The Wingham Advance-Times, 1967-06-29, Page 11SINCE 1913
YES, IT WAS BACK IN 1913 when the Canadian
Tire Corporation was first formed and spread from
one store to nation-wide branches across Canada.
WE'VE WATCHED CANADA GROW AND PROS-
PER AND WE'RE PROUD OF THE PART WE HAVE
PLAYED IN PROGRESS.
ROBIN CAMPBELL, Prop.
Josephine Street • Wingham
THE FAMILY of Matthias Harrison: Stand-
ing, Annie, Bob, Matthias and Maggie.
Seated: Minnie, Lizzie, Mrs. Harrison, Alice
and Becky, The Harrison family history
was written by Linda Coultes, great-
granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harrison.
First Jacques dwelling burned by Indians
..:..CANADA viorA'''* AvikvA 1861 1967 AN"
STEDMAN'S
ScTO $1.00 STORE.
JOINS IN WISHING CANADIANS EVERYWHERE A
HAPPY CENTENNIAL
.a. I C,
7
1
THOSE WERE THE DAYS!
FULL OF EXCITEMENT and fun at the
balloon ascension, but not so much fun back
on the farm where most of the work was
done by hand.
TRACTORS AND FARM MACHINERY
have made life much more enjoyable for
farmers since the days of Confederation.
We're still striving to help the farmer with
new and improved machinery.
CHAS. HO DG1NS
We ve made some changes since 1867
YESTERDAY —
You pretty well had to be there to enjoy the musicians anti singers.
A far cry from . .
TODAY —
The great musicians of the world entertain us in our homes through
recordings, radio, stereos, television, and now television in living
colour.
WE ARE PLEASED TO JOIN IN WINGHAM'S
SALUTE TO CANADA 1861-1961
0-WARREN HOUSE
"Your Noma Entertainment Centre"
Phone 357-1415 •
Winghamo ()Mario
•46•11••••••••••••••••••kor4.44,Wouro
SPRING FLOODS have created havoc in Wingham on many
OctaSiont, This picture looking south from Wingharn
Shows the flooded prairie. One of the old bridges it in
the distance.
WI:4PM AdVincet,Time$$ TiMrildigy$ June 29$ 1967 -'1" Pa • 3
The pioneers of Morris ank
Chas. Harris; Margaret, Mrs.
Geo. Hubbard and her twin
brother who was stillborn; Ida,
Mrs. R. A. Ashton; Mary, Mrs.
A. E. Gallaher; Elsie, never
married; Wm. J., Ernest and
Edgar.
Lot 16 was taken out of the
Crown in 1863 and Lot 17 in
1868. Both of these Crown
deeds are still in the family and
the farms were bought for
$150.00 a piece (100 acres).
Sometime later Lot 15 was also
purchased which comprised two
parcels of 50 acres with build-
ings. These have passed to
other names.
Ida, Mrs. Ashton became a
teacher and taught for some
time at U. S.S. No. 15 Howick.
At times she walked to school
about five miles and helped to
milk before and after school. A
gold watch is still in the family
that she presented to William
for milking her share of cows in
the winter while she boarded •
near her school.
Margaret took a course in
art and many of her paintings
may be found in the homes to-
day. Ernest attended Huron
College and was ordained as an
Anglican minister in May 1914
and served His Master in the
parishes of Eastwood, Morpeth,
Millbank and on the Six Nations
Reserve near Brantford until his
death in 1948.
John Wesley served the town-
ship as a councillor from 1880-
1885 and as reeve served on
County-Council 1885-1890.
About the year 1900 Mr. and
Mrs. Jacques attended the
World's Fair in Chicago. The
pressure of farm work never
kept them home as they had
hired help both in the house and
outside at all times. He con-
tinued actively until his death
in 1905.
After the death of John the
farm was still maintained by
Mrs. Jacques and the sons.
William J. married Lucy S.
