Results for ‘PLACES’
[Compiled by “S”]
Boyle was located on the Canborough Road, a stopping point for the stage coach travelling from Niagara Falls to Wellandport.
There were two hotels. Haggarty’s Tavern, John Haggarty was the Innkeeper in 1853. In 1890 Haggarty Hotel was the location for a council meeting of Gainsboro.
The Lambert Hotel was located on the 1862 map.
The date of the first school is unknown but a school for section #8 was located before 1862..
By 1880 a post office was located on the corner of Boyle Road North.
In 1900’s Dave Rogers had a blacksmith shop on the lot east of the school. In 1920’s Wm. Butler Sr. Ran a butcher shop business and sold meat to the Welland market. His son ran Butler Bus Lines and in 1965 bussed the children to the new Gainsborough school in Bismarck.
At the corner of North Boyle road was a store. It was built by Paul Badowski. It was owned by James Jamieson. Later owners were Prentice, Staton and Diltz.
West of the store was a small blacksmith shop owned by Chancie Strong.
The Brethren-in-Christ church was established in 1927 on Boyle road north. Located on land from the Robert Moot farm. Another church was Bethel located on Elcho road.
List of Postmasters for Boyle were: The first was George Putman 1888-1889. Orlando Robins 1899-1903, W.H. Smith 1904-1908, John N. Bland 1908-1909, William Wilmer 1909-1911 and William Crowe was the last Postmaster in 1911 when the post office closed.
Some of the early names in Boyle:
- Beamer
- Becken
- Coleman
- Cook
- Graham
- Haggarty
- Haney
- Misener
- Moore
- Piper
- Putman
- Reece
- Robins
- Smith
- Swayze
- Wait
- Wilson
[Donald Guest, Welland Tribune April 29, 1961]
In this age of of instant coffee, instant puddings, and add-water mixes, it is difficult to become enthusiastic over some project which may not start until years from now.
However, such a project is now getting the support of several organizations, in the peninsula and the following three articles will describe the previous history and future potential of the project to give the general public a groundwork on which to build their support for this work known as the revitalization of the Welland River.
The early history of the Welland River or Chippewa Creek as it was then known, is the history of rugged Peninsular enterprise and the bases for export to Europe of many of our products. Chippawa, means “men without moccasins”, and the basis of the name is unknown to the writer.
For many years, the Chippawa River was the only means of getting to and from the interior of Lincoln County. First the Indian, and then the white man, with progressively better boats made use of the river. In 1856, the Peninsula was divided and the southern part was called Welland County, through which the river ran.
DOCKS AND VILLAGES
As, thanks to the river, the surrounding area became more settled, docks and small villages came to life along the route of commerce. To name some—Beckett’s Bridge, O’Reilly’s Bridge, Canadasville,Port Fanny. Brown’s Point, Henlins Dock, Wellandport and Oswego, which was at the limit of navigation because of shallow water.
Cordwood and grain were the principal items of export which were loaded at the various docks and taken to Black Rock, now a part of Buffalo. Owing to the irregular nature of the river bank, horses could not be used to tow the scows ad originally the scows were poled—many men with wooden poles pushed these great weights by hand for the entire journey. However, as the demand for speedier transportation was required, because of the increase in river traffic, powerful steam tugs were introduced. The first one was the “Notless”, owned by George Sutherland of Wellandport. This was the forerunner of many more tugs, built at Abbey Shipyards at Port Robinson and the Beatty Shipyards at Welland.
Tug names such as the Peter Bennett, Maggie R King, Maggie Bennett, and Five Brothers were prominent in the area of 1863. Names of operators of this area included Joseph Blackwell, Able Bradley and George Sutherland, each specializing in one type of trade. Blackwell hauled cordwood, Bradley handled grain,and Sutherland handled walnut and oak lumber, cut in squares to prevent rolling while aboard scows.
