It took four or five years for a family to clear 10 to 15 acres required to sustain them. An efficient workman on his own might clear an acre of land in a week with no time left over for burning the wood. But half a dozen men working together could chop and burn an acre in a single day.
Affluent settlers could hire choppers to clear their land for a wage plus meals and lodging, as stipulated in their contract. New settlers with financial means often hired “American choppers”, Irish immigrants, or other inhabitants eager to earn a wage per acre. Once the work was done, the choppers would collect their pay and continue on to work for subsequent families.
Where oxen were unavailable to haul fallen trees, the hand-log method was used. In low-lying areas like Lambton and Glengarry, only slightly above the water level of a lake or river, logging was complicated by the by wet soil conditions. The ground was often so wet that the oxen and logs sank into the abundant mud.
Clearing Land, About 1830Jefferys, Charles W. 1945 The Picture Gallery of Canadian History Vol. II, p.221
A memorial erected to the Dalhousie settlers of Innisfail township, perpetuating the memory of a band of Scottish settlers from Dalhousie Township who located in Innisfail early in the last century and whose descendents played a large part in the up building of that township—a handsome memorial was unveiled and dedicated in the 6th Line Cemetery last Saturday afternoon, Sept. 17, 1932. There was a large attendance although the weather was rainy and possibly kept some people away. The sun came out long enough to permit the carrying out of the ceremony but the addresses had to be postponed until later in the day.
The memorial is in the form of a cairn surmounted by a kildalton cross and is 19 feet high. Stones were specially selected by the builder Alfred Davis of Belle Ewert from the farms which these Dalhousie men cut out of the forest 100 years ago. On the cross are carved an axe and a sickle emblematic of pioneer labors. The monument is of excellent workmanship and is a credit to the builder and worthy of the rugged men and women in whose memory it is erected.
On the octagonal side of the monument are bronze panels bearing the names of eight families of these settlers, while on the front of the monument facing #11 Highway is a bronze tablet bearing the following inscription:
To commemorate the honored group of Scottish Dalhousie Settlers Allan, Cross, Climie, Duncan, Laurie, Jack, Todd, Wallace, who came to Innsifail Township A.D. 1832 after ten year’s stay in Dalhousie, Lanark County, Ontario. This emblem is erected by their descendents A.D. 1932 and placed on the threshold of the pioneer log kirk and a later edifice.
Octogenarians present were Mrs. Charles Cross, 86; William Jack, 82; and Joseph Todd, 82(?) 92(?). They are the oldest members in their respective families. A number of objects of interest from pioneer days were exhibited. These included a piece of a weaver’s beam used in Dalhousie Township owned by Miss Mary Jack; a lute over 100 years old played by Mrs. Martha Cross; also her husband’s white linen trousers made of hand made material which were wore to kirk and on other special occasions; a weaver’s shuttle brought to Canada from Scotland by Isabella Malcolm who afterwards became the wife of Charles Todd whose grandson Charles MacLennan resides on the old pioneer homestead of Charles Todd; cooper’s tools and a Bible brought from Scotland by the grandfather of John Wallace of LeFroy(?); a Paisley shawl owned by Mrs. (Rev) A.B. Reckie(?) of Binbrook and worn by her grandmother Wallace on her wedding day. Howard Allan has a wicker chair made in Dalhousie before these settlers came to Innisfail.
The chairman in a brief address gave a few facts regarding the Dalhousie settlers. He felt that the memorial was a tribute not only to these but to all who opened up settlement in the township. The sterling and kindly character of these early settlers were practiced, preached and left by them. They were noted for their friendliness, always ready to help those in need. Mr. Allen pointed out that while some sought to cast odium on the Dalhousie settlers for their supposed sympathy with the “rebels” in 1837, some of the settlers and their descendents were distinctly honored. When the municipality was organized William Cross was elected as its first reeve, Eben Todd was an ex-warden and others in these families have also served in important positions.
Short sketches from family histories wee given by the following: Allan by Fred Allan, Churchill; Cross by Mrs. (Rev.) Tarkington; Little by the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Little of Innisfail; Duncan by William Duncan of Lefroy; Jack by Mrs. William Jack of Lefroy; Todd by Elmer Rothwell of Gilford; Wallace by Robert Wallace of Hamilton; Laurie (or Lowery) by J.J. Whalen of Vancouver.
