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LOT HISTORIES
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.R2 L15 First settled by James Farrel. John Gilchrist married Euphemia Wilkinson, daughter of Neil and Mary, bought it in 1855 and lived on it till 1900. . At his death it passed to his son John (1859-1924). In 1914 John sold it to his brother William (1867-1943), who owned it until 1926, when Mr. Cunnington bought it. The first buildings were log and the barn stood where the house is now. The log house was north of the orchard. The present barn was built in 1873, the house in 1886; Anthony Robertson (1864-1925) m. Annie Gilchrist in 1890 lived there in 1923 & 1925; Robertson children included Bell who trained as a nurse in Boston, Jessie who was organist at Ellis for many years. Margaret was a faithful Sunday School teacher. Lewis and Iva Gregor bought the farm in 1946, farmed until they built a retirement home on the county road. R2 L16 Pioneered by Archibald Lloyd who sold to Archibald Gilchrist there 1885; his son Evan. 1923 J. McCaig .John Allardyce. Schneider farm (John Hamilton) Dumfries Reformer April 26 1854 At the residence of the bride’s brother, on Thursday the 6th inst., by Rev James Strang, Archibald Gilchrist, to Janet, youngest daughter of Evan McIntyre, Glenfeshire, Invernesshire, Scotland. R2 L17 Donald McCaig c 1794and his brother James, with their families, emigrated from Argyllshire. Arriving in a Scottish settlement in Nova Scotia in 1823. Donald applied for crown land in the Gore District, northwest of York. Donald, his wife Mary (nee Cochrane) c 1798 in Scotland and their two Scottish daughters stayed for a time in Nova Scotia where five more children were born. In 1836 the family moved to Puslinch to settle on lot 17, north half of concession 2-the 100 acres assigned to them. In 1851Hector, age 22, Janet age 18, Marjorie, age 16 all born in NS, and Mary age 13 born in Upper Canada. The sight of their first clearing and home is known to us, although no buildings remain. On a very dry year there is an area, in the ten-acre field south of the present bank barn, where the grain grows a slightly different colour, outlining the original homestead and well. A family of nine, Gaelic speaking, the McCaigs began clearing trees and making a home for themselves in their new country. a log cabin and log barn were built that first season, but the task of clearing the land took several years to complete. It is not difficult to imagine the family's joy in 1840 at the arrival of Donald's brother James, his wife Catherine and their five children, to settle on the adjacent property (lot 18, conc. 2) The 1869 Puslinch Assessment Rolls show that thirty years after their arrival McCaigs had cleared 80 of their 100 acres. A farm family made its living from the ability to produce crops and raise livestock. It is not surprising that the first permanent structure built on the farm was the barn, in 1859. Pioneers like the McCaigs knew that the low stone :byres: they'd known in Scotland were not ideal here. To carry feed and bedding from outbuildings, in a blizzard, was soon convincing. So they contracted with a Waterloo Co. builder, Mr. Wm. Baer, to erect a Pennsylvania-German style "bank" barn The Agricultural Census of 1871 records the farm's crops. Wheat, peas, oats, potatoes, turnips, carrots, hay and barley were grown by McCaigs. It gives the quantities grown and also lists the animals, equipment bad building. It was during the wheat boom of the mid-1800's that Ontario farmers began to prosper. The price of wheat skyrocketed during the Crimean war (1853-56 and farm families began building permanent homes to replace crowded log cabins. By the mid-70's the McCaigs' son Hector and his wife Mary nee McKenzie were planning a substantial fieldstone house. Mary Cochrane McCaig had died in 1868 at age 72. Now Donald, his daughter Marjorie, son Hector, daughter-in-law Mary and their eight children were living in the original cabin. One can understand the excitement, as plans were chosen for a 2- floor, 14 room home with 10' ceilings and 2 staircases after the crowded conditions of 12 people in a 2 -room low-ceilinged cabin with sleeping loft! At stonemason was secured, limestone and granite were hauled in, then tragedy struck. Mary McKenzie McCaig died September 21, 1874 at age 40. After a winter to recover, the family proceeded with construction in the spring of 1875 and two men lived in the house for two winters to do the interior woodworking. Hector McCaig and his eight children, now 4 to 21 years of age, moved into their fine new home in 1877. Such was Donald Sr's attachment to the first ten acres he had cleared on the homestead