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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1913-11-20, Page 8November; 2Oth, 1913 TOflICL SKETH Of NURON COUNTY. Township of Stanley. This township, which Pies just to the south of Goderich township, from 'which it is separated by the Bayfield -River, was named alter"one of the most prominent.stookholders in • the Canada Company as 'originally constituted. It 'has an area of 53,8.44 acres and with the exception of • some rough farms along the Bayfield River and a streak of low swampy land which runs in a southerly direction from the northern' boundary near the centre of the township, the Soil of Stanley partakes largely of those features of 'excellence' charactcriytie of Huron County land. The other boundaries than, the one mentioned. of Stanley are formed by the townships of Tuck'ersmlitil and Hay on the east and' south. i• respectively and Lake Huron on khe west. The history of the earliest settlements in, the township, especially the northwestern portion,, is identical with that of the foun4ling of thepresent village of Bayfield, which was included in the township of Stanley, until set aside ^ by a special act of, the Ontario Legislature in 1876, so We refer the reader to the sketch of that village. The first settle- ments in the eastern part of the township occurred ablaut 1833, when Rev. 117r. Cooper, an ex -minister of the Episcopal persuasion, settled, On lot 23 on the London Roa'cl. Although; Mr. Cooper followed farming thenceforward he did not wholly abandon the sacred occupation of preaching and he was the pioneer preacher of Stanley, Tnekersmith and sever- al settlements in other townships. Between the first set- tler's arrival and 1836 the following named men with their families had settled along the London Road in Stanley, viz : Donald McMullan, David 'Mackenzie and ,Robert Gibson, and at this tune also John McIntosh' was living- on the Tuekersmith side of the Road. In 1836, however, there was quite an influx of settlers to this locality, among, whom was Donald Macdonald, who located on I,ot 32, near the "desert - ,ed village" of Granton, which place, by the way, was nam- ed by Peter' Grant, an did settler, though not the original occupant. The same year Alexander Ross from Iverness- shire, Scotland, came and 'settled in Stanley with his five ro Hu T r li. sons; Donald, iJam:es, Alexander, John and � , some time after coming in they domiciled with Neil Ross on the Tuckersmith side until they could build a house for themselves. The MOO year came James Copeland, who settled on Lot 7, London Road. At that time the, only set- tlers at Brueefield were a man reamed Peter McMullen and a widow named Young. The former of whom had a shanty built and the latter was just building one on the ' 'Pucker - smith side. There was no hoose between the Granton set- tlenten8 and Clinton at that time. 'Toward the interior of the township that same year, 1836, Daniel' Brundson settled on what is now known as the Brundson Line, so called from the fact of his having been the first settler in that locality. • Mr. Brundson came from G-ananoque. He was of tT. E. Loyalist descent and was a desrn-atch bearer in the Can- adian militia on. the St. Lawrence in 1812-15. The greater number of the north ,and soutli,linos through the township are named after the early settlers thereon or from some circumstance connected with the early settlement, Thus the Turner Line, 6tit and 7th, is named atter a falmily 1E of several brothers of that name who were among the early settlers. The McNaughton Line, 4th and 55th, is so called from John Ivlcivaughtcn who was the first settler in that vicinity. The road along the Lake was called the Saublo Line 'oif account of its crossing the river of that name far- ther south. The Goshen Line, loth and Bust, was so named because it was first settled by Protestants who refused to allow Catholics to locate upon it. The Babylon, Line Was so called by Protestants from the fact •of its` being exclus- ively.settIed in the first place by Catholics, it is perhaps not too late to mention that tie settlement: of D. H. Ritchiie on Lot 7, Bayfleld Con., dates from 1835, 'Phis gentleman was; at one• time very prominent in the political and munici- pal affairs of the county and for several years filled the of - lice of County Clerk. As early as 1836 the first "township nteetingj' was held at which W. W. Connor was appointed clerk, the duties of which office lie continued to discharge for many years with- District Council tcil in the 1)istt t • i election o alter his el out salare • ever l i. 1843 in place of Mr.