In connection with the Todd history Mr. Rothwell read portions of a letter written 90 years ago by Thomas Todd, Edinburgh, to his brother John Todd in Innisfail. It dealt with the politics and relative conditions of that day in Scotland and pictured a depression as bad as that through which the world is passing today.
A.F. Hunter’s History of the County of Simcoe contains the following sketch of these pioneers “Innisfail, like West Gwillimbury(?), had its ‘Scotch Settlement’ but the group of settlers which it comprised came from another quarter and at a later date—the autumn of 1832. Previous to that year they had settled in the township of Dalhousie, Lanark County but finding its rocky surface anything but a congenial dwelling place and seeing no prospects of making a permanent home here they came to Innisfail. Their native place was Glasgow and its vicinity where some of them had belonged to the recalcitrant brotherhood of Glasgow weavers so notorious in British history. They left Scotland at the time of the intense public excitement preceding the passing of the Reform Bill. Most of them had taken part in the agitation and like the Pilgrim fathers of an earlier time they preferred to life beyond the sea rather than endure the grievances of their native land. Most of the, too, were platform orators and enthusiastic Reformers, which their descendents are to this day. The individuals who, with their families, composed this interesting group of settlers were:
John Lawrie, N1/2 Lot 17, Concession 2
Rev. John Climie, S ½ Lot 17, Concession 2
John Todd, S ½ Lot 19, Concession 2
Hugh Todd, North ½ Lot 12, Concession 5
Garvin Allan, Concession 3(?), Lot 15(?)
Robert Wallace, South ½ Lot 18(?) Concession 6(?)
William Duncan, South ½ Lot 18(?) Concession 6(?)
William Cross, Lot 20(?), Concession 6
James Jack, North ½ Lot 21, Concession 5(?)
They settled close together and this circumstance together with the fact that a number of their descendents remained at the old homesteads and in the neighborhood gave the southeastern part of Innisfail the Scotch-Presbyterian flavor which it possessed.
At the Rebellion of 1837 some of these settlers did not desire to go to the front and assist in the quelling of the uprising as that natural sympathy to some extent with the principals advocated by William Lyon McKenzie and his party. As the Dalhousie settlers were not outspoken in their opinion on the matter they were suspected of having non-pacific intentions. One of the possessed an old rusty musket which was promptly taken from him lest he aid the rebels cause and he was forced by loyalists to go to the frontier. This circumstance attached the name “Rebels in Disguise” to the Dalhousie people and their descendents for some years after the Rebellion. Another report was circulated that they had been banished form Glasgow to Dalhousie and that they had fled from their places of banishment to Innisfail. This report was chiefly made to do duty at municipal elections when any of the Dalhousie settlers were candidates.
John Lawrie on, on the list given above, was a prominent person in his neighborhood and a platform speaker of ability. His two sons John and William Lawrie together with Dugald McLean were the three sawyers of the settlement for which they manufactured almost all of the lumber for the district with a whipsaw in one of the ole time saw pits. About the year 1840 John Lawrie, Sr., and McLean obtained a canoe near DeGrasse Pt. on Sunday afternoon and set out to cross the lake to Roach’s pit on the opposite shore. They were never heard of afterwards and it is supposed they had been drowned off De Grasse’s Pt.
The other son William Lawrie, probably better known than any other member of the group. A few years after his arrival at Innisfail he married a daughter of Rev. John Climie and filled a variety of callings. At one time he preached occasionally; at another he occupied the position of chief constable after having served a term in Bradford as Bailiff of the Division Court and another in Barrie in the office of Sheriff Smith. At another time he was bailiff, auctioneer, etc and traveled throughout the county to a considerable extent in these capacities.
Rev John Climie, the second individual on the above list had been a weaver in a village seven miles from Glasgow. A brother of his started the famous Clark spool firm of Glasgow. The name of the firm continued for several years as Climie and Clark. His family consisted of four sons and some daughters who came with him from Scotland. One of the sons died in Innisfail soon after their arrival. Rev. John Climie, Jr., of his family, was a Congregationalist minister and was stationed from 1849 onward for some time at Bowmore in Notiawaxaga(?) and subsequently at Darlington(?) in 1851; Bowmanville in 1856; and Belleville in 1861. It appears to have been difficult for him to abastain from taking part in politics. His son W.R. Climie was secretary of the Ontario Press Association and editor and proprietor of the Bowmanville Sun until his death in 1894(?). William Climie another son of the pioneer lived on the homestead on the 2nd Concession line. The two remaining brothers George and Andrew went to Perth County.
