The
classic book on the history of Puslinch, “Annals of Puslinch 1850-1950”, is
presented here with sincere thanks to the Optimist Club of Puslinch, an
organization whose members are famous for their good deeds and for having
contributed greatly to the quality of life in Puslinch and who are doing so
once again by making this outstanding book available for purchase. If you wish to purchase this book, the
Optimists may be contacted through the official Optimist
Club of Puslinch website or it is also possible to order it by email
from the Puslinch Historical Society.
ANNALS
OF PUSLINCH
1850 – 1950
To the memory of those brave men and
courageous women, who ventured their all for the settlement of Puslinch
Township, this book is reverently and respectfully dedicated.
|
|
Puslinch pioneer home
|
“There comes a voice that wakes my soul. |
|
It's the voice of years that are gone. |
|
They roll before me with their deeds.” |
|
-Ossian |
Printed by THE ACTON FREE PRESS, Acton,
Ontario
Index
|
Frontispiece-Puslinch
Pioneer Home INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII CHAPTER XIV CHAPTER XV CHAPTER XVI CHAPTER XVII Township Hall CHAPTER XVIII CHAPTER XIX CHAPTER XX |
TOWNSHIP
COUNCIL AND OFFICIALS, 1950
|
|
Left to right: Councillor Peter C. McLean; Road Superintendent Chester
Schultz, Deputy Reeve Irving Steffler, Reeve James Starkey, Councillor Angus
Smith, Building Inspector Robert Pettigrew, Councillor James McCaig,
Clerk-treasurer Alex. Ord.
ANNALS OF PUSLINCH
On April 6th, 1950, the Puslinch
Township Council called a general meeting of the Ratepayers for the purpose of
discussing and arranging for a Centennial Observance of the Establishing of Representative
Municipal Administration in the Township.
The following committees were appointed:
Striking
Committee-------------------
|
Peter C. McLean, Chairman Albert McWilliams, Secretary |
|
Invitation Committee---------------- |
Wm. Hunter, Chairman |
|
Financial Committee----------------- |
Alex. Ord, Chairman |
|
Lunch Committee--------------------- |
Sheldon Trousdale, Chairman |
|
Sports Committee--------------------- |
Murray McPherson, Chairman |
|
Grounds Committee------------------ |
Duncan Buchanan, Chairman |
|
Program Committee------------------ |
Duncan McFarlane, Chairman |
|
Sunday Service Committee--------- |
Carl Ross, Chairman |
|
Decoration Committee--------------- |
Bruce Smith, Chairman |
|
Reception Committee---------------- |
Neil Black, Chairman |
|
Dance Committee---------------------- |
James McCaig, Chairman |
|
Health Committee--------------------- |
Albert McWilliams, Chairman |
|
Young Peoples’ Committee--------- |
Harold Kerns, Chairman |
|
Gate Committee------------------------ |
Alex. McLean, Chairman |
|
Parade Committee--------------------- |
E. Cockburn, Chairman |
|
Historical Committee----------------- |
Wm. A. McCormick, Chairman |
It was recommended that the Historical
Committee prepare a book on the early history of the Pioneers and other items
of interest, to be published in connection with the Centennial
Celebration. This Committee was
subsequently increased to twelve---a member from each School Section as
follows: Neil Black, George McGill, Mrs. Harry Hanlon, Thomas Mahon, James
McCaig, Wm. A. McCormick, Walter Holm, Thomas Gilchrist, Wm. Winer, Mrs. Archie
Scott, Margaret McLean, John Cockburn, John Little, and Wm. Gilchrist.
The Committee gratefully acknowledges
and desires to thank all those who co-operated in the collecting and publishing
of these records, especially the older people and Township Officials, without
whose assistance it would have been impossible to compile and publish these
Annals.
Despite unavoidable limitations and
probable omissions, it is the earnest hope of the Committee that this book many
contribute to the general knowledge of early days in Puslinch, provide an
accurate sequence of events in Township administration and assure their perpetuation
for future generations.
July 1st, 1950.
Chapter I
ORIGIN
OF THE NAME PUSLINCH
Puslinch was named by Lady Seaton, wife
of Sir John Colborne, afterwards Lord Seaton, and daughter of Rev. John Yonge, Rector
of the Parish of Newton Farrers, Devon, England, whose family were Lords of the
Manor of Puslinch in that parish.
Sir John Colborne, later Lord Seaton,
was Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario from 1828 to 1836, and it is doubtless that
Puslinch received its name during that period.
Puslinch---spelt variously through the
ages, Puselynch, Posselinch, and Puzzlewitch, lies in the labyrinth of winding
lanes and hillocks between the estuaries of Yealm and Erme, east of Plymouth,
that is now known as South-hams.
Puslinch House is a seat five miles
South East of Plymouth in Devon.
Sir John Colborne was the first Baron
Seaton (1778-1863). He married
Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. J. Yonge of Newton Ferrers, Devonshire in 1814.
Newton Ferrers is about six miles South
East of Plymouth.
Puslinch House is about two and
one-quarter miles North East of Newton Ferrers, and is in that parish.
Chapter II
|
“For simple truths and useful facts, |
|
No book can beat the almanacs.” |
|
---old rhyme |
Puslinch Township is situated about
equally distant from the once ill-famed Beverly swamp to the South, the Grand
River to the West, and the Niagara escarpment on the East. It may be described
as forming part of the Southern slope of that Central Ontario plateau which
reaches its greatest elevation in the vicinity of Dundalk.
To describe its shape would require an
accurate knowledge of the application of the propositions of Euclid; obviously
it owes its shape to a series of chance circumstances rather than deliberate
design.
East and West Flamboro with Beverly
form the South boundary, fourteen and one-quarter miles long; North Dumfries
and Waterloo on the West, six miles; Guelph on the North, nine and one-half
miles; and Eramosa and Nassagaweya on the East, nine miles long.
Puslinch contains approximately sixty
thousand acres of land, and there are about one hundred and eighty-seven miles
of road, including: Provincial 10 miles; County 24.5 miles; Suburban, 7 miles
and Township roads and streets 146 miles.
The highest point of elevation is the
hill on Concession X above No. 10 School, almost 1250 feet, but points north
and east are also over 1200 feet. South of Crieff the elevation is 950 feet and
at Lot 3 where the mill creek crosses into Beverly, 975 feet, indicating a
slope to the South and South-West.
The terrain, generally, is quite
rolling, with short, sharp hills and many ponds and swales in the hollows and
ravines but in the Arkell, Downeys and Second Concession areas there are tracts
of level land.
The soil varies greatly but is usually
a lime stone clay loam formation with gravel soil showing in spots. Being of glacial origin, field stone is
plentiful, often of a size suitable for building purposes, as the many and
substantial stone houses indicate.
Shallow gravel and sand banks are numerous but few large deposits exist.
The original forest has now completely
disappeared but with the exception of the pine was similar to existing
species. The red pine, a coniferous
tree grew among the hardwoods on the high lands and varied in size and number.
Some farms and sections had twenty stumps per acre, others few or none at all.
These huge trees towered high above the surrounding forest. The wood was light,
strong and amazingly durable.
Pine fence
rails cut ninety years ago are still in use. The pine stumps remained in the
ground for thirty or forty years, a provocation to settlers and a hindrance to
cultivation, until the seventies and eighties when stumping machines were
introduced and the stumps were pulled and arranged in rows forming fences of
truly formidable proportions, which still exist.
The Township though subject to
seasonable droughts is abundantly supplied with water of excellent quality.
Approximately three-quarters of the
Township lies in the basin of the Grand River and drains into Lake Erie, the
remainder in the South-East section drains into Lake Ontario. The Eramosa
branch of the Speed River runs through the North-East and North-West sections
of Puslinch, draining the area along the Guelph border. North of Arkell, on Lots 2-5, Concession IX
and X, are located the Arkell Springs which provide an important part of the
water supply for the City of Guelph. Hanlons Creek, a tributary of the Speed,
rises West of Number Six Highway on the Guelph border flowing South around a
low ridge of hills, then North-West to the Speed. Pleasant springs rise in this
valley. Mill Creek, a tributary of the Grand, rises on Lot Fifteen of the
Eleventh Concession and follows a diagonal course across the entire lower part
of the Township. The valley or basin
drained by this stream is scarcely over three miles across at its ,widest
point. East of Aberfoyle it is
joined by another small stream draining as far East as Loch Buie. The bottom of this long narrow valley was in
pioneer days a dense swamp of the choicest cedar. The soft, water soaked soil
and bog bordering each side of the stream formed an almost impassable barrier
across the Township, especially in the Spring season.
The twelve bridges from the foot of the
hill above Number Ten School to the Beverly border indicate the difficulties of
early settlers and the problems confronting pioneer councillors. Some side roads were not opened across this
swamp until as late as 1910. Numerous springs and spring creeks rise along the
base of the ridge which forms the North side of the valley. Corwhin, Aberfoyle
and Killean Schools obtain their water supply from these sources.
Immediately to the South and
paralleling the valley of Mill Creek, extends the height of land from which the
Township of Nassagaweya derives its name. This
ridge enters East Puslinch about Lot twenty-three and extends westward North
of Morriston to the vicinity of Crieff, thence South-West into Beverly about
Lot Sixteen.
South of this elevation, irregular
ridges jut South-Eastward with water courses in the intervening valleys. It was on the largest of these streams on
Concession Ten that John Linderman built two dams in the late fifties. Occasional rock formation comes to the
surface and in the gore South of
Crieff, for a distance of three miles, springs, rise on almost every lot and
several creeks flow Southward into Beverly. Several thousand
acres on the West side of this height of land drain South-West and enter the
Grand River below Galt by way of Fairchild's Creek.
Puslinch
Lake on the west side of the Township is the largest natural body of fresh
water between Toronto and the Great Lakes. The basin in which this Lake lies is
situated in the South-West border of the watershed lying between Mill Creek and
the River Speed. The entire Lake
basin covers not more than 1000 acres of land and has no visible source of
supply, yet its level remains constant.
A
small stream called the Outlet flows North and West through a narrow ravine
from the Lake to the River Speed. A
dam, built in early days, on this stream, just as it enters the Speed, still
exists and is the greatest single source of water power in Puslinch. A drop or
head of twenty-two and one-half feet exists here. The area West of Downey's drains into the Outlet by a water
course of spring freshet proportions, well-known by many successive generations
of sucker-spearing enthusiasts.
Black
bass may still be caught in Puslinch Lake and speckled trout in secluded
streams, but only an ardent and ancient disciple of Isaac Walton could portray
the finny beauties that haunted the gloomy depths of forest streams long ago.
Chapter III
An Act, passed by the British
Parliament sometimes called The Constitutional Act of 1791, established Upper
Canada as a separate province and Lieutenant-Governor John Graves Simcoe,
opened the first Parliament at Niagara-on-the-Lake (Newark), in 1792.
York, afterwards Toronto, was at this
time without churches, schools or in fact any of the ordinary indications of
civilization and consisted of only a few blocks of houses.
Due to the fur trade and navigation on the Great Lakes,
the outline of the peninsula of Western Ontario was well-known, but the forest
primeval interior extending westward from York to Lake Huron was an unknown
wilderness.
The United Empire Loyalists were now
settled along the North shore of Lake Ontario and about five hundred
highlanders having recently emigrated from Scotland were establishing homes in
Glengarry on the St. Lawrence River.
There were also small communities at Burlington, then Wellington Square
and on the Niagara Peninsula.
The first survey in Western Ontario was
a line run by Augustus Jones, a friend of Joseph Brant, from what is now
Burlington to a point near the present Village of Arthur in North
Wellington. This line was run in 1784
to ascertain the source of the Grand River and was afterwards used as a
boundary line between many of the Counties and Townships adjacent to it, and
now forms the eastern boundary of Puslinch Township. It is probable that the surveying crew were the first white men
to set foot in Puslinch. At any rate
these are the first so recorded.
Seven years later in 1791, the same man
was employed to survey the boundary of the Six Nations Indian Reserve,
extending northward from Lake Erie along the Grand River. The East side of
this reserve was surveyed north to a point near what is now the Guelph and
Puslinch Town Line. This North and South line now forms the West boundary of
Puslinch, thus the East and West boundaries of Puslinch were part of the two
earliest surveys in Ontario.
The next survey in the Township was not
made until almost forty years later in 1828-31, when at the instigation of Sir
John Galt, the government engaged David Gibson to conduct the surveying of the
roads and lots. On the West side
of the Township, Concession I to VI, formerly called the new survey, extend
East and West, and on the East side, of the Township, the Concessions VII to
XI, (the old survey), extend in a North-West and South-Eastern direction.
The
old survey runs parallel to the original line survey of 1784 and the new survey
conforms to the survey of 1791. The
conjunction of these two surveys was no doubt the cause of the peculiar
"V" shaped arrangement of roads in this Township. Lots of 200 acres
extend from road to road across each concession. A farm usually consists of a half lot, 100 acres, distinguished
as the front and rear of each Concession.
Five lots or 1000 acres between cross roads comprise a block.
A
gore extends along the Beverly boundary and also along the Nassagaweya side as
well as small gores on the east and west Flamboro lines. A special survey was made in the Arkell
district, apparently at the request of John Arkell, and as a result, lots 3 to
10 in the 9th Concession and lots 7 to 9 in the 10th Concession run crosswise
to the regular survey of the Township.
This gave early settlers access to the Main road.
Chapter IV
In 1839, a School House was built near
the original town site, called Farnham, which was laid out half a mile West of
the present village of Arkell with Joseph Foley as teacher.
The school site in the village was
purchased November 29th, 1850 from James Hewer and the Trustees were Adam Hume,
John Iles and Joseph Dory, but the deed was not registered until 1854. An entry in 1856 stated that the
population was 371 and there were 131 of school age. The teacher's salary at
that time was £13, l0s.
The present stone building was erected
in 1862 and about 1883 a house for the teacher was built which the section
still owns.
During 1950, a century later, a new
addition has been built with complete water system, air-conditioned heating and
modern lighting. The present School Board is Ralph Sherwood, Robt. Barnett,
Howit Carter and R. M. Starkey, Secretary-Treasurer.
On October 11th, 1830 a small group of
Englishmen among whose names were John and Thomas Arkell, T. W. Stone, John
Oulton, John and James Carter, Chas. Willoughby, Peter Bell and Henry Haines,
left England on a sailing vessel which took 14 weeks to reach New York. In the spring they wended their way on foot
to their destination which became known as the settlement of Farnham, so named
after their home town in England. The
village was called “Arkell” named in honour of one of the group. The Humes, Gilchrists, Scotts and Johnstons
and Pettys followed soon after.
John Arkell took up 1800 acres on the
Arkell plains from which Thomas Arkell took 600 acres and afterwards sold
300. On the remaining 300, part of
lots 7, 8, 9, and 10, Concession 10, now owned by Wm. J. Kay, he built a log
house in 1832 at which time there were only 126 people living in Puslinch
Township. In 1844 he planned a stone
house patterned after one in England.
It took 8 years to complete and the lumber was cut from trees on his
farm and air dried for 5 years; stone was taken from a quarry nearby ; the
locks and hinges and larger nails were handmade by a Mr. Nichol, the first
blacksmith of Arkell, and the furniture was hand carved. Mr. Arkell lived in this house until his
death in 1875 at the age of 73 years. He was magistrate of the Township for
over 30 years.
WOOLLEN AND SAW MILLS
In
1869, John and Thomas Arkell, sons of Thomas Arkell erected the woollen mill
and saw mill on Lot 1, Concession 9, 1.5 miles West of Arkell village. About 9 years later John's young son,
Thomas, lost an arm in the machinery of the woollen mill, after which the father
sold out his share. This later became
the property of the Taylors of Napanee and when destroyed by fire in 1912 it
was owned by the Cartlidge family.
The first sawmill, however, was built
in 1844 by a Mr. Caufield on the Speed River, one mile North of Arkell, Lot 2
R, 9 Con. A grist mill was also built
on the property. These mills were sold
to Haines and Scot, who sold them to John Cook in 1896. The son and daughter are still residing on
the property and it is properly known as Cook's Mills.
There were 2 hotels on the Arkell
plains. One was located at the village
and the other, known as "Burners Roost" was 1 mile West of Arkell.
Peter Hume, who was of Scottish
descent, came to Canada in 1831 and received from the Crown all of Lot 11 and
12, Concession 10. It was divided among
his 3 sons.
Adam took the front of Lot 12. James, Adam's son succeeded him and took an
active part in a farm organization called "The Grange" which gave him
the name of "Grange Jim". He
served 8 years as Councillor and Deputy-Reeve. Stewart inherited the farm from his father and his son Oliver now
runs the farm jointly with him. Peter,
Oliver's son, aged 5 years, is the sixth generation to have lived on this farm
known as “The Grange”.
William's share of the homestead was
the front of Lot 11, Concession 10.
David, his son, specialized in Oxforddown sheep. He was one of the Managers of Arkell
Methodist Church. William's son, Boyd,
succeeded him and has in his possession the document stating that Peter Hume
registered the Crown land, October 2nd, 1860.
Thomas took up the rear of Lot 11 and R
12, Concession 10. His descendents are
his son William, the third generation; Peter the fourth, William, the sixth and
present owner. His son Roy was living on the farm when David, Roy's son, was
born. This makes 7 generations on this
part of the homestead.
John Gordon was born in Carrickfergus
County Antrim, Ireland, in 1806. In
1827 he and his brother, William came to Canada to make a home and took up 200
acres, Lot 1, Concession 10 Puslinch Township.
While clearing the land, William was
killed by a falling tree, leaving John with all the land. Wishing to clear the
west 100 acres, he traded the rear 100 for a yoke of oxen which assisted him
materially. John served on the local
school board for a number of years.
His
son, John Jr., specialized in Oxforddown sheep and Clydesdale horses. He died in 1945 at the age of 98.
James Roy, his son, carries on mixed
farming on the homestead known as, "Mount Prospect". He has in his possession a wooden clock, the
first in the district for which his grandfather traded a cow.
James Carter was born in Wiltshire,
England in 1769 and at the age of 62 he brought his family to Canada, applied
for and purchased 100 acres, Concession 9, part lots 3, 4, 5, and 6 paying over
a 10 year period the sum of $3.00 per acre.
The farm was transferred to his son Thomas Carter in 1856. On the death of Thomas Carter, his son,
Henry bought the homestead and on the death of Henry Carter the farm was taken
over by Howitt Carter, son of Henry.
This farm was settled in 1832 and has
been in the Carter family from then and is still owned by the great grandson of
James Carter, the first owner, over a period of 118 years. It is one of the few farms to be owned by
the same family over that period.
James Murray took up the farm on Lot 6,
Concession 10 in the year 1838 and died 18 months later. Then his step-son, James Scott, took charge
and farmed it until 1882, when he was hurt digging a well which affected his
eyesight and necessitated an operation, which left him blind. In 1894 his son, Crastor Scott took over the
farm and has carried it on up to the present time.
Robt. Toms took up the 100 acre farm on
Lot Pt. 7, 8, 9, Concession 10 in 1839 and farmed it for a few years, then sold
it to John Starkey in 1849 who farmed it till 1894 when his only son, James
Starkey, father of the present reeve, took it over. Mr. James Starkey added the adjoining 100 acres known as the James
Winyard farm, and carried it until his death in 1911. The farm is at present known as the Starkey Bros.
In 1839 Peter Bell took up the farm,
Lot Pt. 7, 8, 9, Concession 10 and turned it over to his son, Joseph Bell a
number of years later. Joseph carried
on until his retirement, when he sold it to his son-in-law, Peter Laing, who
built a new barn and added a kitchen to the house. Then he sold it to his brother-in-law, William Hume, who farmed
it until his death four years later.
His widow then sold to John Tolton in 1909 who farmed it until his death
in 1935 and at present it is operated by his widow and two members of the
family.
The Crown Deeds of these farms and many
others in the Arkell district were not taken out until the year 1856, when Mr.
David Stirton became Member of Parliament and advised them to do so.
Robert Green from Scotland, landed at
the farm Lot 11 R, Concession 9, December 24th, 1853. The price paid was £ 62 10s. He sold it to
Wm. Rae, January 28, 1867 and it was taken over by his nephew, John Rae, about
1907. The farm remained in his
possession until April, 1926, when he sold it to Orme Sherwood, the present
owner.
Among the pioneers was Mr. John Iles
who settled on a 300 acre farm on Concession 9, now owned by the Provincial
Government. Here, his son John was born
and after some years, he moved to the farm now occupied by Mr. F. Plummer. In 1864 his son, John, married Isabel Orme
and purchased what was known as the Oulton farm of 115 acres, part of lots 3,
4, 5 and 6, rear of Concession 9, where he resided until his death in 1908.
This home was a cottage built of logs with pleasant surroundings and was
replaced in 1901 by a substantial brick residence. The C.P.R. line was surveyed
through a corner of the farm and in 1888 the first train went through. After Mr. Iles’ death he was succeeded by
his only son, Peter, until 1920 when it became the property of Mr. Neil
Black. This place has become famous as
being the home of one of Ontario's Champion Plowmen, Mr. Alex Black.
CHURCH OF ENGLAND
As the land became cleared and settlers
increased, plans were made for the erection of a Church. Prior to this, services were held occasionally
in a small barn conducted by Rev. Archdeacon Palmer of St. George's Church,
Guelph. Rev. Palmer headed the list of
subscriptions for the new church by a donation of £25 and work commenced about
1839.
The present cemetery where “The worthy
Forefathers of the Hamlet Sleep” marks the sight chosen for the Church, and
the burying ground. All persons who
subscribed 25 shillings or over were entitled to a plot without further charge. In 1931, nearly a century later, stone gate
posts and other improvements were made.
The first Methodist Church was built in
1838. It was very small and made of
logs. The Church was erected where the
present sheds now stand, the land being donated by Charles Willoughby and the
logs contributed by John Petty.
These pioneers were so anxious to have
their Church completed that work was carried on both day and night, the older
men working during the day and the younger ones at night. Rev. Mr. Auld of Guelph conducted the
first service and Mr. Petty chanted the tunes.
As the years passed and the
congregation became larger, it was decided to build a new church and in 1877
the present church was built. Dr.
Rychman of Norfolk St. Church, Guelph, gave the address for the opening and the
Rockwood Choir supplied the music.
About 1919 the membership became so
small that it was feared the Church would have to be closed. Some of the
Presbyterians attending Church elsewhere felt this would be detrimental to the
community so they united with the Methodists in establishing a Union Church
giving Arkell the distinction of having one of the first United Churches in Ontario.
In 1933, Mrs. John Tolton was elected a
member of the Session of Arkell United Church and it is believed she was the
first woman in the history of Guelph Presbytery, if not the first in Western
Ontario, to hold this position. This
came as a fitting reward for her years of devoted effort to the interests of
this congregation and Sunday School.
Chapter V
School Section No. 2 is situated
South-East of Guelph Township, reaching about three miles down the old Brock
Road and comprising Concessions 7 and 8.
In the late '20's and early '30's this land was taken up, groups of settlers
coming from Ireland, England and Scotland, and a few from Germany.
Among the Irish settlers were Peter
Byrne who in 1827 immigrated and took up R. Lot 6, Concession 8. His son, Arthur, succeeded him and his son,
Arthur II, was next. Now the fourth
generation, Arthur also, is in possession.
The Clairs took up Lot 10, Concession 8
in 1828 which was handed down to their only son, William. Now the fifth
generation is living on this farm.
The Hamiltons came out about the same
time and took up F. Lot 6, and operated what was then called a tavern for four
generations and now Jas. Hamilton runs a farm machinery and auto business. His family is the fifth generation on this
place. From 1830-33 there were a number followed.
The Walsh's took up the front and rear
of Lot 5, Concession 8, and one of their descendants is still on one lot, Mrs.
Staples, the fourth generation.
The McNultys took up Lot 8 R.,
Concession 8, and are still in possession to the fourth generation. In 1888 Michael bought Front Lot 8, which
was the property of the O’Rourks and is now the home of John McNulty and
family. It is one of the finest
equipped farms in the district.
The Mooneys took up Lot 9 but it has
long since passed from their hands.
The Hanlons took up Rear Lot 11,
Concession 8, where for three generations they were in possession. It is now the home of Jas Hawkin who
operates an extensive livestock and butcher business.
The Mulroneys came and took up R. Lot
12, Concession 8, in 1833 and were in possession till 1949 to the fourth
generation. It is now owned by James
Hawkins.
The
Armstrongs took up Front Lot 11 and it was later bought by the Robinsons. In 1884 it was purchased by John Mulroney
and is now the home of Geo. McGill whose wife was born in this home.
The Fosters came in quite early and took up all of Lot 1, Concession 7.
Part of this is built up in a number of small lots and part is now owned by the
O.A.C.
The Bryan Carrol Family came in the
late 20's and later took up Front Lot 4, Concession 7, which was sold to Jas.
Crane in 1881 and is now occupied by George Crane.
The Keenan Family took up Lot 2 F.,
Concession 8, the present homes of Prof. Thommas and the Boreham Families.
Another Carrol Family took up Lot 9 and
10 R., Concession 7, but did not hold them long.
The Eustace Famiy took up Lot 11 R.,
Concession 7, which was purchased later on by Patrick Phelan. It now belongs to the Watson Family.
The Lynch’s took up Front Lot 11, Concession 7, which was later
purchased by P. Hanlon. It is now the
property of Samuel Hume. Lot 10
Concession 7, was later owned by John Eustace and now has been the home of Jno.
Clair since 1904.
Lot 9 was purchased by John Carter many
years ago and later by John McPherson, then by Robert Armstrong. It is now the
home of Professor Moffat and son Donald.
The Lairds who also came over from
Ireland among the first settlers took up Front 8, 9, 10, Concession 7. Hamilton, one of their three sons took Lot
8; James Lot 9, Lot 10; Joseph Lot 10. This property remained in that family
until recent years. At present Mr.
Strauss lives on Lot 8 and the Wright Family on Lot 9 and Lot 10. Robert Cook
once lived on part 10 where John Dooley now lives. He has a well-equipped
poultry farm.
A number came from Scotland and
England. The Carter Family lived on Lot
2 R., Concession 7. There were four boys, John who later purchased Lot 9,
Concession 7; James and George who settled in Guelph Township and William who
ran a feed store in Guelph.
A Mr. Fyfe settled on Lot 10R.,
Concession 8 and later sold to John Hanlon.
It was later the home of H. B. Tolton and is now the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Stan. Adams. One of the finest
residences in the Township was built on this farm by John Hanlon about 1900.
The Stone Family came in 1833 and took
up Lot 1 F., Concession 8 and very early imported purebred cattle. Later F. W. Stone became one of Canada's
largest importers of purebred Hereford and Durham cattle, Suffolk Punch Horses
and Cotswold sheep. He later purchased
several other farms in Puslinch and provided a regular market in winter feed
among the neighbouring farmers. They at
one time also owned the land now the O.A.C. and also Rear Lot 2, which is the
home of J. M. Dooley and family. Mr.
Stone also purchased Lot 6 and 7 F., Concession 7 which was taken up by George
Patterson in the 30's. The Stones then
sold to James Howitt in 1890.
He leased
it to George McGill Sr., who lived there until 1927. The Howitts still own Lot 5 which was settled by the Marshal
family in the early settlement years. Lots 6 and 7 have been sold to Archie
Moody.
The McBride Family settled part of Lot
1, Concession 8 which was later purchased by Mr. Stone. This property is still
in the possession of the Stone Family.
Another Carter family came out from
England and settled on Lot 3, F., Concession 8, and were known as “Black
Carter” to distinguish them from the Scottish Carters. His daughter married Harry Barton who took
over the farm many years ago and his son Clyde is now in possession of the place.
A Mr. Thompson took up Lot 3 R.,
Concession 7 and later sold to a Mr. Wilcox about 1880 who sold to the Moodys
and it was later purchased by Michael Walsh where his daughter and her
husband, Mr. Whalen now reside.
The Hart Family came out among the
earliest settlers and took up Lot 4, Concession 7 which is still in possession
to the fifth generation. Lot 5 was also
taken up by Mr. Thompson, but was later taken by a Wellser family and bought by
Richard Yates. It is now the home of
Samuel Darnell.