Hubbard on Dec. 19, 1906, and
lived on Lot 15. In 1912 they
moved to the home farm, Lot
16 along with their two small
sons and in that year the present
barn was built. On June 6,
1913 tragedy struck this home
when Lucy passed away at 34
years. In 1915 William J. mar-
ried Catherine Mills of Ethel
and to them were born two
daughters, Catherine Grace and
Ida May.
William J. passed away Feb-
In 1831, eleven-month-old
Elizabeth Mason came to the
New World with her parents, Mr.
and Mrs. (Elizabeth Shuter)
Mark Mason, and her brother,
William. Their old home had
been in Gloucestershire, Eng-
land.
Matthias Harrison was born
in Sligo, Ireland, in 1827. As
a young man he also made his
way to Canada. Matthias mar-
ried Elizabeth Mason in Toron-
to and they came to East Wa-
wanosh when it was first being
settled. They chose Lot 37,
Concession 6, which they took
up from the Crown.
In 1872 there were nine lit-
tle Harrisons: Rebecca Jane
(Mrs. David Cook); William
ruary 5, 1938, at 56 years and
Lloyd R. the younger son took
up where his father left off. On
April 12 of that year Lloyd mar-
ried Elva M. Dane and the
family all continued living on
the farm. Oliver J. still re-
sides in Clifford and was mar-
ried to Esther A. Milligan on
Nov. 1, 1939. C. Grace mar-
ried Robert Harkness on May 20,
1944 and they live on the How-
ick and Carrick boundary as
does Ida May and Bruce Hark-
ness who were married June 1st,
1946. These men are brothers.
Catherine continued to reside on
the farm until, her, death. Dec.
24, 1959.
Lloyd and his wife had a
family of four, Nancy Mildred,
Mrs. L. E. Taylor of Kitchener;
William Lloyd who was killed
in a tractor accident on Sept.
25, 1964 at 17 years; John Dane
and Glenn Thomas. Lloyd R.
passed away March 22, 1966 at
55 years and Elva and sons John
and Glenn are continuing on the
farm.
Like most farms, hydro has
been installed followed by pres-
sure system, bathroom, etc.
Tractors and power equipment
have replaced horsepower. The
last team of horses was sold in
1960. Until 1950 the same
strain of horses that John Wesley
had owned were doing the farm
work.
This farm proudly displays
one of the Century Farm signs
and as we look back and recall
incidents of these past years we
are mindful of the hard work
that our forefathers put into
clearing this land and establish-
ing this fine old home. We are
truly thankful for the heritage
that has been handed down to
us, from father to son and with
the hope that these boys, who
belong to the fourth generation
to reside here will choose farm-
ing as their way of life.
A centennial reunion was
held on this farm in 1963 when
over 100 relatives from Ontario
and the United States reminisc-
ed together. Many are scatter-
ed from Nova Scotia to British
Columbia, Texas, Ohio, Wis-
consin and the Prairies.
James (died in childhood); An-
nie Louisa: Mary Maud (Mrs.
Fred Cook); Margaret Emma;
Elizabeth Ada (Mrs. Wm. Scott);
Matthias Henry; Alice Emily
(Mrs. John S. Scott) and Robert
James.
Disaster struck while Bob was
still a baby. In 1872 Matthias
died of pneumonia leaving his
widow with the young family.
Matthias must have been a
remarkable man. Although 95
years have passed since his
death, stories of his kind-heart-
ed fun are still told. He has
become an almost legendary
figure. Often when an extra-
ordinary display of humour is
revealed by one of the many
descendants, it is commented,
"That's the Matthias coming
out of him."
No less remarkable was his
wife, She raised the family
alone, through poverty and
hardship. Economy was essent-
ial, As well as feeding her own
brood she baked for bachelor
neighbours. Her years of la-
bour were not in vain, A large
red brick house appeared on the
Harrison farm soon after the
turn of the century. It is re-
grettable she had not lived to
enjoy her crystallized dream of
a home of comfort. She died
in November 1904.
