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The Citizen, 1996-07-31, Page 20(LKIJHome Prenyum Fiberglass lartgaban Wishing you the best! McGavin Farm Equipment Ltd. McGavin Farm Supply Ltd. WA LTON 519-887-6365 Congratulations Morris Township on your 140th Anniversary It's been our pleasure to serve Morris Township and surrounding area for 60 years ( HAPPY 140TH ) MORRIS TOWNSHIP From the owners and staff of OLDFIELD PRO HARDWARE & RADIO SHACK Brussels 887-6851 RadioShack. Your complete hardware and farm supply centre Congratulations Morris Township on your 140th BIRTHDAY The Redford Group Radford Auto Farm and George Radford Industrial Parts Ltd. Construction Ltd. Blyth 523-9681 1-800-276-4163 Blyth 523-4581 after hours 523-4845 Brussels 887-9661 Radford Truck Repair after hours 887-9448 Blyth 523-4581 Congratulations Morris Township 140 Years We are thrilled to help you build your future in Morris Township McDonald Home Hardware cD3 DASHWOOD WINDOW AND DOOR CENTRE Turnberry St., Brussels (519) 887-9959 PAGE 20. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 1996 Morris Kicks in '96 140 YEARS 140 YEARS Bodmin settler names site after Cornwall county The village of Bodmin was located on Lot 9, Conc. 4, just where the 4th concession of Morris crosses the middle Maitland River. William Harris, the founder, settled here in the winter of 1853-1854, naming the site after the county seat of Cornwall, in his mother country, England. Here he built the first grist and saw mill in Morris Township. Bodmin had a post office from 1855 to 1866, with Mr. Harris as postmaster. He also operated an early threshing machine, drawn by a team of horses throughout the country. He was appointed the first Police Magistrate of Morris, before he sold out his holdings and moved to Brussels. In 1861, a general store owned by Dr. I. J. Hawkes and managed by Walter Smith, supplied the village with dry goods, drugs, groceries and hardware. George Aid was the shoemaker, William Bateson had a cabinet factory and several dwelling houses were used. Story of Bushfield Nothing remains today of the village of Bushfield, except the beautiful St. Michael's Cemetery that was situated in the yard to the west of the first Roman Catholic Church to be built in Morris Township. The post office, in operation between 1866 and 1891, was located on the north half of Lot 10, Conc. 8, then the property of the first postmaster, James Holland. The store and hotel were on the east side of the sideroad, across from the post office. In 1852, John Kelly, with his wife and family of six sons and two daughters, moved from County Tipperary, Ireland, to a crown deed property on the south half of Lot 12, Conc. 7, Morris. After establishing his family, the first thing Mr. Kelly did was to set aside one acre of land to be used as a site for a log church and a burial ground. Here, mass was celebrated once a month by Rev. Father Wassereau with the settlers attending from the Blyth and Walton areas. Winter services were suspended except for the Christmas and Easter services. Bushfield had a hotel, operated by Thomas Hollands, and a combined general store and post office. The general store belonged to Mr. C. Hamilton and family before he sold it in 1875 to James Newcombe. James Newcombe, a teacher, later became the postmaster and the proprietor of the general store. Robert Newcombe was the mail carrier, and drew the mail regularly by foot from Bushfield to Belgrave to Sunshine every Wednesday and Saturday. In 1885, the post office in Bushfield showed a gross revenue of $38.46, with salary paid being $10.00 annually. In 1886, the gross was $43.60 and the salary paid was $14.50 and in 1889, the gross revenue was $37.76, and the salary paid was $16. It was not growing the way that post offices in the larger villages were. In 1891, the post office was removed from the village. The log church was used until 1878, when the congregation moved to the new church being built in Blyth. The old log church was then torn down. William Mitchell took over the operation of the grist mill after Mr. Harris, and later, the saw mill was purchased by James McGill. Mr. Isaac Downey started an extensive lime business here, which was so successful that by 1889, he was compelled to build his third kiln. In 1890, he purchased the house of J. D. Forrest, and moved it to Bodmin over the snow on skids for a dwelling. Bodmin had no church, probably because it was only about a mile from the Bethel church, which was the second church built in the township. Later on, this church was moved to the north half of Lot 5, Conc. 4, and was made into a house for Harry Hopper, but the cemetery beside it remains on the lot. A Rev. Mr. Tyler was buried in this cemetery. He was the minister who followed Rev. Atkins as pastor of this church and the Methodist churches of the Morris Mission. The-fiver was important to the early settlers because of the old wooden dam, that provided the water power to run their mills. The. early wooden bridge, damaged by the ice, finally washed out in 1906, and was replaced first by a steel one and finally by the concrete bridge that is used today. The village of Bodmin ceased to exist by about 1880 or 1890, when all of the families moved away. In 1955, the land was purchased by the Procter families and organized into Bodmin Ltd., a farm organization that was one of the earliest farming corporations in the area.