HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1979-10-17, Page 16VW 16—Tbe Wiagham Advaace-Tisaea, October 17. 1!'Nll
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By Den H. Keakedy Jr. elsewhere. Unwittingly or per- James, the Codes brought their twom the loge were chinked and Highway 21's infamous blizzards, To raise the logs two groups of
Descendents be proud, for here haps with a lot of foresight they son, Thomas (age 11), and a bright atmosphere was created the logs were moved 75 miles scaffolding were erected on the
is the story of one of your own, began to clear a space for us. Still daughter, Ann (age 2). They tbm with, buckets of whitewash. Cast north to a heavily wooded section main floor, three units high. Atop
typical of many others no doubt, on file would be those patents for proceeded to clear the land and iron wood stoves saved as a heat of Sauble Beads. these units a 24 -foot "I" beam
having contributed in his time John Jackson, Elisha Lemmex, populate it, with the appearance yon. The furnishings were It was during this winter that was laid and a trolley attached to
x and then quietly passed from William Roach, Michael Walker, of John, Richard Jr., Elizabeth, sparse, but adequate. Richard's the details on Richard Code were one end. A block and .tackle from
memory. James Currie, the Shiels, the Mary and Rachel. last will and testament showed brought to light. The Goderich trolley to log and a lot of labor en -
"Whereas Richard Code of the Pattisons, Youngs, Cummings A large log home was con- an inventory,' over and above Registry office was inundated sued. With four people pulling, a
Township of Wawanosh, in the and Deacons. With these people striicted about midway on the 200 miscellaneous household goods, with requests for deeds, bills of man on each -corner of the house
County of Huron, Yeoman ... for came the settling of East acres and 900 yards from what of two beds and bedding, an ex- We, last wills, etc. A county and a man to pull back the trolls
the sum of 100 pounds . . . We Wawanosh. eventually was a corduroy road. tension table, bureau, sofa, six atlas provided neighbors' names when the log was at the correct
have granted, sold, ... 200 acres This is the story of, Richard And what a house it was: a story cushioned chairs, a cuabioned and property locations. In the height, the results were a log in
composed of lot 33 in the 12th con- Code and how a part of him came and a half, 700 square feet per rocking chair, a melodeon and a spring the cemeteries in and location. The scaffolding was
cession. Given under James, back to life. floor; 16" to 20" hand axed and gold watch and chain. around Wingham were searched then moved to the next position
Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, BREAKING NEW adzed logs; finely hand hewn and photographed, and thus the and we learned shortly that re -
Governor General of British GROUND dovetailed corners that fit If money is a sign of 1� Code family returned, in a peating the whole procedure 40
North America, on this 8th day of Richard Code was born in the exactly; an 18 fieldstone peri- Richard would have been con- fashion. times resulted in the shell of one
July, 1854, on behalf of Victoria, year 1812 in Ireland. Having emi- meter resulting in a four -foot sidered fairly well off as he left The spring of '77 saw the log house being erected.
Queen, in the 18th year of her grated to Upper Canada, he deep root cellar; two inch pine John $900, Richard Jr. $3N, clearing of trees on the property. By the fall of '77 we had com-
reign." moved into Huron County in 1859 floors throughout, upper floors Elizabeth (Large) $600, Rachel These no doubt would have ap- pleted the roof, installed custom
The above letters patent are as a yeoman (farmer). With him tongue and groove and cut at the (Roach) $1200, Ann $1400, the ared miniscule to the Code reproductions of the windows and „ Methodist Church $100 and ex- -finished P
typical of our forebearers be- came the William James family. Wingham mill; 22 -foot, S x 9 family, however my wife had nished the outside chinking —
•nnings in Huron County and Having previously married Mary joists to support the second floor; Peep of ears for his funeral. difficulty moving them. From winter would be kept out.
For 16 years Richard and Mary
roof trusses and tie bars 5" here we excavated for amine -foot Winter consisted of more
elived and worked their property. deep "root cellar". The full base- drawings, layouts, searching for
z` E diameter, slabbed off on one side,
3 all trusses and bars held ether They had cause for joy at their
m8 went was brought to grand level data on the Code family and
p r children's weddings and cause
with foot .long hand whittled only and on its perimeter 12 to attempting to find a cast iron
F1870, Thomas took over the farm for grief at early deaths. In April, „
pegs; wiitdows all around, 3%' a 16 of stone was laid, upon which bath, sinks, brass fixtures, etc.
'
S' with 20 glazed sections. It was sits the house. Thus from the out- Spring '78: my wife is. planning
„ a magnificent example of forti- and gave his parents a life lease side the building sits on a "stone" to design me a carpenter's hat,
for the two acres on which the
and engineering. for
sat. This transaction was foundation. With the first floor plumber's hat, and electrician's
And where did the wood come joists in position (12��diameter hat; all will be necessary to com-
from? All around. Out the front witnessed by a life-long friend, cedars slabbed off one side) the plete the project by late fall.