The Steffler’s came with several other
families from Germany and settled on Lot 2 F., Concession 7. A direct descendant of the fifth generation
is still on the place. They later
purchased Lot 6 R., Concession 7, where they lived for many years. Irwin Steffler, Puslinch Deputy-Reeve, now
lives on the old homestead and has two sons ready to take over which will be
the fifth generation.
Lot 9 F., Concession 8 was taken up by
a Mr. McLaren who then sold to Mr. Stirton. David Stirton was the first Member
of Parliament for Wellington South. He
sold to a Mr. Coulson and later the property was purchased by Patrick Hanlon
whose family still resides there.
Lot 4 R., Concession 8 was the home of
the Herbert Family and for quite a number of years has been owned by Harvey
Watson and his family.
Lot 3 R., Concession 8, was once owned
by Michael Walsh but he was not the first owner. It has changed hands several
times since and is the home of Mr. Flemming at present.
Lot 2 was owned by Thos. Walsh and for
the last number of years has been the property of the Thomas family who still
reside there. On the survey of the old
Brock Road in order to escape a line of low swampy land they built on the
higher ground thus putting part of Concession 8 on the same side of the road as
Concession 7 for about one mile and a half.
Some of this land was sold in different lots.
Part of 5 was owned in the early years by a Vogt family and later the
Hohenadels lived there. The Norrises
bought it and for almost 50 years it has been the property of D. J. Hesketh who
built four new houses on the property.
On Lot 6 the stone school was built in
about 1856. A hotel close by was run by a Schwartzenburg. Lot 7 R., Concession 7 was taken up by
Conrad Schwartzenburg in the early years and has changed hands many times
since. It is now owned by Roy Stickney.
Jas. Lewis, also A. W. Moody, both
owned this property at one time. On
part of this property, cut off by the road, was a hotel known as Burns tavern
which was later owned by Michel McNulty who moved the building across the road
and it is now the fine residence of the McNulty family. In its place is George Pentlow’s Service
Station. Several new residences have
been built along this front and some forty houses have gone LAP in the last two
years.
Lot 3 F., Concession 7, was settled by
a Quaker family and later sold to Felix Hanlon. It was taken over by his son,
John, in the early '30"s and is still owned by Hanlons.
Lot 12 F., Concession 8 was owned years
ago by the Graham Family and has changed hands several times since. It is now sub-divided. Mr. Prior and Mr. Valeriote own this lot
now.
The Robinson Family's "Blue Castle
Gardens" is on Lot 12, Concession 7, fronting on the Highway. Lot 12, Concession 7, was taken in the early
years by a family of Kennedys who later sold to Chadwicks. The late Judge Chadwick of the High Court at
Guelph was one of this family and later on Dave Maltby lived there for a number
of years. At the present time A. W.
Moody owns this lot. It also has the front
in building lots.
The first school in this section was on
or about Lot 3 or 4 F., Concession 8, but we have very little of its
history. The second school was built on
Lot 6 R., Concession 7 of stone construction in the year 1856. The present brick school was built in
1886. Many teachers have come and gone
since the second school was built. Some
of the older ones were Killgalen, Prindergast, Brennen, McKenick and others
later on. Those mentioned were masters
of the rod. At the present time Frank
Lynch is the teacher and has been for 12 years. In that time he has never had a pupil fail in their entrance
examinations, a success which is hard to equal. This school is now being rebuilt inside and will be up to date. It did not join the School Area.
In earlier years the Brock Road was
dirt and gravel and a Toll Gate was operated just above Hamilton's corner where
you paid a few pennies as you drove through and that was spent to keep the road
in repair. Great changes have taken
place since those days.
In 1921, the present cement paved road was laid from Guelph to Claire’s
Corners and later farther down.
Houses are being
built all along
the Highway and at the present
time over 50 houses other than the farm homes are erected along this Highway.
Within the boundaries of S. S. No. 2 is a Mexican ranch house on Watson's
Heights which is the only one of its kind in this part of the country.
Slowly but surely the names of the
early settlers are disappearing and new ones are taking their place but they will
never contribute as much to this Section as those early pioneers who worked
hard, had little money and raised large families. They cleared land, built their homes and paid for them, a
wonderful accomplishment.
Chapter VI
DOWNEY-SCHOOL
SECTION No. 3
In the North-west corner of the
Township of Puslinch with only a fence separating it from Guelph Township, lies
the Downey School Section. The Town
Line, running East and West between Puslinch and Guelph Townships, stops at the
County Road. At one time this Town
line was marked out for some distance but several years ago the Township sold
it to the late John C. Crane; now, no trace of a road remains. Some of our
older residents remember a shanty here in which Miss Johanna Lynch lived for
several years.
It is apparent that this section was
settled from the North as well as the South. Many who made their way up from
Hamilton settled in the Southern portion, while a few, who came with John Galt
to Guelph, settled in the extreme North.
The names available of those who came with John Galt are the Fosters,
Hewitts, Hanlons and McQuillans, who settled in Guelph Township. On account of the year of their arrival,
they were known as "The '27 Boys".
Very few of the farms are in the
original name to-day, as nearly as we can ascertain, only three.
The McWilliams’ farm was purchased from
the Crown in 1832. Its original
buildings were erected to the South of the cottage. In 1837, the cottage was built by Mr. Chas. McWilliams, who
became the Township's first assessor.
Soon after this the present house was built but not on the site on which
it now stands. In 1880 Walter
McWilliams, son of Charles, took over the farm and in 1888 built the present
bank barn. Residing on this farm
to-day are Albert McWilliams, Ex-Warden of the County, and his family. His children are the fifth generation to
have lived here.
Another farm, which is still in the
original name, is that of Thomas Jackson.
It was purchased from the Crown in 1834 by his grandfather, William
Jackson. The original house is still
standing on the farm, in splendid condition. A
new part was added to it early in this century. The bank barn was built in
1909.
In 1827, Felix Hanlon arrived with John
Galt as one of his axe men, coming from County Monaghan, Ireland. On February 5, 1833 he purchased Lots 12,
13, 14, 15, and 16 on the Sixth Concession of Puslinch. Lots 12 and 13 were
sold in the early sixties to Mr. Ramsey for the purpose of establishing a saw
mill, which operated here for several years. This was later sold to Mr. F.
Stone. This left Lots 14, 15 and 16, comprising 169 acres, the present estate.
The barn was built in 1873, by a Mr.
McLean whose brother was killed while framing the timber for it. The present house was built in 1879, it
being the third on the place. The first
was a shanty and the second a log structure.
In 1882, Felix Hanlon died, the
property passing on to his son, Patrick, who died in 1920, the farm then became
the property of his only son, Harry.
Harry Jr. now operates the farm and his children are the fifth
generation to have lived here.
In 1948, Lots 12 and 13 were purchased
by Horace G. Mack and are now the Niska Game Farm. Where once the buzz of the saw mill was heard the graceful swans
float leisurely, while ducks and geese swim on an artificial pond, and close by
the lordly peacock struts about. This
spot is fast developing into a beauty spot. Here Nature forms a perfect setting
for bird life to flourish.
The Parker Family, who until recently
were residents of Puslinch, were descendents of two of the oldest pioneer
families. Benjamin Parker arrived here
from England in 1843. Travelling from Hamilton up the Brock Road, then only a
trail, he turned left at Claire's Corners.
The family spent the night at Mr. J. Lynch’s home, now Mr. S. Hume's
place. The next day they arrived at
their property which had been purchased from the Crown and found only a
squatter's shanty. This site is now the
home of Ross Argo. Mr. Thomas Parker,
son of Benjamin, married Margaret McWilliams, second daughter of Chas.
McWilliams. Thomas Parker purchased the
farm directly opposite, known as the Gerrie farm. This was the well-known
Parker Home, which is now in the possession of Mr. L. Nigro.
In the early thirties, Mr. Maddock
purchased Lot 16 on the rear of the Fourth Concession, from the Crown. This was sold in 1892, part being added to
the Barclay property and later the remaining part was added to the Crawley
farm. Thus, one of our earliest
homesteads has completely disappeared.
The farm on which the school stands has
changed hands many times. In 1905 it
was purchased by Mr. Edward Crawley, who rebuilt the barn, since the former one
had been burnt. He also moved the house
from the Maddock farm to this one. It is
now owned by Fredrick Crawley.
Lot 15, rear of the Fourth Concession
was purchased from the Crown in 1852 by Mr. Strahn. On the South-East corner he built a hotel which later became a
general store; no trace of this remains. It
was known as Strachan’s Corners. In
1892, James Barclay Sr., bought this farm as well as part of the Maddock
farm. In 1915, the property came into
the possession of James Barclay Jr., who recently retired, selling to his
son-in-law, Joseph Hewer.
About the year 1842, the farm of the
late M. P. Lynch was purchased by a negro, Ben Bowlen. This man was found frozen to death beside
his oxen and sleigh, while teaming his wheat to Preston.
In 1845, this land was purchased by
Michael Lynch. He erected the present
house about the year 1848, and the barn 1874.
At his death in 1902 it passed to his son, Michael P., who farmed here
until his death in 1948. Since then it
has been sold to his son-in-law, Humphrey Desmonds of Detroit. Mrs. Lynch still resides on the farm.
Between the Fourth and Fifth Concessions
is a given road, given by the land owners for the purpose of hauling their
wheat to Holm's grist mill.
In 1853, John Howitt purchased the
Mollison Farm from the Crown. It had
many tenants until 1902 when it was purchased by the late Frank C. Mollison. In 1917 Mr. Mollison added to this what was
known as the Neagle farm, where his son, Fred, now resides. In 1948 Fred Mollison purchased the Hewitt
farm which had been taken up by Richard Hewitt in the early thirties.
Lot 16, the front of the Fifth Concesssion
was bought from the Crown by Robert Porter and later sold to his cousin, Andrew
Porter, who held it until his death in 1913.
The following year it was purchased by the late Mr. Samuel Meek.
In the early 40's John Lennie purchased
a parcel of land from the Crown, this remained in possession of the Lennie
family until 1904 when it was sold to Mr. Neil Black now of Arkell. In the early twenties this property was sold
to Mr. Loty and a few years later passed to his son, William.
Patrick Doyle purchased Lot 3, rear of
the Fourth Concession, from the Crown in 1835.
Here his son, Michael Patrick, "M.P." was born. Lot 12 was purchased from the Crown in 1855
by John Kirkland. In 1873 M. P. Doyle
took over his father's farm. In 1879 he
bought Lot 12 from Mr. Kirkland. A
short time later he moved his family to this place, well known as the Doyle
Homestead. Two barns were erected in
1891, one on each hundred acres. On his
death in 1912 the property passed to his youngest son, Thomas, the present owner,
who retired in 1938.
Other sons of M. P. Doyle who farmed in
this community for a number of years were the late John and James, who now
resides in Detroit. His daughter, Mrs.
John Clair is the only descendant residing in the Township at the present time.
In 1854, David Stirton purchased Lot
11, rear of the Fourth Concession from John Crump, who was the first
settler. Mr. Stirton built the barn one
year and the house the next. He
represented this district in Parliament from 1875-76. At this time, he was appointed Post Master of Guelph, from which
position he retired in 1904. Mr. Geo.
Metcalf bought this farm in 1882. He
occupied it until 1929 when it was bought by Mr. M. Byrne, father of the
present owner, Frank Byrne.
James Anderson, known as the Laird of Puslinch, was an early resident of
this Township. He sold the property
about 1900 to Mr. E. S. Baker who now operates River Bend Camp on the premises.
In
the extreme South of the section, the names of our pioneers are only a
memory. In 1827 James Cantwell settled
Lots 12, 13 and 14 in the rear of the Third Concession. Lot 12 was later purchased by Spruhans. The last surviving member of this family
passed on a few years ago. The
Cantwell property remained in the name until 1920 when it was sold, one farm to
Fenton Jackson, the other to John Conroy.
The
Morans settled on Lots 15 and 16 in the rear of the Third Concession. Dick McEllistrum later bought Lot 15 from
Robert Moran. Mr. Wm. Moran sold Lot 16
to Oliver Bennett. In the early years
of settlement the Kinsella Family took up Lot 17 rear of the Third
Concession. This property is still in
the original name. Ted Kinsella was the
last member of the family to have lived on it.
He died about eight years ago and the farm is now rented.
The
Broeckel Homestead was purchased from Richard Tobin in 1873 by Fredrick
Broeckel, father of the present owner, Joseph Broeckel. The barn was burned in 1929 and replaced by
a fine steel structure.
Lot
12, front of Concession 7 was purchased from Peter Crawley by Joseph Lester in
1878, this passed to his son, Joseph in 1893 and in turn to his son, Clarence,
the present owner, in 1928. The barn on
this farm was burned in 1931 and replaced the same year by a steel barn.
The
Phelan Homestead, Lot 18, front of the Fourth Concession was purchased from the
Crown in the early thirties by James Phelan.
His son, Patrick, came into possession of it in 1893. In 1905 James Phelan took possession of it
and sold it in 1919. This property has
changed hands several times since. Mr.
James Phelan, now resides on Lots 19 and 20 in the rear of the Fourth
Concession. Lot 20 was purchased from
Mr. Beattie in 1865 by Mr. Patrick Phelan, father of James. Lot 19 was purchased from the Crown by Mr.
Sutton who sold it to Patrick Phelan in 1893.
The barn was built in 1887.
Lot
19, front of the Fourth Concession was purchased from the Crown by Joseph
Dooley. He sold it to Jeremiah Collins
about 1879. His son, Cornelius, lived
on this farm until his death a few years ago.
Mr. Nigro then bought it.
The
Hewitt farm, Lot 20 on the front of Concession 4 was taken up by Mr. Patrick
Welsh. In 1879 he sold it to John
Hewitt. This property remained in the
Hewitt name until 1945.
Lot
21 front of the Fourth Concession was purchased from the Crown by Peter
Crawley. Patrick McGarr bought it in
1875, his son, David, farmed here until his death in 1942. It still remains in the estate.
About 1835, Edward Crawley purchased Lot 13 front of Concession 7 from
the Crown. On his death it passed to his son, Edward, who farmed here until
retiring when his son, Charles, took possession. In 1947 Charles Crawley sold it to Walter Ashton.
Robert Buchanan purchased Lots 11, 12,
and 13 (190 acres) in the rear of the Fifth Concession in 1849. This property on the banks of the Speed
River was known as the Buchanan Homestead.
James was the last member of the family to have resided here. The farm has changed hands many
times. Cathcart Kay was killed with a
roller while residing here.
Thomas Saunders bought from Mr. Roland
Winfield, Lots 7, 8, and on the Fifth Concession in 1858. This property was purchased by Walter Sorby
in 1863. His sons, Douglas and Oswald were
well-known importers and breeders of Clydesdale and Hackney horses. They sold the farm in 1912 to Mr. Ballagh. In 1923 it became Vimy Ridge, a home for the
training of farm boys brought from the British Isles by the Government. It is now the Walker Home. Part of this property, bordering on the
Fifth Concession had been purchased from the Crown in 1831 by Mr. Winfield who
later sold to Mr. Howitt. A dated stone
marks this site. On this property was
planted the first seed of the Blueweed, brought into Canada by Mr. Roland
Winfield.
DOWNEY SCHOOL
The first school of this section was
built on the Seventh Concession on the Lynch farm now owned by Mr. S.
Hume. Not being centrally located it
was moved to the farm now owned by Mrs. Isabel Lynch, Lot 11 front of
Concession 4. In 1856 the school was
moved to where the Downey School now stands on Lot 16, Concession 4.
Mr. Patrick Downey was the first
teacher in this school, he taught here until 1880. Being highly educated he was
well qualified for the position and has had as many as 104 pupils on the
roll. He lived and raised his family in
a house which was built in the school grounds.
Miss Ellen Neagle succeeded him.
In 1880, a separate school was built on
the South-East corner of the Lennie Farm, now owned by Mr. W. Loty. The late Miss Sarah Blyth taught in this
school. For many years she was on the
staff of the Guelph Collegiate. Another
teacher was Miss Emma Parker, daughter of Thomas Parker, who later became Mrs.
Fox of Toronto and now resides in Guelph.
No trace of this school site now remains.
In 1901, the late Mr. Craig, School
Inspector for South Wellington, condemned the buildings of both schools and the
two parts of S. S. No. 3 re-united to build a new school. In 1907 the new school was completed. Miss Margaret Pigott was the first teacher
in the new school, also the last in the old school, having taught there a few
days waiting for the opening of the new structure.
Nearly a century and a quarter has
passed since our forefathers set foot in this Township and took up their
arduous tasks. Time's ceaseless course
tries all things but has no power to efface the work and memory of those
valiant pioneers who gave their all to transform the wilderness of Puslinch
into fields of golden grain and build for us the homes we today take for
granted.
Let us not forget that the pioneer
woman played no small part in the building of this nation. Numerous were the duties she was called upon
to perform and the sacrifices she was asked to make. It mattered not how little or how much she had, but the fact that
she shared it with others was what counted.
It was the pioneer woman who ministered to the wants of the sick, lulled
the newborn babe and closed the eyes of the dead. She oftimes crossed the frozen swamps of winter to lend a willing
hand or comfort the sorrowing. She was the
home-builder. Around her cling the
memories which can never be forgotten.
She has proven that all our fine schools and colleges alone cannot build
character; it takes a woman's hand.
Are we worthy of our heritage?
Chapter VII
A little over 120 years ago, when the
early pioneers began to settle this part of the Township of Puslinch, now known
as School Section No. 4, it was covered by a dense forest with splendid stands
of maple, beech and pine on the uplands, while along the creeks and in the
valleys some of the finest cedar in Ontario still awaited the axe of the
woodsman. At this time there were no
roads and those few who travelled through the forest were guided by blazed
trails. The forest abounded with wild
life including wild cats, lynxes, beavers, bears and numerous other kinds of
animals common to this part of Ontario.
This was the picture which greeted
those hardy, stout-hearted, sturdy emigrants who, about 1830, began to settle
in this district around what was later known as the Village of Aberfoyle.
Settlers from Scotland predominated but
they also came from England and Ireland and with the odd sprinkle of other
European blood. Most of these settlers
came by way of Hamilton, Dundas, and by way of Galt and thence to Guelph, for
at this time there was no direct road from Guelph to Hamilton.
In 1828, David Gibson was instructed to
survey what is known as the Old Survey of Puslinch. This survey embodied the
7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th Concession and the Gore along Nassagaweya Township
Line. Mr. Shade secured the contract to
cut the timber and clear the line between Concessions 7 and 8 which was
shortly after known as the Dundas Road. Settlers began to arrive and take up
the land. Peter McBeath in 1830 took up
Lot 23 in the 7th Concession. He is
said to have helped in the clearing of what is known as the West Survey and was
later killed by a falling tree. Malcolm
McBeath, Peter's son, added Lot 24 to his farm. James Kidd took up Lot 14, Concession 7 in the same year, the
farm now occupied by John Blair and Kidd McFarlane took up Lot 14, Concession
8, now owned by Wm. Blair. At about the same time James and Thomas Edmunson settled on Lot 20,
Concession 8.
Morgan Cassin settled on Lot 17,
Concession 7, purchasing the squatter's rights from Archibald Duthie in 1832
and his son Martin Cassin and a number of others attended the first School
established in School Section No. 4.
This was a log building said to have
been built for a Church, located on Lot 17, Concession 8. Here night classes were conducted by a
teacher named Hugh Barnet in the late 30's of the last century. Martin Cassin was a well-known and respected
citizen of the Township and for a time a member of the Township Council.
A little later a new
school was established on Lot 18,
Concession 8. It was a frame building
which is still standing and is now occupied by Mrs. James Wingrove. About 1872, the stone school house located
on Lot 19, Concession 7 was built.
John Hammersley, a native of England, settled
first on Lot 19, Concession 7, but very soon moved to Lot 17, Concession
8. He became prominent in the early
municipal affairs of the Township. He
was appointed Clerk and Treasurer at a meeting held in 1836, said to be the
first meeting called to establish a government in the Township of
Puslinch. A James Henry who lived near
Hespeler was chairman of this meeting and he sat on a beech stump as he
presided, and Richard Ellis who had settled on Lot 19, Concession 8, became the
first collector. John Hammersley Jr.,
is said to be the first male child born in Puslinch.
John Black took up Lot 21, in the rear
of the 7th Concession in the year 1843 and Lot 20, in the rear of the 7th
Concession was acquired from the Crown Lands Office in Elora, Ontario on April
7th, 1852. A very interesting feature in regard to this settlement is that
from the day it was settled on by John Black it has remained in the ownership
of some member of the family until the present day. The letter which accompanied the location ticket issued from the
office and signed by Andrew Geddes is still in the present owner's hands. The property was handed down from John Black
to John McCready Black and thence to Janette Black who became the wife of John
A. Ord and thence to Alex Ord who is the present Clerk and Treasurer of the
Township of Puslinch. It is true that
this farm had been leased from 1885 to 1887 to Charles Richardson and from 1887
to 1905 to John Tawse, a family that is very well-known in this section of the
Township.
John Cockburn, a native of Scotland,
arrived in Canada in the year 1834 and settled on Lots 17 and 18 in the rear of
the 8th Concession of the Township of Puslinch. Later he purchased Lot 19 in the rear of the 8th Concession which
gave him a holding of 300 acres. He was
quite prominent in the early municipal life of the Township of Puslinch and became
Reeve in Waterloo County Council with which Wellington was then associated in
the year 1848-1849 and again in 1850-1851.
In 1852-1853 he was elected Reeve of the United Counties of Wellington,
Waterloo and Grey and also Reeve in the first Council of the County of
Wellington. This farm with the
exception of a short period has remained in the ownership of the Cockburn
family to this day.
One of the early settlers around the
village of Aberfoyle was George Shatz.
He seems to have been an enterprising man as he is said to have
established a sawmill along the old Brock Road just south of Lot 22 in the year
1848 and a little later, to have erected a frame building just south of the Old
Mill Dam first with the intention of developing a foundry but it was very soon
turned into a tannery where an important business was carried on for a number
of years until it was burned down.
In 1829, Patrick Mahon, a native of Ireland, arrived in Canada. After spending some time in Quebec he
proceeded to what was then known as Upper Canada and by way of Dundas and Galt
he came to Guelph. He was considering
settling on land in the vicinity of the O.A.C., but on hearing of the possibility
of developing water power at Aberfoyle, and having been in the milling business
in Ireland, in 1830 took up Lot 21 and 22 in the front of the 8th Concession
and sometime afterwards built the first dam which is known as the Old Mill Dam. After the death of Patrick Mahon, Peter
Mahon, his son, took over the farm. He was quite active in the public affairs
of the Township and County and died on the farm in 1895.
Perhaps one of the most outstanding
land marks in this section is the building known as the Aberfoyle Mills. This is a rather imposing 2.5 story brick
building built by George McLean. I have
not been able to establish the exact date but I believe it was in the early
60's of the last century. McLean
acquired the front section of Lot 22, completed the water power system and
operated the mill for 14 years. They
ground flour, that is whole wheat flour, in the old stone grinder and I am told
he also manufactured oatmeal for a time. William Morison acquired the property
and for a time R. B. Morison, his son, looked after the operation of the
Mill. It was operated for a short
period by the Houston Brothers
and Nicols, who ran it day and night. It was later sold to Thomas Day who a number
of years later formed a partnership with Herbert Hammersley. Mr. Hammersley took over the mill and
operated it himself for a number of years.
A rather exciting incident occurred at the mill during the partnership
between Day and Hammersley when the boiler blew up and damaged the boiler house
considerably. Luckily there was no one
in the boiler room when the accident occurred.
A threshing was in operation at the Peter Black farm about 150 yards away and
the writer and all those connected with the threshing were at the scene of the
explosion in a very short time.
George Shatz, to whom I have previously
referred, settled on Lot 22, Concession 7, and on this land, on each side of
the Western Survey of the Brock Road, the Village of Aberfoyle was built on
lots sold by Mr. Shatz. Among these
purchased at that time in the early 60's of the last century was the Tavern lot
which is located in the Village on the East side of the Brock Road a short
distance below the blacksmith's shop now operated by James Leachman. On this lot a hotel or rather a Tavern as
they were known in those days was built and operated by a man named
McLaren. Later it was acquired by Frank
Hamilton who also carried on for a time until it was burned to the ground and
never re-built.
This district was well supplied with
hotels. Another hotel was located in
the western part of the Village on the West side of the Brock Road on Lot 21,
Concession 7. This hotel was operated
by a man named Sinclair for a number of years.
It was then acquired by a Mr. Lehman who also operated it for quite a
number of years.
Still another hotel
was operated less than a mile above the Village on the West side of the
Brock Road on Lot 18, Concession 7.
This building was located near the line between Lot 18 and Lot 17 in the
7th Concession and was operated as a tavern by John Flynn who, they said, came
into the district from Dundas with his family and belongings in a long sleigh
in August in the early 30's. Later
another tavern was erected on Lot 18 about 150 yards south of the first site
and it was operated for a number of years by Mr. McMicken. This building still stands and is used as a
dwelling by Thomas Warren. A number of
other taverns were on the highway between Aberfoyle and Guelph and no doubt
received considerable patronage as the land was being cleared. We must bear in mind that in those days wood
was the only fuel, for not only the settlers on the land but also the people in
the towns and villages. Accordingly, we
are told that during the winter season it was common to see strings of teams
with their sleighs loaded with wood, a mile long, and on those cold winter days
it was necessary very often for the teamster to patronize the taverns for
warmth and refreshments.
As the land became cleared and also as
other fuel such as coal began to be used the necessity of this heavy traffic on
the highways diminished and the taverns gradually disappeared.
Wm. Johnston settled on Lot 18,
Concession 8 about the year 1832 or 1833.
Mr. Johnston was well educated being a graduate of Oxford
University. He was educated for the
ministry in the Old Country but came out to Canada and decided to follow the
pursuit of farming. He took an active
part in the early municipal affairs of the Township.
Wm. Scott came to the Township in the
early 30's and settled on Lot 15, Concession 7. He cleared the farm and lived there until his death. His son, James Scott, took over the farm and
also carried on farming. For many years
he was very prominent in municipal affairs.
He was a member of Puslinch Township Council and Reeve for many years.
Mr. Scott was holding the position of County Commissioner of Puslinch at the
time of his death. The farm then passed
to his nephew, James Earon, who farmed for a number of years.
As I mentioned in the opening paragraph
of this sketch, in those early days the woods were well inhabited by wild life
and the story is told that Richard Ellis to whom we have previously referred,
as he drew near his home one week-end, heard his dog making a tremendous fuss.
On investigation, as he neared the scene he found his dog was being attacked by
a bear. Mr. Ellis immediately came to his dog's rescue and the bear attacked
him, his dog, however, carried on the battle and the bear turned from Mr. Ellis
to grapple with the dog, but not until he had so injured the arm of Mr. Ellis
that they were forced to amputate it.
William
Black, who was a native of Dumfries, Scotland, came to this district and
settled on Lot 23 in the front of the 8th Concession in the year 1849. This farm presents a very unique feature among
all of the settlements of this section of Puslinch in that it has remained
continuously and has been operated continuously by the direct descendants of
the original settler. Wm. Black was
succeeded by his son, William Black; again he was succeeded by Peter Black and
the farm is now being operated by William Black, a son of Peter, so that the
original settler was the great-grandfather of William Black who is now
operating the farm. I have also been informed that Wm. Black, son of the
pioneer, was a brother of John Black to whom I have previously referred, who
settled on Lot 21, Concession 7, so that the Black family has established a
record which will be difficult to match.
Up to the year 1876, there had been no
church erected in this School Section where religious services were regularly
held, but in this year a number of the adherents of the Methodist Episcopal
Church in Canada gathered together, organized, and decided to build a
church. It was erected in 1877. This was a white brick building. Mr. Hugh Reid was the contractor who agreed
to erect the church in 10 weeks at a cost of $35.00 and it was built on a lot
purchased from Joseph Smith at a cost of $15.
The first regular minister was the Rev. Ephriam Clement who took charge
of the work from the time of its organization.
A number of years ago the old church was taken down and a new one
erected close by the original site.
The village blacksmith who was a very
important link in the development of the early economy of rural districts, for
matters of repair of every kind and for certain classes of light manufacturing
was also very common in these early days.
In the lower part of Aberfoyle on the East side of the Brock Road was the
earliest blacksmith's shop known to the writer. The first blacksmith in this shop, of which I have any definite
information, was Mr. McGibbon, followed
by his son, Duncan McGibbon and later it was run by Edward Taylor, James
Gilmour and now by James Leachman.