WALNUT IN DEMAND
Walnut from this vicinity was highly favored for furniture and a sizeable export market existed to England and Germany. This wood was shipped on the Welland River to Chippawa on the Niagara River to the Erie Canal, then to Albany, where it was loaded on ocean-going vessels.
The Welland River was also the route of many large picnic parties. Scows with benches would leave various points on the river for Grand Island and return. One such party left port Robinson for Grand Island. Chairs, benches were on deck and all available space was occupied with the majority of passengers being children. No railing or other protection was afforded the passengers and during the trip a little girl fell overboard and was drowned. This catastrophe put an end to picnic excursions on the river.
THE NELLIE BLY
During the year 1908, the last raft of white oak timber was assembled one half mile north of O’Reilly’s Bridge. A tug, Nellie Bly, commanded by Captain Hand of Port Robinson towed this raft down the river to a lock which was located near the present Valencourt Iron Works. The raft was locked into the Welland Canal by the lockmaster, James Kilty, and from there it was towed to Port Robinson and locked back into the river by William Grisdale, lockmaster of that area. The raft continued on the river to Chippawa, where it was re-chained and made safe for the strong currents of the Niagara River by Edwin Hern, who was a veteran river man, having made many trips up the Niagara to Buffalo. The tug, Pilot, towed the raft up the river to Black Rock and thus ended an era for the Welland River
FINAL PASSAGE
The final curtain to through navigation was rung down in 1925 when a raft of piling was brought down from Wellandport to Welland to be used in the inverted syphon, which formed part of the aqueduct under the Welland Canal. The raft was towed by a gasoline-powered boat owned by W. Rounds of Welland and captained by Archie F.. Hern, who was at that time a contractor for Atlas Construction Company. After the raft was locked through, the lock was torn out. As the canal progressed, the Port Robinson locks were also closed, and thus came the end of through navigation on the Welland River.
Readers’ comments on this article and further information on the history of navigation on the Welland River will be welcomed and all will be dealt with in the third of this series.
The writed wishes to acknowledge the help of Archie Hern, who had the foresight to write out and deposit in the Welland Public Library, a resume of the highlights of the Welland River in the early days.
Mr Guest is group leader in the Strip and Tube department of Atlas Steels Ltd. He has lived in this area since 1940.he has represented Crowland Township on the Welland Area Planning Board for the past foutr years and served on the Crowland Township Recreation Commission. Recently he was appointed chairman of a committee set up to corelate the activities of various bodies interested in the industrial and recreational development of the Welland River.
PAST BUSTLED WITH TRADE
To anyone driving along the winding banks of the Welland River today it might seem impossible to imagine it as once the scene of activity which, for the age would closely parallel the present situation on the Welland Canal, But this in fact was the case.
The slow deep waters of the Welland River, originally and still often known as the Chippewa Creek, echoed to the shouts of bargemen and churned under the keels of hard-working tugs pulling heavily- laden rafts of lumber and other commodities between the two great lakes, Ontario and Erie, often stopping off at the thriving little ports and settlements growing along the river.
It was not however only during the few years in which the river was an important part of the canal that the chug and whistle of boats was to be heard. All through the last century, up to the end of the first decade of this present century it remained in use as a commercial waterway, of real vitality in sharp contrast to its tranquility of today, when the surface is broken occasionally by the odd small pleasure craft.
60-MILE STREAM
Taking its source in the Blackheath Swamp in Haldimand County, the Chippawa Creek winds its way for about 60 miles to its mouth by the village of Chippawa on the Niagara River, cutting the Niagara Peninsula roughly in half. Its importance for transportation was recognized very shortly after the arrival of the first settlers in the area following the American Revolution. To these United Empire Loyalists and the government which had to protect Canada from an invasion by the U.S., the strategic possibilities of the river in the development of a waterway to connect the two great lakes was the most immediate concern. If such a link were developed there would no longer be any necessity to keep a fleet on each lake in time of war. The insuperable barrier of Niagara Falls had to be by-passed. Here, it seemed was the means at hand.
