HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1976-05-20, Page 13014
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Anthony Van on, h i 1 d Eg required the
st�rumental in the settlement of the latter to construct four inns at 20 -Mlle
. act now known as Huron and intervals rvais alongthenew road. One of
l�un Tract; � e.
Perth Counties. As tangible proof - of ithese, located about four miles west of
their contention, they are preserving a Seaforth, b�ecame,his home.
mansion built in Egmondville about 1847 Because the Canada Company en-
, the Colonel's son, Constant. We can countered financial difficulties, they
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reach our own conclusions by studying paid him with one-third money and two -
Colonel and his family, by touring thirds land. Thus he accumulated ap-
e ouse, and by hearing the en- proximately 13,000 acres, on which he
usuastic 'goals of the Van Egmond established a saw mill, a tannery, some
•'ip ndation. flour Mills and several farms.
Anthony Van Egmond was born in Then began, the long,bitter feud
Holland on March 10, 1778. His father between the Colonel and the Canada
as the Count of Egmond and Lord of Company. The Family Compact~ failed to
[ aure, Colonel of the Regiment of fulfill its promise that the money from
' eiati in the service of this Region and the sale of every seventh lot on the
rossard of the Region between the Huron Tract would finance public im-
euse and the Waal. Anthony was also a provemtents, such as roads, schools and
direct descendant of Count VanEgmond, churches,
one of the German n martyrs beheaded by Furthermore, the Compact sold 100
the Spaniards in Brussels in 1568. _ acres of wilderness to each farmer at $2
Following in his father's footsteps, per acre. The fine print in the contracts
.Anthony became a soldier, and as a required the settlers to clear a number
young officer in the Dutch army, op- of acres each year as well as to pay their
posed Napoleon's invasion a/ Rolland in installments. No deed was issued until
19. He was immediately conscripted the whole debt was paid.
h o the French troops and participated By the time the immigrants reached
e the invasion of Russia. After the the Huron Tract, most of them were
etreat from, Moscow, he and his entire destitute. They borrowed money to
h n lar‘ history is Settled came first and then. �hen a ,road waa,
Orth-bacsed group called bui�it. to accornntodate them. The
mond Foundation .are ,d{iaa Railroad adopted the in -
an , support them novae no
ory of Colonel Ai o er pant of the agreement bit-
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regiment committed fllutiny. He then make the down payments and to buy
rejoined the Dutch allied armies and, as tools and seed. Inevitably they missed
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:Colonel helped to defeat Napoleon their installments, and; the Family
the Battle of Waterloo. Compact in Toronto seized the land,
In 1819, the Colonel, his wife andthree which by then had several acres cleared
children emigrated to Pennsylvania. and some buildings erected, and resold it
incidentally the three babies were. born at SIO per acre
in army camps, because at the time of Colonel Van Egmond tried to help the
the Napoleon Wars it was the custom for settlers. He operated 24 -horse teams
life wives and families to travel with the transporting the immigrants into the
$olti,iters. The Van Egmonds' younger community. He lent money to the new
Waren were born during their eight- residents, donated land for a church and
ear stay in Pennsylvania. financed the building of a school. He also
• paid the first teacher's salary for one
The family eventually moved to Upper year.
nada, settling briefly near Berlin, He protested by letter to the Canada
hid! is now Kitchener. Then the Company's representatives in Goderich
�•,lonel 4keepted a contract from the and Toronto and to the directors in
anada Company to build the Huron Britain. He represented the • Reform
oad from Stratford to Goderich, now Party in Huron's firs_ t two elections in
ighway no.8. He acquired some ex- 1835 and 1836. Manyof the settlers, for
erience in this field while living in whom he fought were denied votes
i 'ennnsylvania. ., because they didn't own land. Others
William "Tiger" Dunlop surveyed the didn't realize the Family Compact and
,orad; John._. Galt, representing the the Canada Company were the same
Canada Com any, and Van Egmond thing and thus Van Egmond was twice
built it; later the •immigrants settled in )defeated at the polls.
the region. This marked a new concept Although he was an experienced
in land development. Previously the r . soldier, he was also a peace -loving man.
brick fireplace heated the Madam's bedroom. Similar" ones are found in
most of the other rooms, and some of them still function.
