tax.
“After the Tories got the majority, a school meeting was called for the purpose of determining how the school should be supported. One Tory Trustee moved that the school should be free. This was lost. The same gentleman then moved that a rate bill be established, when the Reform Trustee moved an amendment, that the school should be supported on the same plan as formerly, that is, by subscription. The amendment was declared carried by a large majority.”
In 1872, William Leverette was mentioned as school teacher in Frankville. In 1875, a new two room brick school was built by Mr. Robert Parker. It is interesting to note that few students went on to high school because of the transportation or family economics. Some local schools offered continuation courses for students unable to board in centres such as Brockville or Athens. Out of the 1881 school class, only three students were admitted to Farmersville (Athens) High School. These were Addie M. Bullis, Ledorna Eaton, and Maggie Prichard.
The Frankville Model School was in operation until 1850, when the government passed new legislation superseding the former act. Frankville not only had a public school complete with a Model School, during the 1840’s, but there was also a grammar school in the village during that period. A grammar school of the early 19th Century was equal to a high school of this century. It was a school of higher grades. The one at Frankville was established in 1843 after the granting of 70 pounds to the Johnstown District Council. It cannot be ascertained as to just when the grammar school was closed. It was in operation for at least a decade. It is believed that the grammar school was within the actual confines of the village itself, while the public school was half a mile southwest of the village.
The old Frankville school was closed with the construction of the new Frankville area Public School in 1961.
Photos of Classes from the new Frankville Public School opened in 1961
1977 Kindergarten Graduation Class from Frankville Public School
George Hornick built the area’s first school. The school was located in Lot 6 of the 7th Concession. The exact date of the construction is unknown but it was listed in the 1861 census.
It was a school which held both Kitley and Wolford pupils, being know on the Kitley side as S.S. No.12 and in Wolford Township as S.S. No 14
In 1861 it was located between the farm houses of George and Robert Hornick and in 1872 the teacher was Samuel Hornick. In 1875 Sam Hornick sold the half acre on which the school was located to the local school trustees.
The school one of the last log structures to be used by the Leeds and Grenville School system was phased out in 1961 after more than a century of service, and Crystal area children were bussed to a new school in Frankville. The old log structure was sold to a Brown Family, moved to the North Augusta Road and renovated as a home.
“It is also known from the Brockville Recorder of 1872, that Samuel H. Hornick was a teacher here so, apparently, the Hornick family catered to the educational needs of the Crystal area for the mid-1800’s.
Teachers at Crystal school for the 1900’s include the following: Miss Sarah Willows, Miss Sarah Quinn, Mr. Fred Challies, Miss Luella Charland, Miss Blanch Warren, Miss Jessie Bell, Miss Ina Quinn, Miss Maude Cooke, Miss Ella Bryan, Miss Louva Race, Miss Myrtle Pryce, Miss Mary Coghlan, Miss Norma Bass, Miss Helen Jelly and Miss Grace Cole”
Glenn Lockwood in his book Kitley 1795-1975
If anyone has any photos or additional information on this school we would appreciate hearing from you.
Concession #4, Lot 17, built early 19th Century (see map)
presentaddress502KitleyLine4
The former Coad’s school, a stone building, was erected in 1875, replacing the earlier log cabin school. The school had originally been named for the Dack Family, but adopted the name of Coad in the 1850’s.
Dack’s school was built on Lot 17 of Concession 4 about 1830, a simple log structure with unpainted interior walls and austere benches and desks.
“The early log structure served its purpose until the 1870’s when it was repleced by a stone structure known as Coad’s chool. Robert Ferguson was the school teacher in 1872, and during that same year, a petition in the Brockville Recorder, requested $320. for school expenses. The following year another petition asked for $210. During the middle years of the 20th Century, the small school was closed and finally purchased by the Orange Lodge in 1949.
Shane’s School enjoyed an upswing in attendance during the 1950’s, when more people moved into the area. Further down the Town Line Road, Blanchard’s School suffered reverses and was closed in 1956. Pupils from Blanchard’s were then transferred to Mott’s Mills.
