Elizabeth and George Gordon

 

George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly - Wikipedia

Elizabeth Gordon, Countess of Huntly - Wikipedia

Guillaume Couillard

Guillaume Couillard was a French colonist who was born on October 11, 1588, in Saint-Servan, France1. He was the first French colonist to be ennobled by King Louis XIV in New France2. He was a carpenter, sailor, and caulker by trade2. He married Guillemette Hébert in Quebec City on August 26, 16212. He died on March 4, 1663, in Quebec City1.

Guillaume Couillard was one of the first people to own an African slave in Canada1. The slave’s real name is unknown but the name his master gave him is well-documented: Olivier Le Jeune1. Ndiaye says Couillard likely owned one of the first African slaves in Canada and he says that slave would have lived in Couillard’s house1.

Olivier Le Jeune was the first recorded slave purchased in New France1. He was a young boy from Madagascar, believed to have been approximately seven years of age when he was brought to the French colonial settlement of Quebec in New France by Scottish privateer David Kirke or one of his brothers, Lewis and Thomas Kirke during their capture of the settlement on behalf of the English Crown1. Olivier Le Jeune was designated as a national historic person in 2022.

Olivier Le Jeune was designated as a national historic person in 2022. He was the first documented person of African descent to have lived on a permanent basis in Canada (New France) during the first half of the 17th century. He was also the first person of African descent known to have been enslaved in the colony, decades before it became a participant in the Atlantic slave trade.

Orkney

Orkney is an archipelago of more than 70 islands in the north of Scotland. It has a long and rich history that dates back to Mesolithic times. One of the clans that held lands in Orkney was **Clan Sinclair**, who were also the Earls of Orkney and Earls of Caithness. Clan Sinclair is a Highland Scottish clan that traces its origin to Normandy and later to Roslin in Lothian. The clan's motto is "Commit thy work to God" and its crest is a cock's head with an oak branch in its beak¹.

Clan Sinclair got Orkney through a series of marriages and grants. According to some sources, the first Sinclair who married into the Orkney earldom was **William Sinclair**, who wedded **Isabel of Orkney**, the daughter of **Malise II**, the Earl of Orkney, around 1330. Their son, **Henry Sinclair**, was granted the earldom of Orkney by **King Haakon VI of Norway** in 1379, as Orkney was then under Norwegian rule. Henry Sinclair was also Lord of Roslin and Lord High Admiral of Scotland. He was succeeded by his son, **Henry II Sinclair**, who was confirmed as Earl of Orkney by **King Eric III of Norway** in 1404. However, in 1468, Orkney was pledged to Scotland by **King Christian I of Denmark and Norway** as part of his daughter's dowry for marrying **King James III of Scotland**. The Sinclairs were then forced to resign their earldom and accept a new Scottish title instead. They retained their lands in Caithness and Roslin though.

According to some sources, Orkney and Shetland never operated under the clan system, unlike the Scottish Highlands. Surnames were either based on the father's name (patronymic) or on the place of origin (toponymic), and could change until the 18th century. Therefore, it is unlikely that all the inhabitants of Orkney were considered members of Clan Sinclair, even though they held the earldom. However, some people may have adopted or inherited the Sinclair surname over time, especially if they had ties to Caithness or Roslin.
Some of the common surnames in Orkney are:

- **Sinclair**: As mentioned before, this surname comes from Clan Sinclair who were Earls of Orkney and Caithness¹. It is the most common surname in Orkney according to a census in 1841.
- **Flett**: This surname is thought to derive from a place name in Shetland, another island group near Orkney². It is the second most common surname in Orkney according to the same census.
- **Spence**: This surname may come from an Old French word meaning "dispenser" or "steward", indicating an occupation. It is the third most common surname in Orkney according to the same census¹.
- **Muir**: This surname may come from a Scots word meaning "moor" or "heath", indicating a place of origin³. It is the fourth most common surname in Orkney according to the same census.
Other common surnames in Orkney include Gair, Gilchrist, Gillies, Harcus, Heddle, Kirkness, Linklater, Marwick and Rendall.

