Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 16 Aug 1978, Wed, [First] REVISION, Page 3
So this ram was last seen at Wool Growers in Carleton Place in1978, and my question was: “Where is it Now?” I called the kind folks at the Real Wool Shop here in Carleton Place and they told me they thought he had moved lock, stock, and wool barrel to Almonte.
The ‘Cumberland Ram’ now resides in Carletbn Place Stuffed Cumberland rani’ was a witness to history. When Leon Czolgosz fired the shot (hat killed United States President William McKinley in Buffalo, Sept. 5, 190I, little was it known that a somewhat insignificant feature in the assassination would crop up in a small town in Canada 77 years later. At (he Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers warehouse in Carlelon Place, there is a mounted “Cumberland Ram,’,” which according to legend, figured prominently in the fatal shooting of McKinley.
Louis Filler, in his book The President Speaks described the tragedy in this way: “In March 1.90I, he (McKinley) commenced a nationwide tour that was a triumphant procession from Alabama to California. His visit to the Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara frontier seemed like a capstone to his achievements when suddenly, he was dead, struck down as he extended his hand in goodwill to the assassin. Leon Czolgosz, a 29-year-old native born citizen of Detroit.” The legend has it that the”Cumberland Ram” was on exhibit at this Buffalo Exposition and the assassin fired the fatal shot probably while leaning nil the glass rase that enclosed the mounted sheep.
A contemporary journalist w.rote at the time, “never was there a crime more without purpose, more without possible good effect; William McKinley was no oppressor of the people, no irresponsible and cruel autocrat; no.act of his had ever, from evil intent, taken bread from one man’s hand, the hope from one man’s heart; he was the representative of the people’s will, not their master.”
The ram was eventually purchased from an American company in 1954 by G. A. O’Brien, then with an Oxford, N. S., woojen mill and later with the Canadian Co-operative Wool Growers.’ O’Brien lives at his Scotia-Heath farm just outside of Carleton Place and he enjoys reminise-. ing on the story of his “Cumberland Ram.” According to Bob Cleland and Eric Bjergso, executives at the Canadian Wool Growers plant, the “Cumberland Ram” is an extinct breed. They believe the Cumberland sheep was originally bred in Scotland and then rehabilitated in Cape Breton. Bjergso said that when the Wool Growers had their office in Weston, Ont., some years ago, the “Ram” was an object of great interest and the company planned on having it placed in a large glass bubble over the front of the building but zoning or other regulations prohibited this.
The “Ram” was then stored away in what is called a “sheep crush” and removed when taken on exhibition tours throughout Canada. It was last publicly displayed at the 1977 plowing match in Kingston. The animal presently is prominently displayed In the company’s product display room. The Carleton Place plant, formerly a Canadian Pacific roundhouse, is the main warehouse for all ‘ wool growers in Canada. . Fifteen years ago, said Cleland, they handled 10 times the quantity of wool they presently do. He attributes this to the fact that sheep farmers were in the business for wool, whereas now they raise sheep for meat. Another unique feature which Cleland mentioned is that a sheep raised for wool does not have the same meat value as one raised specifically for meat; conversely the animal raised for meat docs not have as fine a wool coat. But the company likes to play both sides of the sheep farmer and while they prefer the choice Canadian wool,, they compromise to help the meat producer with the slogan replete with bumper stickers proclaiming “Eat Canadian Lamb , 20,000 Coyotes Can’t Be Wrong.”
The assassination of President McKinley
This ram had indeed moved around from the 1901 Pan American Exposition where he was allegedly involved in the assassination of President McKinley, and then on to Oxford, N.S. The ram even made the 1977 Kingston Plowing Match. So, he was capable of being anywhere, but I was curious.
I called the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum in Almonte, and sure enough that very same Cumberland Ram is there in their permanent third floor display. History moves on and so did this ram. Yesterday is history, and sometimes tomorrow is a mystery, and once again a head scratcher is solved with a story.
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
Photo-Kickshaw Productions
Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 28 Jun 1941, Sat, Page 11
Photo Linda Seccaspina- Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
Clipped from The Topeka Daily Capital, 25 Oct 1901, Fri, Page 4
Clipped from The Topeka Daily Capital, 25 Oct 1901, Fri, Page 4
The Middleville Chair that Ended up Rocking John F. Kennedy President of the United States
The Rosamond Woolen Company’s Constipation Blues
Perils of the Cows of Carleton Place or Where’s the Beefalo?
Another Lanark Mystery– Paris Green
The Henry Ashby Story-Left in a Shack Without Food? Putting the Mystery Together
The Body in the Well Mystery
lindaseccaspina 