(leo, Gorden, a merchant of 13 t yleld • who represented Stanley in Coral body the first year after the erection of the district. Our municipal record show's that Mr. Connor held the office of District Councillorsever- , al consecutive years and also gives' the names of the other gentlemen who represented the township in that council during,tbe various years up to 1850, in which year the first • township council' was 'elected as follows 1). Hood Ritchie, 'Henrynti Cole, George Bates, WilliamWilliamTurner andHenry IC I{anekc, of \hent D. 11. Uitc ie was wncialis0usl}- chosen ,f reeve. William Wellington was appointed clerk by the cast- in3 vote of the nerve, the vote being tv: o to to 0 between himself and William le c'csen Mr. Ritchie was again elected reeve in the following year but was succeeded in 1852 by Dr. Cole who gave place the next, year to Dr. 'Woods, who held the office continuously until the end of the year 1.057, .“ 71l • 1850 Mr. John Ross was elected 1110 first deputy reeve of Stanley, being followed in 1857 by Mr. 1'ltos, Simpson, From this time onward the reeves and deputies ; of the f°s i1 township were as follows : 1858, Simon Roche and Peter Adamson ; 1850 to 1.863 inclusive, Peter Adamson, reeve,, Geo. Anderson, deputy ; 1861, P. Adamson, Alex. John- '` ' ato11 ; 1.865 Alex. Johr, ton, Alex, Cameron, but as -the sat- ',', ter gentleman died during this year he was succeeded by ill 'Thomas Baird ; .1305, Thos. Simpson,- Dr. Woods.. The meeting held on 1110 12thof February this year was novel in it'a character 11 nothing inose as Dr. Woods sent in a Cis claimer to his seat at the board, whereupon it was 'Moved tW by R. 1-1. C1ardner, seconded by Thos. Baird, that every and all tesOlutions passed; moved or seconded by Dr. Woods in this council, at its Varna sitting,'001113 the first meet- ing for the present and curl tet yrar, b0 abolished, canceller) and have no affect whatever on past, present or future pro- • ceedings of the council for the present and current year. This motion did net prevail, no wonder, for whoever yet succeeded in regulating the past proceedings of any legisla tive body. There was a deadlock existing among the town- , ship sires at this meeting and not a single motion ' passed the .hoard, although nearly twenty were moved, and seconded. They avers defeated a motion to adjourn and we suppose the reeve became disgusted and left his company. There was no meeting from that time until Dr. Woods was reelected, the invalidity of his former election having been urged on F the ground that he gave his note for land purchased at a fa' tax sale. Ile` was re-elected deputy reeve at the • next meeting, however. { In 1807, the first year of reeves and deputies being elect- ed by popular vote, Dr., Woods was elected reeve and Thomas Simpson deputy and theneelorth these offices were respectively filled by Thos. Simpson and Peter Douglas,, 1808 ; Thomas Simpson.. and George Castle the six succeed- ing years, and though Mr.. Simpson retained his office till 1878 ,William Keys succeeded Mr:. Castle ^as deputy la ,x.875,. Stanley gave a bonus 01' $10,000 to the L. xd 'and 13. railroad and issued, debentures to 'this amount to aid in its construction. 