(2) A history of names from the Scottish Highlands and Islands. https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-entertainment/history-names-scottish-highlands-and-islands-1475387
(3) Surname Database: Orkney Last Name Origin. https://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Orkney
(4) Orkney Census Surname Index • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Orkney_Census_Surname_Index
(5) Most Common Surnames in Orkney, With Meanings - Forebears. https://forebears.io/scotland/orkney/surnames
(1) Orkneyjar - Orkney Frequently Asked Questions. http://orkneyjar.com/orkney/faq.htm .
(2) History of Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orkney
(3) Orkney, Scotland Genealogy • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Orkney,_Scotland_Genealogy
(4) Orkneymen | The Canadian Encyclopedia. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/orkneymen
(5) Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney
(6) History of Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orkney
(1) Sinclair Clan History. https://www.scotclans.com/blogs/tu2/sinclair-clan-history
(3) Clan Sinclair History. http://www.clansinclair.org/history.htm
(4) The Sinclair Lineage. http://sinclair.quarterman.org/ian.html
(5) Henry I Sinclair, Earl of Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_I_Sinclair,_Earl_of_Orkney
(6) Clan Sinclair - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Sinclair
(1) History of Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Orkney
(2) Orkney Islands | History, Geography, & Facts | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Orkney-Islands
(3) Orkney - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orkney
(5) Orkney, Scotland Genealogy • FamilySearch. https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Orkney,_Scotland_Genealogy

The barbarian invasions

 The Goths were Germans coming from what is now Sweden and were followed by the Vandals, the Burgundians, and the Gepidae. The aftereffect of their march to the southeast, toward the Black Sea, was to push the Marcomanni, the Quadi, and the Sarmatians onto the Roman limes in Marcus Aurelius’ time. Their presence was brusquely revealed when they attacked the Greek towns on the Black Sea about 238. Timesitheus fought against them under Gordian III, and under Philip and Decius they besieged the towns of Moesia and Thrace, led by their kings, Ostrogotha and Kniva. 

Beginning in 253, the Crimean Goths and the Heruli appeared and dared to venture on the seas, ravaging the shores of the Black Sea and the Aegean as well as several Greek towns. In 267 Athens was taken and plundered despite a strong defense by the historian Dexippus. After the victories of Gallienus on the Nestus and Claudius at Naissus (Nish), there was for a time less danger. But the countries of the middle Danube were still under pressure by the Marcomanni, Quadi, Iazyges, Sarmatians, and the Carpi of free Dacia, who were later joined by the Roxolani and the Vandals. In spite of stubborn resistance, Dacia was gradually overwhelmed, and it was abandoned by the Roman troops, though not evacuated officially. When Valerian was captured in AD 259/260, the Pannonians were gravely threatened, and Regalianus, one of the usurpers proclaimed by the Pannonian legions, died fighting the invaders. The defense was concentrated around Sirmium and Siscia-Poetovio, the ancient fortresses that had been restored by Gallienus, and many cities were burned.

In the West the invasions were particularly violent. The Germans and the Gauls were driven back several times by the confederated Frankish tribes of the North Sea coast and by the Alemanni from the middle and upper Rhine. Gallienus fought bitterly, concentrating his defense around Mainz and Cologne, but the usurpations in Pannonia prevented him from obtaining any lasting results. In 259–260 the Alemanni came through the Agri Decumates (the territory around the Black Forest), which was now lost to the Romans. Some of the Alemanni headed for Italy across the Alpine passes; others attacked Gaul, devastating the entire eastern part of the country. 

Passing through the Rhône Valley, they eventually reached the Mediterranean; and some bands even continued into Spain. There they joined the Franks, many of whom had come by ship from the North Sea, after having plundered the western part of Gaul. Sailing up the estuaries of the great rivers, they had reached Spain and then, crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, had proceeded to Mauretania Tingitana. Gallienus, outflanked, entrusted Gaul and his young son Saloninus to Postumus, who then killed Saloninus and proclaimed himself emperor. 

The several invasions had so frightened the people that the new emperor was readily accepted, even in Spain and Britain. He devoted himself first to the defense of the country and was finally considered a legitimate emperor, having established himself as a rival to Gallienus, who had tried in vain to eliminate him but finally had to tolerate him. Postumus governed with moderation, and, in good Roman fashion, minted excellent coins. He, too, was killed by his soldiers, but he had successors who lasted until 274.

