The Lucknow Sentinel, 1961-07-12, Page 6• •
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PAGE SIX
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417.44 ...„.,OKNOW SENTINEL, LUCKNOW, ONTARIO
(13.Y. JEAN SHILTON),
•
In• United Church \,0Weiver
• (EngravingS Courtesy of The, Observer).
Five miles west of Wingham,
Ont, 'the highway runs thro:ugh
the hamlet of Whitechurch, If
.you turn north at tile general:.
store and drivd tile, end. of
the street, you will find' the four -
room cottage where the Bev.
• John Watt, age 80 lives in the
'44th year of retirement with •
It Was at Allendale. that his
first, boys! g•roulos and camps
ww°e'; Q'rgaUized?' but a .1"tb37
pastorate at Long Branch saw
his Tnost notable piece of boys'
0rk
,
`,`If You get to knew the young
people you can reachtheir fami-
lies," reasons John Watt. ,.
Ifs wife; Edith. , • Ori -Monday nights at Long
• `
Until apotit three years -ago,
John, continued to preach
emergencies and. on special be-
: :casions. He doesn't ,,do ay
preaching now. "My Memory
isn't too good," he says frankly:
Edith spends many hours in ings. Sport was encouraged, arid
a cherished souvenir of this per-
od' /is a picture, of their boys'
basketball team, which 'won the
league Championship: A member
of .,that team -was son Hob—now'
the liey; .Obert Watt. ,
Arthur Watt;. 'who Was 'also a
member of Orie of these groups,
:recalls. "Everyone in the boys'
groups learned how ' to take
chaite of a meeting, how "to get
up in, frorit of .a group and talk
Or debate° and we got a. good
grounding in. parliamentary: pro7
t.edUre.. Ile took us • out
woods for hikes 'and taught "Us
to, ,use our .eyes and. .our :brains.
there, t&? • •
John. Watt was also 'a . pioneer
hey' in 'the ifYeld of audip-Visuals long
before " impressive title was
the. ,ever thought, of. .At his :third
are barish, of BOrgeyrie and Douti:-.
in• Ontario, he ifiottglit a.
Branch as many as 12 groups at
a tiyne,' met in al/Trail Ranger
and Tuxis :Department under his
supervision. Each group had, its
Lown leader, • and - teachers; blisi-
ness men 'and 'factory, , workers
all helped 'in' the weekly meet-.
an- easy chair, reading the books
her datrghter, . Genevieve, brings
• from the Wingharn.. public lib-
rary. :the small living -room is
filled :with well -used furniture
and on the Walls hang 'symbols
,of achievement:. an embossed ad-
. , dress Atern, the .tongregation. of
,
, Oakwood United Church
, , ronto) presented to them on their
departure in 1941; message of
. gregting from the Ontario GeV-,
eminent on the oceasion Of their,
golden • wedding anniversary
• 1957.;. photos of their five Sens
and two datighters, • UniVersity
, graduation, pictures of the . five
Sons: are. grouped: together in 0,
• single frame.
• . "The boys all: ioelc. like
'.. • .father," says Edith..
Three 'work f
• United TiChureli.: The 'Other
corigr.egational officials.
• Two . of :the •boys are doctors;
• 1?r, Arthur atthe Memor-
ial
Sanatorium in London, and.
X)r.1ona1d, in charge ,'„o'f .'r•the
United Church hospital at, Bella
Coola, B.C.. Two are Ministers:
the Rev. Robert;' Minister. Of. Tri-
nitY :Church, Toronto and. the
•..Bev. •• Oeotge, - Minister of St..
Paul's Church iti Oakville; Ont.
The fifth son; Archie, , is a geol.°-
, *1St,- living in Torente:•• • • •
The' girls,' bOth,..of whom 'grew •
• up in the city, are now married
to fanners.' Genevieve . is Mrs
• Milian' Moere and lives at White-
• . htirch;, Muriel is. Mrs. George
ThOrriPson, at .,Singhamplen, Ont..
• . r,
John Watt, isa success story
of .a .Canadian .Pretestant
• .ster: : After, .,graduation from
Queen's University in 1907 he,
Married his high ;school sweet-
.: Ifeart, ,Edith Barber, and travel"
•,led, west to -Manitoba. By 1914
they were .bacli in Ontario.
