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POINT ABINO AND OTWAY PAGE
[The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, 6 May 1926]
Letter written in reference to article of 27 April 1926 by Meta Schooley Laws
Editor Tribune and Telegraph
Very interesting and informative are the articles on “Point Abino and Vicinity” contributed to the Tribune and Telegraph by Meta Schooley Laws, I have never seen, nor even been near to Point Abino, but I read these recollections of folk-lore, legend and reminiscences with attention and appreciation.
In the issue of April 27th, the authoress gave a scrap of information about Otway Page. This pioneer of Bertie was a prominent man in his day, but, so far as I know, no comprehensive biography or sketch of his career has ever been published. He is often mentioned in old records, but I did not know until reading this recent reference, that he was once High Sheriff of the Niagara District. I hope that Mrs. Laws will give T. & T. readers some more particulars concerning him.
That was a pretty good story of the Governor drawing to the roadside in the snow and waiting, uncovered, while the funeral passed. I doubt, however, that it was Governor Simcoe. Probably it was one of his successors.
The Governor who had a residence near Niagara Falls was Sir Peregrine Maitland. He bought a large tract of land on the brow of the mountain in Northern Stamford and built a 22-room cottage. The estate was called “Stamford Park.” Governor Maitland left the province in 1828 and the “cottage” was burned some years later. Another house was erected on the grounds, but not on the same site. This was occupied by the late William Henry and was burned in the ‘eighties’. The original gate-ledge of the Governor’s park still stands, though recently much altered. It is on the road from Stamford Village to St. Davids, just where it detours to the west before passing down the ravine. The original iron gates were purchased by Colonel R.W. Leonard and are now at the entrance to the grounds of his residence in St. Catharines.
ERNEST GREEN
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