History of the County of Bruce, Ontario, Canada

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ABRIDGEMENT FROM History of the County of Bruce, Ontario, Canada
By Norman Robertson (1906)

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The prevailing rule that marked the settlement of the county of Bruce was that, in respect to nationality, previous occupations, and other characteristics, the original settlers of the county were fairly mixed up. Men Canadian born took up land alongside of other nationalities; experienced backwoodsmen settled alongside of those that were town-bred; men who had been merchants, or who had followed some profession, settled beside trained farmers. This aggregation was to the good of all, and the succeeding generation has manifested its benefits in the energy and intelligence they possess. But in September, 1852, a marked exception to this practice took place, when what was known as the "Lewis Settlement" was made in the centre of Huron Township. This settlement comprised 109 families, all from the Isle of Lewis, Scotland. Coming into the backwoods ignorant of the country, of the requirements of pioneer life, and also of farming, for the majority of the men were by occupation fishermen or shepherds, and handicapped by being able only to speak Gaelic, these settlers were placed at a marked disadvantage, which it took a number of years to overcome, as it ultimately was. The surveyors were hardly out of the township of Carrick (1853) before settlers began to pour in. Of these a very large percentage were of German origin, who formed a second group within the county of people of one nationality. These settlers possessed the advantage of being practical farmers; the majority having come from the county of Waterloo, were accustomed to Canadian ways of farming. Many of them were possessed of means; this, combined with the natural industry and economical habits characteristic of their nationality, enabled them from the first to do well. Possessed of such advantages, these German settlers forged ahead and founded one of the most progressive settlements made throughout the whole county.
The government, on July 30th, 1852, made a change in the price charged for farm lands in the county of Bruce that was very acceptable to settlers. The price for school lands was at the first 12s. 6d. and Crown lands 10s. per acre. At the date given the price was reduced to 10s. and 7s. 6d. per acre respectively. This reduction in price is said to have been made at the instance of the Hon. Malcolm Cameron, the newly elected member for the constituency in which Bruce lay. [See Appendix J.] On the same date the government offered for settlement and sale all the school lands in the county. [See

Among the incidents of 1853 to be noted is the commencement of the settlement of the township of Carrick. Among the first to settle there, subsequent to those previously mentioned, who had squatted on unsurveyed lands in 1851, were Robert Young, Joseph Grey, Thomas Liscoe, James and Andrew Dunbar, who took up land on the Elora Road in the vicinity of Mildmay in November of 1853, while Peter Emal and a few others of German extraction settled in the vicinity of Deemerton about the same time. It was in this year, also, that the original boundaries of Arran were enlarged by the addition of the "Half-mile strip," made by proclamation December 3rd, 1853. The lots in this "strip" were offered for sale nearly a year and a half previous (see Appendix I), the agent for the sale being John McLean at Guelph.

Before closing that part of this history relating to the settlement of the county of Bruce, it is but fitting to write a few words regarding other things than the mere incidents of settlement and development. At length the time came when it could be said that the county was settled, that the land was all taken up, but the question naturally arises, Prom whence came these thousands of settlers, thrown together as neighbors and fellow-citizens? How have they been fitted by previous training for the work of opening up the bush, so that it may be made to feel the throb of civilization? In an earlier part of this chapter an effort was made to show that, with two exceptions, the settlement of the county was about as mixed as it could well be. The census taken in 1861 gives a reliable basis on which to form an opinion as to the place of birth and of the religious denomination of these early settlers. The five years intervening between the close of this chapter and the taking of the census witnessed, it is true, an increase in population within the county, but no material change in the character of its inhabitants. Prom the census of 1861 we glean the following statistics as to place of birth of the people: Of Canadian birth, 59 per cent. (of course this included many young children born in the county); of Scotch birth, 19 per cent.; of Irish, 11 per cent.; of English, 5 per cent.; of German, 4 per cent.; from the United States, 1 per cent., and all others, 1 per cent. In their religious tendencies, 44 per cent. were Presbyterians, 18 per cent. belonged to the Church of England, 16 per cent. were Methodists, 12 per cent. Catholics, 4 per cent. Baptists, and 2 per cent. were Lutherans, while there were 4 per cent. scattered among a number of other denominations. Of these settlers a marked characteristic was that so many were young couples commencing life together in the bush. It was youth that was needed to face and endure the hardships of those early days, falling to the lot of both husband and wife, and with brave hearts the youth of the country responded and sought out and made homes for themselves in the backwoods.