Church Union negotiations found
them. at Allandale;'. Ont., (nov.
part of the city,, of Barrie)., where• :
John...was 'forced to Make a .dif
ficult choice; Diming. the depres-
sion his ,parish ',was' the Indust-
rial' community .of ,Long Branch,
new a part OVIYIetropolitan,'Or-,
• onto: Mostof, the *kr 'years-. and
• two post:war years were: spent
in Grimsby, Ont, •• •
• jOhn. Watt retired from. ther• e:
GrimSby: was 'the :largest: church
he-eVer• haa (930 under •pastoral
overSight. 'when ,he •left) and it
'paid him the. highest . salary, he
ever earnea, $2,400.
Residents there reinernber the
, Watts living in. :a "hoMey . but
rather shabby Manse. The Y want. -
ed the. family to' enjoy thernsei-
. ves' When they came home, hence.
• • there. • were no new furnishings.
their time." •
•.
• The Watts had settle furniture
of 'the own, made and given to
them by joit's father who was
a %cabinet-maker in Walkerton at.
,theturn of /the centurY, These
pieces ,travelled with them • to.
ninc"ntanses, from, toxwatteti,
Man, to OritrisbY, and: are . now
• in their Whitechurch home: •,
It was natutal fay them to re-
• tire' to Whitechurch. They b*ti
ai• ThalI horne there, a cottage
Which once belonged to •
Watt's aunt. and Uncle. And thdir.
dauahter' OenVieve lives •oft
•farm ne,arby.. On. frequent girl-
hood visits there she met the •
man she rnarried. "
John Watt Was a pioneer:1n
bays' work, He recalls With the
• greatest 'armth the Trail. Ran-
• ger and- Tukis groups and the
boys' tart pshe led and, en"Cour7
aged,
Mach
ed` pic
books
son, A
ewhich projected , cOlour-'
ures from Magazines ana„
ir a screen. To his Oldest
, bur, •the task of ant=
, , .
ting ,ott pictures and. pasting,
them.' qn cardboard lip prevent
them', .froth buckling ,irom. the.
heat of the acetylene lainps, 14 -
ter,' in Allendale, • the acetylene
larriPswe•re :replaced, with eleetric
lamps but the pro)ector was still
:used , to illUStrate'. Bible; 'stories.
and to tell of :the church'S. MIS=
. •
sionary wOrk. • •
Two Ever*, ,Sunday:
He: preached ,tWo-?....clifferent. ser=
Mons eYery Sunday, And he some-
times :conducted; as n.iany.. as.four
Services on a Sunday. "He never
failed: to catch and hold the -at-
tention Of eVerYliatener,". recalls
•Although he wrote his sermons
in point form and 'neyer iwrOte
out his pulpit prayers, every
part - of tIte • service of • worshipi-
was thoughtfullyprepared. He
spent at. least an hour eiChweek
choosing the, hymns for the Sun-
day services. .• ," ••, .
John Watt'bought bo • oks and
read them every morning' in his
study, ,1.q -le had a fine mind And
employed ' it to the:. full in 'his
o rk ' said a. minister Who knew
hifirdurin'g his Oakwood, Toren-,
to, pastorate: • •
• At Whitechurch, two' walls of
the study are lined with: books;
from floor to ceiling. "But the
bOys • have taken all best
books," Mr,. Waft says, -
"There was plenty of eOrturien-
senSe . in W. 4.'s Preaching and
pastoral work," T.ecalls Another
minister, John . Wet . himself
rerrien*ers 4.mwerj,ng the tele-;
phone at 3, a.m., one . Sunday.
Would he please come to seine
a family Quarrel? He knew the
family and bad tried to, deal with
their civarrels on other occasions.
"Mrs— . ," he said wearily,
"it is 3 a.m, and 1 have, three ser-
vices tomorrow...V.9U ' can settle
this quarrel without my help:. My
advice to . you is. to, make your
peace and get to ,bed." , •
,MiS. Watt, too, had her share
of troubled,caliers, and for those:
whose troubles were •of their
own making, John Watt had scant
aympathy.:; •
"LoOlc at her," he-exPlOded one
afternoon , As • young woman
stepped lightly, out; themanse
gatekvay. "There she goes as free
• as the breeze. She's left all her
troubles on your shoulders!"
