When the farmer woke up he saw it was a sunny day
So after breakfast he went out to bale some hay
The wheat was ready to be cut down
Then with the tractor later in the field he as found
The cows waited each night for milking time
As they knew he’d be in away before nine
The oil truck came and filled up the tank
But after seeing the bill he didn’t say thanks
His wife had supper ready when he sat down to eat
Feeling this farming life is sure getting me beat
All the children have left for jobs far away
So for help he had to hire and them also pay
The farmer’s job isn’t easy with the pay real good
And working long days he’d never leave if he could
The tractor has a problem that he must solve and get going
As snow is coming soon that he is knowing
After milking in the morning the cows are put out
Then in the evening he hopes again for the same amount
When done with the crops he cuts some logs
And sends animals to market in the fall including hogs
If he was sick the neighbours done the chores
But now a days I feel its one thing that’s no more
What he buys is expensive there’s a mortgage over his head
He feels that paying out money he’ll never get ahead
At night he crawls into bed and sleeps like he is dead
While troubles and concerns pass through his head
There is no thanks for him there under the hot sun
But I thank him each day for the work he has done
He can’t go far with cows to milk each day
And if someone is hired to them he’d have to pay
If it wasn’t for the farmer what would we all do
There’s less of them each day trouble is coming for me and you
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft, Ontario
The old school house sat on the prairie so wide
And we’ll never know how many tales it does hide
As most pupils are gone that went there years ago
Some older ones may be alive since others may know
They walked from home a mile or two around
And since they were tired they just sat down
In the winter they built the fire so the school was nice
When the teacher and other pupils came not a room of ice
Their lunch pail was one that had jam in it before
And the boys had bare feet in the summer coming in the door
They didn’t need a gym as they got their exercise coming to school
So the teacher taught large classes as they didn’t act the fool
In the morning before they came there were chores to do
At night returning from school they also found a few
They cleaned the pig pen and gave the cows some hay
And the garden was weeded also no time to play
Eggs had to be gathered and the chickens were fed
Their days were filled with chores until time for bed
They stayed at home in the spring and helped plant crops
And the fall was the same until the harvest did stop
In the summer they were in the hayfield forking hay
As everything was done manually back in the olden days
There was also wood to be cut and put in a pile
While the feast of each meal sure made them smile
Sap was boiled down in a pan each and every spring
As this was the sweetener they used on all things
Others skidded logs in the bush at a young age
And when told to do it they didn’t go into a rage
The garden was harvested in the fall and things put away
Since little food was bought they had food for cold days
Saturday night they were free and took the buggy to town
To see friends have a dance or just look around
They had little education but designed many things
Which made them feel like some earthly King
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft
Small villages are disappearing there’s nothing much anymore
Not like back in the olden days of yore
The schools went from early Sept until late June
But must have closed now yes much too soon
The children are bused to a bigger school farther away
Even though a higher price for fuel we all pay
Fuel is high priced but at the school there’s many cars
Youngsters drive now even though they don’t come far
The stores are closed also as folks shop elsewhere
Instead of keeping the local going as its right there
The church is closed too and left there alone
Where there’s a yearly service when folks come home
Years ago men met at night there in the store
Where they talked and complained like never before
When someone wished to talk they got on the phone
Which they could do in the privacy of their home
The general store ordered things which usually took awhile
But when it came in on your face was a smile
If the men weren’t in the village on the farm they were found
Unlike today they weren’t travelling the world around
The school buses went each day regardless of the weather
As they had a full load and no one was tethered
Work wasn’t somewhere else it was there on the farm
Like planting crops fixing fences or building a barn
You may not agree but they were the good old days
Since we always done things only the right way
Unlike today you went to bed with an unlocked door
Today if you do it you invite trouble for sure
Yes today crime is encouraged unlike yesteryear
And as long as we do as we do it will continue I fear
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft
Don Messer was a quiet man hardly saying a word
But when he played the fiddle great tunes were heard
He was born in New Brunswick back in nineteen 0 nine