Probably the most marked characteristic of these early settlers was the whole-hearted hospitality to be met with in every locality. The names of some households are still spoken of by "the old timers" as standing out pre-eminently for the many instances of help rendered, often at the cost of self-privation and inconvenience suffered. Not a township but could give the names of such, and the author feels diffident about mentioning any, for many others, equally worthy, would be certain to be overlooked. Where all were poor it was felt that mutual assistance, when possible, must be rendered, so the meagre supplies of the necessities of life were cheerfully shared, implements were loaned, day labor was exchanged, and logging-bees, raising-bees, etc., were exceedingly common; hired help could not be obtained even if the money to pay for it were available, which it was not, so mutual co-operation was forced upon these backwoodsmen, even if the natural good-heartedness which prompted to helpfulness did not exist.
The dwellings of the settlers were largely of two classes. There was the low, flat-roofed shanty, covered with "scoops," or bark, with its "notch and saddle" corners and single-pane windows, the chinks between its bark-covered logs being filled with cedar splints and clay; its one door, a home-made one, had ever the latch-string hanging outside in a hospitably inviting manner. Then there were the more pretentious and larger one storey and attic buildings, of hewed logs and shingled roof, with square, "dove-tailed" corners, which have not yet entirely disappeared, but are still to be seen on all of our concession lines. These latter buildings were warm and far from uncomfortable. The windows were of a fair size, there was a back as well as a front door; while partitions divided the interior into several rooms. Whatever there was in the way of a barn or stable was very primitive; the winter's wind could blow through the chinks between its. logs, and any cattle therein had but little shelter. But few cattle had even this pretence for shelter; they had to live during the winter in the bush on the browse provided by the tender twigs of trees, felled by their owners for that purpose. One feature marked the outside of each house, and that was a grind-stone, used for sharpening the axe. This was roughly rigged up alongside the house, and if you happened along when the good-man was not in the hush, you would see the axe leaning against it. Not far off was a plough, strongly mads so as to be able to tear up the roots lying buried in the newly cleared land. Beside it was the harrow, [The top of a small tree, called a "brush-harrow," was in use to cover turnip and other small seeds.] or "drag," as it was sometimes called, made from the crotch of a tree, looking like a huge letter "V"; its teeth had been forged by the nearest blacksmith, who also had hammered out the heavy hoe that leaned against the house, marie heavy enough to cut the small roots of the stumps around which the expected winter's supply of potatoes had been planted. And what potatoes grew in that black mould! and how sweet they did taste with salt and butter, even though the latter did often have a flavor of leeks, which were common enough in the woods where the cows sought pasture.
One of the most marked changes to be noticed betwixt the farm of the present day and that of the period of which this chapter relates is the complete revolution which has taken place in regard to the beasts of burden on the farm. At the time the bush was opened up the slow, patient and enduring ox was of far more service than the more delicately organized horse could have been. This fact was recognized to such an extent that a team of horses in the possession of a farmer during the days of the early settlement was almost unknown. When the author arrived at Kincardine in 1856 there were only three teams of horses in the village, and he cannot recall any farmer in the vicinity who at that date owned, or worked, a team of horses.
