The Wingham Advance-Times, 1956-06-27, Page 9FIRST SCHOOL IN HOWICK
No. 8, familiarly knoWn as Gough's School
NS the first School to be built in Howick Town-
/13. • It was .constructed in 1857, and is located
mile west of Fordwich. Children from as
r, away as lot 29, concession 9 attended this
school in the early days. School trustees at the
time' of Its opening were Henry Gough, John
Sotheran and William Wade, and the teacher was
Miss Waugh.
SERVING ilOWICK FOR 83 YEARS
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adquarters of the Howl.* Mutual Fire In-
once Company in Wroxeter, which has been
`wing the township for 83 years. The present
office building .was built in 1906, but was reno-
vated and modernized a few years ago.
Home's a happier place
when -Coke i§. there
Give them the real thing—There's more fun for your family when you bring out ice-cold Coca-Cola.
For more family fun
•
That great taste of Coker . . Coke puts you at your sparkling
nettling Ilke it -.You'll find real best-,-NoW lean back let Coke
refreshment in Coca. Cola. Even do the rest. That bright little lift
the bobbles taste better1 is the World's best ro% ord.
bring home
the Coke
Standard ,Size
6 Bottles
36 p.m opos),
ESI3ECO LIMITED
Aufheired bottles of cofff..tolo under tonfroti•Virili tocepeota If 4,
t,t4.10X
Ontario
Phone NO. t 18
Sothern Farm in Howick
Is Now in fifth Generation
The 'Maximo Mvance-Times, Wednem4a.Y, June 01,190
Ijoi4;ICK CORRRSPONDNTS
r.
- By Sra. -14tice Setifern•
It . was in the year 1837 -.when
.Tohn _Seth= and his family,
came from abbe, Ireland in a
riling vessel, They were •slK
weeks on the ocean. A man by
the name of Sage was captain of
the
When they came to Canada,
they settled.. at Little York,, noVY
Toronto on Yongo Street, John
Sothern held the keys for York
gaol, at the time of the McKenzie
rebellion, When they left Little
York they moved to "bond Head,
Edward, a son helped to survey
Howick ToWnship and when he
returned told them of the spring,
water and of the good land.
In March, 1854, they came to
Howick by Molesworth with _oxen
and settled on a knoll by a spring,
on the farm now owned by Wm.
Wilson near . the river, •At that
time Howick was all forest, with
lots of wolves and Indians, The
last of the Indians camped at the
edge of Sam Robinson's swamp.
They were great basket weavers,
Edward, a brother of John, went
to the States. One of the girls in
the younger generation became a
movie actress known as Ann So-
thorn.
John Sothern was • married • to
Deborah carter', They had. a fam-
ily of four sons and one daughter,
John married to Jane Crosby;
William married Nate Glouser;
Edward married Isabel White;
Samuel, wife unknown . and Deb-
orah married to Wm. Wade,
John Sothern took up1 Lot 19,
Con, 5,, from the Crown. In 1894
this land' was registered .to a
grandson, John F, A. Sothern. The
second John Sothern was married
to 'Jane Crosby. They lived on the
farm on the sixth line, now owned
by Sam Robinson, They- had a
family of five daughters and four
sons; John married rLizzie .Ander-
son; Andrew married Clara Har-
ris; William married Susan Mc-
Kee; Edward married Mina Scott;
Margaret married John Arm-
strong; Esther married George
Williamson; Jane married Alex
Gibson; Sarah, married. Henry
Carter, and Mary married Wm.
Allen. . •
All children of this family were
born in the log house which still
remains. Of this family two stir;
vivo.
On January Oth, 194 John So,
thorn died at the age of 104,
When seventeen years old he
joined the Orange 'Lodge a nd at the time of his death was one •ot
the .oldest .Orangemen in Canada,
ISer, Sothern 'helped to build the
first house In .Fordwiell and was
engaged in all the .piOneer work
of the period. Many a casket he
made and many a corpse he laid
out,
In the year -i1996 Andrew Seth-
ern took over the land .on Lot *19,
Con, 5, which he owned for nine-
teen years. He was married to
Clara Harris and had one daugh-
ter Bertha (Mrs, A, Fitzpatrick of
Elgin, Manitoba). Andrew's second
wife was Edith Strathy. They had
two daughters, Evelyn (Mrs. Dr.