And no one knew he would help them forget hard times
His brother said keep Donald from my fiddle when I’m away
Then at 5 years old Donald found it and started to play
When his brother went west he took the fiddle too
Leaving Donald to wonder now what can I do
Later he got his own which cost $1 and ninety-eight
As it wasn’t his brothers but his own he really felt great
At age 7 before a crowd he felt he was in clover
He knew just one song playing it over and over
His second one was better so he played the neighbourhood
After working the wheat harvest he knew playing was good
He knew a living he could make as folks he did entertain
While his grandpa and others didn’t feel the same
After going to Boston for lessons he returned back home
To form his own band and never again play alone
Charlie Chamberlain went to Saint John to see his wife
Then joined Dons band for the rest of his life
Don wanted to be known locally so he didn’t go far
So he stayed close to home where he went by car
He married and moved everyone to Prince Edward Island
Where life got much better keeping Don smiling
At the first Don was away a lot wishing to be back
Then tried to be home more after his first heart attack
Don Messer and His Islanders they were called after 30 nine
Later he moved to Halifax until the end of the line
The C.B.C. said in 69 it’s time to cancel the show
Even though folks liked it and still would I know
Charlie always sang good either sober or after a drink
While the C.B.C. isn’t like it was thats what I think
I still recall Charlie doing a little stepdance
Yes a reason people tuned in when they had a chance
What I’d give to see Don play and Charlie dance once more
And see the Buchta Dancers as they twirl around the floor
If you don’t remember it or at the show didn’t look
Just read the story by Johanna Bertin its sure a good book.
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft
High on the hill of that old Rockingham town
St Leonards Anglican church there can be found
It was built in 1875 yes back a few years
And to see its condition fills my eyes with tears
A post and beam construction with board and batten siding
As the siding is wood how much rot is it hiding
John Watson came to Canada as he married the family maid
The fee he put to good use as to stay away he was paid
He brought skilled folks with him to build the hamlet
It had a store, school, saw mill etc. and a church you bet
As the town declined with the local lumber trade
The church fell into disuse up there in the shade
The pews font and bell were taken to churches including Killaloe
Why would anyone a thing like that they would do
The last regular service was held in twenty-four
And did the folks wonder if there would be anymore
The roof was reshingled and the back wall they did repair
Then the pews were to go back in the seventies there
John deeded it to the Anglicans in Ottawa before his death
As he knew that shortly he would take his final breath
In 1882 they added a porch communion rail and organ
A stove and belfry and bell followed to make it hum
It was empty before and was the second time again
So did the local folks while looking feel any pain
In May of 67 Bishop Reed of Ottawa done the secularation
Then it became just an old building in our nation
In 1995 a group was formed to undertake its repair
So that for a few more years on the hill it will be there
The crowd was happy for couples when their hearts were entwined
There in that little church up there under the pines
Other times it was sadness they felt when they said goodbye
After carrying someone up the hill without a dry eye
In 2022 there was to be an annual anniversary celebration
To lift the locals spirits and others across our nation
It should be moved to a level spot near the old store
So that older folks wanting to go there won’t have a chore
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft, Ontario
MORE images of the church: [1] … [2] … [3]
By Robert J. Foley
[Welland Tribune, Date Unknown]
William Hamilton Merritt stood on the floor of his grist mill and watched the feverish activity as they attempted to get as much done as possible before the mill shut down. The level of the Twelve Mile Creek had been dropping steadily in the last week and soon the great water wheel would be high and dry. The shutdown could last for weeks or even months with the loss in business and the financial pressures that accompanied it.
To add to the pressure a monetary crisis was brewing in England that had begun to affect the business in the colony. Merritt had gone up to Montreal and had received a very low price for his goods because of the shortage of cash. Things looked gloomy for business prospects for the balance of 1818.
On his return from Montreal he found all the mills idle and a backlog of timber and grain to be processed. Merritt then resolved to pursue an idea that had been lodged in the back of his mind since his days of patrolling the upper Niagara River during the war. If he could dig a ditch from the Welland River to the head of the Twelve Mile Creek his water problems would be over. To pay for the project he envisioned a canal that also would carry boats to bypass the Falls of Niagara.
