HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe 27th Huron Pioneer Thresher Reunion, 1988-09-07, Page 16PAGE A-16. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1988.
Threshing syndicate was institution
In its earliestyears, most of the Silver Creek Syndicate s threshing was done inside
the bam; life became a little easier once it moved out into thefields. The above photo
was taken in about 1930, and shows the big steam tractor driving the separator, fed
by a wagonload of sheaves. Photo courtesy of Annie Blair.
BY TOBY RAINEY
Many local threshermen will remember
the Silver Creek Threshing Syndicate of East
Wawanosh Township, an innovative organ
ization which paid a fairly handsome return
to its shareholders over its 40-odd years of
operation.
In 1916, about 20 farmers on the 6th and
7th concessions of East Wawanosh decided
toform a threshing syndicate which would be
run as a business throughout the long
harvest season of those early days. A
second-hand steam engine, separator and
corn cutting box were purchased from Fred
J. Cook, with each man payingashare of the
cost.
An engineer, separator operator and tank
man (with a team of horses) were hired, and
the outfit was moved from farm to farm as it
was needed, with each farmer paying by the
hour for threshing or for silo filling, at the
price set by the shareholders for the service.
Each November, at the end of the season,
a shareholders’ meeting was called, all the
outstanding bills were paid, and any profit
divided amongst the shareholders.
The syndicate thrived, and in 1919
purchased a new George White steam
engine, again with each shareholder paying
his share of the purchase price. The new
outfit did all the threshing of forty or more
farmers for the next number of years, with
Preparing thresher meals
took plenty of woman power
Continued from page 15
late in the evening, after some of the food had
been prepared for the following day.
Mrs. Blair was most often assisted by her
mother-in-law, Dora Blair, and several
neighbour women, who would prepare a
massive roast, gravy and mountains of
potatoes for the noon meal, served with fresh
vegetables from the garden and fresh-baked
bread or buns, all laid out on a white linen
tablecloth with the family’s best china, with
the dining room table extended as far as it
would go to seat the crew. The main course
was followed up by a second course of stewed
fruit and muffins or biscuits; and that was
followed by still a third course - fresh-baked
pies which had often been carefully covered
and left on the cellar floor to stay cool
overnight. The whole feast was washed
down with gallons of tea.
After dinner, the women would have a few
minutes to themselves, Mrs. Blair remem
bers, when they could have their own meal
and feed the various children on hand,
before starting the work needed to do it all
over again at supper time.
“Supper was usually easier,’’ Mrs. Blair
says. “We’d usually just give them cold
meat with fried potatoes or potato salad, and
withjelly salads and pickles galore. And
more fruit preserves, and pie - they always
wanted to finish up with pie,’’ she says.
Between times, of course, there had to be
water hauled from the well or spring to wash
up the dishes, andtogethotforthe next
round of meals. It was easier in the
mid-1930’s, Mrs. Blair remembers, when
Hugh purchased a Delco generator to pump
the water to the house, and it was marvellous
in 1940, when hydro came down the 6th line
each season often lasting from late July until
November - in those early days, weather was
no handicap to the work since virtually all the
grain was brought into the barn as it was
harvested, where it was safe and dry until the
threshing crew could get to it. Twelve to 14
hour days were not uncommon for barn
threshing crews, which often numbered up
to about 20 men.
From the separator the grain flowed into
two bushel boxes which kept two men going
full speed to dump them into the granary
while the mighty steam engine driving the
» separator roared and belched smoke almost
underfoot. Fuel for the engine was usually
hardwood, which was often sawed into
thfee-foot lengths by a saw mounted on the
rear of the engine, further adding to the din.
The tank man’s duty was to make sure that
the supply of water, hauled from the nearest
creek or pond, never ran out; he also helped
saw the wood and took care of any other odd
jobs nobody else had time for.
Usually threshing came to a halt after the
first really heavy frost of the season, and the
corn box was put into operation. A dozen or
so men armed with short-handled hoes
would start into a field, each cutting by hand
the two rows of corn on each side of him and
laying it into neat bundles that were then
loaded by hand onto horse-drawn wagons.
