Clinton News-Record, 1969-03-27, Page 16Gunton, News -Recon, fihtur fay, March +V7, 1969
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91d Dort. McQhrnis and I never did any harm to anyone,"
Mrs. Ed Weston (formerly Nina Jghnston) recalled as a girl
hearing Don McGinnis repeating this over and over to himself, .f t was
quite true! Under a rough exterior dwelt _a gentle, kindly soul in this
we11-built PoWerfel Man -
,He only did harm to himself in that he was, consumed by a thirst
for "the drink"..
Originally there were two brothers, $iily and Dort, who lived in a
shanty in "$early" Frilly Elliott's bush on the fourth concession in
Goderich Township. They were both wood cutters, expert axnten in
a day when they found plenty .of employment,
-Owning nothing but their axes and personal effects, one of their
stock jokes was: "No, we'll never sell the farcy►, boys, we'll never sell
the farm," Miss Josephine Sterling recalls'hearing, .
One night Billy fell down on the road in a drunken stupor and
when he was found his legs were frozen. Dater, they had to be
amputated and he did not live long,.
When E. R. Weston and .Josephine Stirling attended S.S. No. 8
school, Don McGinnis was occupying a shanty in the McGuire bush
across from the school. Ed threw stones at the shanty on one
occasion and Don chased hips,
Miss Stirling remembers seeing his broom, made of twigs standing
by the door.
• John McGuire, R.R, 2, Clinton informed Lucy that Tom Biggart,
a bachelor, lived in the shanty before Don McGinnis. One day the
two of them got into a deep and serious discussion which ended in
fisticuffs. •
Miss Stirling said that Tom Biggart drove a fine horse and outfit.
Another old bachelor who lived in a shanty in the "Carpenter" John
Woods bush on the fourth concession was Tom' Creighton. There
were no senior citizens' quarters in those days.
Don McGinnis worked for the farmers, cutting wood in the
winter and picking apples in the fall. He helped William Stirling (on
the present James Griedonus farm) for 50 cents a day. Mrs, Stirling.
was very good to Don and he held her in high regard, They knew
that often he slept at the granary on the upper farm,
Lucy has heard that Don was a good housekeeper, baked his own
bread and kept things neat and tidy. One Christmas, Miss Stirling
recalls, her mother sent her and her brother, Sandy down to Don's
shanty with his Christmas dinner.
The neighbours were kind to him as he grew older and women of
the line went in pairs over with food and comforts to nurse him
through pneumonia. Two of these were Mrs. Alex Young and Miss
Alice Hastings.
Don dealt at John Whiddons' store and always paid his bill sooner
or later. One of his luxuries was the best tea.
Lucy's father told of a pathetic scene witnessed in the bar of
Bayfield's old River Hotel before the turn of the century. Don was
drunk and in staggering about a package of the precious tea had
broken. There was a hole in his pocket and the tea was running out
on the floor. Don was on his hands and knees, scooping it up with
his hand. "A-a-ach!" he'd say as he put each bit in his pocket , only
to have it run out again on the floor.
Lucy's recollection of him is very vivid. He was always catching
cold and came to Dr. Woods for quinine. Once after he'd weighed
out the powder and folded it in the paper used in those days, with
instructions asto when it was to be taken, the doctor observed Don
stopping up the street. He emptied each powder into the palm of his
hand and took it alt at once. No doubt it was washed down with
liquor at the River Hotel.
One day, Mrs. Woods saw Don staggering down the street when
she knew her husband would be away all day. She also knew that
Don would come in and await the doctor's return, so she locked all
the doors. Don couldn't open the latch on the gate but he wasn't too
drunk to climb over. Hastily, Lucy, about three and a half years
old, was shoved under the dining -room table, where a cloth hid her
from view, and then told to keep quiet. Mrs. Woods kept out of sight
as Don tang the frontdoor bell and then tried both the side and
kitchen doors. Lucy thought he'd shake the latter door open.
"Has he gone yet?" Lucy would ask, "S-s-s-sh!" cautioned her
mother, hoping•the baby would not cry. it seemed ages before Lucy
was allowed to come out from under the table. •
When he was too drunk to walk home, Don frequently slept it off
on the porch of the old Methodist Church (located on the lot on
'Anne Street now owned by Mrs. George Castle,) He may have been a
Methodist at one time for he seemed to feel safe there, Lucy was
told.
• Tom Bailey recalls that he was passing the Thomson house (Mrs.
L. H. D. MacLeod's home) one day and he heard a man groan. Upon
investigation he found Don McGinnis unable to get up. He told Tom
he had broken his leg so the latter went post haste for Dr. G. MI.
Manning Smith. Much to Tom's chagrin Dr. Smith's diagnosis was
"too much liquor."
Tom Batley thinks that Don McGinnis died about 1910. He had
frozen feet from being out in the cold and might have been seen
walking in Bayfield with his feet bound up in rags, near the end.
It was George Lindsay who found him ill in his cabin in the
woods opposite the present Lorne Spork's farm, He took him food
and supplies and called Dr. Smith.
Again the neighbourhood women contributed to his comfort.
According to Len McGee, RR 3, Clinton, he was taken to the
County Horne where he died.
Although few remember this old wood cutter, picture postcards
of Don McGinnis walking along the Fourth Concession while Miss
Cox stood at the side with her camera poised, taken by R. Sallows,
Goderich are still to be seen in some houses.
ORDER YOUR EASTER
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3 BLOOMS, $2.50 — 4 BLOOMS, $3.00
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HYDRANCEAS
1 BLOOM, $2.50 — 2 BLOOMS, $4.50
MIXED POTS — $3.00
Also MUMS, Etc,
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A
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Clinton Memorial Shop
T. PRYDE and SON
CLINTON --- EXETER -- SEAFORTH
Phone 482-7211
Open Every Afternoon
Local Representative
A. W. STEEP — 482-6642
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ER FIFTY YEARS
.b'
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