One reason for the fall of the Western Roman Empire was the expansion of the Goths. Unlike their present-day namesakes, these were a Scandinavian people from the Gothic lands of what is now southern Sweden, although the Gothic leadership and “high society” likely came from the island of Gotland, which lies in the Baltic Sea between Sweden and Latvia. Sometime around the years 100 BC to 100 CE, the northern Goths first moved to Poland, and after settling the area around Gdánsk for four-five generations, continued on along the Vistula and Danube rivers and then spread across modern Russia and Ukraine and occupied much of the land between the Baltic and the Black Sea, an area known as Reidgotaland or Aujum/Oium in historical sources, where they became known as the Ostrogoths. 

It should be noted that, contrary to popular belief, the term Visigoth was not originally used to describe the Goths (and various indigenous steppe-nomadic cultures) that formed Reidgotaland aka the Kingdom of Aujum.

The Huns, a warring nomadic people attacking Reidgotaland from central Asia in the 270s CE, caused the Goths — who by now had split up into two major historical groups — the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths — to flee across the Danube river into the relative safety of the Roman Empire. Some Ostrogoths were left behind and had no choice but to join the Hunnic hordes, these Goths became the Gothunni, and are by all accounts known as “hraið-gutar” in Old Norse in Icelandic literary sources, which means “horse goths.”

Scrapbook: George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, chief of Clan G...

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EGLI / EGLE / (AGLA?) – Hochdorf (Benzhausen)

Summary of Research 5/2018 – Duane L Egle, dlegle@hotmail.com

 May 15, 2018 Edition

NOTE: Hochdorf is a small community located north of Freiburg, Germany (southern Germany east of Breisach on the Rhine).  Catholic church records at nearby Hugstetten began in 1708 and included Buchheim, Hochdorf & Benzhausen until 1791.  After 1791 a separate Catholic parish, Hochdorf, was formed, which included Benzhausen (where Egli/Eggli/Egle below lived).   Neuershausen is a short distance to the northwest and Holzhausen north of Benzhausen. 

Duplicate church books are now available online in Germany at many locations from 1810 forward.  For records prior to 1800 the LDS films are the best source, but they must be viewed at LDS (Mormon) FHC (Family History Centers) located in many LDS churches.   LDS has digitized most of their microfilms, so they can be viewed on FHC computers at no charge.  Images can be saved to a flash drive.  Sources below are listed as (#Image number, #Film number).

Hugstetten parish: (LDS film #871363, #871364, #871365 & #871366).   

Hochdorf parish: (LDS films #996366,  #996367 & #1237872

Neuershausen parish: (LDS films #871392, #871393 & #871394)

 

E0      ?  EGLI  - Likely Swiss, since early records at Hochdorf spelling is Egli, Eggli, later Eggle, Egle.  Swiss often ended surnames with an “i”.

E1      ANTONI(US) EGLI (b. before 1700? – d. 26 Jan 1741) Married twice, fathered seven children.  Mathias (E2) & Michael later married.

Antoni(us) Egli first appears as the father on a 1719 birth record, with no marriage record found (1708 to 1719).  This “may” indicate he was married elsewhere and moved to this location.  He died in 1741, with no age or parents listed.  Since he was likely 20+ years old when he married (before 1719), he was likely born @ 1668 or earlier.  Both wives below are in his 1741 death record and a 1738 “Confirmation” record for (E2) Mathias & Michael. (#659, #871364)

The mother indicated on the birth record for Mathias (b. 1732) was Maria “Fischer”, but a confirmation record indicates it was Maria “Heim(in)”, who died in 1734.  No other Antonius Egli married to a Maria Fischer appear in the records.    

