HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1979-06-28, Page 26PAGE_
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Elkin family were first settlers •
BY
CHASE ASQUITH
Eneas Elkin was 27
when he em migrated
from Ireland to the
Maritimes in 1840. He
remained until 1851 when
he came into Canada
West to find a new home.
That the Elkin name
was of some significance
in the east is indicated by
the fact that there is an
Elkin Avenue in Halifax.
He came to the Huron
Tract seeking a good
farm location if possible
on a stream or river that
would furnish the proper
site and amount of water
to warrant the building of
a grist mill.
If we desired to write a
little fiction based
perhaps on probable
facts, we might picture
Mr. Elkin going to the
)ffice of the Canada Land
To., Goderich (Park
louse) and telling Mr.
Mercer Jones, the
superintendent, his
desires. Mr. Jones,would,
in turn, direct him to go to
the County Offices and
seek the advice of Sheriff
John McDonald who had
surveyed much of the
area and knew all the
important locations.
Perhaps Sheriff
McDonald said, "Yes,
Mr. Elkin, there is just
the location you are
looking for 12 miles east
of here on the Maitland
River at the junction of
Colborne, -Wawanosh and
Hullett Townships."
We can picture Mr.
Elkin making his way
eastward along the eighth
concession of Colborne,
which had been already
cut out to the Maitland
River. When he reached
the high west bank of the
river, all he could see on
both sides right down to
the water's edge was a
solid wall of forest. No
doubt he had learned
from the Crown Land
Canada Co. officials that
all the land at this jun-
cture had been taken up
except the Hullett por-
tion.
The north half of lot 45,
821/2 acres, concession 14
was still open.
Mr. Elkin purchased
this lot from the Canada
Land Co. and had the
purchase registered on
January 6, 1852.
The early settlers west
of here spoke of Mr.
Elkin's first clearance as
the "hole in the wall"
(wall of solid forest).
In 1854, Eneas Elkin
had the northern part of
his farm bordering on
GoOrich Street surveyed
into lots for which there
was a fairly ready sale.
These sales enabled him
to consider the building of
a grist mill on the farm
which he had purchased
to the west of his original
holdings.
A clay dam w s built on
the site of thpresent
dam, (a flat area on the
east side of the river just
above the dam indicates
where the clay was
secured), and a race was
excavated from the dam
to where M. W.
Andrews chopping mill
now stands.
Here a four -storey grist
mill was erected by
contractor Stewart
Plummer. It was of
heavy pine beam con-
struction with an ample
office building attached
to the north side. The
exterior was covered
with clapboard siding
painted red.
The mill was powered
with an upright water
wheel which is on exhibit
in the chopping mill yard.
It had two grinding
wheels, a fine one for
grinding flour and a
coarse one for grinding
feed grain. The fine one is
still in use in a mill in a
northern section of old
Ontario and the coarse
one lies on the side of the
bank just below the
chopping mill.
When Eneas
his mill about ready to
start, a man by the name
of Vanstone bought the
vest half of Lot 27, ,
concession 1, Wawanosh,
Elkin had
Turn to page 3
Site of Caldwell's Store, late
n evaporator
The late Chase Asquith
was a prominent Auburn
resident who left this
history as a legacy to
Auburn.
"AUBURN HARDWARE
AND
FARM SUPPLY
Would like to congratulate
AUBURNON :125th
BEST WISHES IN THE FUTURE
AND
HAPPY
125th - Auburn
May Your Next 125 Years Be . Even Better
auburn has its first feud.
from page 2
the river pasture farm
now owned b George
Powell, started to
excavate on the east side
of the river.
The first pier on the
new bridge on this side is
in the centre of this ar-
tificial channel, which
Vanstone contemplated
building as a race for a
new mill. The newly
constructed dam flooded
the channel and%anstone
was successful in suing
Elkin for damages.
Elkin appealed t the
award and won, but
Vanstone took the case
into court a ain and
secured ov r $3,000
damages hich he
register d against
in's estate. Elkin lost
e case because his
lawyer was aware that
the first mill to locate on
a stream hod prior
claims.
