The Rural Voice, 2003-02, Page 36•
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MIDDLESEX
411721
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11
Book Review
Book tells of vanished villages
Vanished
Villages of
Middlesex
By Jennifer
Grainger.
Natural Heritage
Books, 383 pgs..
paperback,
$26.95
By Janice Becker
As the story unfolds, an image is
drawn in one's mind: the log and
frame buildings as they once existed,
situated along the creeks or by the
crossroads of Middlesex County.
Whether a true historian of rural
' Ontario or a casual sightseer,
interested in the intriguing stories of
the abandoned school house standing
at a lonely intersection, Jennifer
Grainger's Vanished Villages of
Middlesex is sure to entice one to
travel the backroads.
However. as a native of the
county, the stories she recounts not
only bring life to those places
through which I had driven as a
youth. but recall memories for the
older generation of my family.
As with most historical tomes,
many of the now -vanished
communities are given only a few
paragraphs, detailing the businesses
and families that once inhabited the
crossroads.
Only a crumbling building or an
old church and cemetery mark many.
Some are recognized with signs along
railroad tracks or farms and roads
named in their honour. Some of the
more fortunate remain as tiny hamlets
in a much -altered form. For others,
there is nothing to mark the land
where blacksmiths, hoteliers and
storeowners once eked out a living.
Grainger tells of the beginnings of
villages, many of which were similar,
as farmers moved into the county
through the early and mid -1800s.
Stores, post offices, mills, churches
and schools were constructed. For
some. demand for goods from
surrounding areas was great enough
to support several mills. carriage
makers, hotels, blacksmiths and retail
stores.
As their beginnings were similar,
so were the reasons for their demise,
she says. For most, the post office
was one of the main attractions
bringing residents into the village.
When rural mail delivery began
between 1913 and 1915. post offices
closed. The general stores in which
many were located soon followed suit
as the advent of motorized travel
allowed people to cover greater
distance and journey to larger centers.
The arbitrary course of the railroad
also signaled death to many
communities, drawing farmers away
to other centres for the shipping of
products and other needs.
The last vestiges in numerous
villages were the churches and
schools. Some one -room
schoolhouses actually remained in
use until the early 1960s when school
districts were amalgamated and
central schools created.
Much to their credit, some rural
churLhec still hold regular services,
serving their communities for more
than 150 years.
Other villages have been
consumed by the ever-expanding city
HELP FOR ONTARIO FARMERS IN CRISIS
Queen's Bush Rural Ministries
Provides - a free confidential service
to listen and offer a network
of helpful contacts.
��. Call Collect 1-519-369-6774
32 THE RURAL VOICE
of London, says Grainger. Now
known just as suburbs or neighbour-
hoods of the metropolis, communities
such as Wilton Grove, White Oaks,
Masonville and Byron had identities
of their own less than a century ago.
Though the details of site and
location are interesting, it is through
Grainger's telling of personal stories
she discovered through more than
two years of archival research and
personal interviews that the once -
thriving villages come to life.
The tale of Cashmere in Mosa
Township, is particularly interesting
as it tells of a visiting minister whose
preaching was not appreciated by the
community. After a barbarous act by
the townsfolk caused his eventual
death, he left a curse upon the village.
One has to wonder whether the curse
was a self-fulfilling prophecy,
bringing doom to Cashmere. There is
now nothing left but the one structure
that minister said would remain: the
home of the lone family who showed
him kindness.
Though the author includes many
such stories, it would have been
captivating to read more. However,
as the years pass, it is understandable
that the stories of communities such
as Fernhill, Tait's Corner or Pine
Knot disappear.
It would also have increased my
enjoyment of the book had Grainger
included more photographs, both of
the past and the present. Whether this
was simply a logistical problem in
acquiring such material or an
editorial one with the book well over
300 pages, it would have been worth
the extra effort and expense.
1 thoroughly enjoyed Grainger's
account of Middlesex County's
history, wishing for sunny spring
days to arrive so that 1 might venture
out on a day trip with Vanished
Villages in my hand, to discover
those places long -forgotten and
fading from the rural landscape.0
The Rural Voice
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Feedback letters to the editor
column.
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