 

Married MARIA HEIM(IN)  (b. ? – d. 1734) before 1719.

          b. 1719, 4 June      Franciscus Antonius Benzhausen      (# 406, #871364)

          b. 1722, Jan           Maria                    Benzhausen           (#412, #871364)

          b. 1725, 29 Dec     Sebastian              Hochdorf               (#422, #871364)

          b. 1731, 18 Jan      Ignatius (died)      Benzhausen           (#434, #871364)

(E2)   b. 1732, 19 Feb      Mathias (D1784)  Benzhausen           (#437, #871364)

          Marie Heim(in), 1^st wife, d. 1734, 10 Feb                          (#557, #871364)

 

          Married MARIA  SCHOEPFER on 1735, 12 Feb          (#623, #871364)

          b. 1736, 16 Sept     Johannes Michael  (D1793) Benzh.   (#448, #871364)

 

Antonius Egli (father) died 1741, 26 Jan, at Benzhausen, before the birth of his last son, Josephus. Both wives named in death record.          (#562, #871364)

 

          b. 1741, 10 Mar     Josephus (died) at Benzhausen           (#456, #871364)

         

E2      MATHIAS EGGLI/EGGLE (1732-1784) Married twice, 13 children.

 

Married CATHARINA WINTERHALDER (? – d. 1771), on 20 May 1753 (#640, 871364), with eight children born, including Martin (E3).

 

b. 1754, 27 June     Paulus (Died)        Benzhausen           (#479, #871364)

b. 1756, 2 Feb        Blasius (Died)       Benzhausen           (#483, #871364)

b. 1757, 27 Oct      Antonius (Died)    Benzhausen           (#488, #871364)

(E3)   b. 1759, 29 Oct      Martinus               Benzhausen           (#492, #871364)

          b. 1761, 25 June    Maria Anna(Died)Benzhausen           (#496, #871364)

          b. 1762, 5 Dec       Christian (Died)   Benzhausen           (#500, #871364)

          b. 1766, 9 Feb        Mathias (Died)     Benzhausen           (#508, #871364)

          b. 1769, 30 Oct      Catharina (Died)  Benzhausen           (#525, #871364)

 

          Catharina Winterhalder d. 5 Jan 1771  Benzhausen           (#589, #871364)

 

          Married BARB MUELLER on 11 Feb 1771                  (#250. #871365)

 

(*)      b. 1771, 5 Dec       Johannes              Benzhausen           (#10, #871365)

          b. 1774, 5 Oct        Catharina             Benzhausen           (#17, #871365)

          b. 1776, 22 July     Jacobus (D1792)  Benzhausen           (#21, #871365)

          b. 1777, 25 Dec     Johannes Chr (D) Benzhausen           (#26, #871365)

          b. 1782, 12 Aug     Francisca (D1784)Benzhausen           (#41, #871365)

 

          Mathias Egle d. 1784, 27 June, age 52 in house #99          (#187, #871365)

 

(*)      Grandfather of Michael Egle, b. 1831, likely 1854 emigrant from Hochdorf. 

E3      MARTIN EGLE (b. 1759 – d. ? )

 

          Martin Egle, age 25, married MARIA ANNA FISCHER (1764-1802), age 20, on 13 Aug, 1784, at Benzhausen, house #99. (#250, 871365).  They had seven children, one of whom was Johannes (E4).   

          b. 1785, 24 Aug     Maria Eva              Benzhausen           (#48, #871365)

(E4)   b. 1788, 12 May     Johannes              Benzhausen           (#52, #871365)

          b. 1790, 4 Sept       Maria                    Benzhausen           (#57, #871365)

          b. 1793, 1 May       Jacob (Died)         Benzhausen           (#41, #996366)

          b. 1798, 23 Oct      Martin (D1809)    Benzhausen           (#59, #996366)

          b. 1802, 29 Apr     Jacob (Died)          Benzhausen           (#80, #996366)

Maria Anna Fischer/Egle died in 1802,14 May, age 34, house #98, from hemorrhaging after giving birth. Infant Jacob died June 9^th. (#24, #996367)

No death record found for her husband, Martin, yet.

 

E4      JOHANNES (JOHANN) EGLE (b. 1788)

 

On June 12, 1812, Johann Baptist Egle (b. 1788), son of Martin Egle and Maria Anna Fischer, married THERESIA WINTERHALTER (b. 1792, 23 July), daughter of George Winterhalter and Juliana Messmer. (#63, #1237872) Middle name “Baptist” only found on Johann’s marriage record. The following birth / death records have been found at Hochdorf, with no death records for Johann, Theresa, daughters Sophia and Katharina, and son, Martin found prior to 1828.  