In addition the canal would greatly facilitate the movement of merchandise from Montreal and other points to the southern south-eastern portion of the province.
Thus for both economic and military reasons interest focused on the Chippawa Creek. The depth of the river further enhanced its importance, as it was navigable for some 30 miles from its mouth by boats drawing up to 12 feet of water. In these earliest days it was the only method of travel to the interior of the Niagara Peninsula.
As early as 1799 petitions were being filed with the legislature for permission to build a canal; but t was not until 1829 that the first canal was finally completed.
William Hamilton Merritt, a Shipton’s Corners merchant in whose honor the name of Merrittsville was given to this community before it took the name of Welland in 1858, was the man responsible for the first Welland Canal. The owner of a mill at the mouth of the 12-mile Creek near the site of the present Port Dalhousie, Merritt wanted to join the creek with the Chippawa Creek near Allanburg to ensure a constant supply of water for this mill.
The original plan, formulated in 1814, had four years later expanded from the idea of a mere ditch to one of a full-scale canal to enable boats to cross the 25 miles separating the two lakes without having to make the exhausting portage from the foot of the Niagara Falls to the mouth of the Chippawa Creek.
OPPOSED PLAN
Although the planwas bitterly fought by the merchants of Niagara and Queenston, whose business largely
depended on the portage from the mouth of the Chippawa down to the point where the Niagara River was navigable to Lake Ontario, it was completed in 1824. From Port Dalhousie, the ships were to go up 12-mile creek, ascending the escarpment through a ravine, and finally enter the Welland river through a deep cut, almost two miles long, through the ridge which separated (and still does) the origin of the creek at Allanburg from the Welland river.
To provide more direct access to Lake Erie a second canal was to be built from Port Maitland to the Welland River at a point near Pelham. Thus a boat proceeding from Lake Ontario, on reaching the river at a point eight miles from Chippawa would be able to turn east to Chippawa or Buffalo or west through to Port Maitland the Grand River and Lake Erie. A total of 35 locks were to enable boats to negotiate the difference in heighth on the journey
This plan had to be abandoned and the whole history of the waterways in this area was altered by one simple and disastrous discovery-shifting sand bottom in the deep cut which was being dug between Allanburg and the river. With the banks falling in with each bite into the ridge there was no choice but to abandon the idea of having the Welland river as a feeder and summit level of the canal, as the cutting could not be lowered. To river level. Instead a feeder cana had to be built from the Grand River, which was dammed at Dunnville, to the cutting near Allanburg where boats would have to be locked into the Welland River to proceed to Buffalo.
HISTORIC TRIP
The first trip between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie was made by two small schooners on Nov. 30, 1829. They had to cut their way through the ice to carry the venture to a successful conclusion, but they did it arriving at Buffalo about 12 hours after they had left Lake Ontario.
However this was still too circuitous and the feeder canal to the Grand river was too narrow for all but the smallest boats. So another route had to be found.
It was in 1831 that Gravelly Bay, now known as Port Colborne was chosen as terminus for the canal in Lake Erie. And in 1833 the aqueduct was completed carrying the river under the canal.
From this time on the river was no longer an integral part of the canal, insofar as traffic between two lakes was concerned, although intercommunication between the two waterways continued for almost another 80 years. At Welland the canal was connected with the upper river by the lock, while other locks at Port Robinson provided access from the canal to the river and vice versa.
This however did not mean that Chippawa Creek, as it was still often called, dried up in economic importance. In fact the boom years were still before it. Huge rafts of logs were regularly to be seen on its waters for the next three-quarters of a century plying back and forth between Wellandport, Port Robinson and Chippawa. Cordwood, walnut timber and wheat were the principal products moved in this fashion, with the walnut being sent as far as Europe to make furniture in Germany.