This is now the only blacksmith shop
left in Aberfoyle. At one time, back in
the late 60's and early 70's, a blacksmith's shop located on the West side of
the Brock Road just South-East of where the old wagon shop was formerly located
was run by Robert Earon, but for many years there were at least two other
shops, one just East of the hotel, operated by Joseph Roach and the other by
John Bickley located in the upper end of Aberfoyle on Lot 20 on the West side
of the Highway, now owned by Fred Hamilton.
Another very interesting industry did a
flourishing business in Aberfoyle for quite a number of years, that is the
wagon and carriage shop located on the west side of the Brock Road now known as
No. 7 Highway, just across from the Blacksmith's shop now owned by James
Leachman. The writer has not been able
to ascertain the date when this industry commenced but in 1873 it was taken
over by W. G. Stephenson who, I understand, manufactured several kinds of farm
supplies such as wagons, buggies, sleighs and many other kinds of smaller farm
equipment.
Mr. Stephenson, later in 1881, moved to
Guelph and established a business on Perth Street. The shop in Aberfoyle was sold to John Nicklin who carried on a
very useful business for very many years. Mr. Nicklin was deaf and dumb, but this
did not appear to handicap him any in conducting his business.
On this wood working shop a belfry was
built and the community in and around Aberfoyle had a bell placed in this
belfry which was rung by the owners of the shop at 7 in the morning, 12 at noon
and 6 at night for practically all the years until shortly before the building
was sold and taken down.
Another industry in Aberfoyle which was
in operation perhaps 60 to 75 years ago was a sawmill owned and operated by
Allen McIntyre. This sawmill was
located on the West side of the Brock Road on Lot 20, the property now owned by
William Quirk.
The first store and Post Office in this
School Section was opened by John McFarlane at Aberfoyle who, it is claimed,
also named the village after a place in Scotland with which he was very familiar
before emigrating. But in 1851, Samuel
Falconbridge who with his father had kept a Post Office and General Store at
Niagara Falls for years, settled in Aberfoyle and leased a General Store from
Kenneth McKenzie along the Old Brock Road, which he operated for some
years. When the western survey of the
Brock Road went through he moved this store to the West side of the new Brock
Road, where also he erected a brick dwelling to the rear of the store a number
of years later. He succeeded John Hammersley
as Treasurer of the Township which he held for many years. The store was carried on by Mr. Falconbridge
and his sons, Blair and Pelham, for a great number of years and afterwards by
Blair Falconbridge's son, Arkell Falconbridge. They handled in this store a
wide variety of supplies necessary for rural districts and we are told that in
the early days this store, in common with other country stores of its kind
operating at that time sold whiskey at 25c per gallon.
In the southern end of the village of
Aberfoyle, James McLean established a grocery store at a very early date. Mr. McLean was also prominent in the
municipal life of this section and of the Township. He was Clerk of the Township of Puslinch for 35 years,
practically until the time of his death in 1906. This School Section No. 4 being near the centre of the Township
of Puslinch has been the scene of the Township, Municipal and other important
meetings. Here the Town Hall and the Council Chambers are located and also the
fair grounds for the Agricultural Society, where fall fairs have been held for
over a century.
Among
a number of letters gathered by Matthew McPhatter many years ago, was one
written by Martin Cassin which throws an interesting light on some conditions
in those early pioneer days in this Township.
In this letter Mr. Cassin refers to his early school days in the school
across the road on Lot 17, Concession 8, and stated that the Hammersleys, the
Ellises, the Kennedys, the Allens, the Hanlons, David Stirton and the Lynches
were among his school mates in those days.
He also stated that his father and family came in from Hamilton in a
long-sleigh drawn by a yoke of oxen.
Martin Cassin was 7 years old when he arrived in Puslinch and he states
that he could remember when the Indians would camp in the district and that he
had seen as many as 65 deer lying dead in their camps on their return from a
hunting tour. The Indians would trade a carcass of deer, after the hide was
taken off, for a loaf of bread. He stated
that some of their tents as he recalled them were very large. The squaws and young Indians would keep a
supply of dry wood on hand gathered from the bush for their camp and when night
came the Indians would sit around the fire and smoke tobacco and sumac. They would cut and dry the sumac and smoke
it when the tobacco was scarce. He
played with the young Indian boys around their tents and in the forest and
often saw the papoose in the fall strapped or tied to a board on their backs, fastened
with thongs made of dogwood or slippery elm bark placed around their feet and
arms and hung on a limb with a southern exposure for hours at a time. Mr. Cassin referred to this period as he
played in the wilderness of forest then abounding with wild life, as the
happiest days of his life.
Adam Weir settled on Lot 13, Concession
7 in the early 30's. John his son, took
over the farm at his father's death, while John's brother, Andrew, became a
school teacher and taught school for a number of years in the frame school
house where he won the reputation of being a firm disciplinarian. At the death of John the farm passed to his
daughter, Elizabeth Weir who married David Maltby and is now owned and operated
by Thomas Maltby, the son of David, so that we have here another instance of
unbroken ownership.
The mysterious Welshman so often
referred to in the early days, lived on this lot, it is presumed as a squatter.
He was living here before the earliest settlers and was looked upon as a rather
sinister character. The legend was long
retained that after he died his ghost would appear so that some settlers would
gallop their horses when passing this place on the Brock Road at night.
John McGill settled on the one half Lot
5 in the rear of the 8th Concession between the years 1830-32. Here his son, George, was born who was the
father of George McGill, now living on Lot 11 in the 8th Concession. The other one half of this lot was about the
same time settled on by Philip Crimless whose nephew Philip Crimless, at a
later date, came out from Ireland and farmed all his life in the district
around Aberfoyle, living for the greater part of the time on Lot 15, Concession
8 and bought other farms near his home.
Cornelius Quirk bought from the Crown
Lot 15 in the front of the 7th Concession in the year 1880 and his sons Joseph
and Martin are the present owners of the farm.
Neil McLean settled on Lot 20 front of the 7th Concession
in 1852, a farm now owned by John Colburn.
Andrew Hagerty acquired from the Crown
in the year 1866 the rear part of Lot 22 Concession 8, now owned by Mrs.
Broadhead.
William Graham settled on Lot 13,
Concession 8 in the year 1839. This lot has changed hands but has recently been
owned by Ella and George Hall.
John Foster, who married Jane Mahon and
lived in Aberfoyle, carried on a butchering business in this village for many
years.
John Worthington bought and settled on
Lot 18 in the rear of the 7th Concession.
Robert Cassin, a brother of Martin
Cassin, bought and settled on Lot 16 in the rear of the 7th Concession.
Thomas and David Maltby operated farms
in the 7th Concession fronting on the Brock Road.
There were a large number of other
settlers who came to this section at an early date, not pioneers, but early
settlers. The Ord family settled on Lot
24, Concession 8, George Leslie settled on Lot 25 Concession 7, and the Ingrams
settled on Lot 15, Concession 7 where Thomas Warren now lives. Thomas Ingram, one of this family was a very
able auctioneer and was widely known throughout the whole county.
Time and space will not permit me to go
more fully into the process of settlement of this section. While writing this
historical sketch and examining the rather limited available records, the
magnitude of the task which confronted those early pioneers of Puslinch has
been more clearly revealed. From the
cultured land of their origin they entered the “New World”, a densely wooded
land and without previous experience they were confronted with the necessity of
obtaining from the soil their sustenance. At
the same time they had to build houses, roads and carry on the continuous
effort of clearing their farms.
The epic struggle of the pioneers would
never have emerged with such splendid success, especially with the meager
equipment of tools and implements then available, were it not for the
neighbourship and co-operation generally practiced in those days. They provided their own amusement and
entertainment, so the years rolled on and as the poet, Thomas Grey, would say:
|
“Oft did the
Harvest to the sickle yield |
|
The furrows of the
stubborn glebe have broke |
|
How jocund did
they drive their team afield |
|
How joiced the
woods beneath their sturdy stroke.” |
In the foregoing sketch of the early
days of this section of the township I have endeavoured to limit, as closely as
possible, my descriptions to the early pioneer days.
There were other early settlers and
others, who as the years rolled by, made important contributions to the
community and public life of our township.
Of them, I might say that posterity will no doubt, at a later date, do
full justice.
Chapter VIII
SCHOOL SECTION No. 5
0h
the dreams that come to the young and ambitious! Oh the prospects a distant country seems to have on the
red-blooded sons! Such was the outlook
to a great many young people living in the Old Country. The answer to this always was America. About 1831, a great many people made the tedious crossing and
landed eventually in Dundas. Following the old Brock Road, they turned West at
Aberfoyle and followed what is now the Third Concession.
Hopes
and fears must have beat in the hearts of those early settlers making homes for
their families in this rough country of ours.
Some of them were: Chas. Borthwick, Peter Patterson, Alexander Smith,
Donald McCaig, James McCaig, Alexander McKay. Strange as it may seem, these
farms are still in the original name.
Other
settlers coming shortly after and settling on front of the second concession
were: Thos. Ellis, now Milne Jamieson; Neil Wilkinson, J. Lambke; Don McMillan
and Wm. Blue, Mrs. Jack Paddock and George Paddock; Alex Frazer, Howard Heller;
James McCaig, Donald Smith; John Wilkinson, Alex Watt; Mrs. Black, Mrs. McLean;
E. Ramsey, Julian Lake, Wm. Stewart, Richard McMillan; Alex McKenzie, Charles
Martin; John McFarlane, Wallace Burrows; Hugh and Alex McNaughton, John and
Geo. Neabauer.
Those
settling on the rear second were: John Smith, Ralph Elston, Alex. Smith, Bruce
Smith; W. Smith and K. McKenzie, Gordon Crow, W. Farkes, Leslie Jackson, Alex.
Wilkinson, Norman Roszell, Hector McCaig, Gladwin Crow, Archie Gilchrist, John
Allardyce, John Gilchrist, Lewis Gregor, George Stirling, Leslie Garness, John
Kinsella, Fred Mullen, and Joe Simpkins.
Those
on the front of the third concession were: Sam Appleby, Wilson Aikens, John
Kinsella, Martin Bolger, Alex McCormick, Arthur Pinder, John McCormick, George
Paddock, Alex. McCaig, James McCaig, Alex. McKay now Thos. Aikens and Calvin
McKay, E. Lynch, Gordon Crow; Donald Cameron, Carl Ross, Thos. McLennan, George
Smith; Peter Patterson, Jack Patterson.
Those
on the rear of the third concession were: Charles Borthwick, Donald and Alex
McLennan, William Smith; Peter Stewart, C. Rueitz.
There
was a Sunday School started in the schoolhouse in 1857, open only for the
summer months. It is interesting to note
that the first and fourth superintendents afterwards became ministers. Rev. John Morrison,
Rev. F. A. Farris and Rev. James Little.
Others were Mr. Arthur Oliver, Mr. Alex.
Warren, Mr. Hugh McNaughton, Mr. Alex McCaig Sr., and Mr. Peter Stewart carried
it on for about 20 years. Mr. John McFarlane
conducted it through the year 1911.
Some of the faithful and beloved teachers were: Miss Mary Stewart, Miss
Katie McCaig, Miss J. Patterson, Miss L. Ross, Mrs. Hugh Ross, Mr. Alex McCaig,
Miss Mary McKay and Mr. Barker.
The people of this section went to
Hespeler or Aberfoyle for their mail.
For a number of years they had a Post Office called Aikensville and the
mail was brought out from Hespeler to there.
It was looked after by Donald McCaig, son of Alex McCaig and then it was
closed when the mail routes started. A
tavern was built on the George Stirling farm and was open for some time. It was operated by John Kinsella.
The original school for S. S. No. 5 was
built of logs and was just a few rods west of the present building. It was a small rude school, built by the
early settlers of this district over one hundred years ago.
About the year 1865, the present school
was built quite near the original log building. It was built of stones hauled
from the neighbouring farms by Mrs. S. Wilkinson. The farmers in the community at that time helped to build the
school and the property for the school ground was owned by Mr. Alex McKay and
sold to the section. Since the building
of the school, a new porch, hardwood floors, desks and new cupboards have been
added.
Johnnie Aikens, going to school at the
present time, is the fourth generation of Aikens to attend the present school.
The teachers who have taught school
here since the year 1884 are Miss Margaret Kerr, Miss E. Beattie, John Walters,
M. G. Cooper, Miss Carrie Lowes, George A. Petrie, Fred Dredge, J. George Cook,
Mr. Griffin, Miss McQueen, Miss E. Douglas, Miss Williams, Charles Sellens,
Miss A. Blake, A. Gallant, M. L. McKenzie, Miss Annie McIntosh, Miss Isabelle
Stewart, Miss Myrtle Royce, Miss Jennie Dunbar, Miss Maud Dawson, R. Lephard,
Miss Ruth Little, Miss Wilma Paddock, E. Comfort, Miss E. Holm, Mrs. Dorothy
Roszell, Miss R. Gerbasi and our present teacher, Miss Glennys Bell.
In 1947, this School joined with 8
other schools in School Area and section trustees were done away with.
These are some who have been trustees
since 1885: Mr. John Smith, Wm. McKay, H. McCaig, Hugh Ross, Angus McPherson,
Alex Smith, Martin Bolger Sr., Alex. McCaig, Donald McCaig, James Mason, Henry
Steffler, Jas. Patterson, Alex Kean, John Borthwick, Wm. Bolger, R. Elston, Wm.
Crow, C. Cunnington, Jas. McCaig, Percy Evans, Bruce Smith, T. Aikens, N.
Roszell, C. Ross.
Life was not always work for these
people. Many homes were opened and men,
women, and children gathered for the evening and danced square dances, waltzes
and schottisches lightly to the music of the violin of Anthony Robertson,
accompanied by his daughter, Mary, now Mrs. W. Galbraith, on the harp, and also
assisted by violinists Hector McCaig, Gordon McPherson, Gordon McKay, Russell
McCaig, John W. Gilchrist and called off by Donald McCaig and John J.
Gilchrist.
Chapter IX
SCHOOL
SECTION No. 6
The earliest settlers in the S. S. No.
6 area of Puslinch were with few exceptions, natives of Kintyre, Argylshire,
Perthshire and Invernesshire, Scotland.
Gaelic was the language they spoke, but many had received instruction in
the Parish Schools in Scotland and could read and write English. Gaelic continued to be used at Church
services until 1854 and on special occasions until 1908.
Donald McKenzie (The Shepherd) is
believed to have been the first settler in the First Concession, locating on
the rear of Lot 25 in 1828 or 1829. His
wife's name was Cameron. When John Thompson and Neil McPhatter built their
first shanty on Lot 15 in 1832, the McKenzies were their nearest neighbours to
the East and had been there some time.
Settlement was amazingly rapid and the First Concession is believed to
have been sold and settled by 1835.
The following names will indicate many
of the early settlers but names of successive owners are appended:
Lot 16- Front of Concession 1, Alex.
McNaughton; Thomas Paddock, his sons George Paddock, Fred Paddock; Rear of
Concession 1, Alex. McNaughton; Thomas Paddock, his son Richard Paddock, his
son Fred Paddock.
Lot 17-Front of Concession 1, Alexander
McShannock; Richard Bond, his son Wm. Bond; Rear of Concession 1, Donald
McShannock; John Martin Sr.; John Martin Jr.
Lot 18-Front of Concession l, Malcolm
Smith James McPhatter; Richard Bond; Rear of Concession 1, Hector Smith; James
Hogg, his son John Hogg.
Lot 19-Front of Concession 1, Malcolm
McPhatter; the Ricker Family; Donald McCormick; John Sawyer; John Huffman; Rear
of Concession 1, James Hogg, his son John Hogg, his son James Hogg; Wm. Kohl;
Julian Lake.
Lot 20-Front of Concession 1, Neil
Thompson; Thos. Fordyce; Malcolm McCormick; Dougald McPhee; Rear of Concession
1, John Harrocks; John Hogg; J. Crowder, Jas. Porteaus.
Lot 21-Front of Concession 1, Archie
Thompson; The McCrones; Neil Marshall; John McAninch; Duncan McLean; Rear of
Concession 1, Archibald McCallum; John Hogg; Weir.
Lot 22-Front of Concession 1, Peter
Diamond; Charles Mickle; James E. McPherson, his son Angus D. McPherson; Jacob
Crowder; Rear of Concession 1 Archibald McCormick; Alexander McCallum; Donald
Stewart, his son, William Stewart; John McCaig.
Lot 23-Front of Concession 1, John
Thompson, his son Sandy Thompson; Wilfred Crowder; Col. J. B. McLean; Rear of Concession
1, Wm. Stewart, his son, Angus Stewart; Fred Roszell, his son, Wilfred Roszell.
Lot 24-Front of Concession 1, John McDiarmid
Sr., his son John McDiarmid Jr.; John Berta; Rear of Concession 1, Wm.
Griffillan; John Pinkney; Charles Martin.
Lot 25-Front of Concession, Allan
Stewart; John and Hugh Stewart; James Riddick; James McKay; Col. J. B. McLean;
Rear of Concession l, Donald McKenzie (Shepherd), his son, John McKenzie; Isaac
Roszell, his son Fred Roszell; Robt. Kennedy.
Lot 26-Front of Concession l, Alexander
Fraser, his son-in-law Alexander McIntosh; Charles Irwin; Duncan McAllister;
Rear of Concession 1, Donald Munroe; John Bohn, his son Wm. Bohn.
Lot 27-Front of Concession l, Roderick
Beaton; Duncan Bann McPherson; Kenneth Cameron; Charles Kubbie; Charles Larter;
Charles Mast; Rear of Concession 1, P. McNaughton; Alex. McNaughton; Henry
Munch; Wm. Glover; Michael Neighbour, his sons, John and George Neighbour.
Lot 28-Front of Concession 1, Robert
and Hugh and Archibald Melvin; James Galloway; Frederick Gregor, his son,
Charles Gregor; Rear of Concession 1, Andrew Stewart; Peter Patterson; Richard
McMillan.
Lot 29-Sandy Fraser; Ira Heath; John
Heath; Angus McDonald, (Fiddler); Wm. Stratton; Walter Cowan.
LOT 16
Three Paddock families still live on this side road. At one time twenty-one Paddock men did
Statute Labor.
The McNaughtons, the McShannocks and the Smiths have disappeared. A tombstone in Killean cemetery recording
the death of Donald McShannock and his wife in 1854 is the only record left.
LOT 17
Richard Bond came from Beverley. He erected the present buildings and his son William died in
1941.
John Martin Sr. married Janet Blue. They settled on Lot 16, con. 2, but later
bought from Donald McShannock. John Martin Jr. and his wife, Grace, continued
on this lot. Two of their family,
Charles and Mrs. D. McAllister live in this section.
There were three sisters and two brothers in the Blue
family. Willie Blue was the first
carpenter in the district. They were step-children of Neil McPhatter Sr.
LOT 18
James and Malcolm, sons of Neil McPhatter, located on
adjoining lots. Malcolm was the first
blacksmith in the section, and erected the first shop on Lot 19. He married twice and it is recalled that the
charivari (shivaree) on the occasion of his second marriage was heard in
Aberfoyle. In 1880, John McCormick
erected a blacksmith shop on this same lot.
He died in 1919.
LOT 19
The Hogg family owned 600 acres of land at one time and
Alex McCallum, 300. Hogg's swamp is a
name that survives although the family moved west forty years ago. The Rickers
went to Muskoka. Donald McCormick
erected the present buildings; his wife was Kate McGeachy.
LOT 20
Neil Thompson and Archie Thompson owned 200 acres. Thos. Fordyce erected a log house and here
plied his trade. The 'Weaver' and later
the 'Sailor' (Malcolm McCormick) built a frame house. He died in 1887. His
widow, Nellie, and her brother, Willie Carruthers, continued here until her
death in 1908. The house was burnt in 1931. Dougald McPhee and his wife, Flora
McLelland, natives of Uist, built a log house and barn on Lot 20. John McAninch and his wife, Jennie daughter
of Matthew McPhatter, later owned Lot 20, selling in 1915 to Duncan McLean.
LOT 21
Archibald McCallam married a sister of William McCormick,
1st Concession; one of their daughters married Archie McCormick on the adjoining
farm. She was killed by lightning while
taking shelter under a tree. Alex
McCallam, son of Archie, married Margaret, daughter of William Stewart, and
moved to Michigan.
LOT 22
A saw mill owned by Charles Mickle was operated on Peter
Diamond's farm in the 1850's and 60's.
A pine tree sold for $1.00 at the saw mill. These early mills used steam with an upright saw and turned out
accurately sawn lumber for the larger houses and barns now replacing early log
habitations of the settlers. James E.
McPherson, who married Ann, daughter of the "Miller" McDonald, lived
on this farm afterwards.
LOT 23
Most log houses were constructed of small sized logs,
often of black ash or cedar but Big John Thompson’s was built of huge pine logs
hewed on two sides. It is still in use and in good repair, now owned by Col. J.
B. MacLean.
William Stewart was born at the foot of Ben Nevis. He came to Puslinch in 1835, married
Catherine, daughter of Donald "Dhu" McPherson. He was one of those chosen to walk to
Toronto to arrange for the purchase of land which is now “Crown Cemetery”.
LOT 24
John McDiarmid Sr. was married to a sister of Allan and
Hugh Stewart. These families came to
Crieff at the same time, locating on adjoining lots. Several years later, Alexander the father came also but died soon
afterwards.
LOTS 25-26
Crieff was first called Fraserville after Alexander
Fraser. His granddaughter, Catherine
McIntosh, still lives in Crieff on this lot.
LOT 27
Roderic Beaton was called “Roary Mount”.
Duncan "Bann" McPherson lived at the foot of the
“mount”. He had one son, Big Jim and three daughters. Donald "Dhu" McPherson lived across the road, and three
of his sons married Duncan Bann's daughters.
Lot 27 was divided, each of the brothers owning a third in addition to
their own lots. Kenneth Cameron
purchased the west one, building the present house and barn.
LOT 28
Alex McNaughton first lived on this lot but when it was
divided we do not know. Later Michael
Neighbour lived on the west side and Henry Munch on the east section. Mr. Neighbour bought the east half. William Glover and his wife Ellen Hogg lived
on the west corner of this lot. Robert
Melvin settled on front of 28. His son
became mayor of Guelph. James Galloway was next, then Frederick Gregor and
family.
LOT 29
Sandy Fraser first settled here, then Ira Heath, later
Walter Cowan bought the east half with Angus McDonald, "The Fiddler",
on the west half of the lot.
THE GORE
In the Gore, extensive grants of land
had been made to soldiers who were presumably veterans of the wars about the
time of Wellington’s campaigns. Captain
John Lamprey received 801 acres, William Wade Leslie 397 acres; others include
Captains Clark, Creighton, Cochrane and De Gaspari.
Due to these grants, settlement in the
Gore did not begin until ten years later than in the first Concession; few lots
were taken up before 1842, also an exceptionally heavy growth of pine covered
many lots especially on the rear or north side. Hardwood logs would burn and the stumps decay in ten years, but
pine logs would not burn and the stumps would not decay; therefore settlers
were not always anxious to locate on pine land.
When Thomas Paddock bought Lot 17,
Concession 1, from Alex. McNaughton about 1840 records indicate that 45 acres
were cleared; adjacent lots in the first concession would no doubt have from
20 to 40 acres cleared but the Gore was still an untouched forest at that time.
SUCCESSIVE GENERATIONS IN
THE GORE
Lot 16-Front of Gore: William McCormick, his son, Big
Jack; Neil McPhatter Jr., his son, Blair McPhatter; James McMillan; Rear of
Gore: Donald McTaggart, his son-in-law, Donald McMillan, his son, Malcolm McMillan.
Lot 17-Front of Gore: Neil McPhatter, his son, John
McPhatter; Clarence Witter; Rear of Gore: John McLarty; Duncan McPherson;
Archie McPhatter; Bradley; Thomas Paddock; Robert McRobbie; Clarence Awde.
Lot 18-Front of Gore: Malcolm McCormick, the Sailor;
Donald McGeachy, his brother-in-law, James Nelson; Rear of Gore: Angus McCormick;
William Cormick Jr.; John MacDonald (Boadach Yatha); Archie Fraser.
Lot 19-Front of Gore: Malcolm McCormick; William Wright;
John Blake, his son, James Blake; Rear of Gore: William McCormick Sr., his son,
Angus McCormick, his son, William A. McCormick.
Lot 20-Front of Gore: Thomas Fordyce; D. McNabb; Angus McCormick;
John McGeachy, his son, James McGeachy; Rear of Gore: Donald Stewart Sr., his
son, Allan Stewart, his son, Donald A. Stewart.
Lot 21-Front of Gore: Robert Elliott, his son, Matthew
Elliott; John Sawyer; Percy Jackson; Rear of Gore: William Gilchrist; Duncan
Cameron; Frank King; Donald Stewart Jr., his son, Mac Stewart.
Lot 22-Front of Gore: Rankin Murray; Hugh McIntyre; Allan
Stewart; Rear of Gore: Hugh McPherson; John Adams; Angus McPherson.
Lot 23-Front of Gore: (The Miller) John MacDonald, his
son-in-law, William McAllister; Mike Hanko; Rear of Gore: James McPherson Sr.,
his son, Ronald McPherson, his nephew, James A. McPherson.
Lot 24-Front of Gore: Angus (Elder) McPherson, his son,
John E. McPherson; Duncan McDonald, his son-in-law, Allan Connell; Rear of
Gore: Duncan and Angus McDonald; Francis McDonald; Angus Smith.
Lot 25-Front of Gore: G. Elliott; John McRobbie, his son,
Robert McRobbie; Rear of Gore: John McDonald, his son, James McDonald, his son,
Dan McDonald.
Lot 26-Front of Gore: George Ritchie; Mrs. Poorie; Archie
McGroary; John Patterson; Rear of Gore: Murdoch Munroe and Kenneth; Robert
Scott, his son, Archie Scott, his son, Andrew Scott.
Lot 27-Front of Gore: Henry Padgett; Jack Hood; Rear of
Gore: Donald McPherson, his son, Alex McPherson; Alfred Reid; Russell Kerns;
Duncan McPherson (the Corniel); William McIntosh.
Lot 28-Front of Gore: Kenneth Cameron; Jack Cameron;
Edward Templeman; Rear of Gore: Alex McPherson, his son, James McPherson; James
McDonald.
Lot 29-Front of Gore: D. Christie (Lime Kiln); E. Gordier;
Thomas Priest; Dave Priest; Rear of Gore: Walter Cowan Sr., his son, Walter
Cowan Jr.; Angus Macdonell; J. Griesbach.
Lot 30-Front of Gore: Robert McConnell; Robert Harbottle;
William Sim; Rear of Gore: Matthew McMillan, his brother-in-law, John McGeachy;
A. Gittings; Dave Sirett.
LOT 16
William McCormick was a brother of Angus and Malcolm. They were of a family of seven brothers, one
sister and their parents settled on Concession 3 in 1837. William's son, Jack,
married Matilda McKellar. They moved to
Michigan.
LOT 17
Neil McPhatter Jr. married Mary McMillan. He was a grandson of the Elder Neil
McPhatter.
LOT 18
Dan McMillan the carpenter was a grandson of Donald
McTaggart.
Earla Jane Awde is a great great great granddaughter of
the Elder Neil McPhatter.
Archie Fraser built the present buildings on this lot. He married Charlotte Paddock. Before this Red William McCormick lived here
and a John McDonald known as "Boadch Yatha" lived in a log house on
the west corner.
LOT 19
Malcolm and William McCormick were brothers. Malcolm came to Puslinch in 1832, William in
1842. Their father, Archibald, followed
them to Canada when an old man but died shortly after; he was a brother of John
who had the seven sons. Malcolm moved
to Erin but grandchildren of William still live on this lot.
LOT 20
Donald Stewart Sr. was the first settler on this lot. His son, Allan, married Jennie Paddock. He
was a warden of Wellington County in 1899.
His son, Donald A. Stewart, was reeve of Puslinch for six years.
LOT 21
Rear of 21 changed ownership many times in early days. Donald Stewart Jr. built the present house
and William Gilchrist the barn. Two other
log houses were built here but no record exists as to their occupants.
LOT 22
Hugh McPherson, the first owner, was an uncle of Angus
McPherson, who married Flora Clark.
