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The Huron Expositor, 1981-07-29, Page 22Welcome home to MorrO 5pgcloll BOAhday Mghlgg TO Morris Township ON ITS 125TH BIRTHDAY CANADIAN TIRE RSSOEIRTI STORE WINGHAM 357-3714 Chit TIEN to all residents, former residents and visitors on the occasion of our 125th birthday. on behalf of 'MORRIS TOWNSHIP COUNCIL Reeve Bill Elston, Deputy-Reeve Tom Miller .• councillors Robert Grasby, Clare Van Camp, Doug -Fraser and clerk -treasurer Nancy Michie Hope your stay is a pleasant one IT'S A PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU BACK IN MORRIS TOWNSHIP A RARE ANTIQUE Susan Langlois sits in a 1903 Ford car owned by . Charles Brewer of Morris Township. The car was the first one off the Walkervillefplant line-up. ___hanged - Congratulations Morris Township on your 125th Anniversary We at Royal Homes are pleasedlo have been able to take part in the growth and progress of -the township of Morris in the past years For the future, we wish continued growth and succiss to the township - and Its residents. ' W ROYAL HOMES LTD. Box 370, Wingham Ont. 357-2608 "Building homes throughout Ontario." MORRIS TOWNSHIP " - Wishing you the-best in this 125th year SSE MOTORS INC. Serving Morris Township Since 1947 With top quality vehicles and service. • MOMUS 12511,1 EllftTlif*Y MOVE always been in Brewer family "Tiger" Dunlop. the fa- mous Huron County colon- izer was responsible for giv- ing Morris Township its name in honour of William Morris. a Cabinet Minister in the Legislature of the United Canadas at the time the township was surveyed. A February 27. 1885 issue 'if the Brussels Post gives a historical sketch of the town., ship. "Morris is laid out in the shape of a „parallelogram whose dimensions northeast and southwest are nearly 12 miles by seven and a half from southeast to northwest. On its two latter sides it is enclosed ,between Grey .and East Wawanosh while Turn- berry forms its northeastern boundary and Hulett and McKillo:1 its -outhwestern. The township originally con- tained 57.'20- acres of land and water, but it would appear, if the assessors are correct, that the 'village of Brussels and Blyth and the two raii1oads which run • through it have taken off 1.874 acres as the number of acres reported by that official as property of individuals amounts to 55.246. "Its surface is comparat- ively even except near the river. The south branch of the Maitland enters at Brus-- • sets and presents an ei- tremely irregular course. leaves the township near the northern angle to Witigham having been joined by the middle branch which enters the township at Bluevale. Outside those parts of Morris now included within the limits of Blyth and Brus- sels. the first settlement in the township was made at Belgrave by a party consist- ing of John McRae. Chris- topher Corbett. John Brand- on and Robert Armstrong. "These were all originally from County Fermanagh, Ireland but afterwards sett- led in West Gwillimbury, Simcoe County, whence they came to take up residence in Morris. They first came in 'September 1851. intending to select land and build shanties thereon before re- turning; but before making a choice the season had got so far • advanced that they con- cluded to defer clearing and building, operatioas till the next spring. "In pursuit of their intent- ion they returned early in the spring of 1852. At the time of their first aiming. there was no settlement in the town- ship except Kenneth McBean and William McConnell who had small clearings ad log shanties where Blyth now stands. ."During the latter part of 1852, however, a number of settlers came. into different sections of - the township. Chas. W. Parker. afterwards the first Reeve was the first who followed them--and in. fact his. actual settlement dates ahead of them all as he came in, put up a shanty on Lot '10. Concession 6 and remained there during the time the others were east. Among the earliest of the others were Joseph England. William. John and David Geddes. Hector McLean. Abraham Procter. Charles Procter and Joseph Stubbs. John Kelly with a large family of sons settled in May 1853. William Wilson after- wards for many years Reeve settled in June 1853 and in 1853 also another family of five brothers of Kelleys (of whom Thomas, now of 'Brus- sels was afterwards Reeve of the township) settled on the eighth and ninth lines. Mr. Wilson was the magistrate who called the first public meeting in the township both for school and municipal purposes. "William Armstrong also settled in the autumn of 1853 and John Sample came in on the Grey town line a short time subsequently. There was not a single settler north- of the fourth concession till after the winter of 1853-54. but during the next spring the influx was large and continued unabated till al- most every lot in the town- ship was occupied within the course of half a dozen years. Among those-who came in during the winter of 1853-54 was Wm. Harris now in Algoma. He settled in what was called "Bodmin" which he named after the county seat of Cornwall, Englandhis native town. He built a grist and sawmill there. the first in the present limits of the township. The first school erected in the township was on lot 11, Concession 6. and the first teacher was Rebecca Vance, whose family had come from Napanee and settled in Brucefield. Rev. 'Mr. Aikins (N.e. Meth.) was the first minister who ever - preached in the township. He came first in the season of 1853 and during the winter of 1853-54 used to travel on snowshoes in "heavy march- ing order" with his pack on his back. Mr. Aikins preach- ed for several years in the log 'cabins rethe settlers -unfit a church building was provid- ed - two of which were subsequently -erected about the same time, one on lot 10. 