'Thein ;sliaro of the M. L. F. surplus was 87344, and with this' sutra they made substantial improve- tnents in Bayfield harbor, built a town ball at. Varna at a • cost of 8750, made improvements in roads and bridges and redeemed $5000 worth•, of debentures issued in the L. H. and before Jne1ltioned• Clinton 'News-Recpid NISTEI I,CAL ' SKETCH. OF TNE, I UDON ; AND V ' QST NUOON COUNTY, • SHORE lAIIWAY M DOLE. (From The Toronto Stl!tr) The history of the We-t. ism), way, in whose •constro„,ton ilr. J. W. TOWNSHIP OF HAY. Flay is another of'•the lake range pi; Huron County townships'. It lies im- mediately on the south of Stanley, its easltern boundary being .10itncd by portions of Tuckersinith and Us borne, and Stephen bounds it on the ,south. It coders an area of 54,527 acres, The quality of the land in Ilay near the ,lake' is really excellent, as it ig also in the eastern portion' of the township, but the low tract which rung through Stanley froth. north to south is -not continued: in in. Flay, blit, it deepens in many plat• es into, a, positive swamp in the lat- ter township. Hay was somewhat later id becom- ing settled than the surrounding townships, still a few settlers locat- ed along the London' Road as soon as it Was opened up, .It was 1837 or 1838 before any combined settlement even, along this road, and when liam, Wilson, and family arrived about 1:839 there• were only the Welshes and Alio Bells on the Tuckersmith side;; tin 'Cases and a few others already settled. The Welshes came up . inn mediately after the, 'rebel-.. lion and it was the reports which they sent back to Wilson; their. brother-in-law,. which induced him to ccmnt,e up here from :Cumberland town- ship, Russel County, to whicli. place he came from Westmeath, Ireland, when only "nineteen .years of age. He travelled by boat to Hamilton, thence by the London and Huron Roads. At that time there was an hotel at Car- ronbtoo:e, and another, Ilicks', at what is now Mitchell, but the only thing artificial where the town of Sealorth note stands was a finger- boardto P: board to show .the g mondville anis Goderich. The first horse which he owned was given ]tint by his father and was brought up from Cumberland and was ridden all the was from there to Ilay, The on- ly way of getting goods in those days was to go or send to Goderich, though there was a small store at Clinton: There was an odd character called "Jack Quick" who used 1.0 drive stage between London and God• cries' and by 111111 the settlers used to send money to make small purchases and although . he would frequently spend the money on a "spree" he would always pay it back by money given• hint by others for a similar purpose. IIs was afterwards killed by a fall from a wagon, universally re. grett0cl. Monsey- was then a very scarce article among the settlers and it was with the utmost difficulty that imlliicicnt to •pay taxes could be obtained, as the trade ,was all barter and for many years, it was impossible to sell even wheat for cash, ' '1'11erc is considerable conflict of opinion as to Who, 130513es those mentioned, are entitled to be classed among the earliest settlers, but all are agreed That John Orsh and fam- ily, who settled cai Lot 28, Con, .12, was she. first of many Germans to locate in the township, The fiilst organization of flay as a municipality was affected in 1816 and a., that was still early in thehislor of th, township's settlement We giv Moyes was interested, and the roves aigat[on of which being 1151(1 up be (bre the Ontario Railway Board on account 'of the sheriff's dociared in- ability to serve Mr. Moves vyi11) a subponea in order that he may ex- plain the expenditure'of a stun close to $385,000, extends back .for slightly 'more than six years. '.Prior to 1906; a• number of individ- uals procured a charter for a railway in the County of Huron and the ad- joining district. In 1906, or there- abouts, Mr. Moyes got in touch with them and undertoolt to build the road, covering the points mentioned in the, charter, c running from . Goderich to Kincardine with roads in both towns. Mr. Moyes applied to the Municipal- ities for aid, and 'showed from ' his e$perience that an electric line would help .them. Ile agreed to build and equip the line, put 'a power dawn in the Maitland River, and supply God- erich and other towns with electric light: To 'facilitate) this, !Goderieh guaranteed bonds to the extent of $150,000 , Kincardine to the extent of $50,000 ,: the Township of .Ashfield the sum of $125,000, and tlie ' Town- ship of Huron guaranteed $75,000, making the total' of guaranteed bonds 5400,000: ,Bonds were, issued to the stun. of $600,000, the guaranteed portion of the issue being sold, realizing 5385,- 060. 