 

          b. 1813, 5 Apr       Johann George                                     (#29, #1237872)

                                                  d. 11 Sept 1820                         (#176, #1237872)

          b. 1815, 13 Feb      Magdalena                                           (#43, #1237872)

                                                  d. 1819, 13 Aug (Epidem)         (#167, 1237872)

          b. 1816, 28 Nov     Theresia                                               (#122, #1237872)

                                                  d. 1816, 11 Dec                         (#126, #1237872)

          b. 1818, 14 Oct      Gallius                                                 (#140, #1237872)

                                                  d. 1819, 15 Aug (Epidem)         (167, #1237872)

          b. 1820, 14 May    Sophia                                                 (#173, #1237872)

                                                  (No death record at Hochdorf found yet)   

          b. 1822, 22 Apr      Johann George                                     (#190, #1237872)

                                                  d. 1826, 14 Feb (Epidem)          (#252, #1237872)

          b. 1825, 16 Mar    Katharina                                           (#227, #1237872)

                                                  (No death record at Hochdorf found yet)

          b. 1826, 1 Oct       Martin                                               (#224-5, #1237872)

                                                  (No death record at Hochdorf found yet)

 Emigration in 1828?

 

          A record exists in the archive at Frieburg giving permission for a Johann Egle to emigrate in 1828.  Since the birth/death records stop in 1826 and no death records have been found for the father, mother and two daughters (Sophia & Katharina), and one son (Martin) the emigration record likely fits E4, Johann Egle.

 

Johann Agla Family – July/August, 1828, Canada

 

A Johannes Ezra Agla and wife, Esmeralda Theresa Winterhalter arrived in Canada in July/August of 1828 with two daughters, Sophia and Katharina.  Family legend indicates they buried a son at sea named George (?Martin b. 1826?).  They later had a son born in Canada in1829 name Martin.  This fits the frequent custom of naming the next born son after the last who died.  (Note:  Since they buried two sons named Johann George at Hochdorf and Martin was born after the death of the second, there is a possibility they referred to Martin (b. 1826) as Martin George, thus reconciling the death of “George” at sea, and no Martin when they arrived in Canada,…speculation!).  Only a ship list would resolve the question. 

 

 Family legend also indicates Johannes changed his name to “Agla”.  This family fits the profile of E4 at Hochdorf, even though “Ezra”, “Elsmeralda” and “Agla” do not appear in the records at Hochdorf.  It appears this is a “slam dunk”!   

 .

Other Immigration Records from Hochdorf to North America:

 

 1854, Feb – Michael Egle, unmarried, from Hochdorf, planned to emigrate to North America. This is likely a Michael Egle, b. 1831, 11 Sept, son of Mathias Egle (b. 1779, 20 Feb), who married 1823, 7 April, to Maria Vogt (b. 1802, 1 July)

Mathias Egle (b.1779), was the son of Johannes Egle (b. 1771) of Benzhausen, married to Maria Mezger. This Johannes Egle (*) was the son of E2 Mathias Eggle and his second wife, Barb Mueller.

 

Other Egli/Eggli at Hochdorf 1708 – 1743.

 

May hold clues to finding a link to parents of Antonius Egli (E1).

 

1.    Josephus Egli – 1708 Wittness on a birth record. Birth of a son, Franciscus on 3 Jan 1710, wife Barb Obrieter, witness Helena Heimb.  Barb Obrieter died 1712, 23 July.  Josephus remarried Catharina Koeppfer / Koepfer1712, 23 Nov.  Birth of son, Johannes, on 16 June,1713.  Death of Josephus Egli on 20 Mar 1720.  Death record appears to indicate a “protection fee” was required, which would suggest he was not a citizen of Hochdorf.  Likely of Swiss origin.  Heim was the surname of Antoni Egli’s first wife.

 

2.    Barbara Eggler/Eggli –  In 1709 Johann Jacob Inglighofer of Heitersheim (?) married widow Barbara Egglerin of ?Neuerhausen?. Witness Franz Heinrich Eggli.  (Likely Neuershausen is just NW of Buchheim, Hugstetten, Benzhausen and Holzhausen)   Link to films starting in 1679: https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/120911?availability=Family%20History%20Library

 

3.    Observation:  Both Josephus Egli and Antoni Egli named the first son of record “Franciscus”, which may suggest an ancestor name (father?) if they were brothers.  The witness to Barbara Eggli’s marriage was a “Franz (Franziscus) Heinrich Eggli” (Father? Brother?)