Blanchard’s reopened in 1961, operated for two years and closed forever in 1966. Motts Mills School also closed in the early 1960’s. Students from these two schools were then bussed to Jasper Public School.
Blanchard’s School was originally a log cabin located on the northwest corner of the Gardiner homestead. It was replaced in 1874 by a stone structure and educated generations’ of Blanchard children over the next 90 years.
In the School reorganization of the 1960’s, the school was phased out. It is now a private residence and stands on Lot 26 of the First Concession of Kitley. The school was built on land donated by the Gardiners.
In the 1870’s, probably 10 to 15 South Elmsley students attended Blanchard’s School. In 1874, John Gardiner sold the corner lot of his homestead to the school section as the site of a new school. A stone school was erected without borrowing money.
Thomas and Richard Gilday of Lombardy, brothers who specialized in carriage making, also were carpenters and stone masons. They built the new Blanchard’s School.
Blanchard’s School in 1905 had 21 pupils but in 1940 only 5 attended the school. New families coming into the area built up the population again but there were still less than 20 students when the school finally closed in 1963.
(Recorder and Times c1980 Darling Collection Book 5, pg.1)
The creek takes its name from the original settlers of the area the Grant Family. We are fortunate to have old post cards, prints and photos showing how the original bridge looked. Today as you drive along the highway, you can cross the creek without really even knowing it’s there.
The origin of Lyn Cemetery is obscure, but would appear to have originated with the first church, the Union Church, built by the Methodists on the spot where the drive-sheds for the St. John the Baptist (Church of England) were later built, now a parking area east of the church on a plateau above the cemetery.
Since the Union Church was the only church for miles around, it in effect became an inter denominational, Protestant church used by several congregations including Quakers. People used to walk or ride on horseback long distances to attend a “quarterly meeting”. It is said that the first Methodist Conference to be held in Eastern Ontario of the Methodist Episcopal Church was held in it and most of the delegates were from New York State and that a number of Bishops were in attendance. Unfortunately the church was destroyed during a violent wind storm on January 13, 1890. The bricks from this church were removed and used in the building of another Methodist Church at Glen Buell.
Although the total area utilized for the cemetery is not great, the cemetery consists of several portions of tiled land and others for which no records apparently exist. The first tombstones were large pieces of flagstone, and the oldest burials are to be found in the central region of the cemetery. Indeed the depression of the old service road may yet be seen in this part of the cemetery curving south-westerly from an old gate located midway along the northern fence line. From this point, an old lane way gently rises eastward to the road, a remnant of more easy access from the days of horse drawn vehicles. (excerpts taken from the magazine “Families” Vol 22 No.4 pub in 1983 and written by George A. Neville)
Concession 3, Lot 27, Location: East side of the Village of Lyn between the Veteran’s Memorial and St. John the Baptist Anglican Church.- Lyn Cemetery Committee* – GPS- 44.577355, -75.777818
Map of Graves at the Lyn Cemetery – See post on interments for names of those buried here.
Concession 6, Lot 30 Location: East side of Highway 29, south of Glen Buell – Twp of Elizabethtown*, GPS- 44.634845, -75.838993, , The cemetery is located just north of house number 6065, Cty Rd. 29, dircetly north of the cemetery is a mowed path leading to the cemetery.- photos taken August 2016
List of Grave sites as per the Brockville Genealogical Society
Last
First
Died
Comments
Aged/Born
Anderson
Ethel A.
Nov 2, 1909
wife of Anderson John H.
Age 26 yrs
Barnart
Anna
Dec 28, 1912
see Earl, Anna
Benedict
Erue
Apr 18, 1883
see Orton, Eru
Bonsteele
Lucinda
1884
see McDougaall, Lucinda
Botsford
Alpheus
May 20, 1857
son of Chauncey & Charlotte Botsford
Age 7 yrs, 10 mo, 20 d’s
Brayton
Sallee Ann
Jan 18, 1921
wife of Brayton, Harvey
Born Oct 10 1831
Bullis
Ruby
Mar 29, 1855
companion of Clow, Homles P.