Word was brought to the foreman that W.C. Caldwell’s mill had been broken into and a quantity of flour,- cornmeal, oatmeal and had been taken away. On going down to the mill about 8:30 that morning he saw that one of the windows in the store room adjoining the mill had been pried up and an entrance had been made there. The doors into the mill had been pried open.
His miller, Mr. Wm. Richardson, told him that he thought about ten bags of flour, one fifty pound paper sack of flour, one bag of a bag of oatmeal and some cummeal had been taken. During that Monday and the following Tuesday he secured sufficient evidence to warrant him in getting a search warrant to search the premise of the prisoner.
The search was made and a quantity of flour, oatmeal and cornmeal was obtained. He noticed that the bag containing the oatmeal, that was found in the prisoner’s house, bore the stamp of his firm whose meal he sold. Mr. Wm. Legary, the next witness, testified to finding a paper bag containing cornmeal while out on the Playfair road early on Monday morning. The bag was found on what he thought the most direct road to the prisoners farm.
Constable James and Webster testified to the result of the searching of ths prisoners house. Upstairs they found four bags of flour, one paper sack of flour, while downstairs they found a fifth bag of flour and some oatmeal. The latter waa in a barrel, while beside the barrel was an empty hag which bore the name of D. R. Boas, and which they thought had contained oatmeal. Tha floor upstairs bore marks of flour dust as though the bags had been emptied or filled there.
They brought the flour and meal back to Mr. Caldwell’s mill, where it was left in charge of Mr. Richardson. The most interesting evidence wss that given by Mr. Richardson, miller, who swore that the flour seized on the prisoner’s premises and returned to the mill was real ground flour. On counting the flour returned, he found it corresponded exactly with that contained in the pile of bags in which the flour was musing. He also identified the bag which contained the oatmeal.
The evidence submitted seemed to point to the prisoner’s guilt and the magistrate accordingly committed him to the county gaol to submit his trial at the spring assure or to be summarily tried before the county judge according as the prisoner may choose. The prosecution are collecting further evidence against him to he submitted when he comes up for trial.
In the afternoon the younger Frew, a youth of not more than ten or twelve yean, appeared before the magistrates, but he was dismissed as no evidence against him was submitted. The boy is a bright and smart looking youth, and it seems sad indeed that he should be brought up under such an unwholesome circumstance.
W. C. Caldwells Aberdeen Mills, Lanark Ontario. Grist and carding mill. Photo: Ewan R. Caldwell Collection, Negative No. PA-135197. Public Archives of Canada.
James Frew was just trying to feed his family. Not the way to go about it, but he was a few decades older than his wife Susanne who died at an early age leaving him with a very young family. His oldest son had founded a shingles business in his early 20s, died two years before his father was arrested for the robbery at Clyde Mills with his youngest son, Robert. Robert was also stopped in February of 1898 for stealing a ham from John Miller’s butcher shop just before his father came up for trial.
Robert, son was also arrested for the Clyde Flour Mill robbery with his father and then stole a ham from John Miller’s butcher shop just before his father came up for trial.
Years ago in the late 1990s I used to do craft shows at the McDonalds Corners Agricultural Hall and I never wanted to come home. I loved the women that volunteered there and I was always met with huge hugs. Even though what I sold was a bit odd for the area ( girls hair clips and accessories in ‘out there’ styles) I was welcomed like I had lived there for years. It reminded me of home and family when I was growing up as a child. I never ever forgot McDonald’s Corners and never will.
It was with great humour that I found this personal ad above from 1909. Something went missin’ from the oven’ as they say and the ‘chickens were squawking’. Now there was one main McDougall in the village so it had to be the daughters of John McDougall. He actually had 6 daughters and 3 sons.
So who started the story about the McDougall sisters? It was also nice for everyone to take their word for it. Did they ever find the fancy work? No, because what happens in Maberly stays in Maberly as they say.
Aunt Susan’s Visit was the beginning before Marching with Aunt Susan. An inspiring story of the fight for women’s suffrage, based on the experiences of a real girl.
