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The Huron Expositor, 1990-02-21, Page 5Only one local voiun eer at Where were you during the great Huron Po ry dig of 1975? During August of that year, a team of archeaologists from the Royal Ontario Museum of Toronto descended on the backyard of Mr. and Mrs. William Haggett in Egmondville to sift through the site of one of the earliest pottery works in Canada. A year earlier, in 1974, the ROM sent out an information sheet on the site, looking for volunteers to work on the site. Nancy Andrews, a reporter with the Huron Ex- positor in 1975, trekked over and got down to the nitty-gritty with the crew, and did an extensive write-up on the excavation. But she was the only one. In spite of the publicity, and presentations staged by ROM at the local high schools, no other Seaforth or Egmondville residents volunteered to help unearth the pieces of the past in their very backyards. In light of the Heritage developments in recent years, and Seaforth's renewed interest in its rich history, the response would pro- bably be very different if such an oppor- tunity arose again. The Egmondville pottery works, also known as Huron Pottery Works, operated for over 60 years, between 1852 and 1910. The site consisted of a kiln, potting shed, cellar, waster dumps and a pug mill, and was unique in that it was the first site in Canada to be discovered with potters' tools intact throughout it. Archeaologists were excited; up until the discovery of the Egmondville site, no pottery works had been erected at any of the country's pioneer villages, simply because no-one had any idea how the turn -of -the -century potter had plied his craft. Initial reports on the site stated that .the works produced a wide assortment of red earthenware vessels for local domestic use. The pottery was occasional- ly marked and decorated." The ar- cheaologists and historians, however, were forced to bite their tongues when the first of the finds were unearthed on the site. The Huron Pottery was reportedly widely -known for its glazed yellow flower pots, but these workers were decidedly not mere flower -pot makers. Many of the moulds and dies that were excavated were richly detailed, from the hands of true ar- tisans. One exciting find was a piece of finely -patterned mold, likely for tile work along fireplaces, with "J. Weber, July Refor party THE flUR.QN EXPOS1TO FEBRL ARY',21: 15190 :5A DIGGING UP THE PAST - This was the in August, 1975, when the site of the William Huggett's backyard. scene at the Egmondville pottery site dig Huron Pottery works was unearthed in 1877" scratched on the back. There may still be fireplaces in existence in the area with this same pattern intact. As the dig went on, the archeaologists deduced that the pottery works may have operated on a custom order basis. The everyday items were listed on the price list, but specialty items and fine work could be custom -crafted to specifications. The dig only went on for a week, but literally hundreds of boxes of pottery and fragments were unearthed. Claus Breede, Director of the Huron County Pioneer Museum in Goderich, notes that a great deal of the pottery has been donated to the Van Egmond Foundation for display in the Van Egmond House. At the time of the ex- cavations, area residents were asked to donate any pieces that of "Egmondville Pottery", as it was called, to the Van Es- mond House for display and safe -keeping. The discovery of the site raised the market value of the pieces considerably; a crock that may have gone for $4 was suddenly worth $20. And that was 15 years ago. "Most of the pottery is uninteresting from a spectator's point of view, but it's eader gives Egm To many Seaforth and Egmondville residents, the Van Egmond House and Museum, circa 1845, stands as a fine ex- ample of mid -19th century architecture. With its numerous special exhibits - in- cluding the Huron Pottery works display, special events such as the Van Egmond House Ciderfest, and period decor, the museum home gives visitors a glimpse into pioneer life in Huron County and recounts the tale of the legendary Van Egmond (or Van Egmont) family who settled the area. Most well+known 'was 'Colonel Anthony' Van' Egmond,.leade>c.of thereform movement in Upper Canada and settler of the Huron Tract. The Colonel was born in the Netherlands in 1778 of an aristocratic European fami- ly, and later became an army officer for the Dutch national forces. The Van Egmonts, as they were known in their homeland, were prominent in the political and social life of the Netherlands, and An- thony bore witness to the turmoil of the advent of the French Revolution in 1789. He served with the Dutch forces in some of the German Rhineland states, and it was there that he married Susanna Dietz. In 1808 their first son, Constant, was born. Journeying to the new land, the Van Egmonds initially settled in Waterloo Coun- ty and remained there for about a year. In 1828, he managed to secure a contract for the construction of the newly -surveyed Huron Road, and acquired a one -hundred acre parcel of land near the site of the present community of Seaforth. The Huron Road route, it seems, was to be con- structed across the lands of the Cana Company through unbroken forest