Age 42 yrs
Clark
Eva May
Feb 18, 1887
dau of Stephen & Annie Clark
Age 13 yrs, 9 mos, 16 d’s
Cowan
Ellen
1911
see Robbins, Ellen
Cummings
Mary L.
??
see Hayes, Mary L.
Dack
Ethel A.
Nov 2, 1909
see Anderson Athel A.
Derbyshire
Anna
Aug 1, 1860
see Hayes, Anna
Dodd
A.M.
Dec 16, 1858
Earl
Anna
Dec 28, 1912
wife of Earl, John
Age 72 yrs
Earl
John
Mar 29, 1896
husband of Anna
Age 61 yrs
Earl
John D
Jul 28, 1902
son of John & Anna Earl
Age 31 yrs
Evans
Nancy
May 15, 1904
see Hayes, Nancy
Gilpin
Ellen
Feb 8, 1913
see Hall, Ellen
Gilroy
Crofton
1916
husband of Lucy
Born 1846
Gilroy
Fred Benedict (2nd)
Nov 7, 1876
son of Crofton & Lucy Gilroy
Age 6 mo & 11 d’s
Gilroy
Lucy
1921
wife of Gilroy, Crofton
Born 1847
Hall
Boyd
Nov 9, 1909
husband of Ellen
Age 91 yrs
Hall
Ellen
Feb 8, 1913
wife of Hall, Boyd
Age 83 yrs
Hall
James B.
Jan 10, 1883
son of Boyd & Ellen Hall
Age 18 yrs
Hall
Lucy Ida
Nov 11, 1897
dau of Boyd & Ellen Hall
Age 25 yrs, 11 mo & 4 d’s
Hall
Margaret
Oct 6, 1878
dau of Boyd & Ellen Hall
Age 16 yrs
Hall
Mary Etta
May 3, 1888
dau of Boyd & Ellen Hall
Age 14 yrs, 4 mo & 1 d
Haskin
Ephram
Dec 4, 1881
son of P.H. & R. Haskin
age 6mo & 4 d’s
Hayes
Anna
Aug 1, 1860
wife of Hayes, Eri married 1807 & to Knowles, William in 1843
Age 71 yrs
Hayes
Dora
Jan 13, 1906
wife of Hayes, Albert
Age 38 yrs
Hayes
Edith
Jan 23, 1886
dau of Hayes, Eri & Louisa
Age 5 yrs, 22 d’s
Hayes
Edith Sophronia
Aug 10, 1894
dau of Charles & Mary Hayes
Age 2 yrs, 8 mo & 20 d’s
Hayes
Elizabeth
Aug 9, 1872
wife of Hayes, Eri (Sr.)
Age 64 yrs 5 mo
Hayes
Elizabeth Ambrozina
1942
see McDougall, Elizabeth
Hayes
Eri
Aug 20, 1893
Age 85 yrs, 6 mo, 28 d’s
Hayes
Eri
1913
husband of Mary L.
Born 1844
Hayes
Ethel L.
Jan 5, 1884
dau of Eri & Louisa Hayes
Age 6 mo
Hayes
Harvey D.
Apr 8, 1913
husband of Nancy
Age 79 yrs
Hayes
J. Broose
Aug 6, 1879
son of Eri & Louisa Hayes
Age 4 mo & 17 d’s
Hayes
Mary
Mar 9, 1863
Age 16 yrs, 10 mo
Hayes
Mary L.
??
wife of Hayes, Eri
Born 1857
Hayes
Minerva
Jan 17, 1895
wife of Hayes, Truman
Hayes
Nancy
May 15, 1904
wife of Hayes, Harvey D.
Age 66 yrs
Hayes
Turman
Feb 13, 1893
husband of Minerva
Age 51 yrs, 2 mo, 23 d’s
Hayes
William J. (B.A.)