A STORY OF THE GREAT WAR The Scott Family of McDonald Corners During the ‘Great War’ of 1914-1918, in which more than 60,000 Canadians were killed and 172,000 wounded, nearly every family in the nation paid a price in blood, and some families paid many times over. The Wood family of Winnipeg saw five sons killed and two more wounded. The McDiarminds of Toronto lost three of their four boys. The West family of Kingslake, Ontario, had three sons killed, two of them on the same day. When the butcher’s bill for the James G. Scott family of McDonald’s Corners, Lanark County, Ontario, was reckoned, it counted, within a– read more click here
I am gobsmacked.. Bob usually gobsmacks me.. but this is amazing. Robert McDonald contributed to the album: 2021-03-22 Sedge Grass Structures. Admin · 4h · I’ve passed by this spot along McDonalds Corners road several times …. today I met the people responsible for the Sedge Grass Structures. Another visit is in line. Amazing Robert Mcdonald https://www.facebook.com/groups/264252703737016
I was curious if you had any information on a small school that used to be on the Bathurst line west ( what it’s called now but maybe concession 11?) It’s built on part lot 1 Dalhousie township on the western side of said lot and the foundation is still present. We have owned the property for a number of years and have found little info. Sorry that should read part lot 9. Owner of the lot in 1879 was a B. Avery. Owner of the east side of lot 9 was a Cameron. Thanks.
Doyou have any information? Please email me sav_77@yahoo and I will forward it to Dan Hunton. Thank you!
Lanark 1968 Maple Grove Public School (after 1969) Bathurst S.S. #1 and #15 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1967 Glen Tay Public School
Bathurst S.S. #3,4,12,13,15 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1967 Glen Tay Public School
Bathurst S.S. #5 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1966 Glen Tay Public School (after 1967)
Bathurst S.S. #5,6,7,8,9,10,11 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1967 Glen Tay Public School
Bathurst S.S. #7 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1943 Glen Tay Public School (after 1967) Bathurst S.S. #8 Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1944 Glen Tay Public School (after 1967) S.S. No. 5-10 Bathurst Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1944 Glen Tay Public School (after 1967) S.S. #11 Bathurst (MacVeigh’s) MacVeigh Rd., Perth 1967 Glen Tay Public School S.S. #12 Bathurst Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1967 Glen Tay Public School S.S. #7 and #18 North Burgess and Bathurst (Centre Scotch Line) Upper Scotch Line Rd., Perth 1966 Glen Tay Public School (after 1967) SS#1 – North Burgess & SS#2 Bathurst (same book) 513 Upper Scotch Line Rd., Perth Tay Valley twp. 1968 Glen Tay Public School
S.S. #11 and #14 Drummond (Bathurst) Bathurst Tay Valley twp. 1968
The Lanark Era Lanark, Ontario, Canada Wed, Jun 21, 1899 · Page 1
All the natural aids that farmers had traditionally used for fencing, such as stones and wood, were lacking on the prairies of the Midwest. Without fencing, the fruit of their labors was under constant threat. Any passing herd of cattle or buffalo could simply trample the growing grain or gobble it up.
From 1870 to 1878, newspapers and magazines in the Midwest devoted more attention to the thorny topic of fencing than any other political, economic, or social issue. The product was a cash cow from day one. It seemed inconceivable, ten years after it was invented, that the United States had ever managed without it. It was light and cheap, and easy to install and maintain.
THEIR first night was spent In hastily improvised wigwams of branches. According to legend, this first encampment was on an eminence ever since known aa “Fiddler’s Hill.” Pestered by mosquitoes and black flies, they were apparently in low spirits. Besides being under a depressing nostalgia, they were probably appalled at the prospect of ever establishing clearances In that heavilly timbered land. The story is that a young fiddler, Alex Watt, rescued them from despair by playing those melodies that stir the heart. Under his wizardry, pulses ofthe wild music of a race that dwelt unconquered be- yond Hadrian’s WalL The black mood of despair passed and Scotland took root in Dalhousie.
Once established on their clearances, these Scots began, to feel the need of former associations and social contacts. Old habits and customs of clan hospitality asserted themselves. They visited about the settlement in companies. While on these visits they brought with them sufficient food to help the larder of their hosts for no single homestead had more than sufficient for its own requirements. According to a record of an interview with James Park (descendant of a Dalhousie pioneer), they frequently stayed for an evening at the Ross homestead where “his wife, Lily, would make tea, read the Bible, and sing Gaelic songs far into the night”.