 

4.    Anna Maria Egli – Anna Marie Egli of Benzhausen, in Oct 1711 married Michael Binninger of Holzhausen.  In Benzhausen gave birth to a daughter, Catharina, 9 Oct 1719.  Wittness Catharina Schoepfer.   An Anna Maria Egler of Benzhausen died 9 Nov 1735 (No detail) Schoepfer was the surname of Antoni Egli’s second wife.

 

5.    Agatha Egler – Death record on 23 Feb 1721, husband of Franciscus Mezger.

 

6.    Anna Egli – On 22 June 1743, sincere widower Wilhelm Voger, butcher and citizen of Buchen, contracts marriage with maiden Anna Eglin, legitim daughter of honorable parents and citizens of Glarus municipality in Switzerland, of Calvinist denomination (Reformed Church), Mr. Friedrich Egli, Lieutenant of the Swiss Legion (#?) and Margaret Dürstein.

 

NY Passenger Lists

https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:939V-PQ9C-SH?i=4&cc=1849782

Recollections of St Luke's Club

 

Recollections of St Luke’s Club

Part One

Mabel Haines, my mother, and Margaret Haines, Metro Sass's wife, were sisters. They, along with a third sister, Janet, shared the responsibility of caring for their mother, Margaret Jane Haines nee Harvey.

Mabel met Eugene (Hickey) Hueglin in Stratford, Ontario. They married in Kitchener, Ontario, in 1929. Hickey was driving taxi for his uncle, George Diehl, while Mabel was working for Avon Hosiery Limited. A diary entry my mother made indicates that they met while ice skating, and she remembered him as Eugene Higland. I have no idea how my father came to be known by the nickname Hickey.

Margaret met Metro Sass while they were both employed at the Bradley Farm, in Dover Township. They married in Stratford in 1936. By 1939, Metro was caretaker of St Luke's Club at the end of the Eighth Concession in Dover Township.

In 1947, my father was working for Direct Winters Transport in Guelph, Ontario, however, through some arrangement between the families, my father went to work for Metro at St Luke's Club.

When my family, including my mother, father and older brother moved from Guelph to the area of St Luke's Club, in Dover Township, the first house we lived in, that I will call “the house on stilts”, was situated on a triangular piece of marshland that was bounded by the Town Line on the South, the Heron Line on the East and a dredge cut to the North.  The marshland was later drained and turned in to farmland. My grandmother didn’t live with us at that time. She may have gone to live with Janet in Stratford, Ontario.

As evidenced by the image of my mother sitting on the front porch, the area around the house periodically flooded.

Non-the-less, it was a great place to grow up, and holds many memories of a bygone era.

It was a small house with four rooms and an outhouse. We had electricity, but no running water and I can`t remember any telephone. We all moved into one room in the Winter and, as they were the most available and cheapest source of fuel, burned corn cobs to keep warm.

My older brother Joe and I often wore handmade clothes, and went barefoot. My first store bought shoes were a pair of black Penny Loafers.

We had a few chickens, a couple of cats and a tame Mallard duck.

The chickens were mostly, if not all, Barred Rocks, and it seems to me that, when the time came to have one for dinner, mine would be the first to be dispatched. Watching a chicken lose its head on a chopping block was not pleasant, but it gave you a greater appreciation for how meals wound up on your dinner table. It also taught you where the expression ¨like a chicken with its head cut off`` originated.

 

One of the cats was extremely lucky in that one Winter day, after a thin film of ice had formed on the marsh beside the house we lived in, it ventured out on the ice only to have it break under its weight. Amazing as it may seem, the cat immediately started swimming under the ice back towards shore. Fortunately, I was standing on the shoreline, saw the cat swimming, and was able to break a hole in the ice through which it was able to resurface and get to live another day. A different cat, however, wasn`t so lucky. It became caught in a muskrat trap and had to be put down.