Jan 2, 1892
during his 2nd yr in Theology in Drew Seminary, Madison, NJ
Concession 10, Lot 4, Jelly Road, east of Fly Creek Rd- Twp of Elizabethtown*, GPS: 44.765736, -75.787592, Directly beside a house at 11842 Rocksprings Road. Photos taken in August 2016
The following photos were taken in May, 2017
Listing of Grave Sites as prepared by the Brockville Genealogical Society
also known as BellCrossingCemetery (WhitehurstCemetery)
Concession: 11, Lot13; Location: Rocksprings Road; Alternate Cemetery Name: Bell Cemetery (1796-1927)- Twp of Elizabethtown*, GPS: 44.752596,-75.830426 – located next to old Bell’s School now a house on 11654 Rocksprings Road. Many stones are in poor shape, large mound in the centre of the cemetery. There is suppose to be the foundation of an old church on the right side of the cemetery, but unable to locate it. All photos taken in August 2016
Listing of grave sites as per the Brockville Genealogical Society
On June 28, 1963 the school rang its’ bell for the last time. The teacher at the time was Mrs. Marion Ross, and she was the last person to teach at the little brick school house located on the Halleck’s Road. The 27 remaining pupils from this school were transferred to the Lyn Public School. About 10 years prior there were 34 pupils in the school
The original school was a log school house located in the north corner of the Hallecks Road and No. 2 Highway. Rev. William Hallock built a school before 1810 which had a ready made class: with 16 Coles, 13 Clows, 10 or 12 Fulfords and his own six children. The brick school house was built further north on the Halleck’s Road around 1839. The land on which the present school was built was donated by Mr. Caleb Halloch (Squire Halloch) on May 12, 1838 and was built by Archibald Davidson, a stone mason.
The school was replaced by the present building in 1935, a trim neo-classical brick Edifice.[2] A well was drilled for the new school in the 1930’s and toilets were installed around 1939. In the early 1940’s electricity was installed. Between 1886 and 1900 teachers salaries’ were from $220. to $300 per year. (Elizabethtown: The Last of the Royal Townships by Alvyn Austin pub. 2009)
Heritage Elizabethtown erected a plaque near the original school recalling an incident that took place during the War of 1812. The plaque reads as follows:
Hallock’s School and the ‘Underhill Incident’
“A one room school near here was the site of an international incident before the war of 1812. William Hallock (1770-1836), a Methodist preacher, established the school in a log cabin on his property. In 1809 the teacher was Isaac Underhill, an alleged American army deserter. On May 1, three American soldiers disembarked from a schooner on the St. Lawrence, seized Underhill at the school and dragged him, bound and gagged towards the river. When Underhill broke free and ran, his captors shot him from behind. They then fled to their boat with armed settlers in pursuit. Underhill died the next day. His murder was a flagrant violation of British sovereignty which outraged Canadians and lingered long on local memory” (Issac Underhill is said to be buried in an unmarked grave in the Fulford Cemetery)
The old school was converted into a home and is located at 2301 Hallecks Rd.N.
School Superintendents Report (Ontario Archives)
Shows the following information, which in some cases contradicts what we have already researched, and contradicts other filed School Superintendents Reports:
1850: Frame Building, size 24×34, construction date 1811, condition: Not Good
1854: Frame building, first opened in 1817 (this report combines SS #3 and 5)
The following information was extracted from the motion papers of the Elizabethtown Council 1855-1872
That the union of School sections no 3 & 5 be dissolved and that all resolutions uniting the same be rendered the same as if said divisions ere never united at the request of a public meeting held for that purpose signed by Henry Clow, Chairman- 1858
that the Clerk be instructed to prepare a Bylaw to unite School Sections No.3 and No.5 into one section agreeable to the request of the rate payers of said sections- 1869
that the application of the Trustees of School Section No 5 be complied with and the sum of $200 be levied and collected on the Taxable property of said section exclusive of expenses -1872 (Lyn Museum Archives)
Note: some of the dates may not be accurate, if you know the correct date for these photos please let us know.
