HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1973-08-16, Page 1About 350 descendants of
Robert Scott and Archibald Dick-
son, who founded Roxboro in
August 1833, (with their sons
Robert and James) marked the
140 th anniversary of the Scott-
Dickson arrival from Rox-
borough-shire, Scotlafid ott•Sun-
day afternoon. The reunion, or-
ganized by a committee of des-
cendants headed by James M.
Scott, Seaforth, Was held on the
north bank of the Maitland River
in Roxboro.
Here was situated the area's
first dwelling place, a small log
cabin in which both families spent
their first winter In Canada. The
land is owned by Sam Scott, a
grandson of Robert Scott who
spoke in tribute to these early
settlers.
Both Archibald and Elizabeth
Turnbull Dickson and Robert and
Margaret Elliot Scott had eight
children.
Relatives from the U.S., in-
cluding some from Anchorage,
Alaska, and the Western pro-
yinces attended as well as many
from Central' Canada and the
.Seaforth area. Many friends had
no idea they were related until
they found themselves at the same
family reunion.
Family tree
Highlights of the event were
a display of family antiques and
two extensive family trees out-
lining both Scott and Dickson
families prepared by Mrs. J.M.
Scott. Gordon Scott, Roxboro,
was in charge of a program of
children's sports and James M.
Scott was chairman for a short_
program.
Rev. Cliff Britton led in
prayer and contributed an
anecdote about his family, the
McMillans, early settlers in
the area. Pipers led by Peter
Malcolm performed. They in-
cluded Pipe Major Charlie Mal-
colm; Doug Hoover, Jeff and
Greg MacPherson and Joe Mc-
Lean. Highland dancer, Mary
Lyn Glew, the singing and danc-
ing Henderson sisters and a vocal
trio, Allister Mackay and daugh-
ters were also featured on the
sob Courtney, Kincardine
'
in
off historical sketch focussed on
the Dickson family. In other
I.
at,
Jean Scott, left, one of the hard workers who organized the Scott-Dickson picnic at Roxboro
on Sunday and May Habklrk and Peg. Grieve who helped register visitors at the event, sat down for a well deserved rest during festivities.
At,the tree-lined Maitland bank site-where their ancestors
built their first log cabin in 1833, the organizing committee
for the Scott-Dickson picnic, held Sunday atRoxboro, gathered.
In front are James M. Scott, president, left&Sam J. Scott,
whole farm included the cabin site, and Robert Courtney, Kin-
cardine. In the back row are, left to right, -James F. Scott,
Gordon Scott, Mrs. James F.Scott, Franklin Mitchell, Goderich;
Mrs. Franklin Mitchell, Miss Jean Scott, secretary, Mrs.. James
M. Scott, Mrs. Sam Scott, Stan Dorrance, Cornwall, and Mrs.
Robert Courtney, Kincardine.
Seaforth man
wins prize
in draw
JIM KELLY
"If you never buy a ticket
you'll never win a draw," says
Jim Kelly of Seaforth, lucky win-
ner of41230 in a Share the Wealth
draw sponsored by the Strdiford
Knights of ColumbuS.
"I have been buying K of C
tickets in the Seaforth district
for 15 years and never won,"
he said, "and this was the first
ticket I ever bought in Stratford".
Visiting in Stratford along
with his daughter, Mary
Margaret, Mr. Kelly dropped into
a barber shop to see a brother
Knight and "a fellow asked me
to buy a ticket". Mr. Kelly heard
of his good fortune Tuesday night,
Aug. 7th. "when someone phoned
and asked what I would give him
for $1230."
What is the trick to winning a
draW? Maybe since it was the
seventh day of the month, a
ticket ending in the same number
had to come up.Mr.Kelly's lucky
number was 149'7.
to Mire third post
Fire destroyed a barn on the property of Ed. Andrews ' of luinber 'and a number of ladders. Plettired above, itireinen in Ilarpurhey Saturday afternoOn. •The fire fanned by ebrisk work at extinguishing the blaze and tO keep i1't5tit Wind quickly destroyed the barn which contained a supply to an ajacerit grain field) ' Weir Photo
W111010 NO. 5501
Y..10! SEAFORTH, ONTARIO, T
Worth
Seaforth` Council:, Monday
..•evening, decided to hire a third
full time constable for the police
department.
