Tales of early settlers, part 4
Local historian Helen Blackburn continues her account of those who settled in Creemore. The accounts that follow came to life in the early 1900s through interviews, obituaries and stories arising from 50th wedding anniversaries.
George Best, who lived in the vicinity of Dunedin, died in 1928 in his eighty-eighth year. He is one example of a man who did a prodigious amount of land clearing. He was born in the north of Ireland in 1841 and crossed to Canada with his parents when he was a child of two years. The family settled in Hope Township where many more of their countrymen were.
George Best, with his brother, William, came to Nottawasaga and it is reputed that they “chopped over 500 acres of virgin forest. He helped build five school houses, five churches and five Orange Halls. His cedar log home was for long the social centre of the community and many enjoyed shaking their feet to Daddy’s famous Jew’s harp. Here the weary traveler was lodged or a new settler kept until his own shanty was ready. On one occasion three Men of the Cloth were lodged one night.”
Yes, there was plenty of work, almost more than one can imagine, but what was missing was money. The would-be farmers were mainly self sufficient and could trade goods to a certain extent but there was also need for cash for supplies and taxes. The desperation for something only cash could provide comes from an account of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Metheral’s 50th wedding anniversary. This couple came to Nottawasaga in 1863 and settled on Sideroad 6/7 west of Dunedin.
“The first two years were a hard struggle. Money could scarcely be had to buy flour. The first summer though Mr. Metheral was willing to work for 50 cents a day none of his neighbours had cash to pay him. In desperation he set out one June morning to walk to Nottawa and trade his watch for a hundred pounds of flour. Before he reached Duntroon, however, he decided that Mr. Melville (the miller at Nottawa) would be very unlikely to give a young stranger flour on such terms, and he turned back. On his way back he stopped at Mrs. Robinson’s. As to many inquiries as to the cause, Mr. Metheral reluctantly confessed his object, saying that he hoped to receive money from a friend to whom he had lent it, but that it had not come. Mrs. Robinson at once offered him flour, and with 40 pounds on his back he trudged home a happy man. The lent money soon came and from that time want disappeared.”
Another incident which describes the need for supplies comes from the obituary of William Anderson, the same man previously mentioned in another issue who wanted to return from where he came from. “The provisions they had brought with them from Trenton having become exhausted, they were often in dire need of the necessities of life. On one occasion when they had no flour in the house, Mr. Anderson lugged 100 pounds of maple sugar he had made, tied it to the oxen’s yoke, and started to Nottawa where he would exchange the sugar for flour. Having obtained the flour he returned home with it the same way, and found two or three neighbours awaiting his return to get a little of the flour, which, of course, he shared with them.”
Isaac Woods was one man who did have money and in the generous spirit of the pioneer days shared it freely. He and his wife came to Nottawasaga in 1843 when the township was almost unbroken wilderness and purchased part of lot 4, concession 5, which is south of Creemore on the Fourth Line. At that time Creemore was unknown, in fact it barely existed.” All the hardships of pioneer life were endured until the country became more opened up. Mr. Woods brought considerable money with him but his generous and open-fisted nature would not allow him to see a fellow creature in want, and a lot of sovereigns slipped through his fingers in this way never to return.”
William Young, a prominent Creemore citizen, who died in Creemore in 1920, was one who was able to obtain money on his arrival in this area. On arrival in Stayner he obtained a job making the corduroy road through the swamp on the Second Line (now the Airport Road) south of Stayner. He earned $9 a month that winter.
William Young was born in Ayton, England, and in his words, came to Canada on a challenge by his mate. His ship was caught in a gale (it was the equinox) and rolled and tossed for three days with almost everyone sick. He survived, however, and with his wife and two small children made his way from New York to Stayner.
After that first winter building a road he was able to earn a living by farming. In 1907 he moved to Creemore and became Chief Constable, Tax Collector, and Superintendent of Water Works.
The world of pioneering seems very far away today as we cover distances in minutes that once took more than a day walking. Our pantry cupboards groan with food, trees are cut down with chainsaws. There are government allowances for widows with children and very few of us build our own houses. These early residents are an inspiration to us as they tackled their survival problems.
Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to the Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.