Igo
and turned to MilitailcY onlyas a lag
resort.
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he ; ia
e.
thenow illlattt;L ,on
��moua
•MacKenzie' : - en his vast
militaryexperience,ho ever, couldn't
'strengthen d t4 !ed troops..
Their ill -fat +i attl! oft 't!t tn.resulted
inMacKenzie. fli e • :. and Van
... aG., nxio . ..,get �'th
Egmoad's imprisonment In on ail.
p
Before his trial for tie n, he
developed pneumonia . and WAS tran-
sferre�! to' a Toronto hospitalwhere . he
died on January 5, 1830. Two of his seas
brought his body back to the Huron
Tract for burial beneath a tree on his
own estate. Later the body was moved to
the Egmondville cemetery.
The government confiscated the
Colonel's property, but his wife and five
sons possessed deeds in their own
names. After her husband's death, the
forcefulness of Mrs. Van Egmond -- or
the Madam as she was called by her
family and her neighbours -- surged to
the forefront. She urged her children to
rebuild the Van Egmond dynasty.
Constant, the eldest, established a
grist mill, a flour mill and a distillery.
He also founded the village of Egmon-
dville and served as Justice of the
Peace. Leopold owned a sawmill and a
gunsmith shop. William became the.
proprietor of the American Hotel, and=
August established a woollen and car- I
ding mill. Edouard, the only Van
Egmond boy to leave Egmondville,
farmed and operated a saw mill near
Clinton. Two of the three Van Egmond
girls, Susan and Louise, married 'local
farmers. The third, Mary, married the
proprietor of one of the hotels on the
Huron Tract, which the Colonel built.
About 1847, Constant Van Egmond
constructed a brick mansion that
exemplified the. Canadian vernacular
interpretation of Georgian architecture
popular in the province in those days.
The slop bricks, which fashioned the
walls, were formed from .the clay found
in the yard. The house faced the town of '
Seaforth in one direction and the •
meadows lining the Bayfield River in
another.
From a downstairs bedroom, the
Madam ruled the houshold and the Van
Egmond industries for the final 15 years
of her life. Her self-imposed confinement
remains unexplained. Constant's
children and his grandchildren were
raised in this house. The last Van
,Egmond to own the property was .Earl, a
great-grandson of the Colonel's. Earl
sold the house in 1952 and subsequent °
owners renovated it into two apart-
ments.
In 1971, when the house was for sale
again, a Seaforth student, Jane Cardno,
wrote an essay for school, which also
appeared in the Huron Expositor,
alerting the local residents to the
Colonel's historical significance and to
the fact the house was the only
remaining remnant of the Van Egmond
dynasty.
A group of concerned citizens then
formed the Van Egmond Foundation,
, and sought expert advice from the
Architectural Conservancy of Ontario on
the period of architecture and the
soundness of the building. The con-
clusion was that the house is an
historical example of vintage ar-
chitecture worthy of preservation.
Next, the Foundation obtained a
$14,000 bank loan, with which they
bought the property. Ontario Heritage
donated $7,000 with the understanding
they would contribute another $7,000
when the foundation raised a com-
parable amount. This second con-
tribution was received in the fall of 1975.
Meanwhile. in 1972, Ontario Heritage
added credibility to the Foundation's
stand by erecting a plaque identifying
the house as an historical site. A similar
plaque marks the Colonel's headstone in
the nearby cemetery.
Most of the furnishings including this cherry dresser and
cradle, have been either loaned or donated to the Van
Egmond Fapndatlan.
f
e Founda;'
.• b!y C'Otnh Ievents
with public tio •.ld
crafts at loc. an bald h ,e
al lei , d .•, .
pie and dances
/'► fir ..M
parties dances 1f �F n F' ad-
mittance.