Taking the imitative, he went about the district gathering support for his proposal. The idea of a canal was not as revolutionary as we might think. This was the age of the canal. In Britain the young Duke of Bridgewater had toured the Canal du Midi in the Languedoc region of France in 1753. He was so impressed that he began to build his own canals in England using the French model. The Canal du Midi had been in operation since 1681. In the United States, two small canals had been built in the 1790s. The Santee Canal in South Carolina, 22 miles long with twelve locks was completed in 1822 with the Champlain Canal linking Lake Champlain with the Hudson opening the following year.
In the summer of 1818 Merritt, with his friends, George Keefer, a merchant and mill owner from Thorold and John Decew also from Thorold set out to make a rough survey of a possible route. With a borrowed water level belonging to a mill owner at the Short Hills the three set out. Starting from the south branch of the Twelve Mile Creek at present day Allanburg they proceeded due south to the Welland River a distance of two miles. They reckoned the dividing ridge to be 30 feet above the level of the creek. It was later proven that an error of 30 feet had occurred and the height was actually 60 feet. Merritt and his partners were not the only ones thinking canal in the peninsula. The inhabitants of Humberstone and Willoughby Townships advocated a canal from Lake Erie to the head of Lyons Creek. Bertie Township pushed for a canal to avoid the rapids at Fort Erie. John Garner of Stamford remarked that, “Locks may be made to pass the great falls and connect Lakes Erie and Ontario; but many years must elapse before the province is rich enough to afford the expense.”
The British government was also interested in a canal. The vulnerability of shipping should another war erupt with the United States was of great concern. Ships would have run the gauntlet of guns all the way to Queenston when coming from Lake Ontario and from Fort Erie to Chippawa on the other end.
The government was also planning to survey a route from Ottawa to Lake Ontario. The rapids at Lachine were being eyed as well. However, talking was one thing, building was another.
While others dreamed and talked, Merritt plans in hand, went into action. He approached the legislature for an appropriation of funds for a proper survey of his route. Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada, having built a summer home at Stamford, was most interested in the project and lent his support to the scheme. The legislature set aside $2,000 for the purpose and hired an engineer by the name of James Chewett to do the job.
To Merritt’s dismay, Chewett scraped his proposal and embarked on a much grander canal scheme that was doomed to failure before it began. Chewett began his survey at the Grand River passing just west of Canborough into Caistor where it was to swing east into Gainsborough. It then swung north crossing the Twenty Mile Creek and descending the escarpment between Beamsville and Vineland. The canal turned west from there and following the escarpment, ended at Burlington Bay, a total distance of over 50 miles.
Although Merritt’s main motivation for a canal was one of water rather than shipping a new impetus for construction of a ship canal in the form of the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal began construction in 1817 to link Lake Erie with the Hudson River allowing goods from the upper lakes to move directly to New York City. The bulk of trade thus would bypass Montreal and Quebec leaving Canada a backwater in the scheme of continental business.
With the rejection of his proposal by Chewett, Merritt’s financial situation became critical and dark days lay ahead for him both financially and personally.
[Welland Tribune, Early No Date]
Visit the Welland Museum in the old Carnegie Library
140 King Street
Welland, Ontario
The Welland Museum, housed in a completely renovated schoolhouse, records the history of the city since the first settlers arrived.
The earliest inhabitants of the region were the neutral Indians, whose way of life is described in the museum. The Neutrals tried hard to avoid conflicts with other tribes but were eventually wiped out by the Iroquois.
Exhibits include pictures of one of their villages and maps showing where they were located. Chipping flints, scrapers and a stone knife found in excavations are displayed.
A corner of the museum where the story of the United Empire Loyalists is told displays an old spinning wheel, snowshoes, a cradle and a sideboard.
The first wave of Loyalists arrived in Canada because they were no longer welcome in the United States but was followed by a second wave composed mainly of settlers seeking inexpensive land. Records show that only about half had English backgrounds. Many had Dutch, German, French and other ancestries.