Died, at Watson’s Corners on Sunday, Feb. 7, the beloved wife of George Fair, aged 51.
When Marion Agnes Craig was born in 1845 in Lanark, Ontario, her father, Alexander, was 30, and her mother, Agnes, was 24. She married George Fair on August 26, 1870, in her hometown. She died on February 4, 1897, in Lanark, Ontario, at the age of 52, and was buried in Watsons Corners, Ontario. Agnes Craig married George Fair in Lanark, Ontario, on August 26, 1870, when she was 25 years old.
Perth Courier, Feb. 19, 1897
Watson’s Corners: It becomes our sad duty this week to record the death of Mrs. George Fair which took place at her late home on Sabbath morning, 7th inst. After suffering intensely from cancer for months. On December 15 the deceased underwent an operation and had what was supposed to be at the time all the cancer removed but as time went on it was found that her system was full of cancer which eventually caused her death.
Deceased, whose maiden name was Agnes Craig, was born in Dalhousie 51 years ago. Twenty six years ago she married George Fair who survives her and came to live in our village where she has resided ever since with the exception of a few years she spent in Michigan. The deceased was of a kind and loving disposition and made friends with all with whom she came into contact.
During her illness her sufferings were such as pen would fail to describe. Some time previous to the end she called her loved ones to her bedside and bade them a loving farewell telling them she was going to the home prepared for God’s children where there would be no more pain or sorrow.
The funeral on Tuesday was very large the church literally packed while many had to remain outside. Rev. J.A. Leitch preached a very appropriate sermon after which the remains were conveyed to the cemetery and deposited in their last resting place to await the resurrection morning. Deceased was a member of Zion Church, the Ladies Aid Society and Christian Endeavor Society and also a teacher in the Sabbath School.
Name:
Mrs George Fair ( Marion Agnes Craig)
Gender:
Female
Age:
51
Birth Date:
abt 1846
Birth Place:
Dalhousie
Death Date:
4 Feb 1897
Death Place:
Lanark, Ontario, Canada
Religion:
Presbyterian
Cause of Death:
Cancer
Her husband George Fair was born on October 25, 1830, in New York, USA. He married Agnes Craig on August 26, 1870, in Lanark, Ontario. He died on October 30, 1913, in Palmerston, Ontario, having lived a long life of 83 years, and was buried in Watsons Corners, Ontario.
When George Levi Fair was born on April 22, 1886, in Lanark, Ontario, his father, George, was 55 and his mother, Marion Agnes, was 40. He had four siblings. He died as a teenager on October 18, 1901, in Watsons Corners, Ontario, and was buried there.
Dalhousie Lake –Photo-LCGS acquisition from Chris Allen-“First Camp” 1890 Attendees: (in no particular order) Mrs. Wallace, AC Caldwell. Miss Robertson, Miss M. Wallace, N. Young, Ed Cooper, Miss N. Robertson, R. Robertson, Miss L. Drysdale, Lloyd Robertson, Miss Barrie, Mrs. R. Drysdale, Dr. Lyle
I have attempted to scan a locket which was given to my mother, Mary Agnes TER MARSCH (SCOTT) by her mother, Millie SCOTT (PRETTY). The pictures are very small and very old (at least 110 years) and are of George Goodson PRETTY and his first wife Agnes BELLAMY. I wasn’t extremely successful but improvement was difficult.
George Goodson PRETTY (1846-1944)-Agnes Bellamy and George Goodson Pretty==Married on Wednesday, January 21, 1880 in Ramsay, Ontario. He also had a second wife, Janet EVANS.
ancestry.ca-These are George Goodson PRETTY (1846-1944) and his second wife, Janet EVANS, taken early summer, 1940. The infant is Martha Louise TerMARSCH, their great-grand daughter. .
ancestry.ca
Back row: Preston, Dorcas & William Centre: Elizabeth, George G, Groege A, Janet Front: Aldon, & James on Janet’s knees. Millie & Elwood not present for photo.
ancestry.ca
Weyburn, Saskatchewan
A postcard with Daniel & Lavina Pretty on left, son George and Eliza Annie Pretty on right. Taken during a visit by Daniel and Lavina to Weyburn. From the collection of G. Raymond Pretty.