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mittance. In 1973, the registrationfor the
annual springcanoe. race w held in the
Van. Esmond house and last year, the
Foundation shared the race profits with
the Optimists' Club.
Whenever possible, the fund-raising
schemes involved the house and aspects
of pioneer life. Last November, for
example, approximately $400 was raised
at a Cider Fest. A press was set up at the
back door and squeezed 300 to 400 gallons
of cider. People from as far away as
,,,ondon came to see cider being made,
and to buy some of the drink. Mean-
while, in the kitchen, a man woteratin$ a
sausage -maker sold 100 pounds of meat
in one hour.
The organization appointed Fred Van
Egmond of London, a great-grandson of
the Colonel, as their honourary
historian, and he compiled a report that
sounded more like a book. In December,
1975, the Huron Eitpositor published
"The Importance of Liberty" in which
he described in detail the Colonel and his
family and the settling of the Huron
Tract. Mr. Van Egmond informed the
Foundation the profits from the sale of
his book will be donated to their cause.
Similarly, thousands of dollars have
been donated by individuals and groups.
Other people have contributed furniture,
curtains, linen, photos, information and,
craftsmanship. In fact, much of the
preservation accomplished thusfar has
been done by volunteers.
In addition to volunteer help, a 87,000
LIP Grant was awarded by the ministry
of universities and colleges. historical
sites and museums branch, in the winter
of 1974 and 1975. Four men' formed the
nucleus crew with part-time help from
three others. The grant paid, the labour
costs, while the Foundation supplied the
tools.
During the summer of 1975, six OFY
members planted tulip and daffodil
bulbs in the rolling lawn, painted the
Madam's bedroom, edited an in-
formative brochure and conducted tours
of the downstairs. About 2.000 people -
visited the house, and the Van Egmond
descendants held a reunion.
Let's look at the house as it now
stands. The restoration of Madam's
bedroom is complete. The paint chips
from the walls were analyzed to
determine the proper colour, texture,
style and time period. Lace . curtains
,drape the windows and a rag rug , made
in the Van Egmond woollen mill, covers
the floor. The room contains a brick
fireplace, a rope bed, a cherry dresser
and washstand, a cradle, a rocking
chair, some quilts and an afghan. Most
of these articles were either donated or
loaned.
The other downstairs' rooms are in
varying stages of refurbishing. Each
contains a fireplace, and several of these
still function. The large one in the kit-
chen was used for cooking as well as for
heating.
At the front of the house, a wide door
with transom and sidelights opens into a
hallway leading to the huge kitchen. On
- either side of the spacious hall are a
parlour, a dining room. Madam's,
bedroom and a slip room off the dining
room. The slip room, which can be shut
off from the dining room with four
folding doors, originally served as a
bedroom for the young boys of the
family.
to
A handsome staircase leads to the
three upperrbed.
bedrooms, whish open into
another wide hall. In the basement, a
barred' window in the central brick wall
shows where the coal cell was located -
Because 13ec .a us . Cot#stant served as Magistrate
before the establishment of the Goderich
Jail, he detained prisoners in his
basement cell. The Foundation hopes to
replace -the -other wails and the iron door.
During, the restoration, the workers
discovered the downstairs' walls are
composed Of studs, cross -members and
brick fill, while the upstairs' walls, the
walls under the staircase and the ar-
chway in the dining room are covered
with split board . Examples are visible
in thebasement stairwell.
In the preceding. paragraphs. we
followed Colonel Anthony Van Egmond
through his victories and his defeats. We
acknowledged his contributions and his
family's contributions to the Huron
Tract, and we toured the mansion that
now bears his name. We also discovered
why the Van Egmond Foundation was
formed and what its members have
accomplished thus far. But what about
the future of the Van Egmond House?
What are the Foundation's ultimate
goals?
At the annual meeting in February,
several . newresolutions were
propounded. The members hope to open
the downstairs to the public this sum-
mer. They are aiming for an offficial
opening of the whole house in two years
time to coincide with the 200th an-
niversary of the Colonel's birth and the
150th anniversary of the beginning of the
Huron Tract.