RUGGED GOING
At first the means of locomotion was by long poles, dug into the river at the front of the raft, and ten followed back as the bulky “ship” moved forward. Horses could not be used, as the river was considered too winding for toll paths. This method was, to say the least, exciting as the men wielding poles could never know when their next cold dip might come. Every once in a while a pole would stick in the mud at the bottom at the rear of the raft, pulling the reluctant polesman into the water on top of it.
It was not too long before human strength made way for steam and in the 1850’s the first tug the “Defiance”. Under the command of Capt James Bampton made its appearance pulling the huge 110 foot-long rafts of logs down the river to buffalo.
This tug was soon followed by others, and in 1863 they were actually being built by local shipyards at Welland and Port Robinson.
On reaching Chippawa however. The smaller tugs were discarded. As only one tug in the area known as the “Pilot” was powerful enough to pull the required load upstream to Buffalo against the raging current of the Niagara River. A monster of its kind the 300 foot-long Pilot pulled 12 cribs tied together in two lots of six to withstand the current and attached to the tug by two-inch ropes which were never used more than once.
The cost for use of the tug in 1890’s was $125 er hour. A good deal of money but there was no alternative for merchants who wished to send goods to Buffalo. On one occasion, another tug tried to compete with the “Pilot”, but succeeded only in standing still against the current; and until rescued by its old rival, seemed in imminent danger of going to a violent end over the Falls.
These were the days when the economic future not only of the river but also of the towns and villages on her banks seemed assured, Wharves and docks sprang up the whole lengths of the river, and around many of them settlements mushroomed. Port Robinson and Wellandport were the two largest, the latter a lumbering and grain distribution centre.
Of the other ports some are still settlements and others are only names. O’Reilly’s Bridge, Canadasville. Where the tug “Whip” blew up while docked at McDonald’s saw mill wharf in 1863, Brown’s Point, Port Fanny, Henderson’s Dock and Beckett’s Bridge—all were once thriving centres of trade and industry.
Welland of course did not exist then. But a settlement known as “The Aqueduct” sprang up around the juncture of the canal and the river where that first wooden structure was built between 1830 and 1833. This was a tiny start of what was to grow into the city of Welland.
On 21 April 1918, two Australian observation planes lumbered slowly through calm spring skies above a cratered French landscape. Suddenly from nowhere, three German Fokkers descended on the hapless victims. Eight RAF Sopwith Camels, out on patrol, noticed the Australians plight and rushed to help. A few minutes later more Fokkers and a number of Albatross Scouts entered the fray. The battle was on and the once peaceful sky became a scene of frenetic activity, as airplanes jockeyed for position; climbing, diving and twisting in an effort to gain an advantage.
A young Canadian, Wilfred May, new to the Western Front, had been warned by his comrades to stay out of any fighting on his first patrol. Disobeying orders, he entered the battle, only to quickly realize how completely outclassed he was. The new pilot desperately tried to escape by flying a straight course away from the melee, a dangerous and amateurish move. He was instantly noticed by the pilot of a bright red Fokker Triplane who quickly launched into hot pursuit. Whether the young Canadian realized it or not, his life was about to end abruptly, for he was being chased by the greatest fighter Ace of the First World War, Baron Manfred Von Richthofen, who with 80 kills to his credit was considered virtually invincible. The American Ace, Eddie Rickenbacker had 26 victories, Edward Mannock the top British Ace had 61 victories and Billy Bishop, Canada’s best, had 72.
Fortunately for the luckless Lieutenant May, other eyes were also watching the developing disaster. Captain Roy Brown must have known who was flying the famous red triplane, as he disengaged from combat and raced to help his friend. No novice himself, he was a skilled Ace with 9 victories, yet the selfless young pilot must have felt more than a pang of fear and a tightening of the chest. Few engaged in a dogfight with the Red Baron, or as he was called by the French “The Red Devil” and lived. Brown’s hand tightened on the firing mechanism of his synchronized .303 Vickers machine guns. For a few seconds the two planes were connected by a stream of bullets. The German pilot slumped forward his plane turning on it side, before plunging vertically into the ground. Whatever it was, luck, divine providence or skill, Captain Arthur Roy Brown, born 23 December 1893, Carleton Place, Ontario, son of a flour mill owner, had shot down the greatest pilot of the First World War.