George & Eliza “Annie” (Garvin)Pretty with Annie’s father Joseph Garvin. From the collection of G. Raymond Pretty. ancestry.ca
George Goodson PRETTY of Tatlock, who 79 years ago planted a tree on his farm to recall the visit of the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, marked the most recent royal visit, as seen above. Mr. Pretty is standing nearest the tree on which he has fastened a large framed picture of Queen Victoria. Mr. Pretty is in his 96th year.
From Rolling Lands of Lanark Nonagenarian Greets Royal Party
For almost 96 years George Goodson Pretty has been looking out from his home in the Tatlock section of Darling township to the rocky ramparts beyond, out toward the uplands of Lanark township, a community his pioneer grandsires helped settle when England’s military men were demobilized following the Napoleonic and Peninsular wars.
His father, Daniel Pretty, hailed from Wiltshire, England; his mother, Margaret WARK, from Scotland’s hills, and looking back over the years it seems now that one hundred acres of rough land covered with millions of stones were inadequate compensation and poor gratitude for a lifetime of army service. But military men then knew little of land values and officials who made the allocations apparently cared less.
That farm in Darling, cleared of stone and overburden, is today productive, but the thick fences made from these boulders, picked by both men and women with infinite patience and toil, provide evidence eloquent and abundant of what some of these earliest settlers endured before they had sufficient clearances to grow even potatoes or corn for their own subsistence.
Tribute of a Pioneer
This rugged old veteran, who has never been ill a day in all his 96 years, didn’t see the King and Queen but back on his hundred acres in the seventh concession of Darling township as the drums rolled and pomp and circumstance marked the recent triumphal entry of Their Majesties to the Dominion’s Capital, the aged Mr. Pretty did his best to mark the epochal event. He got out a large picture of Queen Victoria and fastened it to a wide-spreading oak tree that stands in front of his premises. That sheltering tree was proudly planted by him seventy-nine years ago to mark the visit to Canada of another member of the royal family, the Prince of Wales, later His Majesty King Edward VII. Today what was then the tiny sapling with but six tender shoots planted in 1860 is now the most majestic tree on the premises. It is still the “Prince of Wales tree” and somehow one fancies King George VI would have been pleased had he been able to pass by the Pretty farm in Darling’s hinterland and see this living if modest monument erected so long ago in honor of his grandsire by a descendant of him who wore the King’s uniform before Victoria the Good was yet upon England’s throne.
Long Life and Happiness
Asked to ascribe a reason for his remarkable longevity and freedom from the usual ills to which man is heir, Mr. Pretty simply smiled pleasantly and admitted he didn’t know. He has never used tobacco in any form, but he wouldn’t offer that as a reason. He has used liquor sparingly, still makes use of it moderately if he thinks he needs it. He was worked particularly hard all of his life, helped clear the farm on which he dwells, labored long in the lumber camps when lumbermen hereabout found most of their virgin pine in the vicinity of White Lake and Lanark county. He ploughed the rough land with the aid of oxen and he harvested his meager crop with a reaping hook, carrying the hay and grain on two long poles, because in that primitive day there were neither wagons nor hay racks. In fact he remembers distinctly the advent of the first wagon and to his farm came the first binder in all the district. People then walked miles through bush or swale to attend church or they rode on horseback and he muses that folks seemed more anxious in that primitive day to attend these backwoods places of worship than now when motor cars and modern roads have made things so easy.
Women Have No Easy Task
But perhaps Mrs. Pretty offers a solution to her husband’s unusually long life, in fact she accepts a little credit for it. Good plain food, plenty of work, pay as you go and freedom from worry is her answer. And in all of these attributes to happiness and contentment she has been a splendid helpmate, never one to shun the arduous duties of the farm, she helped pick the innumerable boulders in the fields, she assisted in shingling the house and barns, she cut grain with the sickle and she helped spin the yarn out of which the family clothing was made. With it all she was the mother of nine children. She was an EVANS of Ramsay township, Janet EVANS, Mr. Pretty’s second wife, who is twenty years his junior and at the age of 76 still does all her own housework and helps considerable with the endless duties of farm life. “Less divorces and more children” would be her simple philosophy for a world that seems to have gone a little askew.
