HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-07-24, Page 5Community
; ' 24, 2013 • Lakeshore Advance 5
The great storm of 1913
Acknowledgements: from the
Collection of the Huron County
Museum &Historic Gaol; The Wexford
by Paul Carroll; Ships Gone Missing
by Robert J. Hemming
A century ago Ontario's economic
growth depended largely on railway
and shipping transportation and
he Great Lakes gave Canadians
easier access to land north and
west. Shipping allowed the har-
bours of Port Arthur and Fort Wil-
liam to become grain terminals for
prairie wheat that was sent south
from Superior to the lower lakes.
Ports everywhere were bustling with
activity to load ships with coal, iron
ore, lumber, grain, manufactured
items and food to make the journey
up and down all season, depending
on the cargo that each ship held.
Shipping was making Canada pros-
perous and only the onset of winter
was able to put a temporary halt to
business. But who were these peo-
ple who worked on these lake boats?
What made them choose to leave
their homes on solid ground to sign
on with some steamer for half of a
year?
The vast majority were Canadian
or American citizens, usually of
English, Scottish or Irish descent
and they were very young. Records
show that the average age of crews
lost on Lake Huron in the 1913
storm was approximately 25. They
trust have been incredibly resilient
and hardy to endure the physically
demanding work and the brutal
weather conditions they sometimes
faced. Also, they must have thrived
on adventure and enjoyed traveling
to see new places. Perhaps the secu-
rity of knowing a paycheck awaited
at the end of the season was another
consideration. 'They left home
towns such as Collingwood, Owen
Sound, Goderich, Sarnia or Toronto
to sign a contract with an American
or Canadian shipping company.
1 was able to learn something of
what a sailor's life must have been
like back then because of one man,
Captain Edward McConkey, who
was master of the steamer Regina,
the so called "floating general store':
The Regina was one of the eight
ships lost on Lake Huron on
one captain's diary
November 9th of 1913. McConkey's
body did not wash up onshore until
the following summer when the dis-
coverers must have been surprised
to find his personal trip diary in one
of his pockets. Needless to say the
small book was in poor condition
having spent most of a year under
water and much of it is not legible.
Ilowever, many years later, this
same diary was donated to the
I luron County Museum by the cap-
tain's daughter. Employees of the
museum have since worked to tran-
scribe the hand written work to the
best of their ability and it is cur-
rently on display at the musette)
although it is much too fragile to
handle.
It was fascinating for me to be
able to trace the Regina's 1913 ship-
ping season by reading Ed McCo-
nkey's diary. Iie was a young mar-
ried man from Barrie, Ontario in his
first year as a shipmaster and his
first on the Regina also. Ills diary
shows him to be a mean of few words,
although this is possibly an example
of the precise ship log style of record
keeping. Ile noted tithes, dates, and
From the Countryside
John Russell
Fifth to a Series on Guiding Bea-
cons of North Lambton
Currently featured in Shine;
Spotlight on Women of Lambton
exhibit at the Lambton Heritage
IS Museum
Our nominated woman featured
this week is Beatrice Clark, Thed-
ford historian and all round com-
munity volunteer. In her full life
from 1921 till her passing in 2003,
Beatrice encouraged her children
and her grandchildren, as well as
her neighbours to be involved in
the community they live in. As
described by her nominators,
Wanda Lean and Dette Kronenberg
and her family, Easiest and Sharon
Clark, David and Pat Cross and
Harry and Joan Grin, Beatrice not
only encouraged but walked her
talk in many different areas.
Beatrice was the dedicated wife
of Charles Clark and together they
raised four children, Ernie, Pat ,
Joan and Robert. They operated
Clark's Garage on King St. in 'Thed-
ford , where she was the book-
keeper, purchaser and dispatcher
for 60 years. 'Today, grandson Brad
and son Ernie continue to operate
the business and their towing
vehicles are a welcome sight to
those in need.
Beatrice served on the Thedford
Agricultural Society Board from
1960 until 1999. In 1984-85, she
served as President of the Society
in its important 125th Anniversary
year. During this time Beatrice
logged thirty years as the Volunteer
Dispatcher for the Thedford Fire
Department. In her spare time she
wrote the Thedford news which
was published weekly in the Forest
Standard, keeping everyone up to
date on the comings and goings,
the anniversaries and who was vis-
iting from out of town this week.
navigation details carefully, kept an
accurate account of his ship and
crew expenses, and used abbrevia-
tions everywhere. The short entries
give insight into the problems and
responsibilities a shipmaster faced,
such as getting safely through locks,
dealing with drunken crew mem-
bers, homesickness for loved ones,
especially his wife Amanda, and
even toothaches - no shipboard
dentists in 1913! One never ending
annoyance on many fakers was the
difficulty of finding and keeping a
competent cook. A good cook must
have been worth his (or her) weight
in gold. McConkey wrote to
Amanda almost every day and when
the ship was in port, he always
noted that he had received a letter
from her or another family
member.
Following are a few samples taken
from the diary concluding with the
last three entries before the Regina
was lost:
• Mon. Sept Bth 1913 - Crew
painting green. Taking drunken
waterman ashore. Dock burn inter-
fered and I knocked him down.
Beatrice worked on the United
Church Calendars for her church
community from 1952 till 1979.
Her interest in people, her family
and her community led Beatrice to
run and serve on the former Village
of Thedford Council in the 1970's.
She also continued to personally
involve herself in genealogy with
the Wright Fancily history, the
yearly Wright Reunion and helping
others in research on their family
histories. This involvement and
joining the Lambton County His-
torical Society in the 1970's helped
• Beatrice in researching, organizing
and authoring the 'Thedford Cen-
tennial Book In 1977, said still to be
our best historical reference on the
area.
Throughout her volunteer and
community career, Beatrice was
Three followed me up street and 1
got police to chase them.
• Wed. Sept.l7th 1913 - Hamilton
12 p. Laying at steel dock. Hamilton.
Amanda aboard. Loaded cars.
Steel.
• Thurs. Sept.18th 1913 - 3:45a.
Leaving I Iannilton. Port Dalhousie.
Amanda going to leave me here.
Number eight lock. Amanda left at
lock four. Oh how blue I feel.
• Mon. Oct.27th 1913 - 1 hauled up
5:45a. Left lift lock 7:15a. Wind
southwest. Light. 16' 10'forward.
14'2" aft. Four feet forward. Did
not touch. Very slow on account
great number of boats.
• Wed. Nov. 5th 1913 - Delayed by
slow boat. Letter from Anne. Wrote
one. Port Colborne 6a. West. Light
and fine.
• 'Ihurs. Nov.6th 1913 - 7am. Awk-
ward. Fog. Letter. Paper. At Detroit
loaded. At Harley's Wabash. In
Walkerville. Left Walkerville 9p.
• Fri. Nov,7th 1913 - Sombra
2:10a.m. Hazy. Cloudy. South wind.
THERE WERE NO MORE
ENTRIES
recognized and honoured often for
her hard work, dedication and par-
ticularly, her abiding love of local
history and the need for it to have a
place In our lives. In 1993, Beatrice
was awarded the Canada 125
Award and ten years later In 2003,
the Queen's Jubilee Medal in recog-
nition of her invaluable contribu-
tions to our country. Those of us in
the history field, remember Beat-
rice for her phenomenal memory,
her ability to tell it like it is and her
particular gift in chasing down
leads when it came to research on
families and events. I know that
these traits have been passed down
in the family and 1 am sure that
Beatrice would be proud of that
personal legacy as we are of her
community legacy as an outstand-
ing woman of Lambton County.
LET'S MAKE CANCER HISTORY
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