Hugh moved to Bruce County. A man known as the "Muloch" lived
in a shanty on the west side of this lot in the 1860's. Hugh and Anne were the last of the McIntyre
family to live on front of 22. Hugh
died in 1917.
LOT 23
James McPherson was a son of Donald "Dhu". This
farm has always been owned by McPhersons.
James A. is a grandson of James Sr.
LOT 24
William McAllister was a son-in-law of "the
Miller" McDonald. Duncan at Crieff
is a son of William McAllister.
Angus "Elder" McPherson cleared the front of Lot
24. This family was called
"Elder" to distinguish them from others of the same name but Angus
was also an elder in the church. Angus and Duncan were brothers. Angus was a mason of repute.
LOT 25
John McDonald on 25 was also a brother. This family kept
the store and post office at Crieff in the 1880's.
LOT 26
Murdoch and Kenneth Munroe were brothers. Kenneth kept the blacksmith shop in Crieff
for many years. Archie Scott was the next owner. He married Mary McPherson.
LOT 27
Mrs. Russell Kerns on 26 is a descendant of the first
owner, Donald McPherson.
LOT 28
Walter Passmore had a sawmill near the 1st
Concession. In the 1860's and 70's,
Alex McPherson was the first settler on this lot, rear of the Gore. Kenneth Cameron lived on Front of 27, later
Jack Cameron who married Mary, daughter of Alex McPherson lived here.
LOT 29
The Cowans owned this farm until 1915. Walter Jr. married Annie McPherson.
Christie's Lime Kiln was located on the front of 29. It was an important industry in this section
from the 1890's until 1926.
For many years the area in this part of Puslinch and
Beverly was known locally as Egypt.
LOT 30
Matthew McMillan, the first on this lot, died early in
life. John McGeachy, his
brother-in-law, bought the farm. He
died in 1911. Mrs. McMillan died in
1918. Her son John was a carpenter.
CRIEFF
Crieff appears to have attained the
zenith of its historical achievements in the seventies of the last
century. It then boasted, in addition
to the manse, church and dwellings, two stores, two blacksmith shops, one
hotel, a shoemaker, and fifty pupils who attended school from the village.
The Presbyterian congregation erected in 1854 a large frame church at
the Crieff corner, Lot 26, on land donated by Alexander Fraser. Since 1840 they had met in a log church on
Lot 15, the land donated by Neil McPhatter.
The Rev. William Meldrum was pastor from 1840 to 54, the Rev. Andrew MacLean
from 1854 until his death in 1873. The
present church was built in 1882. Crieff cemetery dates from 1854 when the
first church was built here.
East of the church Henry Becker built
and operated a general store. Across
the road was Kenneth Munroe's blacksmith shop.
Immediately west of the church was Jacob Kerracher's hotel, licensed in
1862. North of the hotel was the
shoemaker, William McDonald, then Christopher Moffatt's blacksmith shop later
operated by John Patterson. Louis Gregor kept store west and across the side
road from the hotel. This store was
burnt and later James McDonald built and kept the post office on this site.
When the C.P.R. was being built many
workmen boarded at the Crieff hotel. In
1878, the hotel was destroyed by fire which also burnt the shoemaker's house
and the Temperance Lodge. The hotel was
never rebuilt but the shoemaker built the stone house now occupied by Col. MacLean's
gardener, Frank Gartland.
Donald "Ahlive" lived across
from the manse.
Duncan Cameron "Lohiel" also
contributed to the ancient glory of Crieff.
He distilled a brand of whisky known as "Kilrae" in a ravine
north of the village, a liquor which attained distinction in places as far
distant as Guelph. Its flavour is lost
forever but a tale preserves its potency.
A local storekeeper who fell through an open hatch into the basement of
his store sustained obvious and painful but not serious injuries. When a
customer in sympathizing suggested an accident, the honest proprietor
emphatically declared, "It was no accident, it was “Kilrae” that did
it".
No record remains of the first school
or when it was erected except that it was a log building situated on the brow
of the hill just east of the present school on Lot 24. About 1855 or 7 a new frame school was erected
just west of where the present school stands on Lot 23. It was of the square type common at that
time with a cottage roof. The yard extended to the road as there was no fence
in front. Teachers included Sandy McIntyre, McLean, Dougald Robertson, Mr.
McLennan well known as "Mauldy", Hector Currie and George Lamb, both
natives of Puslinch. The last named died in Badenoch in 1935.
The present school was built in 1874
and the old one was sold to the Sons of Temperance who moved it to Crieff where
it was burnt, as already related.
Colonel J. B. McLean has in recent years, with lavish
generosity, improved and transformed the school, church, and manse grounds into
a most attractive landscape, widely known throughout the countryside.
The first marriage performed by Rev.
Wm. Meldrum in 1840 was that of John Thompson and Anne Campbell. Witnesses were John Taylor and Alex
McKenzie.
The first births recorded are John, lawful son of Alexander McShannock
and Betsy McNaughton in 1838 and Alexander, lawful son of John McDiarmid and
Margaret Stewart in 1838.
Chapter X
KILLEAN-SCHOOL
SECTION No. 7
To the pioneers who moved into an
unbroken wilderness and transformed that wilderness into a beautiful and
bountiful land of plenty during a lifetime, were given both the most arduous
tasks and rewards beyond expectation.
As time moves along, the eye of the historian undoubtedly will be ever
reverting to this most eventful period, and what may seem rather weak and
trivial attempts of ours to record and preserve some picture of these times may
someday be of value.
Killean embraces the south-west section
of Puslinch Township. Mill Creek in its
course from East Puslinch to Galt, cuts through this section diagonally from
north-east to south-west. Puslinch Lake
covers most of the north-west part of the section. The whole region was densely forested, covered with great pines
and hardwoods on the high land and the swamp timber in the lower areas. Only about fifty per cent of the land is
really adapted to agriculture. Between
the years 1830 and 1840 almost every lot of two hundred acres was taken up,
mostly by inexperienced settlers.
During the 1840's these two hundred acre farms were split and settled by
later immigrants.
The first houses were of a very
primitive type, mostly shanties to live in temporarily. For barns or stables
there was as yet very little need. The new settler in a few years learned the
rudiments of pioneering and got together some equipment with which to work.
Some used hand power for a time; but most of them would get a small pair of
steers which soon developed into a very useful yoke of oxen. Later, horses made
their appearance. In the early stages
of development of the settlement, oxen were really more adaptable to the work
required of them, than horses. Equipped thus, larger and more permanent log
buildings were erected and the clearings grew rapidly.
As this work progressed, the nature of
the soil these inexperienced settlers had haphazardly taken up, became apparent
to the more discerning ones who had settled on the poorer land. Then in the 1850's again began the westward
movement, young though this settlement
was. Many from this area went to Minto Township, Bruce and Grey Counties, where
they were very successful in picking good land. Later this same movement continued to the West and to the
towns. In 1861, according to the County
Census, there were four thousand, seven hundred and twenty-two people in
Puslinch. Eighty years later, less than
half that number lived in the township.
THE PEOPLE
In the Registry Office in Guelph, an
entry shows that on July 10, 1823, Alexander Wilson is registered as the owner
of Lot 1, Front Gore of Puslinch Township. This seems strange, but it confirms
an old story that this was the first lot taken up in Puslinch. This township was not surveyed until about
1829 or 1830. However, the Jones Line
which is the boundary between Dumfries and Waterloo on the West and Puslinch on
the East was run in 1790. Beverly was
also surveyed to the south and this being the corner lot in an unsurveyed area,
it was then taken up. Settlement was then taking place in the adjoining
Townships of Dumfries and Waterloo.
About the year 1831 the next settlers
appeared. Neil McPhatter lived in
York, now Toronto, in 1831. On advice
of Mr. Gibson, the surveyor of Puslinch, he bought Lots 14 and 15 at a land
sale there in October of that year. At
that sale, Lot 9 was sold to William Blue, Lot 10 to John Thompson, Lot 11 to
another John Thompson, Lot 12 to Angus McDonald, Lot 13 to a Mr. McNeil, Lots
14 and 15 to Neil McPhatter, Lot 16 to Alex. McNaughton, Lot 17 to Archie
McShannock, Lot 18 to Malcolm Smith and Lot 19 to Malcolm McPhatter. These lots are in the First Concession of
Puslinch Township.
All these people were closely related
and all came from the same parish, Kintyre in Argyleshire, Scotland. This shows how some settlements, at least,
were a family movement from the old land to the new. Within the next ten or
twelve years, from the same place in Scotland, came the Ramsays, McCormicks,
McAllisters, Gilchrists, McMillans, Clarks, Stewarts, Sinclairs, Blacks,
McKellers, McLarty's, Martins and another branch of Smith and Wilkinson's; also
the McPherson's. Whole families came,
old and young, comprising often as many as fourteen people. Father, mother and young grown-up family
with wife or husband of the elder members constituted the typical immigrant
family group. They all came together,
staking all on the move.
A similar group came from the Island of
Aeran. They were the McMasters, the
Curries, the Morrisons and the Cooks. On the west side of the section, the
Milroys, Bones, Shaws and McGregors settled.
They were Lowland Scottish. The
Paddocks, Reeves and Helms were English families. About 1849 the Uisters from the Island of Uist, about forty in
number came. Nearly double that number
emigrated from the island, but cholera took its toll on the voyage over. They were too late to take up land, but
lived in the area and did their share of the pioneer work. The McLennans, McDonalds, McPhees, McVicars,
McGeachy's and McLeods constituted this group.
To whom should go the honour of being
the first to actually move into the section after the land sale is
doubtful. Legend seems to favour John
Thompson on Lot 10, First Concession who settled late in 1831 or early in 1832.
While to Neil McPhatter goes the palm for being responsible for the groups'
purchase of the land.
THE SCHOOL No. 7
The light from the candle of learning,
though dim and feeble at first, began to show itself in the appearance, about
1850, of the log school house. It was
erected on an acre of land cleared from the forest given by Archie McMaster,
where the present school now stands.
The building, twenty-eight feet by
thirty-six feet, contained few of the requirements of the modern school. The builder was William Lamont. Archie McMaster, Angus McKellar and Matthew
McPhatter were the first trustees. A
number of long benches of rough lumber were arranged around the room; on these
the pupils sat and held their books and slates. A long double writing desk was later provided, the boys using one
of its slanting sides and the girls the other. A map of Europe, as it was then
divided, a map of the world, a teacher's desk and chair and a very large box
stove comprised the school room equipment.
The Department of Public Instruction in
Toronto authorized Magistrates to issue teachers' certificates as they deemed
fit. Teachers thus qualified were hired
by the trustees. At first their remuneration was raised by fees paid by the
parents of the pupils, later by a general tax levy provided the annual school
meeting so voted.
The first teacher in Killean was Neil
Currie, a native of the Island of Aeran.
He was given his certificate by Squire Heath. Peter Gilchrist was
talking to him on his way up and also on the return trip with his
certificate. He is reported to have
stated the main tests he had to undergo were that he was a loyal British
subject and that he knew the names of all the Royal Family. These he was well able to fulfill, having
been in the militia in 1837, although several of the other pioneers were
reputed to have given shelter and assistance to the leaders of the movement
for self-government when they were fleeing the country.
Mr. Currie must have been a man of many parts as stories
concerning him survived many years after his death. He is reputed to have made the pens for the school from goose
quills, the ink from the juice of boiled soft maple bark mixed with copperas
and sugar. With this equipment he could write quite legibly the Lord's Prayer
within the circle made by a penny.
Several teachers, including a lady,
Miss Black, taught in this school for short periods, about whom we have no
accounts, until John McGregor came. He
seemed to be particularly well qualified to teach the primary grades and music.
He was precentor in the local church and drilled the pupils well in the best
hymn tunes. To these he would have them
sing the Psalms of David. Some of the
pious parents objected to making such
common use of the Psalms, so this line of instruction had to stop. However, not to be done out of his
co-relation of music and poetry, he would have the classes sing other poems to
these tunes.
One of the common punishments in the
summertime for misbehaviour was to have the miscreant stand on one leg on top
of the box stove. If he attempted to support himself on two feet he would
receive a scud from the tawse. As the
seasons changed, so the method of punishment changed. In the winter the bad boys were made to sit
on a pail of snowballs.
Alexander McIntyre was the next
teacher. On being examined for his
certificate one of the oral questions was: "When was Scotland
conquered?" Mr. McIntyre immediately replied in emphatic tones,
"Never!" He received his certificate forthwith. However, Mr. McIntyre
was well educated and quite qualified to teach. From his time on education in
the school improved. Archie McPherson
succeeded him. Later he became
principal of a Galt School. Alex.
Gilchrist, Robert Galbraith, James Ramsay, S. Charlton, Miss Kennedy, Misses
Janet and Mary Gilchrist and Walter Laird were the successive teachers up to
the beginning of the twentieth century.
To-day we have highly trained nurses
and doctors and specialists working what a hundred and twenty years ago would
appear to be miracles in health units, hospitals and clinics. In the pioneer times these services were
practically all done by local women and through experience they acquired a
great deal of skill. Crudely, maybe, but still skilfully they ministered to the
needs of the people to the best of their knowledge and certainly without stint
of effort. The names of many of these
noble women are lost; one, however, that we have many times heard reverently
mentioned was Mrs. Donald Currie. Her
husband, Donald, was also a very goodly man.
She went out to all types of cases-maternity cases being her speciality;
Donald assisted at home in prayer. How
could such a combination fail.
This gives us a picture of the
simplicity and honesty which would be difficult to find in our modern way of
life. Within the memory of many now
living this community service was still in vogue. Mrs. Donald Ferguson and Mrs. Fraser both brought cheer to many a
stricken home.
Killean, where the majority of these
early settlers came from, was a parish and a village in the old land. Naturally the new settlement took the name
and later when the Post Office was opened, with Donald Ferguson as Postmaster
in 1862, the name became established.
Now a station on the C.P.R. which was built in 1880, perpetuates
Killean. It might be interesting to
mention that a Post Office in Saskatchewan was named Killean, early in the
century by a group of descendents of these people.
The Cemetery on Lot 10, Concession 1
was opened in 1834 when two of the Thompson Brothers were buried there. Many old stones bearing as part of the
inscription, “A native of Kintyre, Argylshire”, are to be found, marking the
last resting place of these sturdy pioneers.
Commercially Killean never went very far. Wm. Nicol established a store quite early.
Later he was followed by Donald and Lewis Ferguson. The store and Post Office continued until about 1913 when Rural
Mail was established. About the same
time the telephone became another factor in the modernizing influences which
were transforming rural life. James Johnston, who subsequently moved to New
Hope (now Hespeler) built a blacksmith shop just West of the store. After he left, Neil Wilkinson built a shop
on the corner of Lot 10 opposite Nicol’s Store on Lot 9. Page's Hotel was run for a time.
If Killean never attained favour
commercially, Puslinch Lake made up for it by being a recreational centre of
the first order. From the earliest
times it was the holidaying place for many miles around. For aid to assist in the lake's natural
beauty there was no lack. At one time
there is reported to have been five hotels in operation. Begrow’s “Highland Chief”, Frame’s between
the two lakes, where the present hotel is, Alex. Park's at what is now Swastika
and Harry Pierce at the entrance to the present hotel on the 2nd Concession.
From stories remembered, Alex. Park's and Begrow’s were spoken of as quite
respectable houses. With the establishment of the present hotel about 1880 the
others gradually went off the scene over fifty years ago.
On Lot 15 (N. McPhatter’s place) the
first log church in the district was built about 1840. This continued until about 1854 when the new
church was built at Crieff. With the
removal of the Church from the immediate neighbourhood, religious services or
Sunday School has been carried on in some form practically ever since in the
School House.
Among the outstanding leaders in this
line were Donald Currie in the early days and Mr. R. G. Struthers assisted by
other good speakers from Galt, who for many years conducted well attended
Sunday evening services.
In this sketchy outline of S. S. No.
7’s history, many events, names of families and individuals have had to be
omitted for want of time and space. Also many names of people who played a
large part in their lifetime are lost in antiquity. To all of these we offer our regrets at the feebleness of our
attempt to portray a true account of the last 100 years.
Chapter XI
EARLY
SETTLERS OF SCHOOL SECTION 8, MORRISTON
Front Part of Concession 7
Lot 26 on the 7th Concession. Crown to Donald Mackenzie,
26th July, 1859 and James McCaig, this being the first record in the Registry
Office. This lot is now owned by Charles Barber.
Lot 27 on 7th Concession. Crown to John Haist, Jan., 3,
1853, now owned by Charles Barber.
Lot 28 on 7th Concession. Crown to Joseph Bowman, 14th
May, 1856. It is now owned by Anthony Bowman, his son, who is believed to be
ninety-four years of age.
Lot 29, on 7th Concession. Crown to John Smith, 14 May,
1856, and is now owned by James McMillan.
Lot 30 on 7th Concession. Crown to Andrew Stahl, 25
September 1857. It is now owned by Wm.
Winer.
Lot 31, 7th Concession. Crown to Christopher Calfass, 14,
December 1863 and is now owned by Edgar Boucher.
Lot 32, 7th Concession. Crown to
Ernest Schnept, 12 September, 1856, now owned by Edgar Boucher.
Lot 33, 7th Concession. Crown to no entry, was owned by
John Winer now owned by George Fielding.
Lot 34, 7th Concession. Crown to Malcolm McNaughton, 18
July 1860, now owned by Sturtin McNaughton.
Rear Part of Concession 7
Lot 27. Crown to John Haist, 3 January, 1853. Now owned by
Ted Carroll.
Lot 28. Crown to Philip Calfass, 7 September, 1854. Now
owned by Howard Winer.
Lot 29. Crown to John Haist, 19 February, 1853, now owned
by Fred Binkley.
Lot 30. Crown to A. W. Jacobs, 14 May, 1856, now owned by
Charlton Telfer.
Lot 31. Crown
to John Calfass, 4 January, 1854, now owned by John Stewart.
Lot 32. Crown to John Morlock, 12 July, 1854, now owned by Douglas
Stewart.
Lot 33. Crown to John Winer, 24 June, 1853, now owned by
William Winer.
Lot 34. Crown to Lorenzo Hekkitern, 27 May, 1836, now
owned by Harvey Sutton.
Lot 35. Crown to
Joseph Horentz, 10 October, 1834, now owned by Harvey Sutton.
Front Part of Concession 8
Lot 26. Crown to Peter Beaver, 7 November, 1850, now owned
by Wm. Kerr.
Lot 27. Crown to Nicholas Beaver, 28 June, 1851. Now owned
by James Tawse.
Lot 28. Crown to Neil Thomson, 5 July, 1856, now owned by
20 acres Crown Cemetery, 80 acres Howard Winer.
Lot 29. Crown to Peter Gregor, 25 September, 1857, now
owned by John Stewart.
Lot 30. Crown to John McEdwards, 2 April, 1853, now owned
by Wallace Currie.
Lot 31. Crown to
Donald McEdwards, 27 April, 1858, now owned by Village Lots, Ball Park, balance
Ted Carroll.
Lot 32. Crown to George Schatz, 15 July, 1848, now owned
by Jack Stewart and Elliott.
Lot 33. Crown to Rev. Wm. Meldrum, 18 October, 1844, now
owned by John Winer.
Lot 34. Crown to Lorentz Hekkitern, 27 May, 1836, now
owned by Robert Penrice.
Lot 35. Crown to John Schickler, 3 June, 1834, now owned
by C. W. Winer.
Lot 36. Crown to
James Gordon, 17 April, 1861, now owned by C. W. Winer.
Lot 37. Crown to James Black, 3 July, 1847, now owned by
J. A. McPherson.
Rear Part of Concession 8
Lot 35. Crown to Andrew Steel, 3 June, 1834, now owned by
Alex. Nicoll.
Gore Puslinch Township
Lot 31 South Part. Crown to Philip De Grassi, 8 November,
1833, now owned by McConnell.
Lots 32, 33 and 34 South Part. Crown to Allan McLean, now
owned by Canada Crushed Stone. On Lot 34 there is one of the nicest bathing
pools in Ontario.
Lot 35. Crown to Wm. Wade Leslie, July 30, 1833, now owned
by P. M. Patterson.
Lot 36. Crown to Wm. Proudfoot, 1 July, 1841.
Lot 37. Crown to Wm. Wade Leslie, July 30, 1833, now owned
by Leslie Greer.
Lot 39. Crown to Wm. Wade Leslie, July 30, 1833, now owned
by Charles Maddaugh.
Gore Puslinch Township
Lot N. 31. Owned by Wm. Martin.
Lot N. 32. Crown to Allan McLean, 19 February, 1839, now
owned by Chester Schultz.
Lot N. 33. Crown to Allan McLean, 19 February, 1839, now
owned by Stirton McNaughton.
Lot N. 34. Crown to Allan McLean, 19 February, 1839, now
owned by Wallace Currie.
Lot N. 35. Crown to Wm. Wade Leslie, 30 July, 1833, now
owned by P. M. Patterson.
Lot N. 36. Crown to Andrew Sieber, 11 October, 1836, now
owned by P. M. Patterson.
ONES STILL OCCUPYING FARM WITH THE SAME NAME AS
ON CROWN DEED
Paul Winer came to Puslinch from New
York State in 1828. He took up 100
acres, Lot 33, Rear of Concession 7 and with the help of his sons cleared the
farm. The Brock Road was just blazed at
that time. Dundas was their nearest
source of supplies and they were obliged to have their grain ground there.
The family came on a jumper drawn by a
yoke of oxen, and Mr. Winer had just one cent in his pocket. They camped two weeks until they could erect
a shanty and lived on herbs, roots and game. The
following summer they built the log house which still stands on the property.
John was five years of age when he came to Puslinch with his parents. He finished clearing the farm.
William was born and raised on the farm
where he carried on mixed farming.
William Jr., was also born and raised
on the farm where he carries on dairy and mixed farming.
Joseph Bowman was the first settler on
Lot 28, Front Concession 7. After his death it was taken over by his son,
Anthony, who is still on it.
THE MORRISTON EVANGELICAL CHURCH
In the year 1840, Rev. Joseph Harlacher
was sent as a missionary by the East Pennsylvania Conference to Waterloo, Ontario. On May 13th, 1840 he made his first visit
to the Township of Puslinch. He
preached on the same evening in the home of Mr. Peter Beaver. On the first Sunday in October 1840, the
first well-attended meeting was held in the home of Mr. Calfass. On New Year's Day, 1841, the Sacrament of
the Lord's Supper was administered for the first time by J. M. Sindlinger and
Joseph Harlacher. A series of revival
meetings were held at the home of Mr. Calfas.
Some of the class leaders were John
Morlock, John Haist, Philip Calfas, Gottlieb Morlock, Wm. Sander, Mr. Kaechell,
Geo. Barnhart, John Graeb, Geo. Elfner, John Frey, Geo. Finkbeiner, Geo. Brown,
and John Fahrner.
For quite a number of years the
services were held in the homes of the people.
Finally a log meeting-house in the village was secured. This building was the former stable used by
Mr. Westlake. About 1856 a brick church
was built on the present site and in 1881 this church was enlarged and greatly
improved.
There was no resident minister until about
1865. At that time a frame parsonage
was built onto the rear of the church and in 1894 the present brick parsonage
was erected.
Five men entered the ministry from the
Morriston congregation. They were: Geo. Barnhard, Mr. Boller, Solomon Graeb and
J. C. Morlock.
GRANDFATHER JOHN MORLOCK
Grandfather John Morlock, born in 1793,
and his wife, Louisa Fredericka Maria Bohler, born in 1793, daughter of Von
Copfen, Germany, came to this country about 1830, from Biersbronn, Wurtemberg,
Germany and settled on Lot 32, Rear of Concession 7, next to the Winers. They brought with them their children,
William, John Christian, Matthew. These
three were born in Germany, but Ernstine, Louisa, Gottleib, Julius, and
Fredericka were born in Puslinch on the old homestead.
Later, Mrs. Morlock’s mother came to Canada, the mother of a Moravian
minister, Peter Bohler (Boller), who was murdered for preaching. John and Charles Wesley met this minister in
Georgia. Wesley says “I felt my heart
strangely warmed. I had a change of
heart when I heard him preach.” This
Mr. Morlock died at Morriston in 1861, at the age of 69, his wife at the age of
79 years. Her mother died here too and
all were buried in the Crown Cemetery.
In religion he had been a Lutheran, but later joined the Evangelical
Church in Morriston. He also was a
General in Germany.
This
is the seventh generation in Canada on the mother's side of the early
Morlocks. A number of years before his
death, he had a stone house built, to retire, where he and some of his family
and our great grandmother lived for a number of years. The late Beese and son did the mason work,
the grandfather and father of Rev. W. E. Beese.
JOHN CHRISTIAN MORLOCK
John
Christian Morlock, son of Grandfather Morlock took over the old homestead. He was born July 8th, 1826 in Germany, and
came to Canada with his parents when four years old. After a year at Campden, Ontario, they located near Morriston. Christian was married three times, first to
Christina Beaver; second to Catherine Durst; third to Mary Anne Callfas; the
latter with whom he lived to see the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage. He
died September 27th, 1916 at the ripe old age of 90; his wife following on
June, 8th, 1919, at the age of 80 years.
They had a large family as follows: Rev. John C. Morlock, Peter S.,
Josephine (Mrs. Wm. Fee), Fredericka (Mrs. Otto Rappolt), Mary (Mrs. John
Frey); from the second wife, William G., Christian A.; from the third wife,
Charles G., Henry J., Louisa C., David E., Ethelbert H., Christina M. (Mrs.
James Leith), Simon P. D. O., Wilimina C. (Mrs. Louie Gregor).
Mr.
Morlock and family were members of the Evangelical Church at Morriston. In politics he was a Liberal and the first
Public School in S. S. No. 8 was built on the old Morlock Homestead.
Mr.
Morlock retired at the age of 85 in 1909 and had a red brick house built beside
the old stone house of his father's, in which he lived for five years. He saw
seven houses built on the old homestead by the Morlocks, his being the sixth.
GRANDFATHER JOHN CALLFAS
Grandfather
John Callfas was born in Schwarzwald, Wurtemberg, Germany in 1790. He came over with his wife and family. On the boat they met the Morlocks and they
came together to Canada in 1830 settling on a homestead beside the
Morlocks. He lived to the ripe old age
of 94 years and died October 17th, 1884 from the effects of falling down a
stairway. He was married to Miss Eva
Rowe of Germany. She predeceased him by
a number of years.
Grandfather
Callfas was an Evangelical Lutheran in religion, but later joined the
Evangelical Church at Morriston. Being of religious frame of mind, worship was
held at his home before a church was built, he being a local preacher for a
number of years. He was a friend in need
to many, ministering to beast and also to man, when a doctor was not available. He graduated as a horse doctor in Germany,
but was a quack medical doctor.
They
had a large family viz., Philip, Christopher, Christina (Mrs. Joe Sauder),
Charles, all born in Germany and Frederica (Mrs. L. Rothaernal, later Mrs. P.
Alles), Willemina (Mrs. Haist, later Mrs. Harbottle), John, Hannah (Mrs. P.
Hoffman), Mary (Mrs. Christian Morlock).
These were born on the old homestead at Morriston.
CHARLES CALLFAS
Charles
Callfas was born in Germany, June 7th, 1827.
He came from the old country with his parents when he was three years
old and remained on the homestead many years.
He followed in the
footsteps of his father, doctoring the domestic animals, especially horses. He
picked it up from his father before a veterinary located here and he was a
great horse fancier. Charles Callfas
knew how to take care and fit up a horse for a sale or for a show ring and was
a good judge on horses, being called to judge them at a number of shows and
occasions. He could relate many stories
of the pioneer days; how they traded with the Indians, giving them bread for
venison; and how he and his brother, Phillip, saw a big black bear, climb over
into a pen and carry off a 200 pound porker away to the woods.
His
schooling was herding cows, for there were no schools in the bush. He married
Sophia Stahl. Charles Frederick,
Caroline C. (Mrs. Sol. Brown), John S., Sophia M. (a school teacher), Dr.
William F. (Eye, Ear and Nose Specialist), were the children.
Charles
was a member of the Evangelical Church, he was a good citizen and a kind
neighbour. He was for a number of years
a local magistrate. He died in July
1911 and his wife died on May 2nd, 1880. The Church was built on the old
homestead.