Thomas) and Vera (Mrs, Nay.
Collins) B. C,
In 1912; this land was taken
over by William T. Sothern, who
married Susan McKee, They had
a family of six daughters and
three sons namely: Eunice (Mrs.
Carl Harris); Tessie (Mrs, San-
ford Ziinmerman); Hazel (Mrs,
Ira Schaefer); Nellie (MA,. Roy
Simmons); Emily (Mrs, Balfour
Brears); Dorothy (Mrs. Roy Hart-
man); Bruce married e, Margaret
Arnetta Ott; William Jr. married
Jean Vittie; Crosby, a twin of
Emily, died at two months of age.
Sothern Sr., celebrated his
94th birthday on June 2nd of this
year and still has good, health. He
resides with his eldest on on the
old family homestead and hopes
to take part in the coming centen-
nial. He has 31 grandchildren and
33 great-grandchildren,
In 1947 this same farm was tak-
en over by. Bruce. They have two
daughters, Pauline age 12, Mar 7,
garet Susan age 2. A son Donald
Bruce died 'in infancy five years
ago. This farm is now in the fifth
generation.-
A company almost as old as the
Township of Howick, the Howick
Farmers' Mutual Fire Insurance.
Company, marked its 83rd birth-
day in this centennial year. Dur-
ing the years of its existence the
amount of its insurance in force
has increased almost 500 times.
The idea of a mutual fire in-
surance company in Howick was
first conceived in 1873, When, on
February 11th a meeting was
called at David Bradnock's farm
for the purpose of organizing such
a company. At this meeting a
committee was formed to call a
general meeting of the township,
and eight men,,many of the pion-
eer settlers of the district, were
named to the committee. Of the
original committee were James
Edgar, Alexander Edgar, Henry
Smith, Thomas Walker, William
McKercher,' Robert McLaughlin,
John Jardine And John Donley.
A second meeting followed in
.Gorrie on March 29th, where it
was decided to call a pub'ic meet-
ing for. June 7th, at which a
board of directors would be elect-
ed. At the June meeting a, number
of prominent citizens of the dis-
trict were elected as directors of
the newly-formed company„ and
at a further Meeting of the dir-
ectors the following were elected
as officers of the company: James
Edgar, president; Henry Smith,
vice-president; William Metier-
cher, secretary; James Hunter;
treasurer,
fiEll, DANE CHOSEN
TOWNSHIP CLERK
George Dario came to Canada.
from. Ireland in 3,942 and for
twelve years . lived in Xontreat
Toronto and Brantford, A •CP11,
tractor in public works, Mr. Dane
built the .Brantforri ..and London
plank road ,for the government,.
which was known us ,"Oovernor's'
Road". •
In the autumn of 18,54 he .settiod
with his family in Howielr Town-
,-
Ship on Lots 7 and 8, Con. 10 and
engaged in farming. When the
first Howick council was formed
two years later, Mr. Dane was
chosen township clerk. With the
exception of an interval of a
year, he held this .position until
his death in 1874.
Rose chafers found feeding on
the blossoms, fruit and leaves of
many plants, peonies and. roses in-
chided, can be destroyed by sprays
or dusts of DDT and Lindane. Re-
peated sprayings and dustings are
necessary as new swarms of rose
chafers move in almost, daily clue-
ing most of June and early July.
Particular About Risks
According to It, W. N. Wade's
"Early History of Howick Town-
ship", the companies in those
days were very particular about
the •risks they acCeptecl, and it
was not uncommon for them to
notify policyholders if anyi part Of
their', property was deemed to be
a fire hazard. In the early
minutes of the company a policy-
holder was notified to remove
straw and manure from between
his dwelling and barn, and for
years after the coming of the
steam thresher the company
would not be responsible for
buildings burned by these mach-
ineS. Policyholders who placed an
extra stove in tlieir dwellings
were expected to notify the com-
pany at once,
The presenc office now being
used by the company was built
in 1906 in Wroxeter, but monthly
meetings were held in Gorrie un-
til 1912. A modern front was put
on the building a few years ago.