•.13itt to • these 'whose troubles
Were real, John Watt brought'
what help he could. If he remeni-
bers any of these occasions
self; hedoes not speak Of them.
His friends recount •them. with
Pride and affection. •
One day 'whi'le -visiting, a fam-;*
ily hen, asked the lather Arhy he
never -came to church. The man
honestly told. • him : he had no
• shoes. • Mr,'. Watt had two pair.
Later in the day'he took one pair
to the shoemaker for :repair, : &'
he • gave \ them to the' man . with
Seldom Used Car
• Even his .family was shared.
The Older children; for a while,
toeli turns staying. at 'night with,
a recently wicloWed member , of
the congregation at Long Branch.
Both herson and husbandhad
'died during Mr..Watt's miniStur,
arid, John Watt knew her •great
loneliness... .
. his pastoral travels, ,Mr:•
Watt, travelled very. .feW • miles
by ear. It was a team of 'buck,:
skin broaches that :carried him'
over the, prairie at Griswold,
Man, and at Burgoyne, Ont., in
winter he pulled on fur.,,gattntlets::
over his big coat; tuckedhimself
and the .charcoal foot warmer un-
der a btiffalo robe, and set, off:
witha teain and cutter to drive
the, six miles to •DUriblane. ,At
Allandale he bought a bicycle,
*and for years :cycled or iirallOd
on his ,pastoral rounds. .
'At„ Griinsby he had:a car; but
it WO wartime' then and as
was rationed, arid, . once again,
he Walked: 'He, said he couldn't.
afford to drive. hiscar, but some
suspected that he i,aved his
tion coupons so that' his three
boys,: then in the Air Force; could
..drive the car When they were
hcinite , on leave: "But. it did not
keep. him from seeing his people,"
„records a Grimsby. correspondent.
"1 thin.k..two words describe
• Mr. Watt perfectly •,....gentieriess
"1.
A .. .
94,4
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.• WEDNESDAY,„ JULY nth,1901
THE, REV. and MRS, J.. WATT. , „
and'firrnness,!' says one of John
Watt's friends. This woman, who
was a ,small girl in 13urgoyne,
when John Watt was the minis-
ter, remembers -ticr. father agon-
izing the. fact that Mr. Watt
'had .te • preach A certain sermon,
because he was such a gentle
man and this sermon: took great
courage and., determiOation. •
'He was at Long Branch during
the depression and Most of the
Men in this industrial suburb of.
Toronto were unemployed. A
bakery store in the district of-
fered to bake a huge .Christmas.
cake and raffle itfor., the bene-
fit of the church. '1V1r.,Watt thank-
ed them and acIded:.'"We do need
money. verY, badly bnit ,vve can-
not accept itfrom a lottery."
Even' .Cut Salary Not,Raised
Because:41S church had 'so lit-
tle money, John Watt. appeared
before his beard in 1934 to' re-
quest a .salary cut. His ' salary
was reduceckfrorri $1,800 to $1 665
but the record shows that in 1934,
Long. Branch ,raised /a 'Acital:. of
only $1,566 for all local purposes
and: received no grant from th
Horne Mivions: Board. • All:
through this difficult tithe he fed
and clothed his own seven child-
ren,.while pails,- of his:. coal and
baskets. of his. food found their
way toother families *hose, re-
sources Were even more .ateagre.
firmness was *never more
• appatent than at the time of
Church .U.nion.,As a Presbyterian
he ',believed strongly, in Union.
His), experience• on the PriarieS
had convinced him ofits nece§-
sitY.• He was at' Allandale when
the vote Was taken. He, himself,:
'had voted to Came into Unien&.
his :congregation. was aPiparently,
ready .to .40 the same. However,
a' 1?reabYterian speaker from To-
ronto visited Allandale just be -
',fore: the vote and addressed a'
meeting Of • the 'Congregation'. at
•which John Watt Wa8 not pre-
sent. The congregation decided
not. to, go into ,tinfon ...and Within
24 hours, John Watt resigned. 'He
had a Wife; seen : children, less
than .$50 in the; bank. arid.an Un-
certain future in a new church
which had plenty of Ministers.