THE HISTORY OF MORRISTON
Morriston
as a village had no existence prior to the improvement of the Brock Road. In
1844, Donald Campbell kept a small store in a log building, James Macintosh had
a tailoring business and John McEdwards, a blacksmith shop.
In
1847, R. B. Morrison opened a store in the end of the blacksmith shop and
Bernard Brown opened a shoemaker's shop on the opposite corner. In 1849, Mr. Morrison built a frame store on
the East side of the road and shortly after the village received its name.
The
Post Office was established in 1854. About that time Archibald Little opened
the first hotel. In 1856 Messrs. McLean and Clark erected a sawmill and
shortly after the oatmeal and grist mills known as Puslinch Mills were built.
These were destroyed by fire in 1861.
The first school was built near Duff’s Church
but later a new stone school was built on the Morlock homestead and in 1910 a
new school was built across the road.
At one time the inhabitants of the village had
the privilege of worshipping in three churches, Duff's Presbyterian, about one
mile North of the village, The Evangelical Church, and the Roman Catholic
Church. This church was later closed and its members worshipped at the church a
few miles South.
Bernard Brown had bought several acres of land
from the Campbell homestead and carried on a shoe-making business. John McEdwards bought a lot from him and
built a general store and dwelling on it.
Later he sold this to J. L. Scott who carried on harness making, later
selling out to George Weeks.
Mr. Donald McLeod, plasterer, also bought a
lot from Mr. Brown about this time, building a dwelling. In this way, the village grew and the
population increased until now Morriston has more than 60 houses with about 200
population. It now has two general
stores, confectionery, a meat shop, a bank, a garage and an implement shop.
About 1890, Morriston had three hotels, three
blacksmith shops, two butcher shops, a tailor, a millinery shop, two shoe-maker
shops, a brewery and a weaver. There were
a number of stone masons, carpenters, framers and carriage makers who lived in
the village.
On the North-west corner of the village,
Robert Jacobs took up a homestead. He
came from Ireland to New York, thence to Canada in 1840, and purchased the 100 acres,
Lot 30, Rear of Concession 7, upon which he lived until his death. He had two sons, William and Benjamin, and
at William's death, Benjamin took over the homestead. Ben. Jacob’s family is as follows Eliza (Mrs. John Clark), Ann
(Mrs. Walter Telfer), Emma (Mrs. Will. Fahrner), and Samuel, who took over the
homestead which is now occupied by Charlton Telfer.
The North-east corner was first settled on by
the Campbell family, but in 1847, Bernard Brown, who was born in Germany,
bought a number of acres on the corner. There was a large log building on this
corner. The Browns used part of this
for a dwelling and part for a shoe-making shop. In 1856, he built the present stone building. The Brown family was a large one, consisting
of 14 children, as follows: Catherine, Elizabeth, Louisa, Magdalenea (Mrs. Wm.
Riley), Matilda (Mrs. G. T. Weeks), George, Bernard, John, William, Charles,
Margaret, Emma, and Lydia.
John Gayer was born in Germany and came to
this country about 1857. He learned his
trade as shoemaker at Buffalo. He
worked at Hespeler then came to Morriston as a fine shoemaker for Bernard
Brown. He married Mary Wurtz and their
eight children are: Caroline (Mrs. Gregor), Louisa (Mrs. Fred Schultz),
Frederick, Albert, Katherine (Mrs. Zinn), Bertha (Mrs. J. Moynes), Lily (Mrs.
Chisholm) and Minnie (Mrs. John Durnin.
Mrs. Gayer travelled part way on foot and part
by stage from Buffalo. They crossed over the river at St. Catherines. Arriving at Morriston, they made their home
with the Morlocks until suitable places were found for employment.
Mr. George Elfner was born in Germany. He
emigrated to America in 1852 and resided in Rainham Township for 13 years,
after which he moved to Morriston. He
carried on a blacksmith business at the north end of the village. Mr. and Mrs. Elfner had one daughter, Kate,
who married John Fahrner. At Mr.
Elfner's retirement from business, Mr. Fahrner took over the blacksmith shop.
Frank Kistenmacher Sr. came from Germany,
landed in Quebec and later came to Hamilton.
He came to Morriston when houses were still scarce and settled in the
old log house which was already occupied by Mr. Lorence Schlegel and three
other families. The house is still
standing, and is owned by Mr. Beese.
Victoria Street was a log road but now has been made into a good gravel
road. In 1886, Mr. Kistenmacher bought
two lots across the road and built a frame house. In 1872, he had the misfortune of losing his house by fire and in
1874 a brick house was built. This property is now owned by Lawrence Huether.
The Beaver family settled some distance out of
Morriston. The father, Peter Beaver, died at the age of 70 years and his sons
took over the homestead. There were four children, Philip, Peter Jr., Nicholas
and Mary. Henry Beaver (Pat) is a son
of Nicholas Beaver and for many years has been a resident of Morriston. Some of his family are residents of the
village now. Henry Beaver Sr., is a son
of Peter Beaver Jr., (in the above).
His wife was Sophia Dunkie.
Margaret Moatz was born in Aberfoyle 110 years
ago. At the age of 19, she married Fred
Hingleman and they were blessed with seven children, of whom, two are still
living, Mrs. Keilley of Detroit and Sophia of Detroit. After Mr. Hingleman's death, she married Mr.
Fred Dunkie and they were blessed with one son, Fred, at home. Mr. Dunkie Jr., was a mason and still
resides in Morriston.
In 1856, Wm. Martin operated a butcher shop on
the premises occupied by L. Huether. This property remained in the family,
being owned by Mrs. John Huether (Mary Martin), where Mr. John Huether had a
general store until his death, which was later sold to Norman Jarrett by
Lawrence Huether.
HISTORY OF DUFF'S
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
In 1834, Mr. Thomas Wardrope, a licentiate of
the Church of Scotland, settled with his family on Lot 35, Concession 9. It was about this time that people began to
have religious services in houses, barns and sometimes the open air, conducted
chiefly by Mr. Wardrope. As the number
of settlers increased there was agitation for a church property, and a petition
was presented by Presbyterians for a grant of land to be set apart for
religious and educational purposes. This petition was granted and the front
half of Lot 28, Concession 8, was reserved as the property of the Presbyterians
in Puslinch.
On December 29, 1835, a meeting was called at
the home of Peter McBeath to consider plans for a worship building and this
building was completed in 1837, and served as a meeting house for the
Presbyterians of Puslinch until 1840 when it was enlarged.
In 1845, a brief history of the first five
years was recorded in the permanent records.
This shows the congregation to have been formed in 1839 with Mr.
Meldrum, who was called from Scotland, as pastor.
On the eleventh day of March, 1840, Mr.
Meldrum was ordained to be their minister. The elders were Peter McNaughton and
Neil McPhatter. By 1845, the following
had become elders: Roderick Cameron, Gillies McBean, John McDiarmid, Alexander
McKenzie and Lauchlan Kennedy. In 1847,
Angus McPherson and Hugh Rutherford were ordained as elders.
The Puslinch people voted to separate from the
Church of Scotland at the time of “The Disruption”, but up until 1854 they had
been allowed to continue worship in the old log church. Having at that time to give it up, they, in
that year, built a fine structure across the road from the old church. On the 14th of November, 1855, Rev.
Alexander McLean was ordained and inducted.
Up to this time, precedence had always been given to the Gaelic
language, with a service in English following, but the relative importance of
the two languages having gradually changed, the order of the two was reversed.
During 1903 the Church was remodelled, and on January 3rd, 1904, reopening
services were held.
Chapter XII
BADENOCH - SCHOOL SECTION
No. 9
One
hundred and twenty-two years ago in 1828, the first settlers located in the
South-east portion of Puslinch Township.
Four years later in 1832, more settlers arrived from Invernesshire,
Scotland, District of Badenoch, and therefore this settlement became known as
Badenoch. They spoke Gaelic and were
staunch Presbyterian supporters. Badenoch is a prosperous farming community
and possesses within its confines, no village or hamlet, no church and no
hotel. This section originally started
with the East half of Concession 8 which it included and went East from there
to the 10th Concession or Townline between Puslinch and Nassagaweya and ran in
length from Lot 26 to Lot 38. Of later years several of the outlying properties
have been assessed in other sections. Badenoch is School Section No. 9.
1833 saw many settlers located in the district
and in the next few years the lots filled up.
A unique feature in the history of this community is that the
descendents of the original settlers own nearly all of the lots in Badenoch.
The fifth generation is on four of these farms today. The grand children and great-grandchildren of those heroic
pioneers are maintaining, in many ways, the traditions of their forefathers.
Although there was no Church in the community,
services were held in barns, homes and in the schoolhouse. The first Sunday
School Superintendent was Lauchlan Kennedy. He was also one of the early elders
of Duff's Church.
As far as we know, there were four ministers connected
with this community, the eldest being Reverend Dr. Thomas Wardrope. Dr. Wardrope came from Scotland and was the
son of Thos. Wardrope of Lot 35 West Concession 9. He was pastor of Chalmers' Church, Guelph, for many years. Two brothers, Rev. John Little, who served
in Ontario and Rev. Andrew Little, who served out West were sons of John
Little, Lot 28, East Concession 10, and Rev. Peter McLaren was the son of James
McLaren.
The first lots were taken up on East Concession
8 and West Concession 9. We feel that
this was the reason for the first school being built on Lot 33, West Concession 9. We
have at hand, the petition to the Municipal Council of Wellington District,
signed by several residents of East Concession 9 and Concession 10 requesting
help in completing the 10th Concession road for the convenience of residents
and a preliminary to having the school house built on the present site, Lot 31,
West Concession 10. The second school
was built just in front of the school now standing, which is the third, and was
built in 1889.
Some of the earlier teachers were, James McLean, Mr. Dutton, Cluny
McPherson, E. J. Barrick, Peter McLean, Mr. Elliott, James E. McLean, Anne
Campbell, Jessie McLean and Tom Blacklock.
At one time, the road connecting with
Nassagaweya was through Lots 27, Concession 10, now the properties of Mrs.
Grace Buchanan and Dougald Campbell.
To receive the mail meant many weary steps, as
it had to be called for at Morriston. Around 1911, rural mail delivery started.
The mail for East Concession 8 and West Concession 9 was delivered from Puslinch
and when the carrier arrived at Corwhin he picked up the mail for East
Concession 9 and West Concession 10, delivering it on the return trip. The mail is now all delivered from Puslinch. East Concession 10 and the Townline receive
their mail from Moffat.
The telephone was connected up about the year
1913. The hydro in 1948.
We have record of two blacksmith shops, one on
Lot 28 East Concession 9, operated by James Martin and later at the
intersection on Lot 31, East Concession 9, operated by George Hanning.
There were four sawmills in the community, the
oldest and largest being Linderman's Mill, built in 1833 and later owned by
Forbes of the Hespeler Mills on Lot 35, West Concession 10. Also on this property, there was a heading
and shingle mill owned by John McFarlane and later by James Laking. The property was later owned by J. P.
McPherson and is now owned by D. G. Hanning.
Black's Mill was on Lot 26, West Concession 9, and another mill was on
Lot 28, West Concession 10, on the property owned by Daniel Campbell, later by
Donald Campbell, and now owned by grandson Wilfred Campbell.
There was a charcoal kiln built and operated
by Dougald Lamb on Lot 36 West Concession 10, at one time the property of
Linderman, but for some years owned by Thos. Beaton.
John Campbell was a shoemaker, his location
being where Badenoch Park is situated, Lot 31, West Concession 10 at
intersection. Later John Elliot carried on the shoemaking trade on Lot 34, East
Concession 8. This property was first owned by Malcolm Clark Sr., father of
Mrs. John Grant of Guelph, later owned by Ernest Nicoll, and now owned by Roy
Winer.
We know of two lawyers, George Martin, son of
James Martin, an early settler and Don R. McLean, son of Alex. McLean, Lot 30,
East Concession 9.
The doctors were,
Peter McLean, also a son of the above mentioned Alex. McLean, and many years
later, in 1927, Hugh McL. Scott, youngest son of Andrew Scott, practising in
Morriston, when he died in 1941.
The dentists were Angus and Donald Clark, sons
of Donald Clark, Lot 27, West Concession 9.
Sir John Eddington, former Chief Justice of
the Dominion of Canada, was the son of Mr. Eddington, Lot 36, East Concession
8. This property was later owned by Macklem, then Sparkes and now by Charles
Cook.
James Clark, son of Angus Clark, Lot 34, East
Concession 9, was Chief of Police at Winnipeg, for many years.
The merchants were Don. McLean and Peter
McLean who owned a general store at Ridgetown, Ontario. James McLean had a store in Campbellville
and later in Aberfoyle. His daughter,
Grace McLean later carried on the business and also the Post Office. Peter Clark and George McLean were owners of
the first saw mill and grist mill in Morriston, and the same Geo. McLean
operated the mill in Aberfoyle.
Threshing machine operators were Don. Campbell
and Don. McLean, James and John Simpson, and Mathew Elliot. The machines were
run by horse power. Then John R. Clark and Robert, Allie and Jack Kennedy had
portable threshers. Later operators
were Ed. Scott and Ben and John Clark.
There were several in the community who held
municipal offices from the earliest settlers until the present day, which will
be reported in the Township records, but we would like to mention that Lt.-Col.
Nicoll, son of Alex. Nicoll, besides being active in Militia, circles, was
Warden in 1893.
There were so many teachers, nurses,
stenographers that space will not permit their naming.
The first settler that we have record of was
Andrew Stahl, who settled on Lot 35, East Concession 8, in 1828. He purchased his land from the government,
erected a log house and made a small clearing at that time. In 1834 this was sold to Alex. Nicoll, later
owned by Lt.-Col. Nicoll and today by Alex. Nicoll.
We read next of Archibald Watson who took up
Lots 37 and 38, East Concession 8 and now the property of Joseph Smith. About this same time, Eric Munch was also
the first settler on Lot 35, West Concession 9. This was bought by Thos. Wardrope in 1834 and was later owned by
Mathew Elliot, then by his son, Mathew and is now owned by grandson MacMillan
Elliott.
In 1831, Donald McLean, Peter Grant, Donald
Martin, John Kennedy and Mr. and Mrs. Alex. McBain arrived in Canada. The four latter remained in Glengarry, the
two former coming on to Crook's Hollow, working there the winter of 1831. In the spring of 1832, Grant and McLean
came by way of Galt to Elora. This
location did not appeal to them so they came on to Guelph and made their way
through the bush until they reached the southern end of Puslinch Township where
they met two choppers, Nicoll Bros. (to our knowledge no relation to the Nicoll
already mentioned).
They accompanied the Nicolls to their holdings
and one of the brothers went with them to Andrew Stahl's, then one of the
Stahls went with them farther north where they looked over several sites,
returning to Stahl's for the night. The next day Grant and McLean selected
their lots.
Donald McLean picked Lot 31, West Concession
9, which he turned over to his father, Peter McLean, in 1833, taking the East
half of the Concession as his own farm. The West half was later owned by son
Peter, then grandson, D. J. McLean and to-day great grandson, Gordon and his
family living on this property is the fifth generation. The East half was first owned by Donald,
then by his son, Peter, then grandson, D. A. McLean, who died there. This property is now owned by Ingle
Bousefield.
Peter Grant chose Lots 29 and 30, East
Concession 8 and in 1833 transferred this to his brother-in-law, John Clark
Sr., whose youngest son Malcolm was the first white child born in Badenoch.
This son Malcolm was the next owner, then grandson John M. and it is to-day
owned by great grandson Malcolm whose family is the fifth generation. John Clark Sr. had the first team of horses
in Badenoch, a pair of greys. Also, the
stone house on this property was the first stone house built in the community
and is about 110 years old.
Peter Grant then took up Lots 32, Concession
9, which were later owned by his sons, John and Peter. The East half was later
owned by Stewart Bruce and is now owned by J. G. McLean. The West half was
later owned by Hugh Clark, then Job Revell, and is now owned by Scott Brothers.
They also chose at this time, Lot 32, East Concession 8 for the McBains. This
was later owned by Andrew Elliot then by son, John, and today is owned by
grandson Frank Elliott.
Peter Grant chose Lot 31, East Concession 8
for his nephew, John Clark Jr., son of John Clark Sr. John Clark Jr. had remained in Scotland to finish his schooling
and came to Badenoch in 1836. This was then owned by his son James Clark and is
now owned by grandson George Clark.
Donald
McLean picked Lot 30, West Concession 9 for his nephew, Donald Martin, later
owned by John Quillman and now by Mrs. Harry Munch. He also chose Lot 30, East Concession 9, for his brother
Alexander, later owned by his son Alex., whose widow still lives there with her
son Alex. C. McLean, and Lot 29, East Concession 9 for his brother John, later
owned by his son Peter J. and is to-day owned by grandson Peter. J. McLean.
In the meantime, the McBains came on from
Glengarry. A shanty was built on the McLean place, Lot 31, West Concession 9,
and Grant McLean and the McBains lived together for sometime, Mrs. McBain keeping
house for them. They managed to sow a little fall wheat on two of the places in
the year 1832.
In
1832, John Linderman secured claim to 600 acres on Concession 10.
In 1833, John Clark
Sr., Peter McLean, William Kennedy and William Clark with their families
arrived in the settlement, the two former settling as already mentioned.
William
Kennedy chose Lot 35, East Concession 9, later owned by James Simpson and now
owned by his son Donald Simpson. William
Clark chose Lot 37, East Concession 9, later owned by Burdon and now by John
Elliott. His only son Macolm Clark, was
killed in the States.
Sons of Peter McLean, John and Alex., settled
as mentioned on Lots 29 and 30, East Concession 9. This Alex. MacLean built one
of the corners of Duff's Church in 1835.
Donald
on Lot 31, East Concesion 9, picked for his brother George, Lot 29, West
Concession 10, but George did not want to farm so the property was transferred
to their sister, Margaret, Mrs. Hanning.
This was later owned by Joseph Hanning, George Hanning and then Thos.
Foley and is now owned by Archie Scott. Peter
was on the homestead, Lot 31, West Concession 9.
Mrs.
D. R. Clark is the only living grandchild of Donald McLean, one of the first
settlers.
A son of John Clark Sr., Angus, father of Mrs.
Neil Campbell, lived on Lot 34, East Concession 9, which was subsequently owned
by D. G. Hanning, Alex. Chisholm and Laomi Sutton, who was killed there by a
fall from a wagon, and this property is to-day owned by James Kitchen. Son Robert Clark lived on Lot 33, East
Concession 9, which was later owned by his son J. R. Clark, Henry Organ and now
by Peter C. McLean. Duncan Clark, who
lived on Lot 27, East Concession 9, died in 1860. Donald Clark was on Lot 27, West Concession 9, later owned by
son, D. R. Clark, and he moved to Morriston.
John Jr. was on Lot 31, East Concession 8. Peter, who with Geo. McLean owned the first mills in Morriston
and Malcolm were on Lots 29 and 30, East Concession 8. There are three
surviving grandchildren of John Clark Sr., Mrs. John McKenzie of Guelph, in her
95th year and Angus and Peter Clark of Vancouver, B.C.
Duncan McKenzie owned Lot 29, West Concession
9, which was subsequently owned by Duncan McLean, and to-day is owned by Peter
McLean, great grandson of Duncan McKenzie.
Robert Ord owned Lot 28, East Concession 8,
later owned by John McPhee and which is now owned by James McPhee.
John Hay was on Lot 33, West Concession 9,
grandfather of John Hay of Troy and James Hay of Galt.
James Cameron was on Lot 34, West Concession 9, grandfather of Mrs.
James Clark. They moved to Wawanosh, Bruce County. These two lots, 33 and 34,
were later owned by James Kennedy then Thurston,
Andrew Scott and now by Scott Bros. It was
on Lot 33 that the first school was built.
Duncan McEdwards settled on Lot 37, West
Concession 10, later owned by his son, James then grandson Alexander and is now
owned by great grandson, Duncan Edwards, whose family is also the fifth generation. John Kennedy, mentioned with the McBains,
went to California in the Gold Rush of 1849 and after that was called
"Calie" or California Kennedy. He lived with his brother Lauchlan,
S.S. Supt., on Lot 36, East Concession 9, later owned by Angus Martin and just recently
by Andrew Gilmour.
James Martin lived on Lot 28, East Concession
9, which was later owned by J. W. Kerr and is now owned by Don. J. McLean.
John McPherson, grandfather of J. P.
McPherson, lived on Lot 28, West Concession 9, later owned by son-in-law Donald
Clark then by his son D. R. Clark and now owned by Wm. J. Scott. It was on this place that the first fatal
accident occurred; Angus McPherson was cutting logs to build a house for his
mother when he was killed by a falling tree.
Lot 33, East Concession 8 was first owned by
Gregor, later by Barney Mast and since 1880 by Wm. Martin. The Gregors were
buried on this lot and the walled in plot is still there.
Wm.
Simpson lived on Lot 36, West Concession 9, then owned by his son John,
grandson John E. Simpson, then Fred Mast and now owned by Douglas Gilmour.
Allan
McIntyre lived on Lot 30, East Concession 10, which was later owned by John
Kennedy and then Orman Patten. John
Kennedy was father of Elizabeth Kennedy. The family moved to Flamboro and he
lived to the age of 100 years.
Dougald
Campbell was on Lot 27, East Concession 10, then owned by his son Neil who
married Angus Clark's daughter and is now owned by grandson Dougald Campbell.
Allan
and John McDonald owned Lots 31, 32 and 33, East Concession 10, which they sold
to another McDonald family in 1872, Mrs. Donald McDonald, widow. Lots 31 and 32 were later owned by her son
John and is today owned by her grandson, Donald McDonald. Mrs. John McDonald is
living with her youngest daughter, Elizabeth, (Mrs. W. May), on Lot 32,
Townline. Lot 33 was later owned by W.
M. Moore, Thos. Buchanan and is now owned by Russell Ingles.
Lot 34, East Concession 10 was owned by Alex
Kennedy, son of William Kennedy and brother of Lauchlan, later by John N. Smith
and is now owned by Dick Buchanan.
Lot 35, East Concession 10 was owned by a Mr.
Smith, later by Dan McIntyre, Donald Bruce and now by Scroggie Bruce. The
Bruce's are great grandsons of Mr. Smith.
James
Gordon on Lot 36, East Concession 10, was instrumental in bringing Rev. Meldrum
to Puslinch in 1839. Anderson lived on this place at one time also Joe McIntyre
and it is now owned by James Martin.
John McLean was on Lot 27, West Concession
10, evidently no relation of the other families. He lived to be 103 years of age, was father of James McLean,
merchant, and Mrs. Buchanan, then Thos. Buchanan, her son, then Angus Buchanan,
her grandson. His daughter, Mary, is
the fifth generation on this farm.
John and William Martin owned Lots 37 and 38,
West Concession 9. It was later owned
by Charles Mast, then grandson John Mast, and is now owned by Vic Mann.
Lot 35, Townline, is owned by Frank Small.
Walter Lamb owned Lots 37 and 38, in the
extreme South-east corner of Puslinch.
These lots were later owned by Angus McDonald, son of Mrs. McDonald,
widow. It is owned by Donald McDonald, grandson of Mrs. McDonald. His mother, Mrs. Angus McDonald is living
with him.
When the Great War broke out in 1914-18 and
again in 1939-1945, several young men and one nurse joined the various
services. These young people were
honoured by the community. The Badenoch
Khaki Club was organized in 1917 for Red Cross work. It was discontinued shortly after the war ceased. The Badenoch Branch of the Women’s Institute
was organized in 1934 and, besides other activities, gave aid to the Red Cross
in 1939-1945.
Badenoch Park originated in 1946 when the
government bought Lot 31, West Concession 10, for reforestation and at the time
of writing, June 1950, the first seats were built with seating space for about
110 people.
The eldest residents in the community are Mrs.
Andrew Scott and Mr. William Martin, then Mrs. Angus McDonald, Mrs. Alex McLean
and Mrs. John McDonald.
Chapter XIII
Among
the first to settle in S.S. No. 10 Puslinch was John McFarlane, who came to
Canada from Perthshire, Scotland in 1834.
He worked in Dundas for a year, and two more years in Hamilton before he
settled on Lot 16 and part of Lot 17, Con. (Front) 10. He remained on the farm but a short time,
then he built a store on an acre of land which he purchased from Squire
Hammersly on the Brock Road and opened the first store in Puslinch. Mr. McFarlane was noted for the high quality
whisky that he made and sold. He was
born at Aberfoyle, Scotland, and gave Aberfoyle, Puslinch, that name while
keeping store nearby.
His son, Duncan, came to Canada with him at
the age of 16 years. He helped his
father to clear the farm, working in Hamilton and Dundas during the summer and
clearing the farm in winter. After a
few years, he became School Trustee, Township Councillor for twenty years,
Deputy Reeve three years, President of several organizations and a Justice of
the Peace for many years. Widely known as Squire McFarlane, he married Janet
Taylor who came to Canada with her family in 1832.
Their younger son, Robert J., remained on the
farm until his death, in 1927. He
married Mary Murray. Their younger son,
Duncan, is now farming on the homestead.
Four sons of the McRobbie family came to
Canada from Perthshire, Scotland, about the year 1833 and settled on one
hundred acres each: Andrew on Lot 23, Rear Con. 10; James on Lot 22, Rear Con
10; John on Lot 22, Front Con. 10; Lodwick on Lot 23, Front Con. 10.
Andrew McRobbie came to Canada some time previous to the other brothers
and worked for a while helping construct the Lachine Canal in Lower
Canada. He also worked at the
construction of the Dundas to Galt stone road before coming to Puslinch. He was Township Councillor for some
years. He was the first man to ride
through the Aberfoyle swamp on horseback before the road was cleared to
Corwhin. He married Margaret Grey and
raised a large family. He was trustee of the School for fifteen years, Township
Councillor for some years, and an Elder of Duff's Church for twenty-nine
years. His son, James, remained on the
homestead until his death and was unmarried. Wm. Stallibras has since owned and
operated the farm.
Mrs. McRobbie, mother of those four boys came
to Canada about the same time as her sons, as Lady-in-Waiting to Lady
Dufferin. (Lord Dufferin was first
Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company), later coming to live with her sons. A house was being built for her to live in
which stood partly on each of the four farms owned by her sons, but it was
still unfinished when the mother died.
Duncan Campbell, Perthshire, Scotland, a
tailor by trade, came to Puslinch in 1833. His son Donald came at the same
time, being 31 years of age. He was a school teacher in Scotland. He bought Lot
20, Con. 11, Puslinch and cleared the land.
He married Janet Cameron of Ross-shire, Scotland. Their son, Hugh, was for many years a
Carriage Builder and Undertaker in Morriston.
Another son, Donald, lived with his Uncle
Duncan on Lot 21, Rear Con. 10, for several years. At his uncle's death, he received his father's homestead, known
as Myrtle Hall, being Lot 20, rear Con. 10. He married Harriett Ann Laing. The
farm is still owned by descendants.
Duncan Jr. came to Canada at 17 years of age. He married Mary Campbell and bought Lot 21,
Rear Con. 10, also Lot 19 and 21, Con. 11.
He also kept store for some years and was instrumental in securing a
Post Office at Corwhin. The Post Office
was closed when rural mail delivery began in the township in 1912.
Duncan Gilchrist came to Canada in 1843, at
the age of 20 years, along with his parents. About the time of the Russian War
he purchased Lot 14, Rear Con. 9 where he lived the remainder of his life. He took much interest in Agricultural affairs,
being president of the Puslinch Agricultural Society several times and
president of the Creamery at the O.A.C.
Along with Peter Mahon and Hugh Cockburn he was active in the organization
of Farmers Institutes in Puslinch. He
was School Trustee for 38 years. He
married Margaret McCaig. One son,
Hector, remained on the farm where he is still farming and unmarried.
Kenneth McKenzie, born in Ross-shire,
Scotland, came to Puslinch Township in 1843 where he purchased a squatter's
claim on Lot 17, Rear Con. 10. After
clearing this, he purchased Lot 18, Rear Con. 10 and also Lot 16, Con. 11. He was a great homemaker, never taking part
in public affairs. He married Christina Cameron who came to Canada in 1832.
They raised a large and very highly respected family. Kenneth, their son, remained on the farm for some years.