This will bring the strength
of the local force mp to ftgar men
and will make it posbible to
Pipes and a
Mark
fiddle
140 years at Roxboro
Students who have gone
through arduous swimming tests
at the Lions Park recently Will
be glad to know that the teachers
were tested at a Royal Life Sav-
ing Society examiner's clinic at
the Lions Pool on Sunday.
Instructors from s'wlmnping
pools in Listowe1, Mount Forest,
Walkerton, PalriCerston, Gorrie3
Wingham and Seaforth did a trial
examination of some pupils life
saving and swimming skills and
were judged by Royal LifeSaying
Society officials. Those with
Flower Show
on Saturday
Robert Scott scurried in the. ame
• direction as a tree and was
knocked over. He inthiznanth
declared he would go back to
Scotland before he was kilt".
Rev. J. W. Siebert of Strat-
ford will judge flowers from 12
Neon to 3 P.M. Prizes will be"
awarded at the close of the show'
at 8 P.M.
Tea will be served by a
committee 'convened by Mrs. Ken
Campbell.
Mrs. Robert Newnham is in
charge of the show, which will be
the second one for, the Society
which was founded in January
1972.
A flower show by theSeaforth
Horticultural Society will be held
this Saturday in the Seaforth
District High School' from 3 p.m.
to 5 p.m. and from 6 p.m. to
8 p.m.
put out
belongin
the house
Kelly.
Fireme
the barley
wise thefi,
more quickl
The horn
also •showe
but no fire
covered th
Lose t o
which contal ers and lum-
ber supplies used in his carpen-
try work, was estimated at
$3,000. A water truck belong-
ing to W.D. Hopper and Sons
and driven by Neil Hopper; pro-
vided water to fight the blaze.
While firemen were bringing
that fire under control another
blaze was reported, this time
in a field belonging to Earl Dick
2, Stafia In #110ert TpWn-
-gap.' The „fire ih the field. of
'stubble was threatening a vacant
house, but before, firemen
arrived, Mr. Dick ploughed
around the house and halted the
fire's'progr
e fire in the field
to Durl Hopper and in
oof belonging to Matt
among the Indians. I wonder if
his efforts were in 'any way res-
ponsible fo .r what they did for"
our forebearers.
"On an August afternoon in
1833, somewhere here back of us,
four Scotchmen crossed the
river. Robert Scott Junior
claimed the honor of being the
' first white man to cross the
Maitland at this point.
"As -far as I'can ascertain,
they pitched camp sciath of Agar's
barn over there.
"On the pioneers' first night,
Archibald Dickson told hiS son to
‘open 1 the kist ,and get out my
auld fiddle,' and on it he played
some of the old tunes they had
heard in Scotland. It is related
that James was surprised to see
tears running down his father's
face. we have friends from
Chillfcothe , Ohio, this after-
noon; Mrs. Gary Howard, whose
mother was a great-grand-
daughter of Archibald Dickson,
and her husband and little boy.
They are in possession of that
violip; they brought it with them
and it is on a table over there, "
he said, pointing to the histor-
ical exhibits.
"The next day the settlers
began the business of land-clear-
ing. Now these men' were not-
bush men; some had worked in
coal mines.. But they noticed
how the beavers worked, and so
they cut all around a tree and
when it was about to fall gave it
two or three hard cracks and
scurried away. Unfortunately,
the best idea of the RLSS's eecarrt-
!nation standard will become part
of examination teams who visit
area pools and examine' pupils
for the Bronze Medallion, Award
of Merit and other RLSS awards.
Rosemary Wynott, Scarbor-
ough, RLSS area representative
organized the event with help
from area chairman Grant Tre-
rnaine Kitchener, and Seaforth
'Lions Pool supervisor and RLSS
area co-otdinitor Doug Peter-
son, Clinton.
12 Pages
eliminate the use of auxiliary
officers.
The hiring of a third con-
stable has been discussed by
council over the last year
I
with
some members being strongly
opposed.
After reviewing the cost of
using auxiliary police for a year,
council felt a third full time
constable could be added to the
force for very little additional
cost.
Council also decided to ask
the Ministry of Transportation
and Communications to do a. traf-
fic study at the corners of Main
and Goderich Streets.
Council passed by-law 926,
a by-law to recind by-law 917,
the by-law to establish a car
wash on the former Vincent
Farm Equipment property on
Main Street, as the proposed car
wash does not conform with the
existing town plan.