There is a story about this teacher Mr. Leland Earl, who lived in Lyn. He traveled to school in winter on skis drawn by a horse, and was called by some of the parents “the school-man on chips”. (Recorder & Times)
Hallecks School Teacher’s Listing
1886- Miss Gertrude E. Giles
1887- Miss Annie McCallum
1888- Miss Effie Clow
1889- Miss Jessie V. Gardiner ( six months)
1889-97- Miss Nelie Aird
1897- Miss Effie Clow (one month)
1897-99- Miss Isadora Clow
1900-02- Miss Ida G. Wemyss
1902-03- Miss Clara L. Wilson
1903-04- Miss Ethel Alford
1904- Miss H.A. Holmes (one month)
1904-07- Miss Lillian Hudson
1907-10- Miss Lillian Robbins
1910-11- Miss Jennia Hamilton
1911-13- Miss A.M.Riley
1913- Mrs. Lucy Greer (3 days)
1913-14- Miss Nellie Armstrong
1914-15- Miss Clara I. Brown
1915-16- Miss Mabel M.Marshall
1916-17- Miss Mary Webster
1917-18- Miss Hazel Fenton
1918-19- Miss Louisa Hargraves
1919-20- Miss Iva M. Hamilton
1920- Miss M.L.McNeil (4 months)
1921-22- Miss Grace Jelly (1 1/2 years)
1922-23- Miss Edna Waghorn
1923-24- Miss Georgia Frances
1924-26- Leland Earle
1926-28-Miss R. Isobel Taylor
1928-29- Miss Dora Thurston
1929-31- Miss Hilda V. Gilroy
1931-33- Miss Helen Purvis
1933-38- Miss Anna Hudson
1939-58- Miss Mabel Haffie
1958- Mrs. Patrica McGillis
1959- Mrs. Beatrice Kyer
1959-63- Mrs. Marion Ross
Halleck’s School throughout the years
Additional facts:
The school well was drilled in the 1930’s
New toilets were installed around 1939
Electricity came to the school in the early 1940’s
School Books belonging to Alex Davidson at Hallecks School
Dr. John G.Booth’s eldest son was Peter Booth, born at the farm in 1825. In 1842 at the age of 17, he started teaching at the log school in Glen Buell. He had 63 children, ranging in age from 4 to 17, and received the magnificent salary of 2.5 pounds per month. Peter Booth died in 1860, of tuberculosis, leaving a wife and three young children. In 1842, and enthusiastic young buck, he wrote his first report to the district council:
I beg leave to submit the enclosed report of the Common School at present under my instruction. The school house in which this school is taught is on the rear of Lot 31, in the 6th Concession of Elizabethtown on the Main Road leading from Brockville to Farmersville.
All the pupils that have attended resided within two miles of the school house and there are probably from 16 to 20 children more living within that distance from the schoolhouse between the ages of 5 and 16 whose names are not on this report as they have not been in attendance. The school was commenced about the first pf April last, Teachers wages two pounds five shillings per month with the expectation that further aid would be granted from the public monies.” (from Lea Booth, John Booth, p54-55) [1]
The original school was a small log schoolhouse constructed by Eri Hayes in the 1820’s.
The school was closed in the spring of 1965 and pupils bused to either Addison or New Dublin depending on where they lived. Because of overcrowding at New Dublin a few years later, Glen Buell was re-opened for Grade 1 students for a short time.