John Black, born in Northumberland, England,
came to Canada in 1834 with his family and settled in Puslinch on Lot 21, Front
Con. 9. His first wife was Margaret
Hush and his second, Elizabeth Henry.
One
son, James Black, came to Canada in 1831, staying in Lower Canada for three
years, where the rest of the family joined him before coming to Puslinch. He bought Lot 23, Rear Con. 9, which he
cleared and lived on until his death.
He married Margaret McLeish and raised a large family who were very
large and strong of stature. Their son
James, known by many as "Big Jim" remained on his parent's homestead
for many years until he was unable to take care of the farm.
John Jr., a brother, settled on Lot 24 at the
rear of Concession 9. William, another brother, settled on Lot 21 at the rear
of Concession 9.
William Laing, a native of Roxburgshire,
Scotland, came to Puslinch in 1848 and settled on Lot 14 at the rear of
Concession 10. He married Euphemia
Grierson in Scotland. Their son, John
Laing, came to Canada in 1840 and worked for his cousin, Adam Laing of
Nassagaweya Township, after which he came to Puslinch and bought a squatter's
claim on Lot 19 at the front of Concession 10 on which he lived until his death
in 1901. In 1880, he bought Lot 20 on
the front of Concession 10. He was a
very strong temperance advocate and in 1844 he assisted his brother, Adam to
come to Canada, where he taught the school near Corwhin. John married Mary Easton and later Harriett
Lamb. Their son Charles, remained on
the home farm until his passing in 1949.
James Laing lived for
many years on part of Lot 20, Front. Concession 10. He was well-known as the honey man in the section and his property
is now owned by Howitt Stewart.
Hugh Cassin settled on Lot 17 Rear Concession
9 and built a log house in 1847, which is still in use and well-preserved. He was one of the first three trustees
chosen at the first school meeting in 1857.
The property is now owned by John Haugh.
Alex Fleming settled on Lot 16 Rear,
Concession 9. He was probably the
best-known man in the township, being possessed of a wonderful memory, which
he retained until the end of his long and eventful life. He reached the hundred years and could tell
many tales about the hardships of the pioneers, the exciting times at many of
the logging bees, and the hard days spent cutting grain with the grain
cradle. Alex. married Janet Cockburn,
then Miss McNaughton. His son, Alex., married Mary McPhee and remained on the
farm until his death. Their younger
son, John, lives on the homestead.
Patrick Halligan settled on Lot 16 F.
Concession 9, which is now owned and operated by Harry Haugh.
R. B. Morriston settled on Lot 22 F.
Concession 9, which was bought by Michael Hohenadel in the eighties and later
taken over by John Hohenadel and operated by him for about forty years. It is now operated by his only son, John.
William Beattie settled on Lot 14, F.
Concession 10, which was later bought by David Atkinson whose son, George, now
operates the farm.
Wm. Smith settled on Lot 18, F. Concession
10. The farm is owned by Fraser Hardy.
Mr.
Pettie took Lot 20, F. Concession 9, cleared it, and it is now owned and
operated by Roy Harmer.
Other early settlers were Patrick Mooney,
Patrick Lynch, Duncan Stewart, Peter Menzies, John Tavernor, Barnard Mooney,
Robert Beattie, Wm. McKenzie, John McLean, Thos. Dunn, Adam Dunn, David Watt,
Mr. Linn, Peter McLaren.
Some of these early settlers chose farms that
were not productive and after clearing the timber off, much of which was pine,
the stumps were difficult to remove.
Even after building homes for themselves, they went away to find a
better livelihood elsewhere and the result was many vacant farms and vanishing
buildings in the section. Other
families were luckier and chose better land on which to settle.
At first, their crops were grown on a small
acreage and the only means of having the grain threshed was a flail. After some years, the flail was followed by
the spike machine. This was a round cylinder with iron teeth that shelled the
grain out of the straw. It was driven
by a horse-power. In 1851, a machine
was made to separate the straw from the grain and chaff. The horse-power was a
machine to which the horses were hitched to a long arm and walked around in a
circle all day, or until the job was finished.
About 1882, the first steam engine came into Puslinch to drive the
threshing machine.
In the early days the ripe grain was cut by
means of a grain cradle, an implement of torture designed to lay the grain in
straight rows. It was later to be raked
into bundles and tied into sheaves by hand, with a handful of straws taken from
each bundle.
About 1866 the first
reaper came into the township. This
machine cut the standing grain and gathered it into bundles later to be tied
into sheaves by hand. In 1882, the first self-binder came into Puslinch and up
until the present date the binder has been a very important machine on a grain
farm.
When the first settlers came to the community,
where No. 10 School Section now is, the scholars from the south-east part of
the section attended a union school in the neighborhood of Corwhin. Those living in the north-west portion of
the section attended the Arkell School.
Mr. Andrew Laing taught for some years in the Union School at Corwhin.
In the year 1857, on January 14, the first meeting was held to form a School
Board. The minutes of the first meeting
read as follows: "Puslinch, January 14, 1857. Minutes of the first annual
school meeting of S. S. No. 10:
“Moved by John
Black, seconded by Alex. Fleming that Robert Beattie be chosen
Trustee.-Carried. Moved by Jas. Black,
seconded by Barnard Monney that Hugh Cassin be chosen Trustee.-Carried. Moved by Alex. Fleming, seconded by John
Laing that John McLean be chosen Trustee.-Carried. Moved by Jas. McRonney, seconded by Duncan Gilchrist that a free
school be established in the section. -Carried unanimously. Duncan McFarlane, Chairman, Hugh Cassin,
Secretary.”
The next meeting followed a few days later for
the purpose of selecting a school site and to arrange for the building of a
school. After many arguments regarding
the site, a lot was finally decided on.
Probably the arguments were brought to a close rather too soon, because
the site has been criticized many times since.
After
a few years, the large families outgrew the small building, there being as many
as eighty scholars on the roll during the winter months. Quite a number of these were grown men and
women.
Alex. Warren was the first teacher for the
section. He taught only one year, and
he was followed by Peter McLaren who taught for twenty years.
In 1885, a larger
school was built on the same lot. Even
if the location was not all that could be desired it still had some
advantages. In the school yard is a
very steep hill which provides excellent winter sport. Nearby is a trout stream which served for at
least two purposes, there was good fishing and the water was also used as
drinking water.
Some of the
equipment, best remembered by the writer, in this new school was a large wood
stove that often produced more smoke than heat; a huge wood-box that was to be filled daily by the boys; a
teacher's desk in which was carefully hidden a weighty strap; a corner in the
room carefully selected and near the teacher, in which to stand and complete
homework that had been neglected the night before. The boys were also carefully taught the art of using brooms to keep
the floor in order. The school is now
supplied with water from a spring eleven hundred feet away.
In 1924, a basement was made underneath the
school and a furnace placed in it, thus adding much to its accommodation and
comfort. The section joined the
Township School Board in 1947.
Before a school was built in the section,
Andrew McRobbie, an early settler, held a class for Bible Study in a house on
Lot 21, Concession 10, which was attended by young and old. In the year 1860, Mr. Peter McLaren, the newly-appointed
school teacher, was persuaded by Mr. McRobbie to take charge of the class,
which he did consent to do, and continued to do for twenty years. Mr. McLaren had the privilege of living to
see ten of his students join the Ministry: Rev. G. G. McRobbie, Ph.D.; F. R.
Beattie, D.D.; D. M. Beattie, B.A.; W. E. Beattie, B.A.; D. C. McKenzie, M.A.;
R. Watt; P. J. McLaren, B.A.; J. M. McLaren, B.A.; John Little; R. T. Cockburn.
After Mr. McLaren retired, John Little and J.
A. Cockburn took charge for about a year.
Early in the year 1882, J. A. Cockburn was appointed Superintendent and
Bible Class teacher, and continued in that office for forty-four years.
While John A. Cockburn's ancestors were not settlers in No. 10 Section,
they were in the neighbouring section.
He bought Lot 20, F. Concession
9, about 1880, living there for ten years when he purchased Lot 17, F.
Concession 9, and lived there until his passing in 1935. He married Elizabeth McKeracher, who came to
Canada with her parents when two years of age.
John Cockburn took much interest in public affairs and held many offices
in the Township.
Chapter XIV
PUSLINCH
LAKE AND SCHOOL SECTION No. 11
The history of S. S. No. 11 is so interwoven
with that of Puslinch Lake, that to write about one and not the other, would
only be half complete. The great
number of Indian relics that have been found in Puslinch and especially around
Puslinch Lake, leads to the belief that this district was inhabited by Indians
for centuries, but as they left no landmarks of any description in this
hunters' paradise, we have nothing to give us the least clue as to the time of
their coming.
The advent of the white man is almost as
obscure. The first account we have is
when Champlain on his second visit to the Hurons on Georgian Bay in 1615, sent his
young interpreter, Etienne Brute, with a message to a band of Indians located
near Lake Erie. Brute would probably
travel south on Indian trails to the head waters of the Grand river,
then, following its
course, to Lake Erie. On his return, he
gave such a glowing account of the beautiful and fertile country that he had
passed through, and the poverty and filth of the inhabitants, that it inspired
the Recollet missionary Daillon, to visit the tribe of Indians along the Grand
River, known as the "Neutrals".
He spent a year or more visiting many of the villages. As the Grand River is not more than five
miles from Puslinch Lake, he certainly would have heard of it, if not seen it.
When the Recollet mission withdrew and was
succeeded by the Jesuits in 1639, Frather Brebeuf and Father Chaumont were
missionaries among the neutrals, but there is still no mention of the lake.
The invasion by the Six Nation Indians and
their destruction of the Hurons and Neutral Nations, together with the Jesuit
Missions was near the Martyr's Shrine in 1648.
For over a century very little is known of this locality. The fur trade was at its height at this time
in Southwestern Ontario and Puslinch Lake would probably be visited by white
trappers and traders. The grant of Crown
Lands, six miles wide on each side of the Grand River was given to the Six
Nations in 1784 for their services to the British in the American Revolution.
As the settlements kept moving West from Lake
Ontario, it became necessary to survey the Indian Lands. Augustus Jones was the surveyor, and in
surveying the boundary in 1791, he made a straight line from Chief Brant's
house at Brantford to the Speed River at a point near Christie's Lime Kilns. As
this line passes within a few hundred yards on the West side of Puslinch Lake,
it would be impossible for him not to see this lovely jewel in the forest. To
Augustus Jones, accompanied by his Ojibway wife, must go the credit of being
the first white man known to have seen Puslinch Lake.
There is a tradition that early in the 19th
century, there were several cabins or shanties built around Puslinch
Lake. These people were known as
"drifters or foresters". They remained a year or two and then moved
on, making no improvements, taking up no land, and leaving no records of where
they came from or where they went to.
Early in the year 1831, Alexander Lamont with
his wife and five sons, left their native land in Argyleshire, Scotland, to
make a new home for themselves in Canada.
Sailing from Greenoch in a schooner they encountered heavy seas and
adverse winds. They were eighty-nine
days crossing the Atlantic and on arrival they embarked on smaller boats and
eventually arrived in Hamilton. From
there they proceeded on foot, carrying all their worldly possessions through
the forest for a distance of over thirty miles, to their homesteads known as
the Clergy Reserve, on the South half of lot 6, 2nd Concession, now known as
the Township of Puslinch.
A
small portion of the South-west corner of this lot is covered by the Little
Lake. On the North-east bank of this
lake they built their first house, cleared a small space of land and planted
potatoes. Deer were plentiful and at
that time there was an abundance of fish in the lakes, so they had sufficient
food to carry them over the first winter.
Two of the sons, Peter and William were
carpenters. Peter was also a millwright
and secured work building Ferry's Mill in the village of Shade's Mills, now the
City of Galt. Peter also built the
Doon Mills, the stone walls of which are standing erect to this day. This
building was made famous by the painting of Homer Watson, which was purchased
by King Edward VII.
This brief history of the Lamont family was
repeated with slight variations by the incoming settlers that followed them to
the Section, whether of English, Irish, Scotch, Pennsylvania Dutch or German
descent.
The next family to
come was John McAllister and his wife, who lived the first winter with the
Lamonts, also with John Thompson and Neil McPhatter on the 1st Concession until
they had their house built on the rear Lot 6, 2nd Concession where their eldest
son, Archibald was born in 1832, the first known white child to be born in the
Section and in which he lived his entire life.
He died in 1919 having reached the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
Other families soon followed, John Barrett on
Lot 2, Thomas Collins on rear Lot 4 and Charles Barrett on rear Lot 5, 2nd
Concession, Robert Little on Lot 9, 3rd Concession, in 1839. His grandson, John is still living on the
original homestead, and having no direct heirs has given the farm to the County
of Wellington to be reforested and dedicated to the memory of the first
settlers and pioneers of this Section.
It is a noble gesture indeed!
Robert
Little had three sons and one daughter.
Joe lived his entire life on the homestead. Robert settled on rear Lot 10, 2nd Concession. These two brothers were of sterling quality
and did much to forward the development of the Section and Township, serving
as School Trustees and Councillors.
James became a Presbyterian minister, Hannah remained at home.
Edward and Thomas Ellis came the same year,
taking up Lot 9, 2nd Concession, Edward on the front lot and Thomas on the
rear. Thomas served in the McKenzie
rebellion on the Government side and was commissioned Captain in the 2nd
Batallion of Wellington Militia in 1856, afterwards being promoted to
Major. He was elected to the first District
Council in 1848, then Waterloo Council in 1850, and the United Council of Wellington
and Grey in 1853. In the early fifties,
he and Sam Taylor, front Lot 10, 2nd Concession were appointed Justices of the
Peace, and they administered the justice to the few delinquents, usually with a
severe reprimand, but impartially and firmly.
From 1840 on, the settlement was soon
established. The rear Lots of the 1st Concession being taken up; Lot 6, by John
Eagle, his wife and sons, James and Elija; Lot 7 by the McWilliams; Lot 8,
James McMaster; Lot 9, William Ross; John Dickie, Lot 7, 2nd Concession;
Thomas Fyfe, front Lot 8, 3rd Concession, Neil Holm and his son, Dan, Nicholas
Fyfe and Jacob Cober and Elias Whitmer.
It has often been remarked that when this
settlement was new, when any transaction took place between neighbour and
neighbour, no written agreement was required.
A neighbour's word was as good as his bond.
What a grand community it was! Neighbors of so many nationalities and
religions living so amicably together.
What an example they set for future generations to follow.
As the road allowances of the 2nd and 3rd
Concessions were hilly and rough, and the blind line between the front and rear
lots of the 2nd Concession was level, a road along this line running East and
West was made, except where it detoured around the swamps. This road is still known by its original
name, "The Accommodation Road."
Beside this road, on the South-west corner of
the farm occupied by John Deckie, the first school was built in 1846, a log
building about 36 x 40 feet with a cottage shaped roof.
The
building of the dovetail corners on a log building was a very particular and
exact piece of workmanship and only the most expert axemen were chosen to
build them. As they were exposed to
full view, the workmanship on each corner was examined and criticized by the
critical public for years to come. The
corner men chosen on this school were Neil Holm, William Lamont, Andrew
Eanfoot and Edward Ellis.
The
first teacher was Mr. Renney, followed by Alexander Frazer, John Munroe, Mr.
Mewart, Mr. Collins and R. H. Knowles who was the last teacher in the old and
the first teacher in the new school.
The new school was built on the North-east
corner of the intersection of the Accommodation Road and the side road between
Lots 5 and 6. The building is of stone, the stones being hauled from the farms
of James and Elijah Eagle. It was
completed and the school opened in 1866. This school although remodelled is
still in use.
Religious services were held in the old school
and conducted by George Duncan until the erection of the Stone Church in 1861,
on the northwest corner of Edward Ellis' farm. The material for the building
was assembled gratis by the neighbours, all denominations giving a helping
hand. The carpenters were Thomas and
Edward Ellis and Peter Lamont. The Church was first lighted by tallow candles,
then fish oil lamps and then the brilliant light of the coal oil lamps.
Regular services were conducted by the
Methodists, some of whom were the Rev. David Savage, Rev. M. Ferguson and as
lay preachers, George Copeland, David Rife and Wm. Ellis. The Sunday School
was nondenominational and conducted by Presbyterian, and Methodist
Superintendents and teachers. James
Eagle and Robert Little were the early Superintendents followed by Mrs. Wm.
Dickie and M. Eagle. The influence of
this Sunday School and the sincerity of the men and women who conducted it, is
still apparent in the community.
In 1876, the Temperance Hall was built, South
and opposite the new school. It was a
frame building, now removed. Thomas
Ellis gave the pine trees from front Lot 13, 2nd Concession, for the frame and
lumber. The logs were cut and hauled
to Krib's sawmill in Hespeler where it was cut into lumber and hauled back to
the building site by the young men of the district, all work and material being
gratis. This building was used as the
Temperance Lodge for several years, then for public meetings of all kinds,
political, debating and literary societies.
Music lessons were given by Abram Whitmer and social dances were held.
In 1843, Alex Parks came to live on a
beautiful site on the Northwest bank of Puslinch Lake. He afterwards built a hotel and dance hall,
had pleasure boats for rent, and for many years this place, and the big island
were the main picnic and pleasure grounds for people, young and old of the
district.
The land at that time, between the two lakes,
was owned by Thomas Frame, who built a hotel at the East end of this place, on
the shore of the Lake. About 1848, he
built a sailboat that would carry thirty passengers to and from the Big Island.
In 1879, the present hotel was built on the West end of the Island and
in 1880 a steamer that would carry 50 passengers was put into service.
Records show that the first owner of the Big Island in Puslinch Lake,
was Father Sanderal, a German Priest of the Parish of Guelph. About 1847, he instructed and furnished
money to a monk by the name of John Shoeman, to build a Monastery on the
Island.
Father
Sanderal on his return from a prolonged pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land,
found the building unsuitable for the purpose. The island was sold, and the
building fell into ruins.
To Thomas Lamont, who was born on the original
Lamont homestead, and later became a school teacher, and who went to Manitoba
in the early eighties of the last century, must be given the credit of furnishing
the information given here, and which is contained in the interesting and
scholarly history he wrote of hardships and toil, the joys and sorrows of the
settlers and pioneers of this district.
Also, credit must be given to Matthew McPhatter for his collection of
notes and articles from the pioneers, for a history of the Township of
Puslinch. This history was never written, but the notes are kept and treasured
in Col. McLean's Museum at Crieff.
Chapter XV
In
the year 1800, Neils Peterson Holm immigrated from Copenhagen, Denmark, to the
County of York and in 1828 purchased Lot 1 Front and Rear of Concession 3 and
in 1829 built a dam on the outlet and a sawmill across the line in Waterloo
Township.
In 1850, he rebuilt a larger dam and a new
sawmill. In 1856, he built a dam on the
Speed River and flour mill which was operated by his son, Peter Holm, known as
Holm's Mill, later Krib's Mill, then Cole's Mill, and which is now owned and
operated by A. J. Shantz.
In 1845, Neils Peterson Holm built and
operated the first sail boat on Puslinch Lake. The farm, Lot 1, is now owned by
Gilbert Povey and a house and Lot on East of Lot 1 is owned by Mrs. J. D.
Wildfong. In 1833, the Cobers purchased 1,000 acres comprising Lots 2, 3, 4,
5 and 6 front and rear of Concession 3.
The south part of 2 was owned by Elias Whitmer, Isaac Cober, Arthur
Krueger and presently by Norman Chester.
The centre part was owned by J. N. Cober, Sam Panabaker, Ben Newstead,
William Tabbert and now Walter Main and the north part by G. Stunn, Alf
Panabaker, Donald Currie, now William Robinson.
In 1847, a frame school was built on the road
allowance of the Fourth Concession. On
the same lot in 1860 a carriage shop was built and operated by J. N. Cober
known as Cober's Carriage Works and Lot 3, the south half, was owned by Solomon
and John Cober, now by G. H. Burns.
A lot on the east was owned by Ralph Parsons,
the north half of 3 and part 4, then by Sam Baker, Cornelius Panabaker, Elias
Panabaker and now Walter Holm. In 1855,
a blacksmith shop was built and operated by David Baer and later by Sam
Panabaker.
Lot
4 on the south was owned by Jacob Cober, then his son, Aaron Cober, Fred Cober,
Neil Darby, presently owned by James D. Panaber and Dr. George A. Cowan. The
north half was owned by Mr. Groh. Jerry
Cober owned the South half of Lot 5, then Nicholas Cober and at present John
Chester. On Lot 5, Front Concession 3,
Nicholas Cober operated a Cider Mill for a number of years and also a lime
kiln. The north half is owned by Solomon Cober and John Cober, Gordon Sault,
John McCarron and at present by Stanley Harnack and Lewis Evans.
On the northeast corner of Lot 5, one acre of
land was purchased for a cemetery and in 1874 a church was built. This church was inter-denominational, no
one denomination to hold service more than one Sunday at a time. If another denomination would use same,
permission would have to be obtained. The church was built by donations from
the community.
On
Lot 6, south part, the next owner was Daniel Holm, then Elias Holm, now Leonard
Bowman.
A
lot on the south centre was purchased by David Goudie, then Nowa Bowman and is
now owned by Alex Stewart, the centre by Ben Chester, then his son, Richard
Chester, now William Macintosh, the north part by James Salt, Sampson Salt,
John Salt, and now Lloyd Auliffe.
On
Lot 6, Front Concession 3, Mr. Collins operated a brick yard for a number of
years. Lot 7 Rear Concession 3 was purchased by Michael Berges, later by
William Evans, then his son Thomas Evans, now owned by John Macintosh.
Lot 8 Rear Concession 3 was purchased by Mr.
Oak, then Benjamin Chester, and is presently owned by Norman Chester.
Lot 1 South half of Concession 4 was purchased
in 1853 by James Phin, now owned by Archie Bagg and the north half of 1 and 2
was purchased by Jacob Miller in 1849 and in the same year the north half of
Lot 3 was purchased by Peter McNaughton.
About 1905, O. B.
Ellis purchased the three Lots, 1, 2, and 3 and started a lime kiln which was
later purchased by Christie Henderson Co. and is now owned and operated by
Gypsum Lime and Alabastine (Canada) Ltd., of Paris. On the same property, Mr. Christie built a church which was to
serve the community as an inter-denominational church.
The south half of Lot
2, Concession 4 was purchased by Ambroise Smith in 1837, later owned by James
Salt and R. Ball and then John Grieve, Mrs. Lloyd Herridge and presently by
Alex McKittrick.
The south half of Lot
3, Concession 4 was purchased by Ward Smith in 1838, later by Sam Pannabaker,
Aaron Hunsburger, John Eggert, and now William Robinson. On the south-east
corner, two acres of land were purchased by George Wanner who operated a
charcoal pit, later Patrick Murphy purchased the same and later Edward Tout
and presently Francis Murphy. On the same lot Aaron Hunsburger built a dam and
operated a chopping mill for a few years.
Lot 4 and 5 front 4
was purchased by James Evans in 1858.
After that, his son, Smith Evans, was a breeder of Oxford Sheep and won
many prizes at the fall fairs. Later
his son, Robert, operated the farm which is now owned by Henry Ehrhardt.
The north half of Lot
4, Concession 4 was purchased by James Henry in 1834, later owned by John
Ruddell and then Ephriam Panaber and later William Ehrhardt, then his son Henry
Ehrhardt, then Charles Bartels, and now Robert Chester.
The north half of Lot
5, Concession 4 was purchased by John McDonald in 1833, later by Mr. Sararus,
then David Strome, then his son Benjamin Strome, later by John Ehrhardt, and
is now owned by Keith Henderson. On the
same lot, Ben Strome built a small dam on the creek and a small overshot wheel
which drove the churn and a dragsaw and also ground his own grain for the stock
by a small coffee grinder at the rate of two bags in twenty-four hours.
On the south-west corner of the same lot, a
school was built in 1856, S.S. No. 12.
The school is a stone building built by Rudell Brothers. The teachers are as follows: W. Clareman,
Mr. Ross, Will Hart, Wilson Newhart, James Kennedy, Charles Eby, Daniel
Talbot, John McLean, W. Kilgore, Miss McWilliams, Mr. Wise, Mr. Wishart, G.
McEachern, Miss Cook, Miss McQueen, Miss Grey, Miss Black, Will Ward, Miss
Tweetmeir, Dan Davidson, Duncan Ewart, Miss Idena MacDonnell, Miss Agnes
Kroeger, Mrs. Bowman, Ben Gowing, Miss Agnes Campbell, Mrs. Effie Woods.
Lot 6, North half of Concession 4 was
purchased by Robert Kerr in 1851, later by Kerrigan, then Andrew Atkins, then
his son Thomas, Angus Murray and now Charles Heath.
The
south half of lot 6, Concession 4 was purchased by William Jones in 1861, later
by Mr. Brown, Charles Neubauer, and now by Robert MacRobbie. On the north-west corner of that lot a hotel
was built and operated by Palasters, later by Barbers, known as Barber's
Hotel.
In the year 1850,
Henry Ward Holmes purchased Lots 7, 8, and 9, south half of Concession 4, Lot
7, later owned by Alex Neubauer. A number
of wells were drilled for oil and gas but these seemed to be dry wells. Lots 8 and 9 were later owned by John
Ruddell, James Goudie, Al Daymond and now Archie Love.
Lot 10, Front 4 was
purchased by Douglas McGregor in 1856, now owned by the Galbraith Estate. The
north-east corner of the same lot, Rowland Wingfield purchased in 1838, later
purchased by W. Porters, John McLean, Mrs. Robertson, Carl Sherman, and now by
John Alexander.
Lot 11, South half Concession 4 was purchased
in 1856 by William Thompson, later by Adam Brokell, and is now owned by Mrs.
Lynch.
In 1868, John Burns purchased Lot 4, Front
Concession 5, now owned by Keith Henderson.
In 1887, Katherine Flynn purchased Lot 5,
Front 5, later owned by Henry Snyder, now by Albert Chappell.
Lot 6, Front Concession 5 was purchased by
William E. May in 1850, later by John Maclntosh, John Ehrhardt and now Carl
Sherman.
In
1864, Thomas Saunders purchased Lot 7, Concession 5, later owned by Alf.
Howitt, W. Ireland, Mr. Hamilton, now Douglas Davies.
In 1832, Rowland Wingfield purchased 800 acres
of land comprising Lots 7, 8, 9, 10 Rear Concession 4 and 8, 9, 10. Later the property of the Howitts, Lot 7 on
the south Mr. Lynch, then George Loty, Neil McDonald, Mr. Vereni, now Angus
Crowder, the east Joseph Lynch now Harold Harrison; the north part of same lots
Thomas Huginson, Ben Strome, George Wingfield, and now Fred Randell.
Lot 9 and 10 Rear 4 was later owned by Thomas
Bedford, then John D. Clark, his son John P. L. Clark, Al Daymond, and now
Burton Weber.
On the north-east corner of Lot 10, in 1845,
one acre of land was purchased and a cemetery started and a church was built
known as Kirkland Church. In 1888, a
new church was built called the Howitt Memorial Church which is the property of
the United Church of Canada.
Some of the Ministers were Rev's Dr. Mills,
Henders, Neuget, Cornish, Pomroy, Magwood, Casewell, Keffer, Wass, McKinley,
Perry, Wilkinson, Terryberry, Barker, Kehoe, Roadhouse, Wilson, Mitchener,
Walker, Green, Webster, James, Waldron.
The church was officially closed in 1929.
Lot 8 Front 5 was later owned by A. J. Kreuger,
then Charles Bartels, now Frank Byrnes.
Lot 9 and 10 Front Concession 5 later owned by
Thomas Bedford, now Herb Walker.
In 1858, Thomas
Saunders purchased Lot 8 and 9 Rear Concession 5. Lot 10, Rear Concession 5 was purchased by John Connell in
1837. Later Lots 8, 9, 10 Rear
Concession 5 were owned by Sorby Bros., who were breeders and exhibitors of Clydesdale
and Hackney horses, later the Bellaugh who were breeders of Shetland ponies,
then the Government known as Vimy Ridge operated a training school for boys in
agriculture. The farm is now owned by Herb. Walker.
Chapter XVI
About
1897, Matthew McPhatter of Puslinch collected a number of letters for the
purpose of publishing a history of the township. This work was never published but the writings are preserved in
the Crieff Museum. The following is a synopsis of them:
A letter signed by Hugh Reid, who came to
Puslinch in 1841, told us that the roads at that time were in very poor
condition. The road from Dundas up the mountain was little more than a cattle
trail; the Brock Road was cut out but from it to Lot 19, on Concession 3 they
had to follow a blazed trail through the bush.