Undaunted, Elkin and
his sons proceeded to
make enough money to
pay off the damages, but
to add to their misfor-
tune, the river Maitland
swept away the clay dam.
Nothing now remained
for Mr. Elkin but to ad-
vertise the mill property
for sale. It was purchased
the same -year, 1869, by a
miller, John Cullis of
Victoria County. Cullis
was then 49 and the father
of alarge family of .boys.
With their aid, he
proceeded to build a new
stone and timber dam
which, with the exceptidn
of a new concrete top, is
as it was built 75 years
ago.
A short distance below
the grist mill, a water -
powered saw mill was
constructed. The water to
run the saw mill was
diverted through a
sluiceway just above the
grist mill into a pond
which fed the saw mill
water wheel. Later, a
steam engine was in-
stalled in t'he saw mill
and both steam and water
power were used.
For many years, the
Cullis people had
hemlock logs brought
down the river each
spring. John Sturdy was
foreman of the log
drivers, who included Alf
Asquith, George Sturdy,
Jack Clark, Dobie
brothers and others.
A pier was built above
the dam and a boom was
run from the head of the
race to the pier and then
across the river. This
boom held the logs in
storage from going over
the dam and allowed
them to run down the
race as required. At the
lower end they were fed
through the sluiceway
and into the pond at the
back of the grist mill
from where they were
taken into the saw mill,
No one was more
pleased to see John Cullis
and his sons succeed than
Eneas Elkin himself. He
always spoke very highly
of any transactions he
had with the Cullis
people. They had a happy
faculty of getting along
well in business and the
writer cannot recall ever
hearing of any squab-
bling connected with any
of these transactions.
Shortly after Mr. Elkin
settled in Hullett, Mr.
John McDonald (no
relative of Sheriff or
Stout McDonald) took up
the farm to the east now
owned by 'Wellington
Good. In the early 60's a
young Irish carpenter,
Samuel Caldwell, arrived
in Manchester. One of his
first tasks was building a
new frame house on the
Elkin homestead. The
next year, he built a new
house on the McDonald
farm. Nearly all the
operations were per-
formed by hand. These
were two of the first
frame farm houses to be
built in this vicinity. The
staircase in the
McDonald home is a
piece of fine craft-
smanship.
'In 1866, Samuel
Caldwell built the house
where C. Nivins resides
and three years later -he
built a fine new store
where the evaporator
stood
Mr. and Mrs. Elkin had
a family of 11 children.
John and George left for
the U.S. after the sale of
the mill property.
Murray left for the U.S.
also. He is now a very old
man and resides at Enid
Okla and is the only
member of the family
now living.
Of the girls, Julie
married William King;
Katherine married John
Mellen; Mary Jane
married George Main
prize; Emma married
Edward Cummings;
Naomi married William
Robertson; Annie
marred John Reid;
Unice and Elizabeth were
unmarried.
Elkin was rather small
of stature, rather skinny
but bestowed with an
amazing amount of
energy. His grandson
Elmer Robertson
resembles him.
After selling the grist
mill, he farmed suc-
cessfully for many years
and on retiring, sold his
farm to John McDonald's
son, Andrew. The
McDonalds took great
pride in the upkeep of
their farms and Elkin in
his later years had the
satisfaction of seeing his
old place well farmed. On
retiring, he built the
home now owned by Mrs.
C. Straughan. There is
somewhat of a coin-
cidence here as Mrs.
Straughan moved to the
olt1 Elkin homestead as a
bride.
Eneas Elkin died in
1895 at the age of 82.
Elkin was a highly
respected gentleman and
the writer can recall only
one remark reflecting on
his personality and that
perhaps not adversely.
The question has often
been asked why the
school establish'ed in
Manchester in 1858 was
removed to . its present
site in 1870. Strange to
say this question has
never been answered
satisfactorily. However,
one older citizen some
years ago ventured the
opinion that the reason
the school was moved
was because Elkin was
too lenient toward those
who demanded its
removal.
PAGE s
Elkin's first gristmill
CONGRATULATIONS
TO THE
VILLAGE OF AUBURN
ON YOUR
125th Anniversary
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THE SCHNEIDER FAMILY
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125th Anniversary of the founding
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