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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1948-04-23, Page 7) f i'. JCi , 04•ot14 c�# the Kir rQrr�: Scotiand to Huron (4y WILFRED BRENTON KERR)' Chapter I V , THE BROTHERS AND SISTERS QF JAMES KERR James was the first of the family to follow.his sister, Elisabeth. There were left in McKillop, Jane,)Jlolin, Alexander, and after 1888, William. Jane, known to the young folks 'as Aunty Jean, kept house'for John after their mother. died, The only item now known about her work concerns her shortbread which caused 'her nephews to detest the name. She' was of a re- tiring disposition and little known out of the family and the circle of im- mediate • neighbors. Her health was oor for a p•, . long time. In 1886 she caught-'broh 2iifla; lay i11 for a week and passed away at the age of 62. John, Uncle John to the rising gen- 00.• en- SEE WHAT YOU BUY!..SS 01- Visit our Nursery and pick #: r* out your own plants . . . drive to London this week-(„ end, and pay us a Visit; TM while you're here. -4 �J * * * Open Every Day and �'- Evenings' 0 LEGAL McCONNELL & HAYS •Barrlaters, Solicitors, Etc. iPatrick D. McConnell - H. Glenn Hays SEAFORTH, ONT. Telephone 174 A. W. SILLERY Barrister, Solicitor, Etc. SEATORTH - ONTARIO Phone 173, Seaforth MEDICAL • SEAFORTH CLINIC DR. E. A. McMASTER, M.B. Physician DR. P. L. BRADY, M.D. Surgeon Office _hours daily, except Wednes- day: 1:30-5 p,m., 7 - 9 p.m. Appointments for consultation may - be made in advance. JOHN GORWILL, B.A., M.D. . -.Physician and,,Surgeon IN DR. H. H. ROSS' OFFICE. Phones: Office 5-W; Res. 5-J Seaforth MARTIN W. STAPLETON, B.A., M.D: Physician and Surgeon Successor td Dr. W. C. Sproat 'Phone 90-W - Eeatorth [ioderich DR. F. J. R. FORSTER Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Graduate in Medicine, University of Toronto. Late assistant New York Opthat mei and Aural Institute, Moorefield's Eye and Golden Square Throat Hos- pital, London, Eng. At COMMERCIAL HOTEL, SFAFORTH. 63 Waterloo Street South, Stratford. JOHN C. GODDARD, M.D. Physician and Surgeon Phone 110• - Hensail 4068x62• DR. J. A. MacLEAN Physician and Surgeon Phone 134 - Hensall VETERINARY J. O. TURNBULL, D.V.M., V.S. L. C. HALL, D.V.M., V.S. Main Street - Seaforth PHONE 106 Personal attention by either Veterinarian when requested (if possible). AUCTIONEERS HAROLD JACKSON Specialist in Farm and Household gales; Licensed in Hurdn and Perth Coun- ties. Prices reasonable; satisfaction guaranteed. For information, etc., write, or phone HAROLD JACKSON, 14 on 661; Sea - forth; R.R. 4, Seaforth. EDWARD W. ELLIOTT Licensed Auctioneer Correspondence promptly answered. Immediate arrangements can be made for sale dates by phoning 203, Clin- ton. Charges moderate and satisfac- tion guaranteed. 4142x52 C .R.N . TIME TABLE - GOING EAST (Morning) a.m. 6foderich (leave) 5,40 Beatorth 6.20 Stratford, (arrive) 7.16 (Afternoon) p.m. Goderich (leave) 3.00 $eatorth 3.46 Strattord (arrive) ...., 4.40 GOING WEST (Morning) a.m. Stratford (leave) 10.45 leatorth 11.26 ioderich (arrive) ' 12.20 (Afternoon) m. gtriltttor4. aeave) •,r. ,-., •,..,,, 9.26 1.0.21. Card.* .....I 11# ' eration, had been full of fears when he tool ship in 1$52, but found. them: totally without foundation. He did well in. every way in McKillop, and in 1867 was able to put up a brick house just as James was doing. .I?ometime in the late eighties he went back to the land of his birth' for a visit, the only migrant to do so. He visited his sister, Janet Kerr. Hodgson, in Cupar; thought to surprise her, went care- fully through the gate of. West Park andclosed it quietly. Janet met him at the door before he could ding."Ye had the look of America about ye," she said. He enjoyed his stay in Cupar and met the local laird, But in Dunipace he felt out of place, with no close relatives: He visited Wil- liam in Glasgow and once tried -to teach Sunday ,,School. But the boys were unruly and clambered over chairs in spite of his protests. He found things so changed that. he grew homesick and said he would give all his money to be in McKillop again. He returned shortly, having been away about three months. He did not revisit his native land, though well able to do so, physically and finan- cially. He was devoted to his mother while she lived and after her death went annually to pray at her grave in Eg- naondville. When his brother, Alex- ander, lay dying in 1904, and said, "I'll tell her ye're .coming," John was so affected that he left the room. He sent $100 every year to his half-sister, Jean, in Scotland. \that became of her is not known, but she seems to have died unmarried and before him, as he said nothing about her in bis will, He was strict with his women relatives; •he allowed or asked his sister Jean to feed the pigs when she was too unwell to attend church. He thought that if a woman went to church once a week and to town once in a long while, that