Bob took over the farm. He
was never married. Since his
death. Hugh C. Blair has farm-
ed the old Harrison homestead.
Although the surname 'Har-
rison' has not been prominent
for much of the life of S. S. 13
East Wawanosh, Harrison blood
has always been there. All the
first generation children re-
ceived their education there.
Becky Harrison was the first
pupil enrolled at S. S. 13,
which opened in 1863. Her
oldest son, Alfred Cook, start-
ed to the same school before his
youngest uncle, Bob Harrison,
was through. Thus there was no
break. In fact, there never
was a school year in the exist-
ance of S. S. 13 when there
were not direct descendants of
Matthias and Elizabeth Harrison
attending.
In the 1965-66 school year
(the last complete year the sec-
tion functioned) the following
students shared common an-
cestry: Lorne Scott, (son of Mrs.
Scott and the late Borden Scott);
George, Brenda, Connie, Dian-
ne. Billy, Stephen Cook, (child-
ren of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Cook);
Bonnie Cook, (daughter of Mr.
and Mrs. Albert Cook); Debbie,
Judy, Greg Cook, (children of
Mr. and Mrs. Eldon Cook); Bry-
an Black, (son of Mr. and Mrs.
Stanley Black); Keith, Murray,
and Joan Black; (children of Mr.
and Mrs. Bill Black).
Lorne Scott is a great-grand-
son of Matthias and Elizabeth.
The others are great-great
grandchildren.
William Mason, Elizabeth's
brother, who lived on a corner
of the Harrison farm, also had
The pioneers of Morrisbank
came frorn Scotland. Richard
Miller and Margaret Thompson
were born in Berwickshire and
married in. 1826., They had
nine children, the oldest One
John R. was born in Fans in
1800. He became head plough-
man on a large estate, of
which his father was the Man-
ager, John emigrated to New
York State in 1851, remaining
in the Genessee Valley, N. Y.
Brought family to
East Wawanosh
on 30th birthday
In 1831 John Coultes and his
wife Mary left England for the
new land, Canada, by way of
New York, where they stopped
for two weeks and where Mary
gave birth to her son Robert.
After Robert was able to travel
the family settled in Nassaguaya
Township, Halton County. In
1856 Robert Coultes married
Martha Scott and four yearslat-
er he came to Lot 39, Con, 11,
East Wawanosh, which he pur-
chased from Magnus Louttit and
built a log house and a log
stable.
On January 24, 1861, on his
30th birthday, he and his wife
and three small children, Wal-
ter, John and Elizabeth, came
by teams and wagons to their
log home. The house was lo-
cated just north of where the
brick house which was erected
about 1889 now stands. Two
brothers came to East Wawan-
osh. George settled on Con.
11, Lot 42 and later moved to
U.S.A. John settled on Con,
7, Lot 40. Together they be-
gan the task of chopping timber
and clearing their farms.
Three more children were
born to Robert and Martha
Coultes, Martha Anne, 1872,
Robert, 1878 who became
Reeve of East Wawanosh in
1925, and George Freeman,
In 1905 George, the young-
est son, married Jennie Leaver
and the same year took over the
farm from his father. To this
couple were born three sons,
James, Albert and Norman and
one daughter, Agnes.
