HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1992-07-22, Page 13THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 22,1992. PAGE 13.
Joan Armstrong first clerk treasurer
This weekend West Wawanosh
will be celebrating its 125th birth
day in the hamlet of Dungannon.
First lady
Joan Armstrong, the present
clerk-treasurer of West
Wawanosh, has been clerk
since March, 1965.
The township's history began in
1866, when the township of
Wawanosh was split into two dis
tinct townships, East and West
Wawanosh. The township of West
Wawanosh comprises an area of
42,300 acres in the northwest cor
ner of Huron County.
Charles Girvin was elected reeve
of West Wawanosh in 1867 and
Edwin Gaunt was elected deputy
reeve, positions which the two men
retained until 1882. These two
men held their respective positions
on council for 16 consecutive
years. Charles Girvin managed to
retain the reeve's seat for 21 con
secutive years. In 1878, he was also
elected to the office of warden of
Huron County.
Due to a fire in the home of the
West Wawanosh clerk in or around
1896, most of the township's
records were destroyed. Up until
1977, the offices of the clerk and
treasurer were separate, with the
municipal business of each being
conducted from their respective
homes.
In April 1977, with the retire
ment of treasurer Clarence Greer,
the offices of clerk and treasurer
were combined. Joan Armstrong,
the present clerk-treasurer, who had
been clerk since March, 1965,
became the first clerk-treasurer of
West Wawanosh. The municipal
records were moved to a vault in
the municipal garage, where coun
cil held its monthly meetings.
In 1966, all the rural schools in
the township were closed and a
new central school, Brookside, was
opened. A Christian school on
Highway 86 was opened in 1980.
In 1973, a Mennonite order from
Oxford County purchased farm
land on cone. 9 in West Wawanosh.
Their main settlement is in the St.
Helens area where they have also
established trades in areas other
than farming, such as carpentry,
cabinetmaking, butchering and
repairing. They have also estab
lished two small schools of their
own.
There are two hamlets in West
Wawanosh; Dungannon, which is
located on County Road 1, cone. 4
and 5; and St. Helens which is
located on cone. 10 and 11. The
only landmark remaining in what
was once the hamlet of St. Augus
tine is the Roman Catholic Church.
West Wawanosh is largely an
agricultural area where mixed
farming predominates. There are a
number of beef cattle, dairy and
hog operations carried on amidst
cash crops such as wheal, barley,
com, soy and white beans.
CRAIG HARDWOODS LTD.
Craig's Sawmill as seen about 1950
Five generations of Craigs have operated sawmills since
1866; originally at St. Augustine ... Since 1946 at Auburn.
Congratulations West Wawanosh
on your 125th Anniversary
AUBURN 526-7220
CO^U^TULAriO^
Providing a wide range of
Farm, Lawn & Garden Equipment Since 1936
East and West once one
This history was taken from the
Belden Atlas (1879).
These townships, before their
separation in 1866, formed by far
the largest township in point of
territorial extent in the county, the
number of acres within its limits
being 85,640. The shape of
Wawanosh, as it originally stood,
was. almost that of a perfect square,
it being only slightly longer from
north to south than from east to
west. It is situated in the most
northerly range of Huron County
townships, and is bounded on the
north by the Township of Kinloss
in Bruce, and a portion of
Turnberry; the Townships of
Morris on the east, Hullett and
Colborne on the south, and
Ashfield on the west, form its other
boundaries. The topography of
Wawanosh is quite uniformly of
that nature which, though not
excessively hilly, is somewhat
more than “gently undulating,”
except in the vicinity of the
Maitland River, which traverses the
townships from a point near its
north-eastern extremity, in an
exceedingly tortuous course, to the
southern boundary, at Manchester,
about midway between its eastern
and western limits. In the
neighbourhood of the Maitland,
then, the land is decidedly rough,
and the crooked course of the river
imparts this rough and broken
nature to a comparatively large area
of the township.
Wawanosh was behind most of
the townships of the county in the
date of its early settlement;
however, as early as 1840, or soon
thereafter, John Jackman settled on
Lot 13, Cone. 1, of the township.
The first male child born in
Wawanosh was a son of this
gentleman, who was named “John
Wawanosh,” after both his father
and the township, and today he
occupies the farm on which his
father originally settled. There was
a female child bom in the township
prior to the birth of the Jackman
infant, a daughter of Robert
Shannon, who located on Lot 19,
Cone. 1. About this time also Mr.
Charles Girvin, who has since been
Warden of the county, settled on
Lot 13, Cone. 2. By 1846 the
number of children in this portion
of Wawanosh and the adjoining
Township of Ashfield demanded
that provision should be made for
the dissemination of education, and
the first school house was
accordingly erected in that year on
Lot 13, Cone. '2, and John McBrine
was the first teacher engaged to
conduct the school. This school
house was the first place in the
township where religious services
were regularly held, and the year of
its erection Rev. Alex. McKind,
who was, as his name implies, a
Presbyterian, held the first Divine
service here, though there had
probably been sermons preached by
Methodist ministers prior to that
date. That portion of the township
near St. Helens began to receive
settlers about 1849, when John and
William Gordon and Joseph Gaunt
and sons moved in. They were
followed in 1851 by Hugh
Rutherford, who settled on Lot 14,
Cone. 10, and the next year James
Somerville built the pioneer mill of
the township on Lot 16, Cone. 10.
Previous to this time, also, the
Altons had located near Belfast;
John Sheriff on the Bruce town
line; and Duncan and Hugh
McPherson and Donald Cameron in
the 12th Concession, near St.
Helens.
As early as 1852 Hezekiah Helps
had settled near the present town
line, between East and West
Wawanosh, near Manchester. He
kept a yoke of oxen, and used to
draw in supplies for the settlers
who had located further north in
Wawanosh, as well as those in the
east of that township and west part
of Morris. His house for many
years formed a kind of “half-way
house” for settlers passing to and
from the north and east. About this
time also Frank Brandon and John
Owens settled near Belgrave, and
Thomas Agnew a few lots further
west. There was no settlement
Continued on page 14
Three
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SERVICE WITH A SMILE
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‘Upsss Country Carpets & ^teftens
PROFESSIONAL DESIGNS & CONSULTATIONS
Dungannon 524-7551
IN THE
COUNTRY TRADITION
Furniture Restoration & Cabinetry
• original designs • repairing • refinishing
• upholstering
Basket Craft - Caning - Rush & Wicker
• original works from wood splints to sweet
grass
• traditional cane and wicker chairs and
artifacts repaired
Craft Showroom & Sales
• featuring a selection of craft items from
local artisans
TRIPLE J
FURNITURE RESTORATIONS
Kathy and Gary Leeman
ST HELENS just north of the village centre 528-2492