385,060. This was deposited with a trust company, and paid out on certifipates of the railway engineer in charge of tho construction. All that is left is 539:10, The engineer's certificates cer- tify that 5639,000 worth of work was done on the road , The construction shows 16 utiles of rails laid, six more graded, extending* as far as Anrberley, and railer lying on the roadway from Amberley to a point within tour mil- es of Kincardine. Engineer Middlentist, of the Ontario Railway Board, after an examination, reported that wort; to the value of $260,000, at the outside, is all • that has been done, and that tlie road in its present state Is useless, 'Che $200,000 in unguaranteed bonds are supposed to be Held by a banking concern, from wltoni Mr. Moyes is said to have received $60,000 in ad- vanee. , The work was done by the Huron Construction Company, a company ,aimed by Mr. Moyes, and which ap- parentl'y had full control of the con- struction the money issued to this construction co'opany, upon the en- gineer's certificates was by cheques, which bear the endorsation of the West Shore Railway, The sheriff claims he has been un- able to serve Mr, Moyes with a stib- poeita to appear before the Railway Board. The municipalities interested claim that all papers of importance were in Mr, 'Moyes" possession, and that they are trying to get (told or them, through the order of the Rail- way Board, in order to see just how the $385,000 was expended. Engineer Mirldlemist reports further that it will tales some hundreds of thousands to finish the line, and un- til this is expended the work and money already laid out will be Use- less, all the names which occur in the For three years the interest on the paid through guaranteed bonds was a 1 $ ,• g 'n, minutes of the fist town meeting," 's .'u'. 'Hot e 1, 1nrt 1'nr t he past "three held Jan. ,5th of that year. James (years the municipalities: have had to Gordon was called to the chair and. pay the ilttel'56)t on the $400,000, So far Mr. Moyes has never given a state- ment to show holt the money was ex. pouded, and his excuse for not pro- ceeding with the work is that the tor ; .AndrewMiui, asi;essor ; Andrew Hydro -Electric, by their 11050 project, ingrain, Robe. Patterson and James Ilan' made it impossible for him to float the bonds of the potter company ng- was to erect at Goderich, and u ithori1• that Iloataiion he could not get the electric power to tau his line. (From Kincardine Review) Some people tree 3i5301311 to Manic the Ontario. government for the delay affairs f the in investigating the a0a o (ititarrio and Rest Shore Railway Co. 1'115 fact is that the government has nothing to do with it further than Passing statute last session ,widen- ing the powers of the Ontario and Municipal Board se that that hod would have authority to investigate 1.1715 particular cast. Before the 3a50 - 1i13' of this statute the Board claimed. Robt. Deng in 1852, Moses Johnston they had no authority. The delay in from, 1853 to 1857 incluesive, Donald go'nf; on with the investigation is Macdonald in 1.858, Frederick iinell due Lo failure to serve Mr. Moyes during the three following years, hu he was again returned in 1803 'after ti 0110 years' 'incumbency by James Sniffle, and in .1854 William Case was elected. In 3805 J --lay became entitled to a deputy reeve and ,James Sinilie was first elected to that office in company with Roiilst. Brown that sante year, each being re-elected a year later,' and in 1807, the first year of the popular election of these representatives, they were again re- turr,ocl by the people, and .also' in 1868. Thenceforward t10 reeves 'anti deputies were: Robt. Blown and Wm. Carrick from 1869 to 1873 ''in - elusive, and from that tine till the end of 1.877 those offices were filled by ROM, 13r:owri and John 13 Gcigh- er. Mr: `Brown then determined tor.e- tiro and emigrate, to the Northwest, 13e had ' been a merchant in Zurich and, as an old citizen remarked was one of the best men in ,'the township," an opinlen which the people seemed to enclerse by electing hint to the reovoship thirteen con- sectttive' years. In 1878 J.'73 Gefglt- er vas elected his 'successor, 1m op- posii,'tn'. to Dr. Buchanan of Zurich, the depict, • elected 00 that occasion being Sande!, Rennie, --r--------- • Z,URI--I. © urich ht. E. Zeller. 