Introduction
The
article following is provided by that wonderful publication, the “Puslinch
Pioneer”, which for over thirty years has been dedicated to coverage of
The Fixter Family of Killean
(Part I, from the Puslinch Pioneer,
December 1984/January 1985, volume 9, issue 5)
The century farm home of Scott and Evelyn
Fixter, like many of the old stone houses built in the last century, has a
dignity, beauty and charm that is somehow missing from
the homes built today. The Fixter home
also has a most unusual architectural feature in that it boasts of not one but
two beautiful bow windows. The house was
built in 1877; the date is inscribed on a basement wall by Scott’s grandfather,
John Scott.
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The beauty of many old stone houses is
expressed here. Note the two lovely
bow windows and the clean ornamentation of the front porch, all combining
with the single dormer to give an artistically balanced effect. |
The mortar for the house was made on the
property. Limestone rocks were gathered
from the fields and placed in a masonry kiln.
A fire made with hardwood was kept blazing until the rocks became
red-hot. When they cooled down they were
broken up into coarse powder called lime. Limestone
rocks are made up mostly of calcium carbonate.
When the lime reacts with water it forms calcium hydroxide or slaked
lime. Lime is also called quick-lime
because of its strong chemical action.
The lime swells when mixed with water and the water becomes so hot it
actually boils. Lime has to be handled
with great respect because it is very caustic and can cause nasty burns. The mortar made in this manner has certainly
stood the test of time.
The picturesque stone silo on the Fixter farm
was built before the house and was the first silo in the section. It is still in use and is packed with corn so
that the livestock can have juicy, tasty feed all winter.
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The old and the new, the pioneer silo, still
quite functional, stands beside a modern design silo. Basically, there is not much change in the
essential design. |
The first silos were just pits covered with
boards. Interestingly, the Americans
learned how to make silos from the Europeans in the 1870’s. Chopped plant material (silage) is put in the
top of the silo and removed from the bottom as required. If the silage is packed properly all the air
is forced out of the silo. Moulds that
cause the feed to spoil cannot survive without air. Fermentation also helps prevent
spoilage. It was found that round silos
can best withstand the pressure of tightly packed food, plus it is almost
impossible to pack the food into square corners tightly enough to force out the
air.
The Crown deed issued to John Scott for the
farm is dated Sept. 25, 1857. John
married Margaret McPhatter. In 1898,
their daughter Margaret married Englishman Henry Fixter. The Fixter family was blessed with four
children, Scott, Pansy (Mrs. Major), Grace (Mrs. Lindsay), and Olive (Mrs.
Clarence Awde). Scott’s mother Margaret
inherited the farm from her brother Matthew and in 1948 she left the farm to
Scott.
Scott attended School Section # 7. Stones from the farm, donated by Grandfather
Scott, were used to build the Killean school. There were only two other children in Scott’s
class, Tina McMillan and Rosie Burmaster.
Their first teacher was Minnie McLeod.
Other teachers were Norm Boal, Christina
McLarty, Miss Nesbitt, and Margaret Major.
Their drinking water came from a spring behind the school. Scott recalls that they would fill up a
bucket and put it on the windowsill and there it would sit ready to quench the
thirst of the teacher and pupils. The
box stove used to heat the school was huge and could take wood in 2 ft. lengths. Behind the school, the two outhouses, boys
and girls, were separated by a tall board fence.
The Christmas Concert was the big event and
Scott remembers that they had a lot of fun rehearsing for it. Mr. Robert Burmaster would come and play his
accordion. He was a very big man and he
always disappeared when Santa showed up.
Before Santa left, he would always play a couple of tunes on Mr. Burmaster’s accordion.
The children, caught up in all the excitement, never did connect Mr.
Burmaster with the accordion playing Santa.
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The Fixter Family of Killean
(Part
II, from the Puslinch Pioneer, February 1985, volume 9, issue 6.)
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School
Section # 7, Back Row: Teena McMillan,
Grace McMillan, Miss Nesbitt, Maggie Ball, Rosie Burmaster.
2nd Row: Pansy Fixter, Grace Fixter, Margaret Milroy, Isobel
Burmaster, Scott Fixter, Robert Burmaster. Seated:
Angus McMillan, William Ball, Sylvester Burmaster. |
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Many of the early settlers who took up land in
the south west corner of Puslinch, S.S. # 7, came from Killean, a parish and
village in
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General Store and Post Office, Killean,
1883. Known as “The Scotch House”, it was built by Donald Ferguson (seated, holding dog)
circa 1869. |
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The Killean Train Station was built in the
1880’s. Scott Fixter recalls that when he
was a boy the C. P. R. train, steam, never stopped at the station to pick up or
deliver the mail, it only slowed down.
The incoming mail bag was kicked off the train and the outgoing mail
bag was snatched off the tower by a mechanical arm on the train. The tower was made of angle iron and looked
like a small windmill tower.
Home delivery of mail didn’t start until 1913
and Scott recalls that the children would walk to the General Store after
school to pick up their mail. The store sold,
among many other items, cod fish that had been salted, smoked
and dried. It was kept just inside the
door and Scott remembers that everyone managed to pinch off a piece. He doesn’t know how much was sold but figured
that the little nips people helped themselves to must have amounted to quite a
few pounds in a year. “It tasted
alright” Scott recalls, “I had my share.” (Perhaps the
snack food people should look into the possibility of a fish-flavoured chip.)
Donald Ferguson’s son, Marshall, was the Post
Master when Scott went to school. Marshall’s nephew,
Harold Ball, met the train at the station, then carried the mail bag over a
mile to the Post Office before walking to school. He was always late for school but Scott
recalls that he was a bright boy and had no trouble catching up on his school
work.
When School Inspector J. J. Craig arrived at
S.S. 7, the older boys would have to take his horse and buggy to the stable at
Scott wrote his entrance exams in 1914. He recalls that at that time there was no hydro,
telephone, car or tractor. In June 1914, when his dad took him and Teena McMillan in the buggy to Aberfoyle to write their
exams it was quite the big outing. The
exams took 2 or 3 days to write and Scott and Teena
stayed with the John Blake family.
Scott served on the local and area School
Boards. He was a Councillor, Deputy-Reeve and Reeve of Puslinch for a total of 12
years. He was also a member of the
Hespeler and Puslinch Planning Boards and a member of the
This writer looked forward to many more
interesting visits with Scott and his wife Evelyn to record some of Scott’s
many fascinating stories of bygone days.
Scott passed away suddenly at his century farm home on January 15th, and
the staff of the Puslinch Pioneer wish to extend their sincere sympathy to his
wife Evelyn and to their children John, Clarence and
Doreen, and all other family members.
Contributed by Cleo Melzer.
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