During the 83 years of the com-
pany's• existence there have been
four secretary-treasurers: William
McKercher, 13 years; Thomas
Miller, 4 years; W. S. McKercher,
43 years and J. H. Wylie, 23
years, According to last year's
statement the company had a
total of 8,44.4 policies, totalling
$56,937,105 insurance in force,
Present officers of the com-
pany are: President, Norman D.
Harding, Gorrie; vice-president,
W. Leslie Douglas, Wroxeter;
Howick Farmers', Mutual
Marks 83 Years of Service
Three Nowiek correspondents of The Advance-Times, who have 'faith,'
fully reported happenings in the township for the readers of tills
paper, Left to right are Mrs. Norman Wade, or Gorrie; 'Mrs. D, S.
MacNaughton, of Wroxeter ynd Mrs, Wm, Sothern, of Verdwich, Xrei
Sothern is a comparatively recent additjon to our staff,. haVinf
started writing for The AdvanCe-Times some three years ago, Her
reports from Fordwich. are 2=01 enjoyed by the paper's readers.,
especially those who have connections there. Both Mrs. MacIsTaughteli
And Mrs. Wade are veteran newspaperwomen who have been covering
the Howick scene for a number of years, Each week these corre-
spondents gather together a great amount of news in th6 township,
and do much to keep people informed of the happenings there,
directors, John A. Bryana, Harris-
ton, W, Robert Graham, Gorrie,
Ewart McKercher, Wroxeter, Wil-
liam L. Speir, Brussels; secretary-
treasurer, J, Howard Wylie, WrOx-
eter; auditors, Bwart Whitfield,
Gorrie, Gordon A, Gibson; Wroxet-
er.
Don't be a jaywalker; cross at
intersections, er in pedestrian Cress
walks.
There is no road, to success but
through a clear, strong purpose,
T, T. Munger,
I would like to take this opportunity'
to congratulate the Centennial Corn-
Inittee, Municipal Officers, and all
citizens of, Howick Township on this
celebration of their 100th anniversary.,
I wish for• all continued success.
MARVIN HOWE, M.P.
Wellington-Huron *
SEFORTH LIONS
SECOND
A
CASH BINGO
WIN' UP TO $1,800
12 GAMES AT $50 EACH — 3 SHARE-THE-WEALTH GAMES
CARDS 25c or 5 FOR $1.00
JACKPOT
SHARE=THE=WEALTH
WIN AS MUCH AS $1,000
CARDS $1.00 EACH
Seaford), Arena = Tly-usday, July 5th,
Doors open. at 8 .p.m. Play starts at 9 p.m. sharp
- ADMISSION $1.00 — which includes 12 games
Proceeds shared between Lions' Pool, Arena and Sport#.
Oldest Church iii Howick
St, Stephen's Church, Gorrie, has the distinction of being the oldest
church in Rdwick Towilahip, The cornerstone WAS laid in July 1869
by Very Reverend Dean Ilellmuthi Who later became the second
Bishop of :Huron, and the church was officially onened in. June 1810.
Histety of the ..pariSh Aates back to at which time Rote, O. 4T,
tirinkwater WAS the 'Church of 1111410nd minister in the district,.
Itiss not unusual for repair
bills to catch a family
unprepared and
borrowing the necessary
money is often a common and sensible solution.
In fact, nearly three quarters of a million families
borrow money from Household Finance every year
to pay overdue bills, repair bills, travel expenses
the kind of expenses you may face yourself right now.
HFC loans are prompt and convenient. You can
get $50 to $1000 with little or no delay,. usually in
just one day. If you have a steady income, and can
make regular monthly paymeas, you may borrow
witnout endorsers at 1I C. If you have a tnoneY
problem, why not phone or drop in -Way?
HOUSER i I i FINANCE
B. t, bectford, Moncvor
3s Was treat, second 0066 phOile 1501
GODERICII, ONL.