85 su8)div8din3 some 1 i land at the north'end ofthe olin into building .lots, A new' tweet is being opened up between the dwellings sof Messrs, M. Meidin00 nd C. d the following named gentlemen were the , 'V tial llic i t elected to several o c u the gift of the people, viz : James Mur- ray, district councillor, ,JailleS Gor- don, clerk ; William Wilson, 'collet hurray, pat luuaslers; I;oht Doig Castor Allis end John Kelly, war dens ; and William I'llder, poentllccep- en, these being all the names which appear, Our ;municipal history gives the names -of the district council up to 1653, hut, we give the names 111' Ilio chief township officers from 1111 first operation of the Municipal Act 01 1.870: The entire council of '1850• were elected. by acclamation, be'ng composed. of James Wilkie Captor Willis, Robt, 13011, William Alder and Roht Doig. William Wilson was returning officer and at the first meeting of the council, held Jan, 21.st, Milian) Elder was chosen `first ;reeve of IInv Robt 13c11 in 1851, 'Zurich Mr: W. Wilson of the Molsons•Bank,, Winnipeg, formerly of Zurich, was, in town one day last week. • Mr. Walter Steels has purchased a store at Exeter and will shortly take up his abode there. • Mr, arid. Mr's George Douglas 58;0111 down to Ilamilton last week owing to the illness of their daughter, ' who is a student at the Normal School. The Zurich branch of, the. Women's Institute held ;a very pleasant little social evening at the home of Mrs. Wellington Fed on Thursday week. tib ,1,7?• with a subpoena to appear before the Board to give evidence. Apparently) this 'adore 1031.5 Willi (he Sheriff, Fred Mowat, There does not appear to bo any excuse for it, Some ratepayers who are, "stuck" for their share of "tlk guarantees thins; that the governfiterr,-any 'gov- ernment-sheuld come forward to res Bevil them of the burden, it is idle 10 expect any such thing. The law allows municipalities to grant bonus- es or guarantee loans or bonds, bit provides that a three -fifth or two, third majority of the freeholder; shall be polled in favor of it 1101010 11 carries. 31: we are mulcted for -these, largo amountswo have only ourselves' to blame for it. The government can- not assume this indebtedness any 010re` than it would the Grundy born - us or any other. The man who eu dorsea another's note must pay it it the'drawer does not. And that's what we did in this case. The men who are entitled to consideration are not the hien who voted for the by law but the leen who voted" -against' butwho have to bear their share jou,' the 511010. Ai; present there does not appear to 115 1much chance of relief. The assets of thio cornpany amount to practical- ly nothing. ractical1y'nothiipg. The rails and ties a'r .about ' the only assets that are con- vertible into cash, Mr. Moyes who. inveigled the municipalities into this 'scheme should be compelled to state w hat` use he mule of the money and if it eipan bo shown that the " 'Money' w as:ivasthd of stolen he should be visited with money as well as per hona1 penalties. • Leader in owns6ip Nears To keep well intorined in the happeni.igs of the coun- tryside it is necessary to read The ews-Reeord. Send it to your boy or girl y from hoine..it will help to '' eep theme in toiieh Atli the odd ticsic3 will e d+lhn � l t a�J� Vi �! v! t i„ t 4 1 V x N st Cdaw r„ 111, -.�. v 1�.Rl t f'9 1 1. year,m TO SO t e c N '' l s sin e tto Id '� � u ,r d n el a .Y. Sr tND IN O JSU r-,, f IP 6 li ,ti t l{, RE F OR POS .ib � � � iii., .. F1D a • " 6� 0 , •e B , ' �-..y ,, lie; as d ,; * l -0 g,�y�,:," ' .4.. 0 .8.,V6t .., l �...rE ISS TRD LETTER A D.. ESS lint;1;? 1, Ont. Sn