was enough gad- ding about. He was vehement about cards and dancing. and thought that his nephew, John, did not dance, which was quite incorrect. He was angry with the Reverened Peter Mus- grove for contracting a second mar- riage after the death of his first wife, and wrote out a long dissertation about it, with quotations from St. Paul. He was in mind to take this to The Huron Expositor for publication, but consulted his niece, Margaret, and his nephew, Peter, and refrained. In all probability the editor would have refused it in any case. John's primary interest was in church affairs, He had a fine library of church history and biography and sermons of Scottish divines. He had an extraordinary memory and could recall the texts of many sermons of years gone by. Frequently'he ad- dressed the congregation at Duff's, e.g, July 4, 1876. He contrasted the home here with the everlasting home Ca17,(ue die>. • We know ... being team captain has its responsi- bilities. But when you're rounding up your team, will you try not to make too many calls at once? Remember -some grown- up may need that party line in a hurry... Thanks a lot! PARTY LINE COURTESY. IS CATCHING... Putting it into practice on every call you make is your best guarantee that others will do the same for you. 1. Keep calls brief. 2. Space your calls. 3. Give right-of-way to emergency calls THE BELL TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA above jtjn(Z ilhtl'lwed haw, cdnsid 'the, continued ' tc'oodness. of 09d Mersa above. He conclilded by a erful appeal to each one press seep more and more to be led Christ in •Cod and to the .peace w passeth all understanding, He elder and teacher of the Bible . for many years as has been said. occasion, he preached to gather at the village of Constance, Once young people came out In large num• ber8 to his service and he remarked on the fact to another man. "Aye," was the'answer; "they, came oot Spark," , which threw cold • water John's gratification, , He told his Sunday School cl that he would not take a wain over his,farm on Sunday, not that It would be a sin, but that it might mislead the neighbors into doing something more useful for their farm operations. Late in lifehe leased part of his land to a nephew and Adam Dickson, who in the course of time made ready to cut their grain. The custom had been to cradle a path for the binder about the field, but the boys thought this too laborious, drove the binder about the field to cut its own path and by doing so crushed and lost the grain in the wheel -path, Jahn was horri- fied at the waste. "I never thought I'd live to see the Lord's, good grain desecrated," he said. 'Adam replied, not too aptly, "It's no desecrating so much as with the cradle," and went on with his work. In August, 1887, a picnic for the Sunday Schools of Dr's,' Winthrop and Roxboro, was held at his farm. The Expositor, of August 26, remark- ed of Mr. Kerr "who takes au inter- est in every good work, was lode. fatigable in his, efforts to see that all enjoyed themselves and he seemed to be eminently successful." " John was sensitive about changes in the church service. Once the per- centor arranged for an anthem by thea choir; John left the service. James took him to task for the action and brought him to accept anthems, in the nineties the younger element wanted an organ to replace the pre- centor's tuning fork; John resisted the proposal as a profanation of the sacred building. His relatives and friends argued with him; Peter want- ed to know, what was the difference between one key and two dozen in the Lord's House. John told Adam Dickson that it was a matter of con- viction with him, and Adam replied: "It's nae conviction, John; it's preju- dice." The majority went against him and John seceded to a small congre- gation in Walton still true to the fork. In the end this church expired and his wife brought him back to Duff's. He was somewhat of a terror to the youth from his habit of investigating their knowledge -of tkle Bible, and he was a trifle too authoritative "Ye canna drive them, ye must lead them," protested Alexander to him once. No'visitor went away from his house without first participating in a short service, and no one illustrated better the strong Presbyterianism of old Scotland. He was much interested in the tem- snug ahs bid' an 0.0#nid t 1#411,e'tormer w' , ent BOW eatptjt(,• 8#.e •diets canGex in �$fl aged .8�k' Wiliiaxn ger' 047'1 d, on his ,tar With his daughter, l�lell1e, and bis t sons, Alexander and George, utltil h death in 1893: His daughter marx'ie e. man, named;' Carmichael and died childbirth. in 189$ also. The elder so ought to be seeiai and. d happy here otherwise we cannot obtain the 'haptti pow At'to vfith hien was Cis�s� O Ings the *;; wo is, a in n, Alexander, died unmarried in 1921 at On the age of 57, and left George', full Possession. " It was he who gave lute the information on Which the aria part of