The building of the first Welland Canal brought a third major group of people to the region because, with the primitive construction equipment then used, many hands were needed to dig the canal.
The majority of the third group were Irish who had originally emigrated to the U.S. to help construct the Erie Canal. When it was completed they moved to Canada to build the Welland Canal.
The most interesting exhibits in the museum relate to the building of each of the four Welland Canals. Models show the section of the canal which passed through Welland as it has appeared at various times.
One showing it as it was when it was first opened includes a reproduction of an aqueduct constructed of white pine that carried the canal over the Welland River, leaving sufficient clearance beneath to allow the passage of boats using the river.
The model of the second canal shows it as it was when it was completed in 1845. A new aqueduct had been built of stone and a wooden swing bridge could be moved out of position by hand to allow boats to pass had been installed.
A third canal is seen as it appeared in 1915, with a new swing bridge called the Alexandria Bridge. It was opened to traffic in 1902 and was operated by steam.
A model showing the fourth canal indicated its appearance in 1935 after a syphon culvert had been constructed to replace the aqueduct. Six concrete pipes carried the river underneath the canal.
In 1973 the Welland Canal Bypass was opened and diagrams show how a 4-tube syphon culvert now carries the Welland River under the Canal Bypass.
Welland in Victorian times is represented in the museum by a furnished parlor typical of that era, complete with framed lithograph of Queen Victoria, an organ, a phonograph with cylindrical records, a showcase with typical crockery and glassware, a harp, a stereopticon and antique dolls. Press a button and you can listen to recordings made in that era.
Children visiting the museum enjoy the Whirligig. It is contraption of wooden toys built in 1978 by G. H. McWhirter, age 84 years. The little operating figures are all driven by a single electric motor.
At the rear of the museum there is a blacksmith’s shop and a general store with showcases made in 1890, now used to display artifacts dating from the last century.
By Gerald D. Kirk
[Toronto Paper, Date Unknown]
Mr. Kirk was the 2nd prize winner.
It wasn’t a village, much less a town, just a random collection of crude dwellings and outbuildings along two main trails that intersected at Calvin Cook’s mills. Lyon’s Creek, that gave power to the saw and grist mills, was swollen from the uncommonly heavy autumn rains that had made a morass of much of Crowland township. Now in mid-October wheat from surrounding farms was still in the process of being ground into flour and meal, some earmarked for the British forces camped at Chippawa.
Calvin had been hard-pressed to accommodate the multitude of farmers anxious to transform their grain into flour before the onset of winter. Two years of war had devastated much of the Niagara frontier, and most other mills south of the Welland River lay in ruins.
But as they worked, the millers cast anxious glances out of flour-dusted windows toward the road from Fort Erie, with that special anxiety civilians feel in the proximity of two frustrated and desperate armies. For days the settlement had lived in a constant state of alert, an alert sharpened by the sight of Brown Bess muskets issued to the farm boys guarding the mills.
It was less than an hour after daybreak. The grey smoke of cooking fires mixed with mist still rising from the Niagara and from the campground sprawled low and soggy on its west bank. Fewer men had turned out for reveille than the day before, and the grim shadow of dysentery now hung over the tent of commander, U.S. General George Izard. A large column of infantry and cavalry that had been formed up on the river road began crossing the log bridge over Black Creek, wheeling left onto the trail leading away from the river. Ahead lay the dismal tamarack swamp that Niagara folk did their best to avoid at the driest of seasons.
The horse soldiers led the way, and behind them the commandant of the expedition, Brigadier General Daniel Bissell. His orders were safely tucked into a pouch in his saddlebag, but the contents kept coming to mind: “proceed to Cook’s Mills…reconnoitre the area….destroy the grain and flour…await reinforcements.” Not mentioned on paper but an objective nonetheless was the capture of Misener’s Bridge and the bridge at Pelham/Thorold line, both strategic crossings over the Welland River. Both were in easy marching distance of Cook’s Mills. But what if something went wrong. The prospect of a retreat back across the tamarack swamp caused beads of perspiration to appear on Bissell’s forehead despite the coolness of the October morning.