straight to the site of Goderich. Van Egmond became quite good friends with the con- struction superintendent, John Galt, during this time and was also an associate of the notorious Dr. William "Tiger" Dunlop. "ofelm Galt ;was :ref sailed 'tie: England( in 1829 and work oa the, tract continued /under the supervision of Galt's successor, a Thomas Mercer Jones. Rumblings were heard, however; Jones, a very different man than Galt, had close ties with the rul- ing oligarchy in York (present day Toron- to) known as the "Family Compact", and subsequently managed to antagonize both his Canada Company associates and set- tlers in the Huron Tract. By the mid -1830's, Anthony Van Egmond was one of the largest private land -holders in the Huron Tract, but his relations with the officers of the Canada Company - who were supported by the government of Up- per Canada - were at sixes and sevens. He set out to raise a protest against the Com- pany policies, and proposed to stand for election to the legislative assembly as a candidate for the Reform party. He also penned an article, "The Curse of the Wrongful dismiss& appealed BY NEIL CORBETT Joanne Young may be taking the Huron County Board of Education to court a final time, but board officials say so far the only people she has told are members of the media. Young worked for about 10 years with the board, but was fired in late 1983. Director of Education Bob Allan said she was dismissed because she missed classes without permission or notification. He said Young was a nuclear activist who would attend protests, be arrested, refuse to identify herself, then go on a hunger strike. "Our problem was we had a teacher under contract to teach six classes per day and she was disappearing," explain- ed Allan. "The papers knew her so even- tually we would find out where she was." Allan says the board went through a long period of warning Young before she was eventually dismissed. But she has since tried to appeal her discharge, most recently on February 5 when she was denied leave to appeal to the Ontario Court of Appeal. "The one remedy available to her is the Supreme Court of Canada, where she will say she has been denied her rights under the Charter of Rights," says Allan. He estimates it would take young about two years to get a date for a Supreme Court hearing, and notes that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was not a legal document at the time of Young's dismissal. "So now she's operating under the charter on an action that predates the charter, and I'm not sure what that means legally." Allan's interpretation of Young's ap- peal, based on what he has learned through the news media, is targeted more at the Ministry of Education than the local board of education. Under the Education Act, if a teacher is dismissed he or she has the right to request a court review of the dismissal. This review is called a board of reference. It is up to the Minister of Education to determine if the fired teacher is entitled to an appeal. "So we dismissed Joanne Young and the Minister of Education said she could not have a board of reference. Her ap- peal, as I understand it, is based on the minister did not give me a board of reference, so my rights were trampled on'," says Allan. "Obviously the minister thought we were more than fair in dismissing her." The board of reference, should one be granted, would have the authority to order Young reinstated, or compensated from the day of her dismissal. very interesting if you're an ar- chaeologist," notes Mr. Breede of the boxes of Egmondville pottery held in store at the Goderich museum. The items are not on public display there, and are only available for viewing through private appointment. At the time, it was estimated that more than 75% of Ontario's pottery works had already been destroyed in urban areas, bulldozed over in the inane of develop- ment. In fact, there was no historical ar- chaeology, undertaken in Ontario until 1966, when interest in the province's heritage began to pick up. A photograph of the Huron Pottery works in Egmondville was discovered in a book published in 1906 by the Ontario Department of Mines. Up un- til the photo was found, the Royal Ontario Museum had been relying on the recollec- tions of Clare Pretty, who visited the site as a small child, for al description of the Pottery buildings. Mrs. Pretty remembered that during the summer, the pottery was placed out of doors on elevated wooden slats until enough pottery had accumulated to load the kilns. ® iviiie name Canada Company", which appeared in Mackenzie's newspaper "The Constitution" on October 4, 1836. Mackenzie was gearing up for an arm- ed uprising. Cooler heads in the Reform party had fail- to prevail and Mackenzie, supported wholeheartedly by Van Egmond, would settle for nothing less than an out- and-out rebellion. Van Egmond, with his military expertise, wai-e valuable ally for Mackenzie and was appointed 'commander of the rebel forces:''; o'ThrriftieetW ftatltet+erpi&Dtidefnbel'�1837'at • Ndonfgernehy'anTaV ` ,, agar the p*esent- day intersection of Yongeand Eglinton in Toronto. Anthonj+ Van Egnnilnl1 arrived at the can* expecting to be greeted by a large, well-arkied contingent as was pro- mised, but instead found