'concession 5, the other on lot 6. concession 5. "The first couple married in the township were Mar- garet, daughter of John Brandon and John Lawlor. ..the...aceremony being per formed by Rev. Mr. Dowler, a Methoditt minister and the first white child born was Christopher, son' of Joseph England. above referred to. He is now a Methodist preacher in, Michigan. By the year 1856, Morris, which with Grey also had been united for municipal purposes to McKillifiti, enter- ed upon an independently organized existence and the first reeve was Charles M. Parker with Christopher Cor- bett, William Wilson,' John McRae and Charles Forrest as Councillors; J.B. Taylor. clerk; John Laidlaw. assess- or; Donald Scott. collector. "There are a number of post villages in Morril, - the position of which may be observed by reference to the township plan but there are none of them of sufficient importance to merit notice except Belgrave on the Mor- ris and Wawanosh town line whose early settlement is elsewhere referred to. There is here a station of the L.H. and B. Railway. 67 miles from London and seven from Wingham. It has two stores. two hotels, two churches, Orange hall together with several mechanical esta- blishments and is quite a pleasant little village. "The general position of Morris viewed from the light of the advantage offered by its highways, its railways, its waterways, itsfinances its soil or its inhabitants is such as to give• it not only a present commanding posit- ion but no uncertain indicat- ion of future pre-eminence among the minor municipal- ities of the county. BY DEBBIE RANNEY Morris has changed a lot since its 1956-- celebratiOns. but as somebody once said, the more things Change, the more they stay the same. For one thing over the years, the township council has continued to struggle with the same problems of drainage, roads, and dogs running at large. One person who should know a lot about changes in Morris Township in the last 25 years is ' the reeve, Bill Elston who first went to council in 1952, missing only the years' 1957. 1958 and 1959 in between. He reflected on some of the things that have shaped the township's history in the past 25 years, such as the fact that there is no township school area board anymore., That was changed to a bigger school board ,in . about .1962. with Blyth, Brussels, East Wawanosh and Morris under one umbrella. In 1967, 'the County School board came along, Another thing the reeve mentioned was welfare which the township used to look after itself, and which was taken over by the County in about 1972. "We had our library boards in the villages which were also taken over by the County. We did our own assessing which has been taken over by the provincial government. "Now there is a planning board 'which is run by the county." Morris did have a tax collector but he never went out on the road as such.. People paid their taxes at his home. This job was taken over by the clerk of the township and now taxes are paid at the bank or" 'the clerk's office. Morris town= ship's last tax collector was Bill Bridges. Reeve Elston said change in the township just had been an erosion 'over fife years - going right back to the 1940's which was when they rate- payers lost their school sect- ions. "There's so much more red tape now. When we used to have a council meeting, we'd-be done- by-four o'clock and have a game of cards afterwards. "Business was done just' as well then as it is now, but, now we can't get through it all in one day," he said. Before the advent of. recreation grants. money for projects was raised through the township. When Wintar- io first came in, that's when they started getting ,when One of the disadvantages ' Reeve Elston cited about the grant system is that • they don't get as much volunteer labor as,they,used. He cited government in- terference in connection with arenas. too, often to make work fer people. The grant structure has..., been 'practically the same for roads and ditches. but when it comes to drain repair, the township now 'has to have okays from the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Maitland Valley Conservat- ion Authority before they can proceed. In 1956, the township wasn't using any chloride on the roads at all and roads were plowed once or at the the most twice a day in the wintertime. "Now they're open almost 24 hours a day," he said. -Gravel ..has become, a big factor too. Whereas 25 years ago, 12 yards of gravel would The reeve remember s A lot of unusual events have happened in Morris Township's history, among them the following: 1n-1920 a woman from the . area was charged with witch- craft.. The judge gave her a suspended sentence. On Jan. 18-9928 a Newton McCauley started ploughing. This was a new record for the twp. In 1926 Reeve Shortzeed had an oddity on his farm- a calf born without a 'tail. In the barn of Charlie Brewer is a rare antique. A 1903 Ford car, it was the first one off the Walkerville plant line-up and one of the only Iwo of that type made that year, The car has been in the 4 it, now 25.000 yards arc required for the township roads. Morris was first designat- ed for a deputy-reeve in 1973 because there were over 1.000 voters in jhe township. which brings up something Please turn to page 4 Witchcraft in 1920 Brewer family since the early teens when they bought if from a Mr. Patterson from Brussels who was the origi- tnal owner. The 1903 is a two-cylinder water-cool engine with a • On Sept. 14 192' some thirsty throats entered Bert Carter's cellar and, drank a case of beer. The Carter family said if they had asked_ for it they could have had it as the family had no use of it except as a mouthwash. HAPPY BIRTHDAY People of Morris Township from H.J. Ten Pas Construction Brussels chain drive. The car also has a crank start. The ear is originally a two seater made with leather seats. The body of the car is all wood except for brass fen ders and brass running boards. The car %%1)01 mined about as fast as a Tractor. %k as used only in the summer because of the lack of anti freeze. The car was driven in the last Morris centennial but hasn't been. licensed for 50 years. Mr. Brewer says the ear still runs.