It was a time of great gallantry, as well as courage, and the allies buried the German nobleman with full military honours. While viewing Richthofen’s body, Brown was heard to say “If he had been my dearest friend, I could not have felt greater sorrow.” We in Canada, unlike the Americans, British, Germans or French, rarely extol the virtue of our heroes’. Perhaps we find it un-Canadian and perhaps this is why when researching Carleton Place, we felt compelled to mention Mr. Brown, definitely a Canadian unsung hero.
 In this early private postcard of Carleton Place, the newspaper office for The Herald is located on the right. Started in 1850, James Poole was the editor and publisher. The paper is no longer in circulation. |
[Smithville Review, Wednesday November 22, 1967]
In practically ever historical account of the early days of Lincoln County the name of Dochstader is very prominent.
They were one of the many families who left the United States in the 1780‘s to settle the land in the Niagara Peninsula. In 1782 John Dochstader settled on what is now the south-west angle of the township of Gainsborough, This was the beginning of the village of Wellandport. He was quickly followed by families of the name of Hodge, Vaughan, Philip, Henry Dils or Dilts, McDowell, Barker.
Descendants of these families are still living in the district. In order to reach this part of the peninsula the early settlers had to travel by boat and canoe in the summer and by sled on the ice, during the winter.
Wellandport is situated on a strip of land between the Chippawa and Beaver Creeks which was once known as the narrows. This was a trail once used by Indian runners. Now known as Canboro Road it is a direct route East and West from Niagara Falls to Windsor. Because of the natural proximity of the two creeks this site was chosen as the most suitable to build a mill. In 1816 the Beaver Creek was damned and a cut was made through the narrowest part where it operated a wheel and discharged into the Chippawa Creek. Today, of course the Beaver Creek is little more than a swamp in summer regaining some of its semblance of a river only in spring.
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[Welland Port Colborne Evening Tribune ,Tuesday June 6, 1944]
Fenwick June 6–Huge baskets of iris, lilies and spirea were used most effectively as decorations for the floral tea and bake sale held from three to six o’clock in the Sunday school rooms of Fenwick United church. Mrs C. Misener, president of the W.A. made the guests welcome at the door.
Tea was poured by Mrs J. Hampson and Mrs W. Moisley, followed by Mrs H. Rock and Mrs W.E. Boyes from a beautifully-appointed tea table laid with a lace cloth. A silver bowl of white and yellow blossoms centred the table and was flanked by lighted tapers in silver candelabra. Silver tea services at both ends of the table completed the effect. The guests were served by Mrs H. Adrian, Mrs G. Lampman, Mrs W. Duncan and Mrs H.E. Hood. The bake sale table, in charge of Mrs G. Christopherson, Mrs L.E. Haist, conducted a thriving business. A pleasant social time was enjoyed and a good sum realized.
By Rev. Sharon L.W. Menzies
Our Roots in Gainsborough Township
As has been mentioned earlier, the Methodist Church in the Niagara area goes back to the work of Major George Neal in the 1780s. Major Neal’s work was both unofficial and much frowned upon by his British Army superiors who saw army discipline and Anglicanism as like virtues. It was Darius Dunham, though, who can claim to be the first regular itinerant preacher in Niagara. He was appointed in 1795 to serve a circuit covering 2.400 square miles. One of the early records of the Niagara circuit described it as follow:…”the circuit included the whole of the Niagara Peninsula, wherever there were settlements, from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and from the Niagara River westward to the township of Oxford, and required a tour of six weeks, and preaching almost daily, to complete a single round.”