Toward this end the foundation plans
more fund-raising events that will also
publicize the house. The garden parties
and flea markets from previous years
will be repeated. and the successs of last
fall's Cider Fest warrants a rerun:
But new ideas will be tried as well. For
example. a Daffodil Tea is planned for
this spring, and the Foundation hopes to
lure a London Free Press Shunpiker tour
to this area next year. In addition, the
Board of Directors prepared an ap-
plication to Wintario for financial aid.
A unique project . illustrates the
ingenuity of the group. Because the
kithen roof needs shingling, they intend
to demonstrate how the pioneers made
shingles. They will sell the 'cedar
shingles to the spectators, and they
anticipate many of the buyers will want
to see their shingles used on the Van
Egmond roof.
In June, another Van Egmond reunion
is scheduled with descendants coming
from as far as British Columbia, the
Prairies and Indianapolis. Mr. and Mrs.
Jack Van Egmond of RR 1 , Cliriton plan
to attend again. Jack and his brother.
Fred. belong to the Colonel's fourth
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generation,,. and Jack's daughter, Susi .
is, the fifthSgeneration. It is interest*
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note the Madam's name was Susanna
and she and the, Colonel called one +of
their daughters Susan.
Jack reports the Vann E
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descendants are decreasing in numb.
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but they look forward to reunitingat the
old house. They have • followed the
Foundation's growth with interest and
they wholeheartedly support the
preservation of the house.
The Foundation's ultimate goal is to
open the Van Egmond House to the
public as a living museum of the Con-
federation way of life, They want to
involve senior citizens as well as young
people and to turn the house into an
active cog in the social life of the area
with exhibitions, classes and social
events.
They hope to obtain travelling antique
shows from some major museums, and
the paintings of local artists will hang an
the parlour walls and in the halls. In the
kitchen, demonstrations of pioneer
cooking and preserving will use crab
apples from the trees in the back yard,
mint from the herb garden and honey
from the bee hive. The board is also
contemplating the installation of run-
ning water and modern facilities to allow
catering to banquets. Of course, the
modern appliances would be disguised
under pioneer trappings.
In the basement, pottery and ceramic
classes will be conducted.. Someone has
already volunteered to teach china
painting, if a proper kiln"can be supplied.
Upstairs several crafts will be taught
and a retired teacher has offered in-
struction in a numberof arts including
quilting, crocheting. rug hooking and
tatting. Wool spinning and carding will
be done on the Foundation's walking
spinning wheel.
Thus the Van Egmond House will link
not only the residents of this community
but all people of Ontario with our past. It
is a living memorial to a man who
brought vitality to the settlement of part
of this province — Huron and Perth
Counties.
Colonel Anthony Van Egmond was a
soldier, a businessman, a protector of
human rights and a rebel. He didn't
construct the mansion that now bears his
name; in fact, he died nine years before
his son built it. The members of the Van
Egmond Foundation explain. however,
the house is the last remnant of the Van
Egmond dynasty. The family
spearheaded" the development of
Egmondville and district and was un-
doubtedly inspired by the deeds of the
Colonel.
For these reasons, the story of Colonel
Anthony Van Egmond is worth
publicizing and the Van Egmond House
is worth preserving.
In the future, the large parlour will be open for public meetings, but for three
weeks In May, it served as the field lab for a team of archaeologists from the
Royal Ontario Museum and Wilfrid Laurier University. Left to right are Mary
Anne Haney, Louise Fox,(lab supervisor) Davis James, Robert Bruce, Pat
Dutton(supervisor), and Janice Mulligan register some artifacts. The dig took
place across the river at the site of the Huron Pottery.
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The &urved driveway, bordered by magi and rolling lawn, were Made more than 125 years ago
leads to the kitchen door at the rear of the Van Egimond the yard.
Route. The sirbricks, th$t forin the walls. of the house,
plSky,
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