HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-07-30, Page 41Page 17
Port Albert history book will be very unique
BY SHARON DIETZ
•Of the all the places histories have been
written about, Port Albert is deep, dark
and mysterious in' the past, says the editor
of the history book currently being compil-
ed to mark the hamlet's 150th birthday
celebrations this year.
Port Albert is unique, says Mary
Crawford, because it died and then 50
years later, the hamlet was reborn. But
nothing much has happened since, she
says, only the airport during the war and
the plowing match.
"I'm afraid it's going to be very unique
book, very different than what we thought
it would be," Mary says.
It was really meant to be a book of pic-
tures, she explains, but you have to have
something written so she and her col-
league, Nancy Corkum are compiling
family trees to include with the family
•--pictures.
It's amazing the gems you run into,"
Mary says. Her, favourite information is
newspaper clippings especially old death
notices. Many of the death notices refer to
a man's deceased wife by saying "He is
survived by his relict" which means 'has
been'. "Maybe that's all she was," says
Mary with a laugh. The notice does not in-
clude her name or any information about
her.
Mary said she has heard'about the first
three settlers of Port Albert who for the
past 50 years bat other than their names no
one had any information about them. Her
son, Jim discovered a copy of the 1842 cen-
sus in Ashfield Township which contained
some interesting information about the
three.
Remarks on the censusshow that Sharpe
id a wife and built hotel but then left the
settlement and was never heard of again.
The first actual settlers in Port Albert were Andrew McConnell, Jerome Sharpe and
Stephen Martin sometime between the years of 1837 and 1841 in which year they were follow-
ed by John Hawkins and family. Of these early settlers, Andrew McConnell was drowned in
1842 while on his way from Goderich to Port Albert in a boat and Sharpe left the country
some time later. Before leaving, Sharpe built the first hotel sometime before 1842. The hotel
is now Petrie's General Store. On a map dated 1842, his name is written into the property on
the right hand corner of the road leaving north from Port Albert. Presumably, this was the
location of the hotel but he never had the deed to the property.
Everyone knew that McConnell had
drowned .but the census gives more infor-
mation. He had a family of seven or eight
and it lists the number of bushels of
potatoes he had that year and the number
of oxen. In his search Jim came across a
contract for a bridge to be built at Dungan -
j ---—BEST WISHES
to
Port Albert
on your
Sesquicentennial
from
Culbert
Insulation & Backhoeing
R.R. 6 Goderich
529-7571
A Time for Celebration!
After 150 years of hard work in building a community
to -be proud of, it is certainly a time for celebration for
the residents of Port Albert. Extending our best
wishes...
STANDARD
ti� �TRUST
138 Courthouse Sgtiare, Goderich- 524-738`5
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non. The government contarcted McCon-
nell to build the bridge. "So we found out
more about him," says Mary.
Most other history books which have
been compiled to mark sesquicentennial
celebrations in the area were edited by
retired teachers and professors, says
Mary, 'but we are only a couple of hayseed
history buffs and we can only do our best."
"It's Mary who's done the work, written
letters, phoned petIple, gone to see the pic-
tures, made the contacts," says Nancy
who is doing the layout and organizing the
material Mary has collected.
"It's really not us who make the book,"
says Mary. "It's the people of Port Albert.
We're really making the most of what they
gave us."
People the furthest away who had left
Port Albert after they grew up in the area
were the first to respond to Mary's re-
quests for old pictures and family •
histories. Port Albert natives responded
from Toronto, California and Florida, she
says. - a
While the two have been working on the
book since last fall, Mary says they only
really now know what to do, who to call,
and where to find the information.
Mary hopes to learn more at the ses-
quicentennial celebration in August when
people drop by, to buy a copy of the book.'
They have many pictures which are not
identified and they hope to display them at
the celebration to see if any can be iden-
tified by people who come home for the
weekend celebration."'
With the publication of this book, Mary
hopes more people will be interested and
she can compile a complete, authentic,
satisfying history. "That's what I'd like to
see done," she says.
Seniors today were people who looked
ahead and never back. Now they don't
remember much about their past, she
finds. People pull boxes of old pictures
from under their beds and it's too bad, they
don't know who the people are."
The book is "our funny little unique fun -
t‘. rage 12
Congratulations
Port Albert .
onyour 150th
Birthday
We're proud to be part of
your past, present and future.
Tom & Dianne
Dickson & girls.
HAPPY
HOLLOW
CAMP
R.R. 3
Goderich,
529-7632
NA.
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