Council has asked the Sea-
forth Planning Board to setup a
public meeting on the Coleman
car wash proposal. Ken Coleman
would like to Install a car wash
in front of Robert Bell Indus-
tries.
There are six vacant apart-.
ments in the Seatorth Senior
Citizens development , council
was informed. All persons pres-
ently in apartments are from
Seaforth and council decided
the apartments s or
Seaforth reside s only.
The town has o pay a portion
of the operating oats so felt this
was only fair 'o Seaforth rate-
payers.
The nimum monthly rate is
$37. an• goes up with increased
income
Co ncil decided to seek a five
rce cash allowance from John
Pr for park development in-
stead of land.
• Mr. -Price has--purchased--a-
large parcel of land from Carl
Dalton. for the purpose of building
houses.
A letter from peter Malcolm
was received by council asking
that the lot next to his residence
be cleaned up.
He ,.4,aid....that old car and truck ,
'bodies on the lot are attracting.„
rats-and the ut.a.eds•ere very high
and asked council to see if this
could not be cleaned up.
A letter was also received
from Ken. Laverty regarding the
sam e property.
Council agreed the lot was an
eye sore, but said they could not
cut the weeds because 'of the junk
on the lot.
Council decided to contact the
Huron County Health Unit asthey
had the power to deal with the rat
problem.
A letter from the Municipal
World was received by council.
Council had asked for a ruling on
members of council attending a
committee meeting of which they
were not members.
Councillors do not haye this
right and may only attend if the
chairman of the committee gives
permission. They may not speak
to the committee without per .,.
In 1 ssion and have no voting rights.
Deputy-Reeve Wilmer Cutitill
reporting for the public works
committee, said Dec; sidewalks
had been installed in town,
number of trees removed and
drains were being checked.
C °uric illor George Hildebrand
told council that the arena com-
mittee had decided to do repairs
that were absolutely necessary
until a final report from the -en-
gineers is available.
Permission was granted to a
group to install a plaque in
' memory'of Gerald Barry at the
arena. Mr. Barry had worked at
the, arena for a period of time.
Reeve John Flannery said his
committee recommended the in-
stalling of new eavetroughsatthe
library. Mr. Earl Dick had looked
at the steps .at the library and
felt repairs could be made without
having to rebuild them.
He suggested council inquire
in Goderich to see if building
permits were necessary for
swimming pools and what regu-
1 .dons regarding fences should
be enforced.
Council passed' by-law te
authorize the purchase of a parcel
of land from Carl Dalton oh which
the PUC has drilled a test well.
Council Was inVited to attend,
the SesfertilHOrtieqltilrel, SecietY ,
Flower Show oil August 113.
The meetinek adlonrned
10:30 p.m.
takes trip
During During the past weekend, 23'
members pf the LegionAuxiliary
and 15 guests enjoyed a trip 140
Kingston with a guided tour of
Fort Henry and a boat trip of
the Thousand Islands. They left
Seaforth 7 o'clock Saturday •
morning and returned Sunday ev
ening at '7:45, staying at the Ho-
liday Inn at Kingston overnight.
Investigate
accidents
During the week the Seaforth
Police Department investigated
23 occurrences and they are as
follows:
Traffic Accidents, 2; Theft
Complaint, 1; Insecure Premi-
ses, 1; Assist other Departments
4; Disturbance Complaints, 5;
Property Damage, 4; Lost &
Found Articles, 2; Animal com-
plaints, 1; General,- 2.
Two accidents were investi-
gated with a damage" total of
$525.
One theft complaint investi-
gated and as a result of PoliCV--
investigation property to the
value of $100 recovered and one
male adult charged with this
crime.
3 Liquor charges were laid.
during the week; 1 Criminal Code
charge; 1 Juvenile taken honie by
parents. ,possession of liquor.
Warned; 9 Motorists warned for
minor traffic infractions; 3 Park-
ing tags issued.
White beans
suffer brotning
Hot, humid weather the past
week has favoured 'the appear-
ance of ozone bronzing on white
bean leaves. Affected leaves
turn rusty-yellow in colou1-and-
f severely damaged, begin to
fall off.
This leaf loss can cause con-
siderable loss in yield, especially
on crops that are just beginning
to pod.
Unfortunately, the condition
is due to weather conditions and
little can be done to control it.
