The Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-07-10, Page 97. "•(!,"',
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Per rePortedtdslrogressone day a little
, another day, a little worse, witil
finally he died.
Until I learned this fact in my research,
my great -great-grandfather, C.G.; was just
a well-wom engraved name on an aging
limestone tombstone, a faded name in gold
•
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e 15 years'OMftriiiebotheritvami •
• , • • '• , `-• ' settlnin the area.Zettletiientrinthetteawa.T
IThiotila-pawoldgottioita:popoiliiihtiospenti$irears=Th50s. . few
amenities were available to the farmers in
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"walked.- `What,W1
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toramha . 1/4 'after . borinjWatiOhe A
alone in the bask in a shanty, giving birth everyone to two years. the IMO& ,
Like other settlers, my ancestors were
resoitrceful and became -successful because
they held mortgages on a local mill and
deeded landrfor area churches, a Methodist
• truthful, vibe thoug• ht of it? I wish I had ask- Church and later an Anglican Church. They
lettering on the black funeral card used in ed more qestions. ran a store and a post office and people
the 1880s. Year after year, in the assessment rolls, came at ail hours to get their mail.
different things?
• When I see that stern face on a painted
portrait, I wonder what they were like. Ten
years ago they were naimeless faces,
unidentified ancestors.
The pictures of my ancestors were left in a
drawer. I looked through them and
telephoned other members of the family to
see if they had pictures ' of great-
grandparents and great -great-grandparents
for, you see, I am a fifth -generation Cana-
dian
No written record remains of my earliest. the number of acres cleared changes, the My great -great-grandfather was able to
in this country, no receipts, no lots acquired are -noted, sons,'when they ac-
. buy a farm for his sons, a measure of suc-
forebearsletters, no names written in a family Bible. quired •a property, are noted. I even came cess in those days and he retired to Bayfield
There am no pictures of the earliest settlers across deeds, one of which was a deed of and built a homethere. The tools that were
in their youth. Later, they had porcelain.. land for a nearby Methodist church, which used to make the vvindow sashes are still
portraits done. The portraits are beadtiful was signed by my great -great-grandmother available and other property en the lake
but so stylized that now you see the facial Elizabeth with an 'X'. 'Her mark" was bank "still used for family picnics.
expressions of their descendents and now neatly noted beneath the X and her name My great -great-grandfather C.G. pro -
you don't. The expressions I see are mostly was written in full in the same hand as her bably took an active interest in his retire -
what I perceive, what I read into them. • ment, overseeing the building of his house
The porcelain portraits, are displayed. on
• the wall, with 'other photographs old and
new, reproductions of 100 -year-old pictures
and glossy new prints of the latest family
• wedding. But there was a time, 40 to 50
years ago, when old pictures were not as
treasured as they are today. Who wants to
look at those old things?
The out-of-date things were kept in an at-
tic in boxes or in a barn and all too often
these keepsakes were subject to the ravages
of water, eaten by mice and rats, or an-
nihilation by fire. Often family memorabilia
were wiped out by fire. This was the case in
my family when objects stored in a barn
were lost when the barn burned down.
As times, ,old pictures survived, without
names recorded on the back and not even a
• 93 -year-old can remember the faces in a
1894 school picture.
But oral tradition survives. The stories
are repeated so often they are now cant, so
that each generation uses the same expres-
sions, so that they are recognizable as the
childhood story repeated when we have ask -
Fifth generation Canadian. I remember husband s name. I did,n t •
e un fsitaa.day he was thrownirom his
as a child trying to get thisfigured,outi try- •••, came atroSs"thiS,deeit 'thatililliza betirbuggy Ooldd J101
to keep straight the names of those who not read or write. - •-•••• * s • . Mterliisdeath, and Elizabeth's, the
ine • • • retirement home was used as a residence
•
came before, remembering and getting the
spelling correct of the earliest relative to
settle in this area in 1834 and farm in this
region of Southwestern Ontario. This is
something I didn't really Master until the
history project - there were so many names
and it was all so Tong ago.
I have found hand-written journals that
were written between the years 1863 and
1872. These journals mentioned from time to
time my ancestors by name, in particular,
the wedding of my great-grandfather, in a
double ceremony with his sister's wedding
on a beautifuf day in September. There were
also references to tea and family dinners in
the last century and picnics on the beach
when the men wore their suits and straw
hats and the girls their frilly dresses, white
stockings, and bows in their hair. And Uncle
George, the fussy one, always complained
about sand in the food and spoiled everyone
else's fun. "He was always so particular
about everything."
Have a great time
at our Sesquicentennial!
Distributors of
CROP FERTILIZERS
and
ANIMAL FEED
SUPPLEMENTS
made from Norwegian Seaweed
IRVIN MARTIN
R.R. 2 CLINTON
482-3536
ianypeop1ecouldflOtrt0rWiitemnte•
early days of settlemeiit but I did not realize. and as a coach house as it was located on the
until I was trying to piece together the past main street of Bayfield..
what this meant. It meant no journal en- After his death, the body lay in the bier in
tries, no Bible entries, no letters back home. the parlor. Charles, or C.G. as he is known to
his descendents, looked as stern as ever in
No records. No comfort in something simple
like reading the Bible. the lamplight. The coal oil lamp glasses had
This 20 -year-old girl from a city in been cleaned and polished for the funeral.
England spent 15 years alone in the bush in a Flowers, asters, daisies, lilies, aiul roses
shanty, giving birth every one to two years. adorned the side tables and buffets of the
Finally her brother and father came over parlor. The house had been readied for the
and settled within five miles. What this city funeral guests. Elizabeth had seen to the
girl felt in the first decade here is something housecleaning; she had put the servant girls
in motion to keep them from lamenting so
we will never know. Whatever difficulties
there were she survived and raised nine loudly during C.G.'s long illness.
children to adulthood. The local paper reported his progress for
weeks, one day a little better, another a lit -
One of the marvels of the early journaLs is
tie worse. One day when he was conscious,
the complete lack of personal complaint. I
am not talking about people who passed he sat up and ate dinner and there was hope
through and complained about the food and in the household for his recovery. But head
the accommodation at the inn, but about the injury is a serious thing and just when
people who came and stayed on their land Elizabeth thought C.G. was out of danger,
and survived in the area. In their journals,
Our warmest
Congratulations
Goderich Township
1-5-0on
We're proud to have you as
our neighbouring community.
CBIA CLINTON BUSINESS
IMPROVEMENT AREA