" Within a , Week he, received
�all to act as -paStOr. of those
Presbyterians in Bartle who were
entering 'the Union and thhd
• decided 16 worship with Collier
Street Methodist • Church until
the ;United Church can -ie- into be
ing on June 1011,1925. A, vacant;
furnished house in 'Barrie was.
•
offered to. the ,Watt family and
they lived there happily until
the follow4ing July, when' Mr.
Watt was called: to.• .13urleS .
It Was. in. Allandale,that he was
introduced to the 'uriiclue hobby
which he pursued' with . outstanch
ing success until his. retirement
•in :1947. In a pea behind. the
manse he kept pigeons, and they
,became for him a solace and a
refuge. If a sermon didn't go
well, or somebody said something
nasty',. or something upset him a
• the door; he went home Anii•wen.
among :his pigepiii., While Mrs..
Watt of :dinner , ready. Some
times on a Saturday night he sat
With his pigeons while he went
.over sermon, and. .some of
his be:st conseliing was'. dpne
While he and, a visitor chatted i
the
ensomepigeoayn.wpns.;...he said, he:
.IJiked : •
'pigeons betterthan people.Aq'
they were more Moral: than. peo.
ple. When they paired they stuck
t°Mthres.ii Wmaattte.•
.snevet • warrned
the pigeons. Her materna' hea t
'was hux't bY the fact :that they
killed,. their young: Ent .the boys
enjoyed the pigeons and .When
'father. began' 'showing .,hi § pigeons ,
at fairs" and winning.. prizes, the .
whole family basked in his suc
dess: Everybody Was in a bUrr
to 'get to the Canadian Nation
Exhibition or to. the Royal Win
fer.,Fair to See, if, Dad's pigeo
hadon any Prizes.
Regularly they did win prizE
• too—thirds and seconds ' for
while, Jancr then firsts, and fina
ly, in 1931, the grand champio
'ship ,in Ithe magPie. class.., This
was a Proud moment. forthe Watt
family.A pigeon fancier in De-
troit effered:to buy: the Charnpicin
fora good price,: 'but Mr.. Watt-
decided nni to ,sell. •
One Morning; soon after th
John Matt went •out to feed
pigeons and came : in looki
shoCked and dejected. His Pige
pen had been rcibbed during t
night? The ,police chief in Lo
Branch was 'notified, and by
stroke of genius sped •intmedia
ly -to the St, Lawrence Mark
Just as he had•%guessed, th
weethe pigeons on: sale,at
market. All 'the, PigeOns were
covered except . one. gr
champion had been: sold, for
'Cents for. ••
...Those' who recall his. rnins
find it'. difficult to think ;of ,Ti
Watt apart from his Wile, Ed
Referring to the. newspaper
(Continued on Page' 7)-'••
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ccwr Oribi• rr1Q14:1147;rawcw$tti thalatei.e:1111.7
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gether in th,
rinicinY."
t
e
• ta.olkj1i'tilillit' pa UaWr&tab'
• thOY were. r
. While J,ohn
itshilaetsi.foalnlodwt€
five boys ai
life of each
,9refamch.,:i
before•
"Someho.
•
Watt home.'
'. who as o.
•4g• 1737svi trees,ec' Pe: andl:trf
• found horn
talk." Anct'l
- bread and.
•
, c°1019:y.C1beiantraesickl..ovf,rj
•
preaching s
Watt's hom
Edith Wat
• Cd1' leade:
• still is espec
the Work o
sionarY.Soci
"
.ECkildb°i11;wrhch.,Wthf
at4atl
i soTgtbeheder,tw,three
Second, Wo
c
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atltilleYathi:rre.enetreearre:
,service of 1
The rest c
members Of
.tions. Dr.
u
,Sldpinctroeot,r,.,
Bella Bella,
ron• pnitec
wher
i.
•Ar
ejscd8houP: is
been eho
'Muriel, v
fore, her rm.
of two pits
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7
'444. 444
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The Watts' five sons (1 tor.)
Dr..Arthur, Archie, the Rev,
Robert; the Rev. George and
• • • Dr, Donald,
idefeaaafereetatiFiesiiientesellegnimestmeisaw,m*
•
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Muriel
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