Circuits in Canborough and Grimsby were formed over the next two decades and there is at least an intimation of rivalry between the two for prominence in the township of Gainsborough. In a Quarterly Meeting report dated 6 August 1836, John Hodge, Emmanuel Jones, Emerson Bristol, Samuel Jones, Joseph Dochstader and two other men were appointed trustees of the log meeting house in Gainsborough. This log meeting house was built as School House #9 on property owned by Alfred McPherson located on Elcho Road. Given the attitude of children toward higher learning for many generations, We believe that it was this school house that bore the affectionate name “the log jail”
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[Niagara Farmers’ Monthly September 1992]
Dr John W. Collver was Wellandport’s resident physician from 1868, until his death in 1912. He was responsible for another of the town’s firsts, introducing lucerne to Canada. The seed , which he imported from Germany, was grown on property owned by another familiar name J.D. Fulsom, at the east end of the village.
Dr. Collver also had a drug store, on the northeast side of the Canborough Rd. and Hwy 57 junction.
Descendant and namesake John Collver and his wife, Dorothy, recently posted a sign, “The Collvers of Wellandport”, with others on display at Watson Lake, Yukon.
One of Dr Collver’s successors, Dr. John Leeds, caused quite a stir in 1933, when he administered the first vaccinations to the pupils at SSNo 1 Caistor. He had the unenviable task of persuading the children to have the dreaded needles, as well as convincing their parents that it was beneficial!
GROWTH DIMINISHED
The old businesses began to disappear, victims of time and technology, and the end of the great lumber era. Among them were the cheese box factory, Peter Swartz’ harness boot and shoe shop, Jim Sheldon’s grocery with a crank telephone, and up to eight families on one line. It was closed in 1961, when dial telephones came into service.
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[Niagara Farmers’ Monthly, August 1992]
By Margaret Comfort
Much of Wellandport’s history may be gleaned from physical evidence, dating back even to prehistoric times. Skeletal remains of two elephant-like mastodons were discovered in the area, indicating that it was once covered with evergreens, the mainstay of their vegetation diet.
The Welland River(Chippawa Creek) was a direct artery in shipping lumber and grain to the United States, narrowly separated from Beaver Creek by a former Indian path. That two-mile long strip of land was called The Narrows by United Empire Loyalists (UEL) who began settling there in the late 1700s.
The two waterways made the location an ideal one for transportation, livestock and personal use, as well as power for the saw and grist mills so vital to progress.
As the community matured, the water source took on a new significance, in combating two major fires within the village itself. Effects of those fires and more recent growth may be traced by comparing the architecture of the buildings along today’s Canborough Road and Highway 57 junction.
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[Grimsby Independent , May 31, 1945]
One of Niagara Peninsula’s best known businessmen, James Alway Ross, ex-M.P.P., of Wellandport, passed away on Tuesday evening, May 2nd at St Catharines General Hospital, following an illness of three months’ duration. The late Mr. Ross was born at St Ann’s on Jan. 13th, 1869, son of the late William Nelson and Lydia Tufford Ross, and spent his early years there. Upon completing his education as a teacher, he taught in the Model School at Welland, later at Wellandport, and resigned as Principal of Scott Street School St Thomas in 1896, to enter the commercial field. In 1908 he was elected member of the provincial parliament for the riding of Monck, being the first Consevative member ever elected for the riding which had been held by the late Hon. Richard Harcourt for 30 years. He was especially gifted as an orator and poet, being a member of the Canadian Writers’ Association, and the author of a volume of Poems, “Canada First,” “Dominion Day” and many other poems. Besides his sorrowing widow, Agnes K. Ross, with whom he celebrated his golden wedding anniversary two years ago, he is survived by four children. James Leighton Ross of Hamilton, Miss Eula I. Ross and Romaine Kay Ross, L.L.M., of St Catharines and Mrs Michael Solyk (Roma Kay) of Merriton, also five grandchildren.