The pioneer who takes up prairie land in the far West is enabled to obtain a harvest, in return for his labor, during the very first year of his settlement. Very different was the lot of those who took up a bush farm in the heavy timbered land of the county of Bruce. The process of clearing was a slow one; to chop, log and burn five or six acres was a fair season's work for the man who had no capital. This work had to be accomplished before the ground could be ploughed and planted, while in the long interval between the felling of the first tree and the reaping of his first harvest, the family had to be sustained. To do this rigid economy and self-denial were essential; the majority of the settlers possessed but scanty means, and to keep "the wolf from the door" taxed these to the uttermost. Those who prior to entering the "Queen's Bush" had had some experience on a bush farm, through being the sons of Canadian farmers in the older settlements, possessed a great advantage over those to whom everything in the bush was a novelty. The former were able to wring much out of the forest to help them along financially. They could make ox yokes and ox bows for their less skilled neighbors. They were able, where cedar was convenient, to manufacture shingles for sale in the settlement, working long and late with frow (or shaving-horse) and draw-knife to earn the moderate price paid for such in this country of much wood. Others had among their effects a whip-saw, and they, with the help of a companion, would by manual labor cut lumber in those localities destitute of saw-mills. Where there were saw-mills, hemlock and pine logs were in demand to a small extent. The supply, however, was so abundant that the price obtained was unremunerative. Others again, who had a little capital, made potash. This, however, was an industry which does not seem to have flourished to any great extent among the farmers of Bruce.
[The author recollects that his father had at his store, for sale, during "the fifties," half a dozen pot-ash kettles which were after a time duly sold, but the demand was not sufficient to warrant the stock being renewed. There was great difficulty in unloading from the small sailing vessels such a large, heavy mass of iron as a pot-ash kettle, where there were no wharves on which to deliver them, and the small boats which landed ordinary freight not being of strong enough construction to undertake such an exacting task. Captain Rowan used to tell with some gusto how he got over the difficulty by gently placing the big kettle into the water and then getting into it himself and paddling to shore. Without doubt the first instance of sailing in an iron vessel on Lake Huron.]
It demanded an initial outlay that few were prepared to make, but some help in this line did come to the needy settler who wished to realize something on his wood ashes when, in 1858, P. & N, McInnes, opened a pot and pearl ashery at Kincardine, to be followed two years later by one at Tiverton. The poor bush-whackers were only too glad to get some ready money by selling the ashes that were to be found wherever a brush heap or log pile had been burned. The price paid was only 2d. a bushel, yet the supply was ample. At the time the ashery was first established settlers of too poor means to either own or hire a yolk of oxen would carry ashes on their backs in a two-bushel bag for several miles to obtain the small sum of 4d. Can anything emphasize more forcibly than such incidents the destitution of the pioneers? But then, as now, the man with his eyes open, possessing energy and forethought, found means of providing some comfort for his family that others not so favorably endowed could not. One luxury all might have was maple sugar and maple syrup. No farm but had growing on it an abundance of sugar maples, and the demand for sugar kettles in the early spring was very satisfactory to the village store-keeper. Game was plentiful. The creeks, especially those tributary to the Saugeen, were full of trout. Partridges were not uncommon, while deer were plentiful. Many a settler has been able to stock his larder with venison, the result of a fortunate shot at a deer that had come at early dawn to feed on his growing grain. The species of game which existed in greatest numbers, but which has entirely disappeared, even as the buffalo on the Western prairie, was the wild pigeon.
[About the last notice the author has met with regarding wild pigeons in large numbers is the following extract from the Paisley Advocate of April 28th, 1876:
"The immense flocks of pigeons which have been flying over various parts of the country in an undecided way for the last week or two have gathered in the township of Amabel, in countless numbers, and have begun building. The nests are in thousands, and many eggs lie on the ground owing to the breaking down of branches. The place is visited by scores of persons who are shooting the pigeons, and all the shot in Owen Sound and Southampton seems to have been fired away as a telegram has been received in Paisley asking for a supply.'']
Those who have not seen the flocks of pigeons that flew over this county, from their "rookery" in Grey, cannot imagine the number of birds so congregated, thousands and thousands, stretching out in a flock possibly half a mile long, so close together as to cast a shadow, and the whirr of their wings being like the loud hum of machinery. The flocks in general flew low, so low that many instances are on record of people knocking them down with a stick as they flew by. It was useless to fire a shot at the flock as they came toward you, as the shot glanced off the thick shield of feathers which covered their breasts. The sportsman—probably pot-hunter would be the correct designation— would wait until the flock was a little more than abreast of him before pulling the trigger. As flocks in many cases followed one after another over the same route, there was no difficulty in posting ones self to advantage, and in a short time fill the game bag. Pigeon pie was a common dish in those days, and found in many of the settler's houses, where it was much appreciated, for animal food was a rare article among them.