that he worked it as his own, even after turning the farm over to his son Hector. He remained in the original cabin, with his daughter Marjorie keeping house for him, until his death in 1882 at age 88. INSPECTOR & POET James & Catherine Taylor McCaig's eldest son Donald (born May 15, 1832). was Inspector of Schools in Algoma district and is author of a book of poems. Donald, after finishing his schooling at the little log cabin school, went on to Toronto, and graduated from the Toronto Normal School in November, 1858, with the highest honours of his year. [From Collingwood Express Bulletin, August 3, 1905] He taught in Wellington Co until 1864, when he and Alexander McMillan rented the Rockwood Academy from William Wetherald continuing the high standards set by their predecessor. They added a large classroom to the building, extra dormitories, and a stone gymnasium. The number of students enrolled rivalled that of Dr. Tassie's school in Galt, and Upper Canada College in Toronto. During his tenure as principal of the Academy, Donald McCaig did some writing. One of his books, The Reply to John Stuart Mill's On the Subjection of Women, published 1871, gained a fair amount of fame in Canada, the United States, and England. A few years after he left the Academy, he published a book of poems entitled Milestone Moods and Memories. In this volume of nature poems are found some stanzas descriptive of the area around Rockwood. It is not known why he sold his share of the Academy to Alexander McMillan in 1871, but he did so, and in the fall of that year he accepted the position of principal of the Central School in Berlin (Kitchener). He stayed there until February, 1872, and later became a teacher in Galt and in the public schools in Ottawa. In 1886 McCaig was appointed public School Inspector for the District of Algoma, which at that time stretched from North Bay and Sudbury on the east, to the eastern boundary of Manitoba on the west. He was also the Inspector of the schools on Manitoulin Island. His headquarters were at Collingwood, and in winter he made his rounds by snow-shoe and dog sled, and in spring and fall by canoe. He must have been kept fairly busy, for in his report to the Minister of Education in 1890 he stated that he had one hundred and eighteen school houses and one hundred and twenty-seven teachers under his inspectorate. As he became older, he gave up all the Algoma district inspectorate, and kept only that of Collingwood, which had by that time become a thriving lake port. He died July 28, 1905, having completed fifty years in educational work. While teaching near Guelph as a young man, Donald McCaig married Ellen Smith, daughter of Alex and Mary (Beattie) Smith, and they had ten children. Puslinch Pioneer by Lynn Crow July Aug 1986 v11 Issue 1 Hector McCaig Sr. youngest son of Donald and Mary, was second in the family to farm the homestead. He was known as a breeder of horses and, along with Kenneth McKenzie, won many prizes at area fairs. His wife, Mary McKenzie McCaig had died in 1874 and his sister Marjorie kept house for him after their father’s death in 1882. Hector Sr. and Mary and 3 daughters and 5 sons. The eldest son, Donald, bought lot 18 front 3 across the road. And his great-grandson Neil McCaig continues to farm there today. Hector Jr. took over the homestead in 1901, and the other three sons went west where they operated a planing mill at Portage La Prairie. All three daughters married Puslinch farmers. Hector Sr. was responsible for the development of the original homestead. To this day we marvel at the craftsmanship used to build both the bank barn 1859 and the house 1875. There were 2 windmills in use here in the 1880's. The first pumped water from the dug well and the second, more unique, chopped grain in the barn. The grain mill was massive and its shaft and enormous height. A patch in the north side of the barn roof reminds us of the mill that was built right into the barn. McCaigs ground their own and neighbors grain, usually when there was an east wind because it was more constant. The size of the timbers and the finishing details (built-in ladders, ratchet wheels used to raise the harvested sheaves to the upper mow level) make the barn irreplaceable. No detail was spared on the house either. Stones for the north and west sides were laid out on the ground, where the stonemason planned the pattern. Half a dozen colors of granite were used, with H-pattern limestone connectors. Red pine woodwork was hand-planed, and given elaborate moldings. The parlor was finished in imitation bird’s-eye and tiger maple, the stain remaining in perfect condition today. Whenever there was an outside angle on an interior wall, the