With the exception of the hotels there was not a decent house from
Dundas to Guelph. There was no snow that winter except about six inches the
last week in January. In the winter of
1842, the snow came on November 2nd and did not leave until May 10th. Beginning
March 1st, it snowed steadily for three days and three nights; not a fence nor
stump could be seen. He hauled a sleigh-load of wheat to Guelph on May 6th.
Charles Callfas in his writings described the
early settlement thus: His father built a shanty about sixteen feet square
which housed eighteen persons for several months when a second one was
erected. Trees were hewn down, burned
or sold for almost nothing. They used
the hoe for a plough, covered the grain by scratching it with brush and cut it
with a sickle. He stated that bears
were numerous and bold. Even in
daylight they would come looking in the windows and often steal little pigs out
of the pen. The cattle defended the sheep against the wolves. At night the oxen would lie down a distance
apart and the sheep would get between them for safety. He made the journey to Guelph nine times a
week with logs.
The nearest Post Office was Guelph and the
nearest market, Dundas. Indians camped
near the Callfas home and would trade venison for milk and potatoes. This venison was such a source of energy
that Mr. Callfas says, "When I ate that venison how I could run; in fact
I couldn't walk and four hours sleep did me more good than eight hours
now."
Sandy Fraser told us in his letter that in the month of March they would
leave home on Monday morning to help with house and barn raisings and not
return till Saturday. They would have a
dance every night and plenty of good whisky to drink. The logging bees would start in June and continue until the frost
came in the fall. Sometimes ten or
twelve yoke of oxen would be seen working in one field with four men and a
driver to each yoke. They would log ten acres or more in a day. At each bee
there would be a grog boss and a man carrying water.
In Alexander Fleming's writings, he mentioned
the fact that a tailor, John McFarlane, went to the homes to make clothes for
the early settlers. He also went to
Guelph Township to tailor clothes for the Laidlaws, the Elliotts, the
McCorkindales and the Cleghorns.
Fleming remembered the first murder in the
Township and how the accused got off on a plea of self defence. According to Fleming, Malcolm Clark's was
the first frame barn in Badenoch. It was
framed by a Frenchman, Zip Parttoe, who died of old age in a shanty on Matthew
Elliott's farm.
James Laird, whose father pioneered Lots 9 and
10 on Concession 7 gave us more stories of life at that time. He wrote of the
Welshman, Humphrey Loveradge, whom he claimed was the first settler in Puslinch
and built the first shanty on Lot 13, Concession 7, where he lived for three
years; his death was the first in the township. This was before the township
was surveyed.
Laird wrote at length concerning the Shade
Road (this is often called the Given Road), named after Absalom Shade. It ran
from Hespeler to Cribb’s Mill out to Strachan’s Corners on to the seventh
Concession, from here to the Brock Road.
Mr. Laird spoke well of the Indians.
He could remember being lost in the bush and they, setting out to hunt
for him, found him near McCrae's Corners (now the corner of College Ave. and
the County Road).
James Winer wrote of his journey from New York
State to Puslinch with his father in 1830.
The family left New York in February with two yoke of oxen and two
sleighs, they crossed Lake Ontario on the ice carrying all the load the oxen
could haul. When they reached Kingston
the sleighing was all gone so Mr. Winer traded one yoke of oxen and a sleigh
for a wagon. He spoke of the large herds of deer like flocks of sheep which ran
through the woods, often chased by a pack of wolves. This letter also refers
to "The Welshman" as the first settler in Puslinch and his as the
first death. Following his death his son and daughter left the district and
have never been heard of since. It is
unfortunate that we have lost trace of them, the descendants of the first
settlers.
Malcolm McBeath's letter stated that he came
in 1830. Sailing with other members of
his family he arrived in Quebec and travelled up the St. Lawrence River to
Kingston, thence to Toronto. On arrival
in Toronto, they were met by William Lyon McKenzie who took them to his own
house for the night. In Toronto, they
bought their land from the Crown, then set out to take possession of it. He and his father going up Yonge St. walked
from Toronto to Puslinch through the bush.
Provisions were very hard to get during these
early years. The writer of this letter
remembered his father going to Galt for a barrel of flour. He brought it as far as
Hespeler where he left it in a shanty on the side of the road. Malcolm and his sister went through the bush
to where the barrel had been left, removed some of it into bags and
carried it home on their backs.
To strengthen themselves for the return journey
they made scones before starting out.
The fear of being
lost in the forest was ever present in those pioneer days. At night, in travelling through the bush
they would catch the oxen by their tails so as not to lose their way. Malcolm McBeath also remembered being lost
in the bush with a companion and thought they would have to stay out all
night. They finally found themselves at
Hamilton's Tavern and reached home safely.
He also mentions Shade's Road and how he travelled it to Shade's Mill in
Galt.
David Stirton describes a Town Meeting about
1840:
Town Meeting day was
the Holiday of the year and was always largely attended. Every bush-whacker was expected to air his
grievances and councillors or postmasters were subject to a full share of
criticism and abuse. An attempt at
defence or explanation was simply useless and "grin and bear it" was
the wisest course. The meetings were
held in an old frame barn. The floor was literally packed the meeting day.
The standing chairman, Mr. John Cockburn, took
his stand on the swingbeam with his secretary, Alex Smith, at his elbow. The elevated position of the pair gave them
an immense advantage over the crowd.
Al, though one of the fairest of men, he knew it was no earthly use to
dally and listen to this or the other interruption with fifty or sixty
pathmasters and Fenceviewers, Poundkeepers, Assessors and Collectors to appoint
besides going through the Township By-laws, fixing the height of lawful fences
and regulating the rules of what animals should go at large.
Standing on his elevated perch if it happened
to be a severe cold day, it was no wonder business went with a rush.
The following may be given as a specimen: “Who is to be appointed in
John Smith's place? Put him in again says one----No, no, comes from several
parties----he's not fair, he winna work himself---he's our particular about the hours----but while this discussion
is going on John Smith's name is down by the active secretary and when
disclosed to the meeting a howl of disgust goes up and then an adjournment to
the Bar is proposed by the disgruntled anti-Smithites and so the meeting goes
on…”
Chapter XVII
Prior
to the first Session of the first Provincial parliament held at Niagara in
1792, what is now the Province of Ontario had been divided into four Districts
viz.: Lunenburg, Trent, Nassau and Hesse. At this Session the names were
changed, Nassau becoming the Home District and Hesse the Western District. At
the second Session of the second Parliament held at Toronto in 1798 each of
these Districts were divided into two, the Western part of the Home District
becoming the Niagara District.
In 1816, the Niagara District was divided and
the Gore District was established comprising the Counties of Halton and
Wentworth and northward indefinitely. Puslinch, then known as the Church
Lands, because of the extensive Clergy Reserves existing within its borders,
was part of the Gore District.
In 1838, the Gore District was divided and the
northern section established as the Wellington District. Puslinch was retained as part of the Gore
District until 1846.
These Districts seem
to have been established mainly for judicial purposes as there were no
representative District Councils elected until 1842. The District Councils
continued for seven years, being abolished by the Municipal Act of 1850.
The Wellington District Council met at Guelph
from 1842 to 1849. Puslinch sent
representatives the last three years. The Waterloo County Council succeeded the
Wellington District Council controlling administrator for two years-1850-51 and
meeting in Guelph. Puslinch was one of the Townships included.
In 1852, the Council of the United Counties of
Wellington, Waterloo and Grey functioned, Puslinch being represented.
In 1853, the Council of the United Counties of
Wellington and Grey administered, Puslinch sending representatives.
On January 23, 1854, the Wellington County
Council met for the first time when the twelve municipalities were represented.
Puslinch has continued as a member of this Council ever since.
The District Council
history of Puslinch begins with this township belonging to Halton County in the
Gore District. In 1842, William Wade
Leslie and Alexander Nicoll, father of Lieut.-Col. Nicoll were chosen at the
Town Meeting to represent the township at the quarter sessions of the Gore District Council held at Hamilton in
February, May, August and November of each year. This arrangement continued until 1846 when Puslinch was joined
to the Wellington District.
The local Municipal history of Puslinch,
however, dates from 1836 when an Act of Parliament obligated Townships to hold
an annual Town Meeting. An authentic
record, mentioned in Memoirs of David Stirton, describes a meeting of the
residents of the township held on January 4, 1836, at the Inn on Lot 18 near
Aberfoyle known as Flynn's hotel. At
this meeting, three men were appointed as a Board of Commissioners. Their names were Thomas Todd, John Linderman
and Patrick Doyle. Some authorities
give Charles Armstrong as clerk, others that John Hammersley was appointed.
In 1837, Patrick Doyle was replaced by James
Stirton, father of David Stirton and John Hammersley was appointed clerk.
In 1839, the title of Commissioners was
changed to Wardens, James Stirton, John McFarlane and John Roach being appointed
for that year.
These Wardens were elected annually at a Town
Meeting held in the old frame barn on the Hotel property Lot 18, rear
Concession 7. It is described by Mr.
Stirton as the holiday of the year with the building packed to the doors. At
these meetings about 60 pathmasters were appointed, also nine fenceviewers, six
poundkeepers, two assessors and a collector. The mention of assessors and a
collector indicates that a system of taxation was already established. These
meetings were authorized by Provincial Legislation and continued until 1849 but
these early councils had scarcely any actual authority and David Stirton
comments that the first Township Council worthy of the name was elected in
1850.
The Upper Canada Municipal Act of 1849
established the system of Municipal administration which, with various
alterations, still continues to function.
The first election in Puslinch, as a result of this Act, was held in
McMeekin's Inn at Aberfoyle on Monday and Tuesday, the 7th and 8th of January,
1850. This was a general meeting of
ratepayers. Alexander Smith was
Returning Officer and John Hammersley, Clerk.
The following Council was elected: John Cockburn, William Leslie, Thomas
Ellis, David Stirton and James McRobbie.
The first meeting of this council was at James
McMeekin's Inn on the third Monday in January and the councillors chose John
Cockburn as Reeve and William Leslie as Deputy Reeve with Alex Smith as Clerk.
Until the building of the Township Hall in
1867, the Council always met at the Inns usually at McMeekins but also at
Ingrams and Mrs. Shants’. The room in
which they met was known as the Town Hall, McMeekin’s Tavern.
At the second council meeting, they appointed a School Superintendent,
John Kirkland; three assessors, Alex Lamont, Richard Ellis and John Black; and
one Collector, Kenneth McKenzie.
Later on, five Inspectors were appointed, one
in each ward, to supervise the fifteen odd Taverns in the Township. The Council issued the Licenses and many
lengthy and detailed ByLaws were passed regulating these Houses of
Entertainment as they are called in the Minute Book.
Little history is available in regard to early
Schools but it is recorded that two Union Schools existed, one with
Nassagaweya at Corwhin and one with North Dumfries near Killean, which union
was not dissolved until 1860.
School was conducted in private homes in
Puslinch Lake Section and at a very early period at Aberfoyle, possibly
1837. From 1842 to 1846, the Gore
District Council at Hamilton controlled education in Puslinch. A bond dated 1843, providing for a School at
Killean, signed by Archibald McMaster for Killean Section and witnessed by Rev.
Wm. Meldrum and John Cockburn, Common School Commissioners, is still in existence,
but whether Puslinch ever received any monetary assistance from the Gore
Council is doubtful.
From 1846 to 1849, the Wellington District
Council established various School Sections in Puslinch and passed By-Laws
relating to the assessing and taxing of these Sections. After 1850, the Township Council had control
and in 1853 passed a By-Law establishing the twelve School Sections similar to
those now existing.
The Council divided the Township into five
wards in 1850; each ward elected their own councillor and had a separate
polling place. Special taxes could
also be levied on a ward. These five
councillors constituted the Township Council and chose a Reeve and Deputy
Reeve at the first meeting each year.
Ward one included Concessions 8, 9, 10 and 11
from Lot 1 to the line between Lots 18 and 19.
The polling place was the School at S.S. No. 1 . John Caulfield was the first Returning
Officer.
Ward Two included the remainder of these
Concessions with the part of the Gore north of the Brock Road. The School at
S.S. No. 9 was the nomination and polling place. Alex Nicoll Sr. was first
Returning Officer.
Ward Three included North half of Concession
3, all 4, 5, 6 and 7 to the line between Lots 18 and 19. The School at S.S. No.
3 polling place, E. J. Heath, Esq., Returning Officer.
Ward 4 included Concessions 1 and 2 and the
south half of 3 from Lots 1 to the line between 16 and 17 and the Gore from
Lots 1 to 17. The polling place, No. 7 School, and Samuel Taylor first
Returning Officer.
Ward 5 included Concessions 1, 2 and south half
of 3 and the Gore from Lot 17 and remainder of Concession 7 from Lots 18 and 19
to the end. Alex Smith was first
Returning Officer at No. 6 School. Ward
5 afterwards held many nomination and poll meetings at the home of Hugh McNaughton,
Lot 22, Front of Concession 2.
The Ward system continued for fifteen years
until 1866 when a Municipal Act amendment necessitating the holding of one
nomination and polling place for the Township was enacted. The first Nomination Meeting of the entire
Township since 1849 was held in the Aberfoyle Mill then operated by George
McLean in December 1866. The poll was held at the same time and place. The need
for a large Township Hall for Council and public meetings was now quite
evident.
On February 25th, 1867, a Committee of Council
reported that they had visited neighbouring halls and advised erecting a hall
60 ft. x 30 ft. with additional Council Chamber. A ratepayers meeting was
called to ascertain their views and opinion at this meeting was nearly
unanimous in favour of building the hall.
On March 16th, a motion of Council to erect a
larger building, 80 ft. x 40 ft., costing $4000, and to be used as an
agricultural hall and drill shed carried.
At this stage, difficulties arose.
A petition was presented to Council protesting the proposed site and
John Clark resigned from Council for unstated reasons.
At an election meeting held in Peter
McGibbon’s wagon shop on May 13th, 1867, Martin Cassin defeated John Clark by
five votes.
At a special Council meeting on June 15 the
Agricultural Society petitioned the Council to proceed with the hall and
William Scott, with a petition signed by fifty ratepayers, objected to any
further proceedings relative to building a hall. The Council decided to build a hall 60 ft. x 30 ft. with council
room, passed a by-law to this effect and called for tenders. They also decided to purchase the necessary
land from John Black for $384.00.
On July 29th,
out of six tenders, they chose Alan McIntyre's for $1,187.25, plastering not
included. At this time, a firm of Solicitors notified the Council that
application to quash the by-law would be made by a Mr. Forbes. However, nothing appears to have resulted
from this and the hall was completed successfully.
The first Council Meeting was held in the new
hall on December 30th, 1867, the first in the Council Room on January 24,
1868. At this meeting a motion was
carried granting the petition of Charles Cockburn and Blair Falconbridge
requesting the use of the Town Hall for a social Ball to be held on the evening
of Tuesday, February 25, under the auspices of the Baseball Club.
Until the year 1875,
the Council was elected at the Annual Nomination Meeting held in the Township
Hall but, in 1869, four Polling or Electoral Sub-divisions were established,
later increased to six. These subdivisions may have been used for Provincial
and Federal elections but were not used for Township elections until six years
later.
The Council for 1875 was the last elected in
the Hall. The Council for 1876 was the first elected by ballot in the four
subdivisions. The Deputy Returning Officers at this first ballot election were
at School No. 1, James Scott; School No. 4, Samuel Falconbridge; School No. 6,
Lewis Ferguson; School No. 3, Patrick Downie.
For almost a century Statute Labour was a most
important institution in road maintenance and the pathmaster held a position of
local importance. At first every man from the age of 21 years to 65 years was
obliged to work a stated number of days on the road each year. Later an
alternative was permitted and payment could be made. In 1930 the Council passed
a by-law abolishing Statute Labour and established the present system. D. A.
McNaughton was the first Township Road Superintendent, John A. McPherson, his
successor and Chester Shultz in 1945.
The building of the
hall, the introduction of the ballot and the mention of baseball seems to
definitely end the pioneer stage of Municipal Administration. We confess to a
feeling of regret but it is quite impossible to associate baseball with the
frugal existence, the privations and hardships which dominated social progress
and advancement, and circumscribed Municipal management one hundred years ago.
|
TREASURER’S
STATEMENT FOR THE YEAR 1850 |
||||
|
Receipts |
||||
|
|
|
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
To Cash from Collector
of Taxes |
........................................ |
112 |
10 |
0 |
|
To Cash from
Poundkeeper's Fine |
........................................ |
|
15 |
|
|
Total |
........................................ |
113 |
5 |
0 |
|
Disbursements |
||||
|
Stationery |
........................................ |
0 |
6 |
3 |
|
Assessor’s
salary |
........................................ |
5 |
1 |
1 |
|
School
Superintendent’s salary |
........................................ |
10 |
|
|
|
Councillors’
fees, 45 days |
........................................ |
11 |
5 |
|
|
Rent
of town hall |
........................................ |
2 |
10 |
|
|
Teachers
of schools |
........................................ |
69 |
17 |
3 |
|
Treasurer’s
percentage |
........................................ |
2 |
19 |
8 |
|
Balance
on hand |
........................................ |
11 |
5 |
9 |
|
Total |
........................................ |
113 |
5 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. F. Heath -
Auditors - Peter Grant |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Township Hall
The view above of the Township Hall, Aberfoyle, was taken upon its completion and the council that built it are included. They are Reeve David Stirton, Deputy-reeve Martin Cassin, Councillors Duncan McFarlane, Martin Sprucham, and Peter Gilchrist. The first council meeting was held in this hall on December 30, 1867.
|
PUSLINCH REPRESENTATIVES ON DISTRICT COUNCILS |
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
GORE
DISTRICT COUNCIL 1842-1846 |
||||
|
Wm.
Wade Leslie |
|
Wm.
Nicoll Sr. |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
WELLINGTON
DISTRICT COUNCIL 1846-1847 |
||||
|
Wm.
Leslie |
|
John
Higginson |
||
|
1848-1849 |
||||
|
John
Cockburn |
|
Thomas
Ellis |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
PUSLINCH
REPRESENTATIVES ON
COUNTY COUNCILS 1850-1853 |
||||
|
|
|
|
||
|
WATERLOO
COUNTY COUNCIL 1850-1851 |
||||
|
Reeve
John Cockburn |
|
Deputy-Reeve
Thomas Ellis |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
COUNCIL
OF THE UNITED COUNTIES OF WELLINGTON, WATERLOO and GREY-1852 |
||||
|
Reeve
John Cockburn |
|
Deputy-Reeve
James McRobbie |
||
|
|
|
|
||
|
COUNCIL
OF THE UNITED COUNTIES OF WELLINGTON and GREY-1853 |
||||
|
Reeve
John Cockburn |
|
Deputy-Reeve
Thomas Ellis |
||
PUSLINCH TOWNSHIP COUNCIL
1850 - 1950
|
1850 John Cockburn –
Reeve Thomas Ellis -
Deputy-Reeve Wm. Leslie David Stirton James McRobbie 1851 John Cockburn –
Reeve Thomas Ellis -
Deputy-Reeve James McRobbie David Stirton Wm. Leslie 1852 John Cockburn –
Reeve James
McRobbie-Deputy-Reeve David Stirton Thos. Ellis Wm. Leslie 1853 John Cockburn –
Reeve Thomas Ellis -
Deputy-Reeve Andrew McRobbie David Stirton Wm. Leslie 1854 John Cockburn –
Reeve David
Stirton-Deputy-Reeve Dickie John Black Andrew McRobbie 1855 John Cockburn –
Reeve David
Stirton-Deputy-Reeve Andrew McRobbie Samuel Taylor John Black 1856 David
Stirton-Reeve John
Black-Deputy-Reeve John Caulfield Alex. McLean Samuel Taylor |
1857 David
Stirton-Reeve John
Black-Deputy-Reeve John Caulfield Alex. McLean Samuel Taylor 1858 David
Stirton-Reeve Alex.
McLean-Deputy-Reeve Martin Cassin Samuel Taylor John Iles 1859 William
Leslie-Reeve Samuel
Taylor-Deputy-Reeve John Cockburn John Clark John Doyle 1860 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John
Cockburn-Deputy-Reeve John Clark James Doyle Samuel Taylor 1861 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Samuel
Taylor-Deputy-Reeve John Cockburn John Clark James Doyle 1862 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Samuel
Taylor-Deputy-Reeve John Cockburn John Clark James Doyle 1863 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John
Clark-Deputy-Reeve McNaughton Samuel Taylor John Cockburn |
|
1864 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John Clark-Deputy-Reeve
John Cockburn
Martin Sprucham Peter Gilchrist 1865 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John
Clark-Deputy-Reeve John Cockburn Martin Sprucham Peter Gilchrist 1866 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John
Clark-Deputy-Reeve Martin Sprucham Peter Gilchrist Duncan McFarlane 1867 Wm. Leslie-Reeve John
Clark-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane Martin Sprucham Peter Gilchrist 1868 David
Stirton-Reeve Martin
Cassin-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane Martin Sprucham Peter Gilchrist 1869 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Martin
Sprucham-Deputy-Reeve Wm. Nicoll Andrew Stewart Peter Gilchrist 1870 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Alex. Smith Andrew Stewart James Caulfield |
1871 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm. Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve
James Caulfield
Andrew Stewart Alex. Smith 1872 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Alex. Smith Andrew Stewart James Caulfield 1873 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Alex. Smith Martin Sprucham Peter Mahon 1874 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Alex. Smith Charles Cockburn James Caulfield 1875 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm. Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Charles Cockburn Peter Mahon Alexander Smith 1876 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve James Caulfield Duncan McFarlane Martin Sprucham 1877 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane Martin Sprucham James Caulfield |
|
1878 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane John Iles Martin Sprucham 1879 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm. Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane Martin Sprucham John Iles 1880 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane John Iles Wm. Black 1881 Wm. Leslie-Reeve Wm.
Nicoll-Deputy-Reeve Duncan McFarlane John Iles Robt. Little 1882 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Duncan McFarlane-Deputy-Reeve James Glennie Robt. Little Wm. Rae 1883 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Duncan
McFarlane-Deputy-Reeve James Glennie Neil Marshall Peter McLean 1884 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Duncan
McFarlane-Deputy-Reeve Neil Marshall Peter McLean Wm. Rae |
1885 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Wm.
Rae-Deputy-Reeve Joseph Little Peter McLean Allan Stewart 1886 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Wm.
Rae-Deputy-Reeve Joseph Little Peter McLean Allan Stewart 1887 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Wm.
Rae-Deputy-Reeve Peter McLean Joseph Little Allan Stewart 1888 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Wm.
Rae-Deputy-Reeve Joseph Little Peter McLean Allan Stewart 1889 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Peter
McLean-Deputy-Reeve Allan Stewart James Scott Daniel McNaughton 1890 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Peter
McLean-Deputy-Reeve Daniel McNaughton James Scott Allan Stewart 1891 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Allan
Stewart-Deputy-Reeve James Scott Daniel McNaughton James Hume |
|
1892 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Allan
Stewart-Deputy-Reeve James Scott James
Hume
James Ellis 1893 Wm. Nicoll-Reeve Allan
Stewart-Deputy-Reeve James Ellis James Hume James Scott 1894 Allan
Stewart-Reeve James
Scott-Deputy-Reeve James Ellis James Hume Peter McKenzie 1895 Allan
Stewart-Reeve James
Scott-Deputy-Reeve James Hume Peter McKenzie John Tovell 1896 Allan
Stewart-Reeve Peter
McKenzie-Deputy-Reeve John Gilchrist James Hume Angus McPherson 1897 James Scott-Reeve James
Hume-Deputy-Reeve John Gilchrist Archibald McKenzie Angus McPherson 1898 James Scott-Reeve James
Hume-Deputy-Reeve John Gilchrist Archibald McKenzie Angus McPherson |
1899 James Scott-Reeve John Gilchrist George Meldrum Archibald
McKenzie
John Walsh 1900 James Scott-Reeve John Gilchrist George Meldrum Archibald McKenzie John Walsh 1901 John
Gilchrist-Reeve George Laird George Meldrum Archibald McKenzie Angus McPherson 1902 John
Gilchrist-Reeve George Laird George Meldrum Angus McPherson John Walsh 1903 Angus
McPherson-Reeve Thomas Bedford John Cockburn John Cameron George Laird 1904 Angus
McPherson-Reeve Thomas Bedford John Cockburn John Cameron George Laird 1905 George
Meldrum-Reeve Thomas Bedford John Cameron Alexander McLean John Wilkinson |
|
1906 John
Cockburn-Reeve
Alexander McLean John Cameron Thomas Bedford John Wilkinson 1907 John
Cockburn-Reeve Alexander McLean John Wilkinson Wm. Little John Walsh 1908 Alexander
McLean-Reeve Daniel McFarlane George Metcalf John Walsh Donald Stewart 1909 Alexander
McLean-Reeve Daniel McFarlane John Wilkinson John Walsh Donald Stewart 1910 John
Wilkinson-Reeve Daniel McFarlane Donald Stewart John Cockburn George Metcalf 1911 John Wilkinson-Reeve John Cockburn George Metcalf Daniel McFarlane Donald Stewart 1912 John Walsh-Reeve Daniel McFarlane John Cockburn George Metcalf Donald Stewart |
1913 John
Walsh-Reeve
John Cockburn Daniel McFarlane George Metcalf Donald Stewart 1914 Daniel
McFarlane-Reeve Hugh Ross Alex. McLean John Cockburn George Metcalf 1915 Daniel
McFarlane-Reeve Hugh Ross John Cockburn George Metcalf Alex. McLean 1916 George
Metcalf-Reeve Alex. McLean John Cockburn Hugh Ross John Walsh 1917 George
Metcalf-Reeve John Walsh Alex. McLean John Cockburn Hugh Ross 1918 Hugh Ross-Reeve John Walsh John Cockburn Alex. McLean George Meldrum 1919 Hugh Ross-Reeve John Cockburn George Meldrum Alex. McLean John Walsh |
|
1920 Alex. McLean-Reeve Thomas Doyle Duncan
McLean
Wm. Shultz George Meldrum 1921 Alex. McLean-Reeve Thomas Doyle Duncan McLean Wm. Shultz Daniel Hesketh 1922 Hugh Ross-Reeve Wm. Shultz Duncan McLean Thomas Doyle Wm. Crow 1923 Hugh Ross—Reeve Wm. Crow Thomas Doyle Daniel Hesketh Wm. Shultz 1924 Wm. Shultz-Reeve Wm. Crow Fred Roszell Daniel Hesketh Marshall Haines 1925 Wm. Shultz-Reeve Thomas Doyle Fred Roszell Marshall Haines Wm. Crow 1926 Thomas Doyle-Reeve Fred Roszell Samuel Smith Peter Hume Daniel Hesketh |
1927 Fred Roszell-Reeve Duncan McDonald Marshall
Haines
Neil Stewart Daniel Hesketh 1928 Fred Roszell-Reeve Daniel Hesketh Marshall Haines Duncan McDonald Neil Stewart 1929 Fred Roszell-Reeve Neil Stewart Marshall Haines Duncan McDonald Neil Black 1930 Fred Roszell-Reeve Neil Black Marshall Haines Duncan McDonald Neil Stewart 1931 Marshall
Haines-Reeve Walter Holm Neil Black Wm. Crow Neil Stewart 1932 Marshall
Haines-Reeve Neil Black Walter Holm Wm. Crow Neil Stewart 1933 Neil Black-Reeve Wm. Crow Walter Holm Duncan McDonald George McGill |
|
1934 Neil
Black-Reeve
Wm. Crow Walter Holm Duncan McDonald George McGill 1935 Neil Black-Reeve Donald Stewart Marshall Haines Walter Holm George McGill 1936 Neil Black-Reeve Walter Holm George McGill Marshall Haines Donald Stewart 1937 Walter Holm-Reeve George McGill Donald Stewart Marshall Haines Neil Stewart 1938 Walter Holm-Reeve George McGill Donald Stewart Neil Stewart Marshall Haines 1939 Donald
Stewart-Reeve Jack Paddock Robert Amos Marshall Haines George McGill 1940 Donald
Stewart-Reeve George McGill Robert Amos Daniel Hesketh Albert McWilliams |
1941 Donald
Stewart-Reeve
George McGill Daniel Hesketh Robert Amos Albert McWilliams 1942 Donald
Stewart-Reeve George McGill Robert Amos Daniel Hesketh Albert McWilliams 1943 Donald
Stewart-Reeve George McGill Robert Amos Daniel Hesketh Albert McWilliams 1944 Donald
Stewart-Reeve George McGill Daniel Hesketh Albert McWilliams William Galbraith 1945 Albert
McWilliams-Reeve George McGill Daniel Hesketh William Galbraith William Hunter 1946 Albert
McWilliams-Reeve Daniel Hesketh William Hunter Wilfred Roszell James Starkey 1947 Albert
McWilliams-Reeve Wm.