As each man came to the other side of the
and the house had an electric stove and
lights. But still, nobody complained in the
early days, either.
‘ ‘Oh, boy - when you think back on it, you
wonder how we ever did it all. But I was
young, and I had my health... and of course, I
wasn’t the only one. Everybody else did just
the same, when it was their turn.’’
The regular routine was interrupted at
times with a little added excitement. Mrs.
Blairvividly recallstheday in 1935 when
their barn burned, just after the men had
finished their dinner and gone back out.
“We could smell smoke, and looked out, and
it was all ablaze ... too late to do anything. ’ ’
The fire had started with a spark from the
old steam engine and was well established
before the men got back; Simon Hallahan
was able to pull the separator out with the
steam engine, and Annie and Dora Blair
were able to get the calves out of the barn,
but everything else was lost, including the
entire crop, already partially threshed.
And the next year, Bert Harrison took a
stroke and died right in the middle of filling
thesilo; right at the time that dinner was
ready and on the table for a 26-man crew ...
that was a hard time, but they had to go on.
Mrs. Blair remembers, too, the philoso
phy of the times, one of the things that made
it so much fun, when each woman would try
to outdo her neighbours while the crew was
at her house: “It’s like my mother-in-law
always said, the threshermen always
deserve the best we can give them.”
“Oh, those were good times . ...we were
always sad to see the threshermen leave; it
meant that fall was over, and another year
was ended. But, oh yes, I’d go back again, if I
could ....”
field he would turn and walk back again
before starting on his next two rows, so that
all the cut corn would lie in the same
direction, making loading easier; often a
friendly race would break out among the
harvesters, adding a bit of fun to the hard,
cold and back-breaking work.
Getting the corn into the silo also required
a lot of hard labour, with four to six teams of
horses and wagons, along with a crew of
about 15 men needed to load the corn in the
field and then feed it irito the corn box which
raised it into the silo. Two or three men were
alsorequiredinthesilo, to tramp the cut
stalks level as they were fed in.
After the corn was in, threshing again got
underway, continuing until it was all done for
the year.
In 1927, Simon Hallahan, who still lives at
RR 3, Bly th and is still an active member of
the Huron Pioneer Thresher and Hobby
WELCOME
to the 27th Annual Thresher Reunion
Prop. - Fred Tilley
While visiting the Reunion, drop in and see us for all your
various needs. We have just about everything you need to make
your stay enjoyable.
'LAWRIE DECORATING
BLYTH
MINI MART
Queen St. Blyth
523-4486
OPEN: 8 p.m. daily
11
•Drywall Hanging &
Finishing
•Texture & Swirl Ceilings
•Spray Painting
•Painting & Staining
•Carpet
PAPER • PAINT • FLOORING
CONTINUING TO
MEET YOUR
DECORATING NEEDS
JOHN H. BATTYE
WATCH FOR OUR
SIDEWALK SALE!
Great Savings on
Paint— Wallpaper— Flooring
BLYTH 523-4930
DON “BARNEY” STEWART
k
Association,'and who had had years of
service as a thresherman, took over the
management of the Silver Creek Syndicate
and the operation of the steam engine, while
Bill Hallahan became the separator operator
and Hugh Blair the tank man. A new
Waterloo separator was purchased in 1935,
and Simon continued as engineer right up
until the fall of 1937, with Mr. Blair moving
up to the position of separator operator.
By then, stook threshing in the fields had
become more popular, the season was
accordingly shortened, and more and
smaller threshing outfits began to operate.
In November of 1937, about half the Silver
Creek Syndicate shareholders bought out
the other half, and Hugh Blair was hired to
run the outfit, Simon Hallahan having had to
drop out to attend to his own busy farm.
In the fall of 1939, a second-hand Waterloo
Continued on page 18
•Hardsurface Floors
•Quarry Tile
•Marble Tile
•Ceramic Tile
•Wall Covering
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