School Superintendents Report (Ontario Archives)
Shows the following information, which in some cases contradicts what we have already researched, and contradicts other filed School Superintendents Reports:
1850: Log Building, size 24×24, construction date 1837, condition Good
1854: Frame building, first opened in 1844
The following information was extracted from the motion papers of the Elizabethtown Council 1855-1873:
That the request of the trustees of School Section No 16 be complied with that the sum of one hundred dollars be levied and collected on the rateable property of said section exclusive of expenses-1869
that the Trustees of School Section No 16 be paid the sum of $1 as non-collected school tax an that Lot 34 in the Seventh Concession of Elizabethtown and the Clerk order the sum to be paid to Boyd Hall-1870[2]
[1] The History of Elizabethtown Township, by Alvyn Austin unpublished 2002
The Athens Reporter and County of Leeds Advertiser
Tuesday March 12, 1895 issue–
GlenBuellSchool (Elizabethtown SS #16) Monthly Report
Sr. IV. – Stella Orton 1166, Gertie Sturgeon 1128, Charlie Towriss 1128, Carrie Davis 1084, Ernest Sturgeon 959, Allen LaPointe 947, Roy Westlake 912, Archie Stewart 735, Ira Moore* 600, Nelson Boulton*600
Jr. IV.- Freddie Percival 694, Delbert Westlake 609, Flora Whaley 584, Leonard Orton 580, John Anderson 563, Robbie Perkins 490, Ethel Mott* 450
Sr. III – Blanche Howe 560, Nellie Montgomery 490, Ada La Pointe 455
Jr. III. – Odiel LaPointe 600, Herbie Sturgeon 595, Levi Howe 555, Ethel Dack 520, Arthur Hayes 515, Clifford Mott 50, Frank LaPointe 490, Russell Sturbeon 485
– Lillie LaPointe 425, Delbert Dack 400, Joe Anderson 400, Violet Westlake 400, Roy Earls 375
Sr. Pt. II.- Freddie Westlake 450, Clement Sturgeon 445, Amelia Perkins 435, Lewis Westlake 420
Jr. Pt. II. – Chloe Sturgeon 450, Leonard Anderson 425, Stella Anderson 425, David Lee 400, Mamie Dancy 400, Gordie Mott 400, Stanley Hayes 390, Nellie Dancy 390
– Clinton Stewart, Byron Westlake, Henry Lee, Jona Westlake
These marked thus * were absent during some of the examinations.
The marks given are for punctuality, conduct and lessons.
Average attendance for Feb., 42
Anna Scott, Teacher
Glen Buell (S.S.#16) Elizabethtown
Tuesday Sep 10, 1895 issue
The library in connection with Glen Buell S.S. has been catalogued alphabetically and copies of the list are being printed this week. The books enumerated number 168 and while chiefly devoted to church work, many of them are of the general interest, and all are good wholesome literature, the dissemination of which would prove beneficial to any community.
Tuesday Nov 12, 1895 issue
GlenBuellSchool Report
Fifth Class – Stella Orton 833, Ira Moore 499
Senior Fourth – Carrie Davis 710, Charlie Towriss 524, Gertie Sturgeon 456, Roy Westlake 211
Junior Forth – Freddie Percival 626, Blanch Howe 527, Leonard Orton 489, Ada LaPoint 328, Ella Davis 301, Herbie Sturgeon 294, Edith Moorhouse 185, Ethel Dack 167, John Anderson 100, Delbert Westlake 100, Clifford Mott.
Third Class – Russel Sturgeon 80, Odiel LaPoint 60, Frank LaPoint 25, Levi Howe, Arthur Hayes.
Senior Second – Violet Westlake 130, Lillie LaPoint 95, Delbert DAck 90, Joe Anderson 10.
Junior Second – Ethel Andress 175, Chloe Sturgeon 135, Clement Sturgeon 110, Stella Anderson 85, Lewis Westlake 75, Amelia Perkins 25, Fred Westlake 10.
Sr. Part Second – Gordie Mott 90, Leonard Anderson 50, Harold Moorhouse 40 Stanley Hayes 30, Mamie Dancy, Nellie Dancy.
Jr. Part Second. – Florence Percival 80, Byron Westlake 50.
Sr. First – May Sturgeon 80, Jonah Westlake 65, Wilfred Sturgeon 10.
Junior First – Wesley Dack 690. James Anderson 30.
A number of pupils were absent during examinations on account of sickness
The marks awarded are for punctuality, conduct and lessons.