In 1938 Norman, again the
youngest son and the present
owner, married Mary Dow and
took over the farm from his fa-
ther. They have a family of
four sons James, Kenneth,
Douglas and Grant, and two
daughters, Ruth and Doris. --
East Wawanosh Township 1867-
1967.
three great-great granddaugh-
ters attending S.S. 13, that
year Doreen, Faye, and Judy
Mason, daughters of Mr. and
Mrs. Albert Mason. Therefore
19 of the 29 pupils enrolled in
the section in its last full year
were descendants of Mr. and
Mrs. Mark Mason who sailed
from England so long ago.
for two years before coming to
Canada, In .November 180
John, iris brother William and
sister Margaret, along with five
friends, Robert and aeorge.Mof-
fatt, John Messer, Christopher
HarniltOnn and his. daughter A.,g,
nes .came to Canada, settling in
Morris,
In 1854 the patents of john
Miller, together with their five
remaining sons, carne to this
country, settling in the newly-,
surveyed bushlands of Huron
County, The trip across the
ocean took 10 weeks in a sail-
ing vessel. They stopped over
at Harpurhay now Seaforth and
proceeded to the home of John
Samples now the John Yuill
place, 2* miles north of Brus-
sels, on the gravel road. There
were no roads in those days so a
pathway through the bUshlands
was followed.
The party chose to locate on
the town line between the town-
ships of Morris and Turnberry.
Being the first settlers in that
district, Mr. Miller Sr., took
up lots 55 and 56 on Concession
1 as Crown Grant land.
These pioneers were Lowland
Scotch, very strict Presbyter,
ians, In politics they were Re-
formers, Their hardships were
.rnAoyl no roads, Or even a trail,
through the hushlands, After
clearing some of the land of
trees and grumps, they built log
houses,their only tools being
ayes, Pegs made of wood were
used as nails, AS were hinges,
When clearing. the land for
sowing grain the logs were 01",
ed in heaps and burned, the •
grain scattered by hand among
the stumps And when ready .for
harvesting the grain was cradl-
ed, hand rakedand bound, The
threshing was dohe with a flail,
made of two sticks of wood
fastened together with a rope.
Later, they installed a tread,
Mill consisting of a largeeleats
ed wheel made of wood, mount-
ed on an iron or steel frame
placed on rollers, on the side
was a gangway, to which a
large dog was tied, The tread„
ing of the dog kept the wheel
turning, thus providing the pow-
er. As the work grew heavier,
the dog was replaced by a team,
of oxen. Later they were re,
placed by a team of horses,
with some changes being made
to the treadmill. A large
wheel to which arms were at,
Please Turn to Page Four
John Wesley Jacques who
cleared the land and built a
home at Lot 16, Con. 13, How-
ick Township was one of the
early settlers. He was the son
of John Jacques and Anna
Steeves and was born near
Moncton, N. B. in 1835. His
ancestors had been engaged in
the manufacture of silk in
France and fled to England at
the time of the Reformation.
They arrived in New Brunswick
in the early 1800's. At the ear-
ly age of one year, John, with
his family made the treacherous
journey to Norwich Township in
Oxford County and settled first
at Burgessville and later at
Hickson, He was one of a fam-
ily of 10 children. John W.
and a brother Chipman came to
Howick and took up land. Chip-
man located on Lot 9, Con, 2,
where he built a stone house
and raised a family of six sons
and two daughters.
It was about the year 1855
that John W. came through the
bush, hewed out a clearing and
built his cabin just a few feet to
the north of the present dwell-
ing. The story has been told
that in the fall John went back
to his father's home at Hickson
to spend the winter and get
some supplies. When he return-
ed in the spring the Indians had
burned his cabin and he had to
make a fresh start.
He married Margaret Ann
Nay in February 1861. Her
home had beerracross the road
on Lot 15. The large stone
family home was built in 1869
and has been lived in continu-
ously since. John and Margaret
had a family of eight daughters
and five sons, namely, Robert,
who died at 5 months; Rachel,
Mrs. Russell Harris; Elizabeth,
Mrs. Robt. Graham; Esther, Mrs.
Wm. Andison; Nancy, Mrs.
THE OLD HOME of Mathias Harrison, Lot $7, Con, 0,
East Wawanosh in 1907. In the picture are Lizzie Harri-
son (Mrs. William C. Scott), Bob Harrison, then owner of
the farm and Fred Cook,
Harrison descendants had
attended 55 131863-1966
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