The sun was already past its highest point in the sky when the American column finally reached the deeply rutted road to Cook’s Mills. Tired and hungry, the men squatted along the road on whatever dry object they had or could find, and munched the hard biscuits each carried in his knapsack. The pause was mercilessly brief, and soon the march was resumed. Less than two hours later the dragoons in the vanguard spotted smoke from the cabin chimneys of Yokum, Buchner and Cook.
Shots were fired by the militiamen guarding the causeway over Lyon’s Creek, but the small force of defenders scattered as the Yankee dragoons charged, sabres gleaming in the afternoon sun. The last to attempt to escape, militia Captain Henry Buchner was quickly surrounded by dragoons and forced to surrender. Women, children and the elderly peeked from their places of concealment to behold the astonishing sight of a seemingly infinite number of blue and grey uniforms flooding their settlement.
Orders were immediately issued to set up camp, and the soldiers began assembling the small tents that would shelter them for the next two nights. By dusk the fields opposite the mills were a sea of canvas, and the men were beginning to build fires to cook their evening meal of dried peas thickened with crumbled biscuits.
Suddenly, there was a commotion on the outskirts of the encampment as plucky farmwives belabored some soldiers for pulling down fence rails to use for fuel. To no avail; before long, most fences in the vicinity were only a memory.
Sleep would come hard for most of the American soldiers camped on the damp ground that chilly October night. Many were natives of southern States and not at all accustomed to the Niagara autumn. But their discomfort would be forgotten as the report of musket fire echoed form the direction of the outpost east of the mills.
The disturbance lasted on a few seconds, but it seemed like hours to the men crouching near the fires, gripping their muskets. Then the only sound was the whisper passing from group to group…”He was one of ours” Then an uneasy stillness returned.
Hardly had the stars and stripes been hoisted up the makeshift flagpole the next morning than green uniforms were spotted on the Chippawa road. Glengarries! Lightly equipped with short flintlocks designed for guerilla-style warfare, these hardy soldiers of Scottish descent formed a unit selected to spearhead the British response. As they approached the American outpost the Glengarries suddenly divided, some proceeding forward, the rest veering to the right into the bush screening the camp. The Yankee picket fired, reloaded and fired again-then scrambled to escape the bayonets of the foe who were by that time clambering up the side of the ravine protecting the position.
The encampment was in virtual turmoil Officers awaited orders-but Bissell seemed incapable of organizing a defence, and in no time the British were in full view, expecting a parade-ground battle. Bissell was, in fact, in no condition to command. His officers could hardly fail to notice something amiss in his behaviour, and the full extent of his nervous exhaustion would become quite apparent after the fray.
“They’ve got cannon…and rockets!” Now the American officers acted without orders-directing their men to take cover in the woods surrounding the camp on three sides. The cannon, a light six-pound fieldpiece, bellowed, and splinters flew as the grapeshot slammed into trees shielding the invaders. Then it was the turn of the rocketeers, who could no more than aim their terror weapon in the general direction of the enemy. Panic seized the soldiers cowering in the meaningless shelter of the woods as rocket snaked through the air toward them, for it was well-nigh impossible to predict where and when they would explode. When the blast finally occurred, lethal chunks of cast iron flew in every direction.
Take the cannon! The terse order would certainly mean casualties but there was simply no alternative for the Americans. Colonel Pinckney immediately directed his 5th United States Regiment to begin moving through the forest to the right of the British, hoping to outflank the enemy before being detected. But someone noticed shadows moving through the trees and instantly the cannon began slamming round after round of grapeshot in Pinckney’s direction.
While the British were momentarily distracted, American soldiers and dragoons opposite the cannon began emerging from the woods, forming for a charge. One unit, the 14th Infantry Regiment, had a particular score to settle from the humiliation of Beaverdams the year before. This would be a day of reckoning!
Now the tide of the battle had turned. Faced with imminent attack from the west and north, and with the high, steep bank of Lyon’s Creek on the south, the British had no choice. The bugle sounded retreat, and a quick but reasonably orderly withdrawal took place, back in the direction of the bivouac at the Lyon’s Creek Settlement. The Americans pursued to within a musket shot of the meeting house opposite Misener’s farmhouse before turning back.