himself leading a small, ill-equipped band of yeottianry. Word later came that a large band of Loyalist militia was advancing up Yonge St., meanwhile, and the rebels fled. Van Egmond, among with numerous others, was captured by the Loyalists and jailed ( or "gaoled") in York. An old man by this time, Van Egmohd appealed by let- ter to the Court of Inquiry that he had "the use of but one arm, one leg and one eye anymore, and by a consumption of eighteen months since was reduced to a mere skeleton." What a man in such a condition was trying to prove by leading the rebel forces into battle is a mystery, but Colonel Anthony Van Egmond does not seem like the type to have been daunted by such trivialities where principle and prestige were concerned. The Colonel passed away rather ig- nominiously in January, 1838, after a number of weeks of imprisonment, and was buried on his son Constant's farm. His remains were later interred in the century in Egmondville. IT'S OUR 26th ANNIVERSARY SALE Feb. 1 to Feb. 28 HEALTH ON THE J ILL A Review,of activities at SEAFORTH COMMUNITY ITY HOSPITAL WELCOME TO SEAFORTH COMMUNITY HOSPITAL: Student Co-operative Program Par- ticipants include Valerie Overholt who will assist secretarial staff and Shelley O'Brien who will work with Nursing Staff. Adult Co-operative Program Participants will be rotating between various hospital depart- ments. Darlene Naylor and Janis Bisback will provide secretarial staff for the Laboratory, Purchasing Department, Nursing Department and Medical Records. GERIATRIC STIMULATION PROGRAM: ATelemedicine Program titled "Take a Sad Song and Make It Better - The Geriatric Environment" will be aired February 22,1990 at 1:00-2:00 in Conference Room 2. Adult Volunteers working with the Geriatric Population are invited to attend this very useful presentation. NURSING DRAW: Tickets are available at switchboard or from all Nursing Staff for a draw May 21 at $1.00 each. See the display at switchboard. All proceeds to the Hospital Building Fund. First Prize - a beautiful white and rose motif afghan made by F. Craig, R.N. Second Prize - a lovely blue ceramic wreath Third Prize - cuddly teddy bear UPCOMING MARCH PROGRAMS: Diabetics - Learn to Balance Your Act. A two day class will be held Tuesday, March 6 and Wednesday, March 7 from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. in Conference Room 2. All aspects of diabetic care will be covered and is for all diabetics and their families who are interested in knowing how to better manage their body's use of sugar. Call 527-1650, ext. 262 to register. BECOME A SUPER SHOPPER - SHOP SMART SUPERMARKET TOURS: To celebrate Nutrition Month, March 1990, Huron County Nutrition Committee will be conducting 1 hour in-store nutrition education sessions at selected locations in Clinton, Exeter, Goderich, Seaforth and Wingham No fee is required, but registration is necessary. Call Nutrition Services, Huron County Health Unit 482-3416 or 1-800-265-5184, ask for Clara Alexander. PUBLIC BOARD MEETINGS: Effective Tuesday, February 27, 1990 all Board Meetings will be opened to the public at 8:00. All subsequent meetings and dates will be announced in the Health on the Hill column. FRESH PORK SHOULiER an WITH DRESSING LB. 1 IOU DELI SLICED Ci KE FRESH PORK s�DE Rias 1 69 LB. SLICED DE BACON 1 LB. 299 S LB. LOIN PORK CHOPS 2, 69 Oni ;T u 8K l k�eshoota PCIAS *Includes up to 5 Litres of al •New Filter Selected lot of In -stock WALLPAPER QUALITY 1.19 30 SDHS to receive $755 in government grant 1 The Attorney General's office has advis- ed that Seaforth District High School will receive a grant in the amount of $755 to assist in the promotion of their "Arrive Alive" program. Grants are also forthcoming from the Ministry of Culture and Communications to two other groups in the riding. The Town of Wingham will receive $929.50 from the Preserving Ontario's Architecture Program for a building on Patrick Street. The Huron Branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society will receive $198 to send three representatives to a Skills Training seminar. and up a single roll ALL WALLPAPER BOOKS 4Y SUNWORIHY ,s YES -YOU -CAN WAUGOVERINGS FREE Wallpaper Water Tray with all Wallpaper Purchases UP TO 50 OTIV— % IN -STOCK WALLPAPER ROLLS 19000'S to choose from Moore PAINTS HILDEBRAND PAINT & PAPER Interior & Exterior Decorators MAIN ST. SEAFORTH 527-1880 YOUR FUTURE IS SEAFORTH'S FUTURE!! Have a Say in Seaforth's Economic Development A Strategic Business Plan for the Town of Seaforth was completed in May of 1989. The Plan identified 3 specific opportunities for economic improvement in Seaforth. The Seaforth Economic Development Committee is planning to implement the plan now and requires interested, informed, active par- ticipants to sit on the following 3 Steering Committees: Steering Committees 1. Services for Seniors 2. Retail Sector Expansion 3. Small Manufacturing Sector Expansion If you are interested in one of these three areas, we need your input. Please attend an informal meeting at the Town Hall, on Thursday, February 22nd, 1990, at 7:30 P.M,, to find out more about the Steering Committees and their roles in advan- cing Seaforth into the 21st Century. Contact Cathy Vida at 527-0160 if you have any questions.