And this elicited the interesting information that Mr. Pretty was one of fourteen children. That’s almost unheard of in this more advanced era. He is the last of the fourteen and he can reminisce long and interestedly on the evolution of locomotion from the stoneboat to the airplane. His intellect is still keen and he marvels at all the scientific progress he has witnessed. He thinks science has in some respect lessened initiative in the rising generation; in his early days they had to know how to tan a hide, convert it into leather and have it ready when the itinerant shoemaker came into the district “whipping the cat,” a term applied to the wandering maker of the family’s footwear.
Long a Municipal Councillor
For years George Pretty served well as municipal councillor in Darling township, he still manifests an intelligent interest in municipal affairs and in the larger field of politics; one of his treasured missives is a letter received a few days ago from Hon. Dr. Manion bearing felicitations on his long and useful life. But sitting there with him gazing toward the distant hills of what was once historic “Granny Cummings’ Corner”, [Ed. Note: Now called Watson’s Corners] one fancied he was not thinking so much of the fleeting foibles of a wearied world as of this spreading oak planted by him in formative days and with which he has grown old – a lovely tree that mayhap recalled to his mind the subtle lines of a poet:
“I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree;
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray.”
-R.A.J.
OBITUARY
(from an Ottawa
Newspaper?)
George G. PRETTY Passes On Here in His 101st Year
A life that had spanned a century and was filled with memories of days when Canada was a struggling young nation ended yesterday with the passing of George Goodson PRETTY of Darling township in his 101st year. His death occurred at the home of his son, William PRETTY, 38 Glendale Avenue.
The “grand old man of Darling township” was born in the Tatlock section. That part of the township was settled by his father, Daniel PRETTY of Wiltshire, England, and other pioneers demobilized from England’s armies following the Napoleonic wars. His mother, Margaret WARK, came to Canada from Scotland’s hills. His boyhood was filled with the hard work and healthful living of the farm, one of a family of 12 children. He is the last of that family.
Educationed in that district, Mr. Pretty continued to live on the family homestead and in 1880 he married Agnes BELLAMY of Clayton, Ont. who died three years later. In 1886 he married Janet EVANS, also of Clayton, whose death occurred Feb. 4, 1943. The late Mr. Pretty left his farm soon after and came to Ottawa, where he has resided with his son and daughter-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. William PRETTY, ever since.
Served Community
For years he served his community well as municipal councilor in Darling township and was also a school trustee. Even after he ceased taking an active part in these things he continued his keen interest in them and in the larger field of politics. One of his treasures was a letter from the late Hon. Dr. R. J. Manion bearing felicitations on his long and useful life. When the Prince of Wales, later King Edward VII, paid a visit to Canada in 1860, Mr. Pretty planted an oak tree on his farm to commemorate the event. When King George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited Canada, Mr. Pretty was not able to see them but he got out a picture of Queen Victoria and hung it on the tree which had grown to sturdy proportions, in an observance of the great event.
A man of genial personality and splendid character, Mr. Pretty never used tobacco in any form but he did use liquor sparingly, he told a reporter when last interviewed. He was proud of the hard work he had done during his long life. He had helped clear the land on his farm, labored long in lumber camps when lumbermen thereabout found most of their virgin pine in the vicinity of White Lake and in Lanark county. He ploughed the rough land with oxen and harvested his meager crop with a reaping hook. He saw the first wagon in that district and to his farm came the first binder. He walked or rode horseback for miles to attend church. The farm he labored so hard to build up is still in family hands. His son, Aldon, resides on it.
Surviving, in addition to Aldon and William, are four other sons, Ellwood G. PRETTY of Ashton; R. Preston PRETTY of Chicago; George A. PRETTY of Clayton, and James E. PRETTY of Carleton Place; three daughters, Mrs. Joshua SCOTT of Renfrew, Mrs. Dorcas COUR of Kansas City, Mo., and Mrs. William TRAIL of Lanark; seventeen grandchildren and two great-grandchildren, several nephews and nieces; three sister-in-laws, Mrs. Lewis PRESCOTT of Smiths Falls, Mrs. Kate YOUNG of Western Canada, and Mrs. Richard EVANS of Kemptville.
The body is resting at Young’s undertaking parlors, Lanark, from where the funeral will be held to Guthrie United Church, Clayton, on Friday for service at 2 p.m. Burial will be in Clayton cemetery.
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