Hunter-Deputy-Reeve Wilfred Roszell James Starkey Ervin Steffler |
|
1948 Albert McWilliams-Reeve
Wm.
Hunter-Deputy-Reeve Wilfred Roszell James Starkey Ervin Steffler |
1949 Wilfred Roszell-Reeve
Ervin
Steffler-Deputy-Reeve James Starkey Peter McLean Angus Smith |
|
1950 James
Starkey-Reeve Ervin
Steffler-Deputy-Reeve Peter McLean Angus Smith James McCaig |
PERIOD OF THE COMMISSIONERS
From
1897 to 1906, due to Legislative enactment, Wellington County Council was
composed of 14 Commissioners from seven divisions, elected by ballot at regular
township elections. The Reeve and Deputy Reeve did not attend County Council
meetings.
Guelph and Puslinch
Townships composed District No. 1. The
names of the candidates for both Townships were on the ballots. The elections were held every two years and
in 1905 and 1906 both representatives were elected from Puslinch, Guelph
having no representation during those years.
Representatives
from Puslinch during this period were:
|
1897-1900 |
Allan Stewart |
|
1901-1902 |
Peter McLean |
|
1903-1904 |
James Scott |
|
1905-1906 |
John Gilchrist, Angus McPherson |
DEPUTY REEVES AND CHANGING POPULATION
Due
to a decline in the population, the Township was represented in County Council
from the year 1896 by the reeve only, until the year 1947, when an increase in
the population again permitted the sending of two representatives to County
Council.
The
last Deputy Reeve attending County Council in 1896 was Peter McKenzie.
The next Deputy Reeve in 1947 was William J.
Hunter.
James
Hume was Deputy Reeve in 1897-8 but the Commissioners represented the Township
at County Council meetings at that time.
The
Township population in 1874 was 3,280; in 1950 it was 2,385.
WARDENS
OF WELLINGTON COUNTY FROM PUSLINCH
Members of Puslinch Council who have held the
position of Warden of the County of Wellington since 1850:
|
1865 |
William Leslie |
|
1893 |
William Nicoll |
|
1899 |
Allan Stewart |
|
1949 |
Albert McWilliams |
TOWNSHIP
CLERKS SINCE 1850
|
1850 |
Alexander Smith |
|
1855 |
Robert T. Johnston |
|
1874 |
James McLean |
|
1905 |
George J. Meldrum |
|
1911 |
Arkell B.
Falconbridge |
|
1922 |
T. Wm. Robertson |
|
1927 |
George Lewis |
|
1933 to date |
Alex Ord
|
TOWNSHIP
TREASURERS SINCE 1850
|
1850 |
John Hammersley |
|
1856 |
Samuel
Falconbridge |
|
1887 |
Blair Falconbridge |
|
1905 |
Hugh Clark |
|
1921 |
John Walsh |
|
1944 to date |
Alex Ord |
MEMBERS
OF PARLIAMENT SINCE 1850
Puslinch
men elected as Members of Parliament in various Provinces since 1850:
David Stirton
|
Joseph P. Downey
|
|
Peter McKenzie |
|
William McKenzie |
|
Robert G.
McPherson |
COLLECTORS 1850 - 1950 ASSESSORS
From
1851 to 1867 a collector was appointed for each side of the Brock Road.
Two
Assessors were appointed until 1877.
COLLECTORS
|
1850 |
Kenneth
McKenzie |
1867 |
John
Smith |
|
1851 |
James
McLean Thos.
Pallister |
1905 1914 |
James
Harmer Edward
Taylor |
|
1852 |
Duncan
McFarlane Richard
Ellis William
Cockburn William
Hyslop |
1926 1932 1935 1940 |
George
Lewis John
A. Cockburn W.
H. Whyte Thomas Doyle |
|
1856 |
James
McLean Hugh
Melvin |
1944 |
H.
B. Gibson |
ASSESSORS
|
1850 |
John Hammersley Kenneth McKenzie |
1875 |
Joseph Grant James Scott |
|
1855 |
Kenneth McKenzie Alex Smith |
1877 1896 |
James Scott James E. McLean |
|
1856 |
Alex Smith Walter McFarlane |
1901 1922 |
Dan McNaughton William Moore |
|
1859 |
Alex Smith Joseph Grant |
1924 1925 |
Wilson Robertson Duncan McLean |
|
1867 |
Joseph Grant Charles P. Smith |
1941 1949 |
William Crow H. B. Gibson |
|
1874 |
Joseph Grant
William Todd |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Chapter XVIII
The
Historical Committee regrets that they were unable to secure a complete record
of the Military History of Puslinch and no permanent record of those serving
during 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 could be located.
Several
men long associated with early Military history deserve mention. Lieut. Col. William Leslie is believed to
have organized the first Military Company in Puslinch.
Lieut.
Col. William Nicoll was prominently associated with the 11th Field Battery over
a long period of years. King's Sergeant
John A. Wilkinson is the only Puslinch man known to have served in the Boer
War of 1899-1902. He died in 1947.
BOER WAR
John A. Wilkinson J. Minchen
HONOUR ROLL-1914-1918
S. S. No. l:
Edward Hume, James Hume, D. T. Hume, William Ruber,
W. H. Wood, Stephen Mew, George Gordon, T. W. Marsh, Stewart Grieve.
S. S. No. 2:
Geneieve McNulty, Edgar Thatcher, Martin
Foster, Percy McGill, Lorne Tolton.
S. S. No. 3:
James Warner, Massey Berry, Hugh McWilliams,
Albert McWilliams, Joseph Doyle, James Doyle, Orman Gibbs (killed), T. H.
Doyle.
S. S. No. 4:
Norman Dickson, Peter Foster, Joseph A. Mahon,
John F. Mahon, Harold Herbert, Thomas Herbert, James McIntyre (killed), Sterling
Jeffery.
S. S. No. 5:
Roy
Smith (killed), Adam Heller (killed), Alex McKay, Will McKay, Harold Heller,
Gordon McPherson, William Robertson, James McCaig, John McCaig, George
Steffler, Alex Smith, John McKay, Charles Borthwick, Frank Worthington.
S. S. No. 6:
Thomas Cowan, Matthew McAninch, Robert McConnell,
?homas McConnell, George McKay, Charles McLean, Arch. McLean, William
McMillan, Peter McPherson, Robert J. McPherson, John Munroe, James Scott,
Robert Scott, George Thomas.
S. S. No. 7:
Edward Currie, Herbert Currie, Harold Ball,
David Lund, John A. McIntosh, A. W. Brandon, John Wilkinson, Neil Wilkinson
(killed), Royden Wilkinson, M. French.
S. S. No. 8:
Those
who made the supreme sacrifice were: Willie Morris, Louis Munch, Alex. Martin,
John Munroe, Walter Penrice.
The following were soldiers: Thomas L. Ayres,
David Beaver, William Beaver, Nelson Munch, John Gregor, C. W. Winer, Norman
Beaver, Gordon Ames, Harry Schultz, Newton Marshall, William Ames, Ed. Morris.
S. S. No. 9:
Those who returned: Duncan Clark, Ernest
Clark, Hugh Cockburn, Thos. McDonald, Alex. McLean, Roy McIntyre, Marshall
Revell, Edward Scott, James Simpson, Peter Simpson.
Those
who paid supreme sacrifice: James Clark, Fred Foley, Mark McIntyre, Septimus
Harrison.
S. S. No. 10:
William Grahamshaw (killed), Moffat Cockburn,
Harry Richardson, Albert Atkinson, Thomas Alcock, Alf Calvert (killed), Frank
Yeates.
S. S. No. 11:
Leslie Eagle (killed), Lee Eagle, Robert
Evans, Joseph Heaney.
S. S. No. 12:
Lewis Arkell, Gordon Cutting, John Boufeldt,
Frank Wilfong, Wellington Cutting, Irving Lisso, Alex Currie (killed), Herbert
Currie (killed), William Palmer (killed).
James Florence,
Norman J. Thomas, George G. Murdock, Thomas Foster, William Foster, Frank
Foster, Roy McKay, William McNaughton, John McNaughton, Herbert Hume, William
Steffler, Robert Borthwick, William Mann, Charles L. Mann, Gladstone Marshall,
Hugh Watson, Everett Gray, W. Palframann, Milton Gordier, Harley Galbraith,
Ernest Chester.
HONOUR ROLL 1939-1945
Those who paid the Supreme
Sacrifice:
Fitton, Norman; McEachern, Gerald; McGarr,
Patrick J. W.; McLean, W. A.; McIntyre, Arch.; McIntyre, James; Priest, David;
Stewart, George; Weatherall, Fraser; Huffmon, Chas.
Women belonging to
the Services: McLean, Marjorie; Steffler, Rose; Stewart, Joanne.
Men belonging to
various branches of the Services:
Aikens, Robert;
Ainslie, George; Archibald, S. A.; Arndt, Clarence; Arpa, John;
Badley, Harold;
Baker, Lewis; Barnett, D. B.; Beaver, W. J.; Beckett, Frank; Beckett, John;
Benallick, A. J.; Bertallo, Geno; Bertallo, Orlando; Binks, Percy; Bishop,
Jack; Boreham, W.; Bruce, Donald; Burgess, S. W.;
Calder, W. C.; Carmichael, John; Carroll, E.
V.; Carter, Wallace; Christian, Albert; Christian, Earl; Christian, Kenneth;
Clair, William; Conroy, Francis; Culp, R. J.; Cunnington, George; Cunnington,
Jack;
Darnell, Harry; Darnell, Reg.; Davidson,
Robert; Downes, Lorne; Durnin, Norman;
Elliot, A. Murray.
Ferguson, Donald;
Ferguson, Ian; Fitton, Gordon A.; Fitton, Victor G.; Florence, G. D.; Foster,
William P.; Frank, W. Arthur; Frasson, Angelo; Fularski, James;
Galbraith, Harley; Gilmour, Douglas; Goegan, Gino; Gray, E.; Gray,
Reg.; Greer, Claire; Gregor, Lewis J.;
Haines, Clayton; Hanning, D. A.; Hayden, W.
R. Jr.; Hewer, Joseph; Hilborn, Gordon; Hingleman, John; Huether, Clarence;
Huether; W. J. L.; Huffman, Harry; Huffman, Jack; Hume, Roy L.; Hume W. Harold;
Huffmon, G. W.; Huffmon, Harold,
Jones, James; Kerr, E.
A.; Laing, Gordon; Laing, John; Lamont, Donald; Leslie, C. P.; Lewis, George;
Little, Peter; Loty, John.
Male, Hart; Marketjohn, Gus; Mast, James;
Mathies, Jack; McCarl, Gordon; McConnell, Frank; McCormick, Alex.; McDonald,
Angus; McDonald, Howitt; McDonald, James; McDonald, John E.; McDonald, Philip;
McEachern, Winston; McFarlane, Lindsay; McIntosh, William; McLaren , C. W. P.;
McLean, J. D.; McLean, K. A.; McLean, L. J.; McLean, Peter Pd.; McNally, D. C.;
Merrell, Charles; Miller, D. A.; Moffat, Delmar; Morrison, W. J.;
Patmore, Gordon; Pentelow, Gordon; Priest,
Ross; Pylack, Arthur; Rushton, Albert; Scott, Archibald; Sleeman, R. E.;
Skerritt, George E.; Skerritt, I. J.; Skerritt, L. A.; Smith, Jack; Stewart, D.
Cameron; Stewart, Bruce.
Tabbert, William;
Tatum, H. O.; Templeman, Ross; Tully, Jack; Turner, Richard H.; Watson, Lieut.
M. H.; Weatherill, F. J.; Webb, Edgar G.; Weekes, Cecil; Westlake, Walter;
Winer, R. D.; Woolsey, J. W.; Wyse, J. B.; Wyse, Leo.
The
Soldier’s Memorial Monument was erected by the people of Puslinch and unveiled
on June 3, 1920, in memory of those who served and died in the war of
1914-1918.
In
1945, on the return of the forces from overseas, a banquet and presentation was
held in their honour at the Township Hall, Aberfoyle.
On
June 3, 1949, a Memorial Service was held at the Monument in the Township
grounds, Aberfoyle, for those who served and died in the 1939-1945 World War,
their names to be inscribed on the Memorial Monument.
|
|
Located on the Township grounds at Aberfoyle, this monument was erected
by the citizens in honour of those who paid the supreme sacrifice in the
battles of 1914-1918 and the last great conflict 1939-1945. Their names are inscribed on the monument
and their memory is perpetuated.
The following names were omitted through an
oversight.
|
Beaver,
C. A. |
Mew,
S. |
|
Bell, R. E. |
Milroy,
W. B. |
|
Bolton,
F. F. |
Murray,
A. |
|
Coles,
H. |
Neil,
J. N. |
|
Davis,
R. |
Simpson,
D. J. |
|
Fox,
F. B. |
Simpson,
W. J. |
|
Fraser,
K. E. |
Thomas,
Rev. H. R |
|
Fraser,
L. J. |
Vaughan,
D. W. |
|
Greer,
C. |
Warren,
H. J. |
|
Hannington,
G. |
White,
H. |
|
McLaren,
P. |
Wilson,
C. H. |
|
McNaughton, R. |
|
Chapter XIX
During the past century many worthy
organizations have been carried on in the Township, some of which we might
mention: Puslinch Agricultural Society, Sons of Temperance, Farmers’
Institute, Grange, Plowman’s Association, Women’s Institute, Red Cross, Mutual
Fire Insurance, Patrons of Industry, Ancient Order of United Workmen, Sons of
Scotland, Independent Order of Foresters, Board of Health, Aberfoyle Athletic
Club, Progressive Club, Horticulture Society, Temperance Organization, School
Fairs, Morriston Public Library, Aberfoyle Literary Society.
The first organization that we have any record
of was the Puslinch Agriculture Society which began one hundred and ten years
ago, and has been carried on annually ever since. Prize money paid out a century back amounted to £46, S. 7, d.
b. At the present time, this amount has
been increased many times. A plowing
match was also carried on in connection with the Fall Fair. Records show that plowing had been carried
on from 1852 until 1870. In 1894 a
plowing match was organized at Corwhin and also another at Puslinch Lake in
1922.
Puslinch Mutual Fire Insurance Co. held their
first meeting at Jas. McMeekin’s Inn in 1859.
Other meetings followed in the same year and the Company was organized
with John Cockburn as President and Kenneth McKenzie as
Secretary-Treasurer. He was followed
four years later by Alexander Smith.
Directors were William Leslie, Matthew Elliott, David Stirton, Kenneth
McKenzie, John Black, Duncan McFarlane, John Cockburn. The first semi-annual
meeting was held July 1st, 1859, and the Secretary Treasurer reported that
already fifty-two members had joined.
This company is still operating in the Township.
Puslinch Board of Health was established in
1884. Those chosen to administer affairs were William Nicoll (Reeve), James
McLean (Clerk of Township), Dr. William Cormack, M.D., John Iles, Allan
McIntyre. They met four times each year to make and receive reports on the
medical and sanitary conditions in the Township. This Board has carried on the same work ever since.
In the later years of the past century the
Patrons of Industry of North America were organized in Puslinch. At present little information can be
gathered regarding their work.
For a number of years, School Fairs were held
in the Township under the guidance of the Provincial Department of Agriculture.
The children received both knowledge and pleasure from these events.
The Independent Order of Foresters organized a
court in Morriston on May 8th, 1883, and another in Aberfoyle in 1888. In 1902, the Morriston Lodge bought a building and renovated it to
make a suitable hall. In 1944, the hall
was sold to the Village Trustees with the understanding it would be preserved
as a Community Hall.
The Ancient Order of United Workmen established
a Lodge in 1886 at Morriston which grew very rapidly for some years. In 1926, the Lodge united with the
Independent Order of Foresters.
In the 1870's, the Sons of Temperance had
quite a strong organization and had branches in many parts of the Township,
building some halls to carry on their work.
At this time very little can be learned about their benefits, except
that, at that time, quite a numbers of hotels were closed by Duncan Gilchrist,
who was License Inspector at that time.
Another Temperance
Organization was formed in 1905 and through the efforts of this Society a vote
was taken on the Local Option, after the Act was passed by the Legislature,
giving power to each municipality to enforce the Act. In 1911, the Act was defeated, but three years later was carried
and has been in force ever since.
South Wellington Farmer's Institute was
organized on May 16, 1886, and carried on until 1919-1920 when it merged into
Farmer's Club work. The work of the
Farmer's Institute was co-ordinated until 1910 through the Ontario Agricultural
College which supplied speakers and lecturers for the meetings. The Farmer's Institute also held Seed Fairs
in the fall at which prizes were offered for seed wheat, and for the exchange
of seed in quantities. In the spring,
Seed Fairs were also carried on for the same purpose.
A Horticultural Society was organized in 1922
for the purpose of encouraging the planting of flowers and shrubs around the
homes and schools. Contests were also held. In 1939, a farm and home
improvement contest was held, sponsored jointly with the Agricultural Society
and Women's Institute.
About forty years have passed since the
Puslinch Literary Society held some interesting debates at the hall and
neighbouring towns. It was the first
organization of its kind and for quite a number of years, much interest was
shown in it.
During the same time and at the same place,
the Aberfoyle Athletic Club carried on, their programme being principally games
and athletics. John Hohenadel, who was
formerly Physical Trainer at the Ontario Agricultural College, spent many
evenings training the younger folk in several forms of athletics including the
art of club swinging and boxing.
The Aberfoyle Progressive Club made up of
members from all parts of the Township carried on the work of the County Junior
Farmers Association, including Public Speaking, Debating, Essay Writing, Music,
Dramatics and Live Stock Judging. It
was the second largest Club in the
Province for a time. Through the
efforts of this Club the Township Hall was greatly improved by having a
basement and a new floor placed therein.
The Women's Institute, which had been
organized in 1897, found its way to Puslinch in 1903. In that year the first branch in the Township was formed; this
was known as the Puslinch Branch. It
has given three District Presidents to South Wellington: Mrs. Hammersley, Miss
Jessie Jeffery and presently Mrs. Harold Bell.
Arkell Women’s Institute was organized in 1909 by Mrs. Hammersley, who
was District President at that time. It
has given two officers to the District, Mrs. Stewart Hume as President and Mrs.
David Hume as Secretary. We now have
six active Women’s Institutes in the Township.
In 1915, a meeting was held in the Village of
Morriston where the Puslinch Branch of the Canadian Red Cross was organized.
The first President was Mrs. J. A. Wilkinson; Vice-President, Mrs. Alton
Binkley; Secretary, Mrs. Moffat and Treasurer, Mrs. William Hodges. They
carried on very successfully during the first World War and when the second
World War broke out the organization was revived and re-organized. It continued along similar lines as during
the first World War. The women of
Puslinch were untiring in sewing and knitting materials mostly for the boys and
girls from Puslinch overseas. These
materials, together with boxes, were from time to time sent overseas during the
whole period of the war and were much appreciated by our boys and girls in
active service. In fact, this Branch was exceptionally active in carrying on
all the philanthropic work for which the Red Cross is noted throughout the
world.
In the year 1895, the first Library was
organized under the name of the Morriston Mechanics Institute and was located
in Dr. Hilliard's Drug Store where the Bank of Toronto now stands. In 1897, the name was changed to the
Morriston Public Library and was moved to Mr. Weeks' home but later was moved
to the property then owned by Mr. John McNaughton where it still remains. It has proved a very useful and convenient
organization for the reading public of the Township of Puslinch.
Crown Cemetery is located on the East side of Highway No. 6 between
Aberfoyle and Morriston. In response to
a petition of the Presbyterians of Puslinch to the Crown Lands Department,
Toronto, Lot 28, Front Concession 8 was granted to them and others, their heirs
and assigns, forever to be used as a burying ground. The first burial was in
1830 or 1831 and for more than fifty years there were no records kept of
burials. Each time a plot was required it was chosen at random. In 1886, a Cemetery Board was formed naming the following as
members: R. B. Morrison, Hugh Cockburn, Secretary Treasurer; Charles Calfas;
Robert Watson; and Allan Stewart.
Following this, many improvements were made. In 1893, a house was built for the caretaker and in 1937,
Memorial Gates and fence were erected by public subscription.
Chapter XX
The
earliest road or trail into Central Western Ontario was from Dundas to
Brantsford (Brantford), then North to Galt.
Later the Mennonites coming from Pennsylvania to Waterloo used a more
direct route from Dundas to Galt afterwards called the Stone Road. This road
was in use years before the Brock road was opened. Records indicate that many pioneers in the 1830's came into
Puslinch by the Stone road to Galt, thence through North Dumfries toward
Killean, others by way of Galt to New Hope (Hespeler) and some continuing to
Guelph, thence into Puslinch from the North.
With the possible exception of several early
trails in the vicinity of Puslinch Lake, the Brock Road, on early maps called
the Aboukir, is undoubtedly the oldest trail or road in the Township and was
used by pioneers before surveying commenced in 1828. It was the first road in the Township to be surveyed. The surveyor started at the Guelph end. The true right of way for the 8th Concession
evidently was never surveyed, the surveyor charting the existing trail with its
numerous curves and irregularities, which are yet very noticeable, but,
conform nevertheless to Mr. Jones’ survey of 1784 on the Nassagaweya boundary.
It
was evidently the foresight and influence of Sir John Galt that occasioned the
opening of this road southward from Guelph to meet the existing road extending
north from Dundas. Absalom Shade of
Galt had the contract for chopping and clearing this road allowance; he also
cut a bush road from New Hope (Hespeler) along the high land in the fourth
Concession, joining the Brock road on Lot 13, to haul supplies to the gangs
opening the road. All trace of this has
long since disappeared but it was called Shade's road and early settlers around
Aberfoyle travelled this way to Galt as grist mills were operating in Galt
earlier than in Guelph.
It is improbable that
the Brock road was ever a Township road. Available records indicate that
although the Township contributed to its maintenance the actual control was
vested in various Councils and Boards Separate from Township jurisdiction. In 1848, the Wellington District Council
issued debentures and improved this road.
Shortly afterwards, the Directors of the Guelph and Dunlop road seem to
be in control; their Secretary was T. R. Brock. We are of the opinion that this road owes its name to this man
rather than to General Brock as General Brock was dead fifteen years before
the road was opened.
Two Toll Gates are known to have existed on
this road, one North of Hamilton's Hotel and one south of Puslinch, on the
Beverly side. Its history as a Toll
Road is obscure but evidently extended over a considerable period as the last
Toll Gate below Puslinch was still in existence about 1890. Later, the
Provincial Government gradually assumed a larger share of maintenance costs and
in the early 1920's it became a Provincial Highway.
The Puslinch section of the road was paved in
1925 and Highway No. 6 is now its modern insignificant delineation. Morriston and Aberfoyle were surveyed into
lots in 1860. Aberfoyle was always the administrative seat of the Township,
only one Session of Council is known to have been held elsewhere. On June 12th,
1858, they met in the new Hall in Morriston. This Hall was equipped with jail
cells in the basement, the only ones ever erected in Puslinch.
Morriston was originally called Elgin and is
so termed in Council minutes. In 1915,
it was established as a Police Village by County By-Law, having a population of
247. The first Post Office between
Hamilton and Guelph was established at Puslinch. "Squire" Leslie was the first Postmaster. His father, William Wade Leslie, had
received a grant of 397 acres of land on this site for military services and
his son started a store here in the 1850's.
It was later owned by his son-in-law, John A. Macdonald, then his son,
Clarence, and now W. C. Macdonald, a great grandson of the original owner.
At one time, Puslinch stretched from the Hotel
near the Beverly border to the Crieff and Badenoch crossroad; here Donald and
Lewis Ferguson operated a store before locating in Killean. Dan McIntosh kept a tailor shop on Lot 26,
west of the Brock road. Mrs. Donald
McCaig remembers the tailor as he sat cross-legged on his table, plying his
needle. Before the railroads were built an enormous amount of teaming and
hauling was done on this road not only from the Township but to and from points
North of Guelph to the lake ports near Hamilton.
In 1863, there were 19 Licensed Taverns and 2
stores in Puslinch, 10 on this road which catered to and thrived on the teaming
traffic.
After the completion of the Credit Valley
Railway in 1880, business centred around the station. This station was named Shaw and the hamlet
had a sort of dual existence with the station Shaw and the Post Office,
Puslinch, only a few yards apart. Shaw
was changed to Puslinch in 1912. This was a busy centre about the turn of the
century, it being the shipping point for the live stock industry in several
townships and the grain trade operated by Henry W. Ironside, son-in-law of
Squire Leslie.
The Dominion Express, before the building of
the T. H. & B., operated a morning and evening service to Dundas. James McPherson and J. J. Currie drove the
wagons in the early nineties. The large C.P.R. warehouse west of the station
was burnt in 1919. With the paving of
No. 6 Highway, completed in 1925, and the development of motor trucks, this
business declined abruptly.
The overhead crossing was built in 1927, adding an extra hill to the
Township. A steam saw mill, likely of
the upright type, was operated at an early date on Front Lot 36, West of the
station and Mahoney's quarry on Lot 34 was an important industry from the 90's
on until about 1925.
In 1850, a passenger and mail coach service
was established, leaving Hamilton at 8 a.m. arriving at Guelph at 4 p.m. when
another coach left Guelph arriving at Hamilton at midnight. Mail was delivered
at Puslinch, Morriston, R. T. Morrison, postmaster, and Aberfoyle, John McFarlane,
postmaster.
In 1862, a mail route was established from
Puslinch via Crieff, Killean and Clyde to Galt and return, twice weekly in
1875, three times weekly till 1887 when a daily service was arranged from
Puslinch to Crieff and from Leslie Station to Killean Post Office.
Norman McLeod, John Elliott, Hector
Bannatyne, Frank Matthews and Robert William McLean were mail carriers from
Puslinch to Galt, Alex Wilkinson from Leslie Station to Killean and James
McDonald and Sons from Puslinch to Crieff. Lewis
and Donald Ferguson and Donald's son Marshall were postmasters at Killean P.O.
during the entire fifty years of its existence. James Hollinger was the last Postmaster and first mail carrier at
Crieff. Rural mail commenced in 1912.
The Bell Telephone Co. extended their rural
lines from Guelph into Puslinch along the Brock Road early in the century and
in January 1925 the Hydro Electric Power Commission first began supplying
Electric power along this highway, a service which now extends over most of the
Township.
Roads are a symbol of
Civilization and the transformation in Township, County and Provincial roads
and modes of travel during the past century emphasized stupendous mechanical,
scientific and material progress.
Roads, however, provide only a limited criterion for progress and we can
not admit, nor do we believe, that this generation, travelling in superb
grandeur and luxurious ease, have a deeper, if indeed as clear, a perception
of the realities and purpose of human existence than the pioneer men and women
who trod the backwoods trails and footpaths and endured the jolting, springless
wagon with the patient, plodding oxen on the old Concession road.
|
OFT,
IN THE STILLY NIGHT Oft, in the stilly
night, Ere slumber’s
chain has bound me, Fond memory brings the light Of other days
around me; The smiles, the tears, Of boyhood’s years, The words of love
then spoken; The eyes that shone, Now dimmed and
gone, The cheerful
hearts now broken! Thus in the stilly
night, Ere slumber’s
chain has bound me, Sad memory brings the
light Of other days
around me. When I remember
all The friends, so
linked together, I’ve seen around me fall, Like leaves in
wintry weather, I feel like one Who treads alone Some banquet hall
deserted, Whose lights are fled, Whose garlands
dead, And all but he departed! Thus, in the stilly night Ere slumber’s
chain has bound me, Sad memory brings
the light Of other days
around me. -Moore |