[More RELATED material.. in POEMS]
The Singer and His Song
[Niagara Falls Review]
The Singer and his Song and Other Poems will be a welcome guest in any home, Philosophy in rhyme–patriotic, religious, and memorial verse; songs of the seasons; songs of sentiment and of recollection; and songs of special occasion–will bring entertainment to young and old alike. Here can be found the hopes, the fears, the joys, and the sorrows which all of the human family feel but which few are able to express.
Who will not be moved by tender memories of “The Old Home Town” and The Little Old White School House”? Whose eyes will not moisten with the sentimental references to Mother, and to Father? Who will not find happiness in fond recollections of childhood days? Who will not be inspired by the loyalty and love of country to which the author had given such forceful expression? Who would not commit to memory “Love’s ledge,” and other beautiful verses to be found throughout the book?
Surely the author, in contemplating the whole broad scope of human feeling will find ready and close response from many hearts.
Beyond these considerations, the reader will feel that The Singer and His Song and Other Poems strikes a note of optimism in living. Mr Ross had a buoyant, forward-looking attitude towards life. Although he was fully conscious of the inevitablility of the march of time, he found no sense of tragedy in the fact. He looked upon the pageant of man and nature with calm and clear-observing eyes. He frequently struck a rich Wordsworthian note, urgent with feeling and charged with moral seriousness.
It is this notable characteristic which enables Mr Ross to write with such vigor, such clarity, such mind-arresting simplicity. His poems are both understandable and compelling.
It is published by Tower Books, Ottawa at $1.50.
Book Review
[The Guelph Daily July 5, 1950]
The Singer and His Song, and Other Poems by James A, Ross, Published by Tower Books, Ottawa, $1.50.
It is a great relief to open a book of poetry and find that the meaning is plain, the language clear and the music of the lines lilting and rhythmical. Striving to comprehend the incomprehensible may be a good mental exercise; enjoyment of the comprehensible is more pleasant.
James A. Ross, who died in 1945, has led a varied and an active life. He was in turn a school principal, insurance executive, businessman and bank manager. He represented the riding of Monck in the Ontario Legislature, and was recognized as one of Ontario’s top-flight orators. In later life he conducted a real estate and brokerage business in Wellandport. The poems in this volume have been collected and arranged by Romaine K. Ross.
Guelph readers will be especially interested in James Ross’s memorial lines on John McCrae:
“Brave John McCrae, you struck the chord,
A master hand could ill afford
One doleful note; so in our mind
Your words will live and, living, find
Response in all, with one accord
“You are not dead, by fate’s reward
With us you live, revered, adored
More fondly loved, our hearts entwined
Brave John McCrae
“With you we fight the craven horde,
From you the sacred torch has soared
On high; it shall not be confined;
We pledge our faith, rest ye resigned
Break not your sleep, in Him
Our Lord,
Brace John McCrae!”
Poems such as this which mirror the honest feeling of Canadian man of affairs, deserve a place on every library shelf.
“The Singer and His Song”
[The Express Beamsville]
There has come to hand a second volume of poems by James A Ross, native of St Ann’s was beloved resident of Lincoln County until his death in 1945.
Mr Ross was the father of Romaine K. Ross, who is for a time conducted a law practice in Beamsville and is presently a resident of Port Dalhousie.
In the forward, Romaine Ross states that his father published first volume of poems in 1920, wrote for the Mail and Empire, Star, Telegram, the Spectator Hamilton, the Standard, St Catharines, the National Home Montreal Winnipeg and other newspapers and magazines. Donald G. Fre.. compiler of the Standard Canadian Reciter, selected some of Mr Ross’s work for that volume, and the B, of Christmas lyrics, published New York City in 1937, contained a poem by Mr. Ross.
“The Singer and His Song”, Other Poems” comprises some poems of patriotic verse, song sentiment, religious and verse, songs of the seasons, of collection and of special occasions and several philosophies in rhyme.
