HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1980-08-20, Page 4rage 4--Luel‘w Seitbiel! Ausigat 20, 1980
the Cobourg area with their father Daniel
This article is to supplement the barn
'raising picture donated byBill and' Jennie :
Porteous, and -supplemented] by the •
-identification-of so.rnany-b),t..:Ii/lae-MacIn....._..
nes, Chester and Katherine/ Casein°
(Sentinel July 23,,1980). The old pictures
are much easier to identify after Archives
take a new picture; 'hey ate able to
supply copies of a picture like the Irwin
one with the names added for about three
dollars. There are several pictures with
people identified which might be of
interest to the Grey Ox.committee, who
are •preparing a history book,
The day of the "Raising" all the
material is out • on the groond. • "The
Farmer", always a genious, had the
material arranged so that the five bents
and two main plates running the length of
the barn were all securely in place before
the main event of the day - the race. It
was always an honour to• be selected as
captain of the teams. It was even a
greater honour to be selected first when
they tossed to see who would call first.
The race was to get the two purlin or
purline plates which ran the full length of
the barn securely in place, and the rafters
in place. From the number seen on the
high beams, it was surprising that there
were not more serious accidents. This
inust have been one of the last raisings in
the district.
It so happened that my wife, the former
Marian Massey, in researching the
Massey family history came across a fatal
accident when her great grandfather,
Jonathan Massey, was injured at a barn
raising on A-u-ghst-9-, 1834.
Jonathan Massey, hi 792 and his• '
arni7-raisiirtg. explained
BY $ANDy NicgoLsoN younger brother Daniel, b1792 came to 4411)0 Sepoy Town" . Established '1073
on the Huren-Bruce linundnrY Published Wednesday
roity mcmuRRAy Composition
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••• t,' eut,,t;91,a, (41411...it0 11 rn.11 NJA 1C
• • •
, , - .• • • .
-ANTHONY N. JOHNSTONE - Aciiiertising.sad
PAT LIVINGSTON - Office Man'ager
MERLE ELLIOTT • Typesetter
54ARQ,i+1 DIfTZ • Editor
Summer spoils
M ssey in 802 rather t an become other.
than British, The day 'of the fatal barn
raising, Jonathan *as able to make 'his
will. He was not• well enough to sign his
name, Wine madehiS farinanditrarims
his executors his brother, Daniel,
Samuel Little and Asaph Stuart.
Although he was very'youPg, 42i the
w,ijl .provided for 100 acres of find for
each of the five sons and two hundred
dollars for each. of three daughters when
they became of age or married.
He had second thoughts after signing
the will and we read:
"I Jonathan Massey upon further. •
censideration, do think it proper to annex
to this my will that all my children do live
in obedience and 'in subjection. to their
mother and the executors herein appoint-
ed and •if anyone or more turn out
diaobedient or , leave the place or act
improperly before they come of age , they
forfeit their .right, claim and title to
anything left to them in this will.
Jonathan X Massey
his mark
Marian's grandfather, Levi apparently
was not disobedient for although he was
only seven at the time of , the .death, he
eventually got his 'hundred acres in
Haldimand township - a pair, of young
horses, two cows, and eight sheep.
Brother, Daniel; one of the exectitors,
did not have as much land at the time, but
he had brilliant ideas about improved
farm implements.-and-started-the Massey %_
Ferguson firm; •
A couple of readers have written
tti inquire about old Jake, the dog we
had for so many years. Perhaps,they
missed the column, where 'Jake's
demise was chronicled.,
I am reminded of him because •we
were asked to be dog-sitters for a
few 'days this summer— and the
presence of another dog around the
house prompted us to think about
He came to us as a black-and-tan-
and-white handful of fluf from a,
litter of fatrn dogs. We had tried to
raise four or' five Puppies before
Jake arrived. I love beagles but Vie
did not have much luck with them.
We tried other breeds but they did
not survive. We began to' think we
were jinxed. We had Horses, rabbits,
baby chicks, even`racoons. They all
survived, even to the point where--
they became nuisances; some of
them.
We_hed a hamster that lived
almost 10 years, yet they are sup-
posed to Succumb to the ravages of
times.in five to eight years.
Then along came Jake.
No Purebred, he. He looked as
though he should have royal blood in
him but he was a Heinz: 57 varieties.
With his soulful eyes, floppy ears
arid great plume of a tail, he was the
lord of all he surveyed. Our property
was his domain.
He was an established member of
our family when our youngest
daughter was, born and he took a
proprietary interest in her. She
could maul him unmercifully and he
took it for hours-. When he got-tired,
he walked away with dignity and
found a place where she could not
reach him. Anyone else, though,
would be warned with a low rumble
if they disturbed his dignity.
He was justifiably proud of his
tail. Nobody could touch it except a
child.
Jake travelled many thousands of
mile's with us. We could not leave
him behind when we went away. He
went to Cape Cod. He went to
Saskatchewan. He enjoyed every
family outing until the last few
months of his long, almost 20-year
lifespan.,
He always enjoyed Opening
presents at birthdays and,
especially at Christmas. One year,
he disappeared after the, presents
were opened and ,came back with a
beautiful silk scarf and presented it
to me with a swinging tail and his
head cocked to one side.
I wore 'it for years. We inquired
about' the neighborhood but' no one
claimed it, I'm positive he did not
steal it. I believe he bought it with
his own money.
He was a smart dog, a mongrel
genius, If, now and again, • Take
carne and pfaced his muzzle on your
knee, you. had 'to notice him. He
would gaze steadily at you for `a
while and those beautiful brown eyes
would be saying: I love to be -here
with you.
The. last couple of years he was'
-With ms, he_did_this more often as
though saying he would 'soon be,
leaving but do not forget.
When he was about 18 years old,
his hearing started 'to fail; A feW
months later, his eyes ,got 'dinner,
then his rear end gave out. We
thought we would have to put him.
away but he recovered with some
loving help from my wife and
-daughters. They exercised him
around our big backyard with a
towel around his middle to hold him
. steady. He recovered for a tiine,
He was an epileptic too, btit more
intelligent than almost any other
animal I have ever known. Which is
more proff that epilepsy should not
be considered a disease but simply
as an affliction. .
We missed Jake when he finally
gave in to old age. His last weeks
were spent on the rug, by the back
door. He was almost immobile in
body but alert in his mind right to
the end.
We like our visiting dog, mind you.
But she is not and never can be;
Jake. She is a good dog, pathetically
eager to please, a fawning, gurgling
hound who takes huge leaps around
• the family room knocking anything
and everything aside in her urge to
find favor. She barks at every sound,
real or iinagined.
But we'll be happy to send her
stumbling back home again. •The
experience has increased our'
determination not to get another
do
There could never be another like
Sake..
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beef?
Write a letter
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#4:11
',11.?X0V
Photo by Jason Ainslie
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