tills• story is based. He mar- ried a Glasgow girl, Elisabeth C'rnw,-. ford„in 18916. In his later days George to was incapacitated "by heart trouble, on He died in 1934 and his wife in 1939. He had four boys and a girl. Wil - ass i haul died at 29. George, third son, attended Seaforth Collegiate and the Stratford Normal and taught in Trout Creek, Muskoka, But he contracted tuberculosis which with a weakness. of the heart, carried him off in 1930. John married Elizabeth Taylor; James ma tried Essie Dorrgnce and has three children. Both are farming in Mc- Killop. Grace qualified as a teacher -and taught at Port Burwell, Here she married Archibald Tate, owner of a tobacco farm. Alexander lives in Fredonia, N.Y., operates a gasoline station and has three boys: Archie, teaches on the Toronto Collegiate staff and has a daughter, now married; Jack lives in the West, and he and his wife have win' led a boy. Helen is a teacher on tl e public school staff of Toronto. (2) Alexander married Amelia Mor- rison, Lived on a farm near Winthrop, had no family; died in 1921. (3) Janet married Thomas Grieve, had two boys of whom one died, and three girls. Thomas is in 'Monetville, New Ontario, on a farm. Helen is Mrs. Thomas Hannon, lives near Mit- chell: Catherine lives in Toronto; Janeb i; Mrs. James Baxter, Stratford. (4) John married Sophia McGavin, lived north of Seaforth, east of the main read, had four •children: Wil- liam, James Graham and Helen, who died young. William i5 near Monet- ville on a farm, had three boys and a girt. Ells boys were in the service in the late war. Kenneth visited Mrs. Ed;th Heaton in England; James Kerr is married and in Buffalo; Graham has the home farm. John Kerr died 1937. (5) Archie married Grace Smith and took over the farm of his uncle, John Herr; had four children of whom the first, William, was killed by a horse at age three. ' Margaret married Wilson Campbell; thew live in Mc-, Kiliop, and have two ehiidren.. Helen is Mrs. James McClure, has five chil- dren: Alexander married Norine Lij- tle. has three children. He bas a fine record of service in the late war, in- cludjng First Division in Italy - O Margaret married Percy Smith; they now live ou the old James Lock- hardt farm on the 4th concession, east -of the main road. They have five children: Mary, Janet, Lapslie, Alex and Archie. Mary is married, lives in New York State; Janet is ,airs. Carl Dalton of Walton, has five children; Lapslie is in Toronto, married Edith !Hotel. has two children. Alex has the farm adjoining his fat'her's on the west. married Mary Marjorie McGow- an and has two children- Archie is ac home, married Violet Ellicott, of Brussels; has a child, (7) Jean, married Will Beattie, who has the farm diagonally across from Duff's Church. They had one daugh- ter, Helen, who is Mrs, McMillan Scott: has two girls and a. boy. Jean. died in 1936 of cancer. (8) Witham had the home farm and married Sarah Beattie. They have three children: Essie, Mrs. George Campbell. has five children; Eldon married Mildred Workman and lives on lot 21• con. 6. Scott'. married An- nie Papple, is workin_ at Brantford. ( Continued Next Week) perance movement and led in the campaign to reddce liquor licenses in McKillop, as• we have seen. This gave his neighbors the idea of a trick on „him when his barn was being raised. Theygot the piles ready and prepar- ed to hoist the barn on them. But at this point they went on strike and told John that they would do no more unless he would buy them a drink of whiskey, as was customary on such occasions. He besought them to fore- go the perquisite, in vain; he pleaded, in vain. Finally he went to the cor- ner hotel and bought a bottle. The men had their drink and, a trifle ashamed, threw the bottle away with- out finishing it. Then the barn went up with a will, One Sunday morning John heard a noise in his chicken - house. He went out, found a skunk and killed it. He changed his clothes, but did not get rid of the aroma which accompanied him to church and disturbed the occupants. No skunk a would keep him from church. He remained a bachelor for many years and accumulated money, al- though perhaps less than public opin- ion had it. The others of the family had some expectation of inheriting the fortune; but at the age of 76 he sur- prised and dismayed them by marry- ing the former Janet Lapslie, sister of Alexander's wife. She was a "grass widow” of a man named Gray, a mer- chant of Seaforth, who had deserted ber many years before, and was not certainly •known to be dead. This technicality was overlooked by the contracting parties and by the Rev. Peter Musgrove, and the pair were married. The relatives consoled them- selves by witty remarks on the affair and made the new aunt welcome. She was, in fact, a worthy woman and a good wife and the marriage was successful, In June, 1906, John passed away of no particular ailment, mere- ly the pressure of years; he had lived longer than any of his brothers and sisters,. and indeed longer than any of his nephews and nieces to the pre- sent date. He bad disposed of his farm some years back, to his brother Alexander and his family. expecting Alexander to outlive him- This was not the case, but the arrangement stood and his nephew, Archie, had the farm, while John occupied the house: The will was dated Feb. 20, 1905, and wit- nessed by John Rankin and Thomas Broderick. John had $4,300 cash in the bank, household goods worth $50, a horse worth $50, a mortgage 01 $250. The pure personality was ac- cordingly $4,650.