, Announce
mail dispatch
A new mail dispatch arrange-
ment came into effect Monday
according to Postmaster Orville
G. Oke.; It provideS for the after-
noon despatch of mail to Clinton,
and Goderich daily except
Saturdays, Sundays and Public
holidays, Mail must be in the
post office for thid despatch no
later than 2:30 p.m. daily.
A mail delivery from all
points will be received each
afternoon at 3:15 p.m. Mondays
through to Fridays.
Firemen
fight two
fires at
same time
The Seaforth Volunteer fire
brigade fought two fires,12 miles
apart, at the same time onSatur-
day.
Fire in a trash can at the
home of Edward Andrews, of
Seaforth, is believed to be the
source of one of the fires which
levelled a small barn on the
property.
Fed by fresh winds, the fire
'spread to a field of barley be-
side the barn and then to aneigh-
boring house. Firemen quickly
remarks, Prof. Sames R.Scott,
Seaforth, drew a parallel be-
tween the present struggle of
black Africans' in Rhodesia for
majority rule and Col. Anthony,
Van Egmond and the rebels of
1837. Col. Van Egmond was a
great help to the early Scott and
Dickson settlers.
The Scott and Dickson pio-
neers' who settled in McKillop
140 years ago may well have
survived the first terrible win-
ter because of aid from friendly
Indians. Sam Scott, owner of
• the land first settled and host of
Sunday's gathering of des-
cendants, offered this thought
in a series of interesting his-
torical, items on the program.
Solid bush
"It is hard for us," he said,
"to visualize what it looked like
here; solid bush, the river
was deep; with plenty of fish.
Over to the south of us, I have
been told, there was an Indian
encampment where that plantat-
ion of evergreens is now. There
was a spring creek running
through the middle, which would
provide them with water for
drinking and cooking. The river
also provided_transportation, and
I mitild pay a tribute to the
aborigines, because had it not
been for their kindness the first
four pioneers would not have sur-
vived that first terrible winter.
"Before they, came, there had
been a white missionary working
Sponsor last
band concert
(By Richard Stewart)
The series of Sunday band
concerts sponsored by the Sea-
forth Chamber of Commerce and
the Junior Band at the refur-
bished baud shell at Victoria Park
have been enjoyed icy large
crowds all Slimmer long.
This Sunday at 7'30 the
SeafortP .Junior Hand will play.
On Sunday Airgust 12 many,
Seaforth residents heard an ex-
cellent concert h", the Goderleh
Laketown Band. They played
many classical and modern num-
bers some_ of which inciuded
'Snowbird.' The, Pink Panther,'
'Jesus Christ, Superstar,' • ' '
The next concert this Sunday
at Victoria Park, will tie the last
in the series.
said it was fortunate
as still green, other-
ould have spread
of John Talbot was
ed by flying embers,
esulted as firemen
house with water.
Mr. Andr rn
Breeches
"Two Americans came along
and taught these Inexperienced
Scotsmen something about clear-
ing the land. There carne up a
sudden rain squall and the men
hung their wet garments around .
the open fire to dry. One was a
, little too near the open flame
and grandfather Dickson called
out, 'Ay, 'there goes yer !weeks'
The American who owned the gar-
ment asked, 'What's breeks'." Said,
Dickson: "You'll ken fine in th,
morning what breeks are."
was
original Dickson said
was a little south of the Agar
night,
nwhere they spent the first
"The chairman has drawn to
your attention where the first
Scott cabin was, and there is a
considerable hollow to the east.
James and Robert Scott consid-
ered budding a cheese factory on
the spot, so they dug down to the
spring under the maple there, and
it was strong enough to flow over
the bank. However, the factory
was not built, Robert Scott set
up a cheesemaking plant on his
own farm down here, and James
Scott built a mill at Roxboro,
"A little farther over you
can see where the barn i-s located,
one of the .happenings was about
their first venture in raising
pigs. They had a sow with a good
litter, but one night a bear broke
into the barn, killed the sow and
all her family, and got away.
"I would like to pay a tribute
to' those people who have gone on
before. I think one of the
surest ways to Judge the charac-
ter of people is to take a look
at their priorities,' and the first
priorities these people held were
those things that were spiritual.
It was years before they could
have a church or a minister, but
they observed family worship
regularly, and held cottage
prayer meetings from time to
time, and I would like to quote
a line from one of their prayers;
' Teach us to remember
(Continued on Page 12)
Lions Pool hosts
RLSS swim clinic