I`m not sure what happened to the duck.

The marsh beside the house was also the place where I learned to swim. To assist me, my father tied a rope to me, told me to paddle out into deeper water and. if I ran into trouble pull myself back to shore with the rope. Bathing suits were optional since there were no close neighbours, and little traffic on the Town Line.

Part Two

Taylor Disher, Connie Blanchard and George Garbutt were amongst the several individuals who I had the pleasure of knowing in my youth. and who bring back memories of hunting, trapping, fishing, dredging, seine nets, snapping turtles, and cigarette packages.

 

Taylor Disher, George Garbutt and a friend

Our closest neighbour to the “house on stilts” was a fisherman named Taylor Disher who mostly lived alone, but sometimes had a lady friend stay with him. One memory of him was that he had dinner plates with a rim on the bottom. This enabled him to have lunch on the top of the plate and then flip the plate over to have dinner on the bottom. One day he died a natural death sitting at his dinner table. When I heard he had died, I , and others, walked the short distance to his house and, upon looking in his front door, saw him peacefully slumped in his chair.

Connie Blanchard was a boatbuilder who docked his houseboat in the dredge cut just South of the Rivard Line, and alongside of the Town Line, in Dover Township. Where he came from, and why he chose to dock where he did is a mystery to me. I believe he was a bachelor as in the few years I had his acquaintance there was no mention of a wife, or family, in his life. His life was centered around building boats and, at one time, he may have had a connection to the Chris Craft trade mark. His open concept houseboat was his workshop, living area and hangout for many locals, including myself. The rear end of the boathouse could be completely opened up so that once he had completed a boat it could easily be taken out of the work area and launched. He had a dog, a Labrador Retriever I believe, and from time to time he would open a can of the dog’s food and eat it as he felt it was as healthy as anything else you could get, and probably cheaper. I don’t remember how many boats he built but it was a pleasure to watch him work and to be part of the ambiance of his workshop and the folks who gathered to hear his yarns. For some unknown reason he would refer to me as “Evil Eye Fleagle”; perhaps because of a hat I wore.

George Garbutt’s Lakeside Cabin

George Garbuttt was a fisherman who also operated a dredge. I seem to remember he was a bachelor who came from the Jeanette’s Creek area where members of his extended family sold fruit and vegetables. He had a cabin along the shore of Lake St Clair, beside the dyke that separated the lake from the St Luke’s Club marsh. The dyke was necessary in order to keep the water level in the marsh higher than that of the lake. The cabin was accessible by boat, or by walking the dyke from where it started across the dredge cut from the clubhouse. At some point in time there had to be some major reconstruction work undertaken on the dyke, and George was called upon to operate the dredge that was utilized. From time to time my father and I would visit him at his cabin. Two things that always remind me of George are corned beef hash and cigarette packages. The former he would serve to visitors and the latter he would cut up to use as note paper.

George Garbutt and his Dredge

Around about 1949 my family moved from “the house on stilts” to the “old club house”. The move was occasioned by my uncle Metro relinquishing employment as the caretaker of St Luke’s Club, and moving his family and business, the Sass Manufacturing Company, from the countryside to the outskirts of Chatham. As part of this transition, Metro moved the “house on stilts, from where it stood when we lived in it, to a site on his father’s farm. This move was truly an engineering feat as it involved considerable route and powerline clearance along a roughly sixteen-mile trip, on some lowbed arrangement, over gravel and asphalt roads.

Compared to “the house on stilts”, the “old club house” was a palace.

Though old, it was two story, had a kitchen, living room, dining room, multiple bedrooms, indoor plumbing, central heating, a screened in porch, a dry yard i.e. not flooded, and a white picket fence.

The potable water, that smelled and tasted of sulfur, was provided by a remote well and pumping system. It definitely was an acquired taste, and had to be supplemented with bottled water.

The bathroom, that was upstairs, was quite large, with a toilet and tub, but no shower. 

I shared an upstairs bedroom with my brother.

For a time, one of my older cousins, Jean Hunter, stayed with us. For some reason, during that stay, she came to the startling realization that her mother Janet, and father Jack, had been married less that nine months before her oldest sister Florence was born. A not uncommon happening “back-in-the-day”.