carpenters added a pine finishing strip. A party held in the house in 1900 was such that it will ever be forgotten. Hector Sr., no doubt due to the untimely death of his wife at age 40, was known as a stern man. Several of his children were still at home, now young adults, in 1900. They wanted to celebrate the turn of the century but knew their father wouldn’t allow a party. So they waited until Hector Sr. And Aunt Marjorie planned a visit to Mt. Forest, a distance that required an overnight stay in horse and buggy days, and invited their friends to celebrate. Katie McAllister of Crieff was one of the guests and she told Lila McCaig years later that Hector Jr. and Johnny Gilchrist provided the music. They pushed the table into the corner of the kitchen, placed two chairs on top and sat above the guests, playing their fiddles till morning. Hector Sr. sold the homestead to his son in 1901, and died in 1906. At the age of 55, in 1926, Hector Jr and his wife Mary Jane nee Smith decided to retire. Their adopted son Clifford had no interest in farming so the homestead was sold. William Crow, of the rear half of lot 21 bought the farm from Hector for his eldest son Gladwyn. William was still working ow farm and wanted a second property for Gladwyn. William’s youngest son Gordon continues to farm lot 21 today. In 1930 Gladwyn and his bride of a few weeks were surprised one evening to hear the sound of a fiddler progressing over their front hills from the 3rd concession. It was Johnny Gilchrist, paying a call to commemorate the evening 30 years earlier when he and young Hec McCaig had treated the area young people to an evening in honor of the new century. During the 30's the Crows began registering purebred animals. In order to register them a farm name had to be chosen. Gladwyn had raised a Clydesdale colt from an imported Scottish mare named Phyllis of Castlecravie. He was told that Ardyne meant home in the hills, in Gaelic and thought that was an appropriate choice for a farm worked by generations of Scots. The first animal he registered was his colt Ardyne Phyllis and the name continues for all our animals 50 years later. Donald McCaig who married Mary Cochrane in Scotland, came to Nova Scotia in 1823 and to Puslinch in 1838 and purchased rear lot 17 con 2 on which he lived until his death in 1875. The family consisted of 3 sons, Alexander, Malcolm and Hector, and 6 daughters, Mrs. Hugh McLean, Mrs. Neil Thompson, afterwards Mrs. John Cook, Mrs. Alex Stewart (son of John), Mrs. John Duncan, Mrs. Geo. Logan, and Marjorie. Hector McCaig Sr. m Mary McKenzie on April 12, 1853 and farmed the homestead. Died 1891. James and Alex in 1875; 1885 H. McCaig 1923 H McCaig Hector McCaig was born in Nova Scotia in 1830 on Hallow eve night, was the son of Donald McCaig; he married Mary McKenzie in 1852. She died in 1874 age 40. Family of Hector McCaig and Mary McKenzie remained on the homestead lot 18 conc 3. His son Hector had it till his death in 1901 (or 1906 - see below) . Hector and Kenneth McKenzie of Portage La Prairie were noted pioneers..He had 5 sons, Donald on lot 17 conc 3, Duncan, James and Malcolm in Manitoba and Hector on the homestead. Mrs. Angus McPherson, Mrs. Robert Cameron and Catherine, Mrs. Wm. Bond d. 1921 age 57. Gladwin Crow; Bill Crow. A March 15 1906 Hespeler Herald item saying Hector McCaig of lot 17 3rd conc Puslinch died from Bright’s disease R2 L18 Rear 2nd About 1838 James and Catherine (Taylor) McCaig came and settled on lot 18 with the family. They had come from Oban, Argyleshire. In 1851 James c 1801 and wife Catherine McCaig c 1805 with their Canadian born family, two in Cape Breton, Donald c 1831, Catherine c 1834, the others in Upper Canada Mary c 1836, Christy c 1841, Alexander c 1843. John Cameron c 1813 laborer, in a 1 Story, 1 Family Log House Alex McCaig owned Front & Rear 1867 resident 1885 & 1906 1923 A. Smith R2 L19 John Wilkinson c 1811 from Scotland and wife Ann Gilchrist c 1820 and family in 1851, Catherine c 1846, Anne c 1847, Alexander c 1849, Mary c 1850. John’s brother, Alexander c1821 who was a sailor on the Great Lakes was with them 30 as was their sister Margaret c 1816. Most of this family went to the Chatham area; 1867 resident & Alex; 1875 A & J. 1885 & 1906 1923 W. McKay. John McCaig; Norman Roszell
R2 L20 Early sett led by Mr. Forbes 1867 resident Wm Forbes; In the 1851 census, William c 1811 from Scotland, with wife Anne c 1811, and Canadian born children, Elizabeth c 1845, Roderick 1847, Daniel c 1848, Christen c 1850 in a 1 Family Log House with Catherine Cameron c 1838. By 1885 William’s son Charles held the property. More recent names are H Shantz & H Berger; Farkes; Leslie Jackson; then sub-divided. |