Strongly patriotic, Mr Ross’s of Canada and the British turns up many times throughout the book. Notable are his verses “Canada” “The Union Jack” “Canada and the Empire” and the odes to Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary, and to the present Monarch and his Queen the occasion of their visit to Canada in 1939.
In “Songs of the Seasons” Ross reveals his love of nature especially in spring when the out-of-doors called him to banks of the Chippewa at ….. time.
People who live in Canada appreciate Mr Ross’s verses pressing as they do the love of family, and of the little things a discerning and educated writes in verse sometimes, always loyal to the highest and truly Canadian in outlook. Poems strike a note that will a ready response in many especially in this Niagara district where he was widely known and respected.
Of Wellandport
To the Editor
I have read with very great interest the story of the village of Wellandport, in the August 18 issue of your valuable paper. The account given of the various places of business and the businessmen is very vivid and accurate. I note the omission of one very important fact and one of which very few small places can boast. As well as being the centre of the bygone electoral County of Monck, one of its residents redeemed the county for the Conservatives for the first time in over 30 years. I speak of one of Wellandport’s well known and high;y respected citizens James A, Ross, who resided there 54 years, coming as principal of a public school in 1891. He was married in 1893 to the daughter of Thomas H. Kay, the owner of Kay carriage works spoken of your story and whose shop stands as a garage owned by P.N. Redmond. Over the years Ross held many important positions and was highly instrumental in bringing the telephone and hydro into the village. He managed the Sterling Bank of Canada at its Wellandport branch, promoted and managed the Empire Store Company of Wellandport and later becoming an insurance and real-estate broker. In 1902 he contested the provincial riding of Monck against the Hon Richard Harcourt who was then Minister of Education, being defeated by a small majority, and again in 1905 he was defeated but in 1908 he carried the riding. and sat in the Ontario Assembly under the leadership of Sir James Pliny Whitney, where he was quickly acknowledged to be one of Ontario’s top-flight orators. He was also an author of some note, leaving published two books of poetry and all of this time he was an esteemed resident of the lovely village of Wellandport.
Your very truly,
Mrs James A. Ross.
James A. Ross
[Compiled by ‘S’]
James A. Ross was a longtime teacher at Wellandport school. He had an insurance business, managed the Empire store, was a co-founder and manager if the Sterling Bank of Wellandport(est 1904)
From Confederation in 1867 until 1914 Monck elected a member to the province’s Legislative Assembly, basing their nomination meeting and conventions in Wellandport.
James A Ross devoted much energy to developing a railway. Work on the railway began in 1912. It extended over the Chippewa and Beaver Creek bridges almost to St Ann’s. The railway was never completed, as W.W. 1 took much of the manpower and financial strain made it impossible to continue.
James A. Ross served as M.P.P. for riding of Monck June 8, 1908-Nov. 13, 1911. He was in the Conservative party, served on the Printing and Railways committees.
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By W. Schwoob
Perhaps I should give a short history of Wellandport before my impressions of the village. It was first called the Narrows from the ridge of land separating the Chippewa River and Beaver Creek. (Chippewa is Indian for “People without moccasins”) and Beaver Creek is self-explanatory.
The first settler was John Dochstader in 1782, whose grant of land was west of Wellandport. He was soon followed by the Henry, Robins, Heaslip and MacDowellfamilies and others. These people settled along the Chippewa River as it was the easiest way to travel by boat in summer and on the ice in winter.
The river valley is so flat that when the Niagara (into which it empties) is in flood, the river backs up nearly 30 miles from it’s mouth, and raises the water one to two feet.
The first school was built on land owned by Wm Dils, west of Wellandport, after 1800, and the teacher was Mr. Weston, nicknamed “Nappertandy”. There were two churches built in 1835, both Methodist. One, just west of Elcho, and the other on Heaslip’s farm, east of the village.
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