In the Fall, my father would buy potatoes in large, burlap bags, and store them in the spacious room outside my bedroom door. Potatoes were a staple in our house and, since money was scarce, some of the Summer wages I made working in the fields at Bradley Farms helped pay for the potatoes.

During the Summer, Bradley’s would send a stack truck in the morning to pick up those who wanted to work in their fields, and deliver them back in the evening. Everyone would stand, or sit, in the back of the truck for the bumpy ride to their farm over dusty gravel roads. Most work consisted of group work hoeing weeds or de-tasseling corn, the expectation being that everyone would keep pace with each other. On occasion, once you demonstrated that you were reliable, you would be tasked with working on your own and, in so doing, be entitled to receive a bit more in the way of an hourly wage. At the end of the day, before you were trucked home, the foreman would gather you together and pay you for your day’s work, with twenty-five cents an hour being a premium wage. De-tasseling corn was, perhaps, the hardest work, however with a bit of luck you might be able to enjoy an intimate moment with a co-worker.

Around about 1951, whilst we were living in the Old Club House, Ontario Hydro decided to convert the source of electricity provided to South Western Ontario from 25 to 60 cycles per second. Believe it or not, this initiative finally brought the area into line with the rest of North America. Prior to the change one could actually sit in a room and watch the filament in an incandescent bulb pulse and, if one moved in from outside the region, they had to either purchase new electrical appliances, or have the motors on their existing ones converted.  Unfortunately, converting the motors didn’t always prove to be successful. https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1951/8/15/ontario-scraps-its-horse-and-buggy-lights

Around the same time, my parents bought a black and white TV; the only type available at the time. There was no cable reception so an antenna was essential, preferably that one you could rotate. Fortunately, as our house was located 26 miles across the open water of Lake St Clair from Michigan, we could receive a number of TV stations. You could buy a plastic screen overlay that simulated blue sky and green grass. Broadcasting was not 24 hours a day and a test pattern, to aid in making various technical adjustments, would appear on the screen before and after daily broadcasting. Most afternoons a favorite show was the Mickey Mouse Club and the Kate Smith Show which she would end with the song “When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain”, Since our TV was the first in our neighborhood, it tended to draw a crowd to watch it. Saturday mornings usually found quite a number of the local children, mostly members of the Hamilton family, assembled in front of the TV watching the Sealtest Big Top, Lash Larue or Tom Mix. On weekend evenings, in order to watch Hockey, Roller Derby or the Ed Sullivan Show, people would fill our living room to the point that some members of our family would have to watch through a small “pass through opening” between the kitchen and living room. At some point my grandmother came to live with us again and many evenings she, and my mother, would spend an enjoyable time watching the Arthur Godfrey Show together.

 

My grandmother, Maggie, and mother, Mabel beside the Old Club House

Entertainment and information were also provided by radio, with hockey being my father’s favourite programming. Indeed, he was want to keep statistics on various teams (the Maple Leafs versus the Red Wings) and players, and listen to one game on the radio while watching another on TV. For others, shows such as The Happy Gang and The Shadow Knows were preferred. Part of The Happy Gang theme song was “… if you are happy, and healthy, to heck with being wealthy”, a song that captured the essence of the times. Meanwhile many waited for the Dominion Observatory time signal signifying one o’clock each day.

Although my father was the caretaker at St Luke’s Club, he never actually hunted ducks. or trapped muskrats. Rather, his year around responsibility was to ensure that the club house, surrounding grounds, marsh, and associated infrastructure, were operated and maintained to the satisfaction of the Michigan based Ford and Buhl families who owned the Club. Since the water in the marsh had to be kept at a higher level than the adjacent lake, making sure that an appropriate amount of water was pumped into the marsh was essential. Similarly, inspecting the dyke that separated the marsh from the lakeshore, either on foot or by punt boat, was a continuous job since it was not uncommon for a break in the dyke to occur as a result of muskrat activity. Maintenance of the thatching on the several duck blinds scattered about the marsh had to be done, as did clearing channels to facilitate movement by punt boat from area to area. As well, though never openly mentioned, grain had to be purchased for subsequent use as bait when scattered in the vicinity of the duck blinds. 

More to follow