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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Brussels Post, 1972-06-28, Page 38runners, turned up at the ends and was low,. MY feet were Only about a foot from the greliMi. It certainly wasn't good going over Pitoh-holee, There were plenty of these when the teams. hauled logs, I had a great time with my pony though .I did not drive him alone until I was fourteen years old as he was very frightened of cars, though there were not many of those at this time. My little white poodle, Teddy, liked to ride with me. In the buggy in summer he stood in the bottom with his feet on the dash- board and stared ahead as much as to say "oh! oh! here comes a car. Now watch the funl" In winter he snuggled up on the seat in a "Buffalo" robe which covered, my feet. Mike rode the pony bare- back and when he brought the COW from paSture, Barney followedat her heels, on the road and in the ditches. as well, When .1 took over the job, and followed hitched up, it. was all I could do to keep him on the road. Goming back to the saw-mill, Mark Buchanan was the saw- yer and lived across the street. If I went up to, the mill he would let me ride on the carriage with the log, two or three. times. As. I got older I earned many a dime after supper,. turning the saw, using a big two by four while Dad sharpened the teeth with a file, one at a time. In the planing mill, besides planing the lumber for building, they dried it in a large kiln at ya: the back. Many fancy deSign.S. drc were cut for trimming above the doors and windows and for ver, andahs„ When, a farmer was G.2: building a house pad brought -11a( him over to OPT' home to pick a 4 out what he wanted, as the trim - at j in each room was different, Allan Lamont was the fore-. an man in this section and later to. William clonse, charile McKay my who lived up the road fired the. a 1 boilers using the shavings. and. .bar chips from the mill. Later Davey 'VIE. Jamieson. was the fireman, 'I„. whi visited Davey or Charlie every 18 dre day and told them my joys, and boti sorrows. tow The teamsters were also my wri friends, the chief one being Billie mol Pawson, I rode around the. mill- SALU1 THE VILLAGE OF BRUSSELS ON THEIR 100th Huron County has a proud history of progress since the first white settlers arrived through the virgin forests nearly 150 years ago. It was John Galt, the founder of the Canada Company, who, in 1827, conceived the Huron Road which cut across what was to become Huron County, and on Lake. Huron at Goderich. • The new road encouraged settlement which in turn created demands for additional roads. One of these, built by the united Counties of Huron and Bruce in 1855 was the gravel road extending easterly to Egmondville and North through what later would become Seaforth and on to what now is Brussels. Brussels, situated on the South branch of the Maitland River was chosen as the site of a settlement by William Ainley in 1852 after exploring much of Huron. Brussels through the years has made a major contributiOn to the economy of the county. Its citizens through their ability and participation have on many occasions brought renown, not only to the village, but to the county as well. The village — one of five in the county — as it looks to the future, continues to exhibit that pride and persistence which were such factors in its establishment a century ago. Huron builds mo&ery bridges Ament family played leading role in encourag • 4,-. (By 1.4anra (Ament) iCidd) I cannot boast of knowing Brussels for one hundred years but I have known it for three- quarters Of that time, I was born here in 1698 in the house now owned by David Hastings My father, Philip Ament, operated the planing mill and saw mill on the 25 acres sur- rounding the home. "Slabtown" We called that part of the town while the opposite end was known as "Tory At one time much of the employment of the - town was provided by my father. My mother, Matilda, was a hard-working, capable person for besides raising her family of• eight she found time to work at church suppers, knit for the Red Cross during World War I, (I have a special pin she received for her efforts) garden exten- sively, keep a cow and about, fifty hens. She was an excellent cook but women of that time knew little of to-day's science of nutrition. I marvel how they served well-balanced meals so that their families were fed pro- perly and grew up strong and healthy. We had plenty of milk and eggs, good meat and vege— tables. We had few fancy des- serts but Mother's snitz apple pie and syrup tarts were a great ) favourite with us. Brussels was a good town to be "raised" in and I was a I happy, healthy child. May I pass on some of my recollec- tions of that time? Dad and his brother John owned a mill across from the present Creamery. This was burned down before I was born ; and my Grandfather Wilbee was killed by falling timbers when they were clearing up afterwards. They then bought the red brick mill and house at the north end of the town from a man named Smith. Uncle John pulled out of the partnership shortly after this and Dad carried on alone. This mill was also burned when I was about seven years old and the cement building now McNeil's Service Station replaced it. Uncle John lived in the Clark • Matheson home. He then bought'' the American Hotel and after operating it for a few years ' moved to London where he went into the shoe business. Besides the planing mill, there was a saw mill behind it on the back of the lot, also a cooper-shop, a weather beaten building towards the station. A cooper-shop you say? Yes where they made barrels. Sugar, salt and apples were some of the things shipped in wooden barrels at that time. It took a skilled man to make a good barrel and Dad had Jack Cooper to do the job. When he left, the making of barrels was discontinued. This building was later sold to Hugh Pearson for chicken-raising. Dad got his logs by buying up timber lots on various farms. If the farmer would not sell the lot separately, he would buy the farm and when he had cut all the timber he would resell it. In , later years he still had a couple of these farms on his hands which he worked. He would take the Kelly boys and several others out at 7 a.m. and bring them back at 6 p.m. Mother always enjoyed the joys of threshing, housing the men for a night or so and feeding the gang. Dad also had 400 acres at McNaught station, used for pasture. When it was cleared around the end of World War I it was nick- named the "Camp Borden" farm. Bill Miller and Johnny Barbeau lived in its small shack for years. The men cut the logs in early winter and hauled them into the yard surrounding the saw mill in late February and March. This necessitated keeping heavy horses. Hence the large green barn later sold to Mr. Rose for a chicken plant. I have a pic- ture of sixteen of these large horses, taken one spring. Besides these, Dad always 'kept a couple of drivers or racers which he exercised at the race track after supper. Peter Scott, blacksmith, his Pa—THE BRUSSELS POST, JUNE 28, 1972 THE COUNTY great friend exoePt. politics. used to exercise his horse at the, same time and before they finished for the evening would stage a race, pad had a horse, Carrie A., which won many races at the Fairs, There was also my pretty white pony. was a perfect horse and always captured first Prize at the Faire. Sandy Fox, the Druggist's son, and. Dorothy Holmes, the Doctor's daughter, also owned ponies. But they were old and fat and couldn't compete with Barney, Dad had a lovely buggy and a red Russian cutter built for him at Dan. Fwan's Carriage Shop where Geo. MoCutcheon's Garage now stands. The cutter had two solid, boards for Mee • M1d,