^ He had bought a house in Seaforth for his wife and may have given her money in her own name. Of the 24.300, Hannah Hodg- son in Cupar was to get $1,000; --Wil- liam Earl Hodgson $500, the nephews. Peter and James in McKillop were to have $600 and $300, respectively, and the rest went to the widow, $1,900. The bequests . to the Hodgsons were in memory of the family fink, but it is not clear why they were favored to the exclusion of their brother and sis- ter, John Alexader and Jessie, or why they, had mere than the nephews in ,iiieKilIop, who • had—especially Peter —iteen attentive to their uncle. Janet Lapslie Kerr lived for years in her house on Goderieh St. in Sea forth. Soine of her money She put WO the pre -1914 speculation- in West- ern real estate. acid of course Iost it and sold the holtse. iia her last daps Children's Teeth Ton often a ',hili'; first visit to the dr-utist is prompted by tooth'ache's' a swollen jaw or grosly visible decay- -due, the experts say. to years of GOODA-YEAR Yi olntion 100" MEANS • MORE WORK FROM YOURTRACTOR —STH LESS FUEL Say goodbye to tractor tire inflation worries for a hong, long time. Let us fill and - weight your tires by the "SOLUTION 100" method- You'll get greater traction, less slip, more drawbar pull, leas tire wear. Save money this sem, easy, economical way. See us today. SEUOMit MOTORS Chev.+OIs. Sales & Sery ce Phone 141, Ser`forth, ? lr..0,1t4 Pergii)lon, of �okiden Were :' w -eek ep is (,guests with the for'rner's ';nether, Mrs, las, F••er- guson. Mr. Ed. Westoa is spending a few days in- Groderloh this week. IVilsa, Beverley York, who has been student teacher at S.E. Ne. 3, Tuck- ersmith,, for ---the pastweek, returned' to London on Monday, Misaea Adele Fernette and Alice Drain; of; Detroit, spent the , week -end at their cottage. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Parker and Mrs. Fred Weston were in London Satur- day attending the, Wade - Epps wed- ding. Rev, and Mrs; Harold Paull, of Lis- towel, were guests of Mrs. N, W. Woods for a few days last week. The monthly meeting of Trinity Church Guild was held on Thursday afternoon last at the home of .Mrs. E, A. Featherston. The meeting was opened by the president, Mrs, E. Heard. Minutes of the last meeting were read by the secretary, Mrs. S. - McEwen, and the treasurer's report .was read by Mrs. N. W. Woods, Plana were discussed for the refurnishing of the church and a committee appoint- ed. It was also decided to send par- ' eels of food to a parish in Great Bri- parental neglect. Extensive fillings and even extractions may then he necessary. These are major opera- tions which tax the endurance of the child and parent and the skill of the dentist. If extensive decay makes it necessary to extract any of the 'baby' teeth before Nature intended that; they should go, permanent ones may i come in crooked. Regular visits to I the dentist from the age- of three years are recommended to prevent such undesirable situations. c -Before You Ser,.. WE ARE PAYING THE r4R.:, PRICE THAT'S POSS.IBL CALL DUBLIN — F. W. Staple Proprietor .l1e citta 1e"` `°` for YOUR brine -, -- How to take the ruts out of your breakfast routine .'. ways to make your kitchen "homey" - . , what :color to choose- for your living room ... These are just a fewof the intrlaulno, new ideas furnished daily on the Woman's Page of THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR These helpful ideas ore "plus value" in this daily newspaper,, for the home thot gives you world . news interpreted to show its impact on you And your family, 1 The Christian Science Publishing Society •••••• COM. 1 One, Norway Street, Boston 15`, Massachusetts i Please enter a special introductoiy subscription to 1 ' The Christian Science Monitor -5 weeks 430 Issues) for $1 1 1 Nome,_, Street 1 City State P64 1 Use this coupon for your SPE- CIAL introduc- tory subscription five weeks - 30 issues—only (U. 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The "Blue Book" is your "passport" to everywhere in Canada, or across the Bordet be your journey for business or pleasure, for an hour, a day, oretnight or longer, COURTESY AND SERYICI Whether at home — or "going places" — in all your contacts with Canadian National, you will experience courtesy and service. 4V--1 NATION. *AII.WAYS • AIRLINES 4' STEAM3IlipS ' HOTEL# ,s EitP #if A' rEi