John Jackson, and sworn before
door, the back and probably floor was laid and we were ready Weekend work continues through
either side. Visualize, if you will, C. Tait Scott, a Wingham Barris -
y to begin the walls. the early summer and Mr. Code's
„ 1 not today's fourth generation Block andtackle of the old house is coming to life.
but all those plowed fields The family continued to clear wooden type and 200' of rope en- By midsummer we conclude
NW with two and three foot dia- land; with winter
and is elms being abled us to skid the logs into posi that to finish by fall we would
meter monsters. Consider as you cut in winter and skidded down bon on the ground. While here, have to work full time on the pro -
drive, a very, very large and de- the Maitland River to Goderich. and for future wiring, each log jest, not just weekends.
crepit maple on a sideroad ora The huge trees were destined for had a 2" hole drilled at either A traumatic decision has to be
laneway. It is reasonable to England as masts on Her end, through the 18" thickness. made. A family discussion takes
assume that tree was a seedling Majesty's fleet. Smaller trees Not having access to electricity, place in Toronto. It is agreed that
when Code's house was beim from the north 100 acres were
g taken to the W _mill for the holes were drilled with anti- we will Trade our house in the
built. Also consider the largest �II1
suburbs an
g ue hand augers and a lot of bila
- d 12 ears of job
1 in the house is 32 l0 20 m q g
Y j
" a „ With some of these trees mss' security in the glass industry for
thick at one end and 19 at the
other. Just how tall was that Thome constructed a smaller
a hemlock tree and how old? It is log house about 50 yards due
200 years old and was thus a north of the main house. About
` seedling around 1650, about the this time he married Esther and
Al time Canada was being cis- moved into their own new home.
covered. In 1881,11 years latgr, they had a
bah 1 Clara S. Clara onl
Over the next several years the Y f3u' , Y
land was cleared and the Codes lived 19 years and is buried
prospered. To the south of the alongside her parents in Wing -
house, before the creek, an apple ham Cemetery, northwest of
orchard was established. From town•
the front to road the laneway was the land to the north was
lined with maples on either side, cleared and children grew, John
' Today the remnants of the apples Code purchased the north SO
..:' and maples are still obvious, the sores from his dad in 1880 for
maples being past their regal $1200. In 1887 Richard Jr. took
stage. A well was dug and lined over 50 acres of lot 34 to the north
with bricks and to the rear a and Thomas acquired 200 acres
small barn was put.up.I Mary across the road east of the ori -
THOMAS, ESTHER, and daughter Clare's headstone in Code, for her part, putt a a 'picket ginal farm. Although Thomas re-
mained a yeoman, John at age 35
present day Wingham Cemetery, north of town. Richard Sr. fence around the front and no
and Mary his wife are buried 50 yards east. It is believed doubt had an assortment of years moved with his wife, Mary,
that these graves may have been moved here from the orig- flowers to dress the table and to Wingham and took up trade as
inal Methodist churchyard. vegetables for the root cellar. a butcher. Richard Code Jr.
Inside the house the spaces be- moved to Hensall and became a
general merchant.
Mary Code (nee James) died in
1884 at age 68 years having, in her
special way, contributed abun-
dantly to the family and to East
Wawanosh. One can easily
visualize the efforts of the
pioneer women in feeding 200
men at a barn raising, or sleigh-
ing to a Methodist quilting bee at
the church half a mile south. FULL BLOCK BASEMENT ready for local limestone
There with her daughter, Ann, perimeter: Joists had to sit on pilinge to compensate for
and neighbors such as Mary and original 18 Inch thick -stone walls.
Roach, Christiana Ann Rothwell -
and Cathy Singleton, conver- f
sations relative to fun and
tragedy must have taken place.
These ladies who lived through
' an era, we descendents must hold
in a place of honor.
' Richard Code died August 16,
1887, at the age of 74. At 40 years
r
a new life. Our two ddkkw belt than our family, I'll bet. To say
forward to the change and so we we are pleased with our new
make our move, each with our "old" tome is pugit mildly.
own apprehensions' We thank you R Code,
After a year in 'bur" dream both for your past and our future.
home we sometimes wonder bow NOTE: Spelling of original sur -
the Code family felt about their names changed over the years
transition — not much differently i.e. Code vs Coad, Shiel vs Shiell.
BEFORE—Original homesite on Shelll property southwest
of Wingham. Early stages of dismantling.
AFTER—Restored Code home. Fully insulated, 700 sq. ft.
per floor. Windows reproduced per originals. All lumber
supplied by local mills. Proudly occupied by the Kennedy
family.
UNABLE TO GET A CRANE on the property, walls were
erected by block and tackle attached to trolley on the "I"
beam, atop scaffolding.
s x: of age he had come to East
{ Wawanosh with the land gift of 1
s yf i� OW the Queen and an abundance of fortitude. He, along with all his
fellows brought families across l =
non-existent roads to dreamed -of
clearings and together they
hewed out out future — to these
people we. owe our life and a
SECTION OF E. WAWANOSH from County Atlas showing Code sons' property, c-1887. great deal of respect.
Top is west. Note Methodist church and school to -the south. Maitland River passes THE HOME REBUILT XA%atever ylquve90
through back of property. In the summer of '76 my family
and I purchased the Code home • •
(indirectly) from John Shiell.
<:7.
f The Shiells were among the ori- �atemgm sh
ginal settlers in the area and are
ap
still yeomen. Atthis point the °
l` house had sat empty for some 50 •
' to 80 years after the Walkers and is nothingcompared
the McNeils had lived in it.
•- Basically the house was in good
to
shape, having been lathed and
' plastered inside and shiplapped
outside. This occurred about 1891 the at bem*gOut of sh
when George Walker owned the .
property anil just after Thomas
Code's small log house burned. •
Unfortunately the front door,
wall and window were missing, has o a st you*
and in their stead was a sliding
' barn door, in order to park a
" tractor — in the living room!,
However an article in the
` Wingham Advance -Times in'1977
produced replacement logs,
compliments of - Marg and Del
y Burkhart. Interviews with
i w.. George Walker of Belgrave were
set up by James "Jim" Currie
and contributed significantly to
the later history of the house.
The house was stripped to the
logs and then all parts were
numbered. A logging truck dis-
mantled the main wails and in
November, 1976, during one of
INDISPENSABLE "almost -free" labor ... Thanks.
a
0
PaRnaPrrnon 0
The Canadian nidvement for personal fitness.
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