Back at Cook’s Mills, details were ordered to bury the dead of both sides and to destroy the grain and flour mill-whatever could not be lugged to the camp at Black Creek. For days thereafter the mill pond displayed a thick crust of wheat, oats and corn. Confident the British had been thoroughly discouraged from further interference, General Bissell decided to stay put to await reinforcements and further orders.
Both arrived that night. The American force at Cook’s Mills now nearly equalled the effective fighting strength of General Drummond at Fort Chippawa-but on the afternoon of October 20th, Bissell ordered his entire detachment to return to Black Creek. It was a fateful decision if ever there was one. Had he crossed the Welland River, he could possibly have liquidated Drummond’s force, and gone to conquer the entire Niagara peninsula. But he pulled back, and the opportunity was forever lost.
Cook’s Mills was the last gasp of a ridiculous war that brought two years turmoil to the Niagara frontier. Most of the settlers of Crowland township were born in the United States; some had fought for the cause of American independence. Loyalism had not figured prominently as a reason for settling in Upper Canada, not for most. But the war, and in particular, the events of October 18th-20th of 1814, changed a lot of Crowlanders. They were Canadians.
I recall mother winding up the old gramophone
As we had no hydro there in our home
She said you’ll have good music in a little while
And to hear Ernie Tubb and others sure made us smile
The great speckled bird by Roy Acuff country music king
Yes it sure lifted our spirits to hear them all sing
I saw a lot of them in Toronto if they put on a show
From work I took a lieu day and to Massey Hall did go
And when folks had to keep food warm going to the fields
Towels were put in a box so the heat couldn’t yield
Go- carts were made of what people could find
And to ride them with no brakes took a contented mind
We didn’t have a go-cart so a buggy took its place
As we passed by the officer had a funny look on his face
If we met a car it was into the ditch and back on the road
Everyone was still on when we stopped yes a full load
Some machinery was repaired and sold once again
To save the cost of a new one and the farmer any pain
Many jokes were played on teachers some not too fair
Like letting her sit down with a tack on the chair
When it happened the strap she brought out
And to the guilty one she laid it on without a doubt
Movies were cheap but farm children seldom did go
As they had chores to do that we all know
Aprons were used to carry eggs and wipe away tears
But few are worn now like in the early years
Fire was a constant worry for people in a town
As all buildings were made of wood sand quickly burnt down
Measles and pneumonia are things the folks did dread
Each time I took sulfa tablets that brought me around
Yes for a few years now I’ve walked the ground
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft, Ont.
Once again folks its January the first month of the year
May no one be glum but always filled with cheer
We don’t know what this new year will bring
Will it be something new or the same old thing
January is a cold month with only thirty-one days
Since its a new year now lets all change our ways
It originated before the year 1000 from Middle English
Coming from the Latin use of the word Januavius
In ancient Roman Culture Janus was a god of doorways
Also beginnings rising and setting of the sun some do say
His name is from the Latin Janus doorway or arcade
He went outside he didn’t stay in the shade
On Jan 1st we celebrate New Year’s day once again
So be careful on ice don’t fall and suffer any pain
For those born Dec. 22 to Jan. 19 your sign is Capricorn
Its Aquarius Jan. 20 to Feb. 18 for those then born
Some days will have a lot of ice and snow
And slippery roads will prevail wherever we go
There will be days this month that will be real cold
So bundle up in layers there’s no need to be told
Some folks may stay indoors as much as they can
As they don’t wish to be out with snow on the land
Youngsters will skate out there on the frozen pond
While others will play hockey as winter goes on
May snowmobiling be enjoyed as they glide over the snow
As I done in Toronto and other places back many years ago
Some will take snowshoes to walk over the ground
Since its the only way poor folk are able to get around
If you wish to hibernate put on a sweater and heavy socks
And use a warm blanket so the cold weather won’t shock
New Year’s resolutions folks don’t make anymore
Since to keep them would only make people sore
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft, ON
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