When the pioneers came to Canada many years ago
The hardships they endured we will never know
Their families were in the old country many miles away
And they were thought of as they toiled each lonely day
There were no roads tv or cars there around
They carried loads on their backs before sitting down
He walked the trail until he found his stakes
So there his house he knew he could make
With an axe and saw he cleared the land
Yes it was all forest but we don’t understand
The thick trees didn’t let the sun shine through
So did he think cutting these trees I must do
He chopped the trees which fell to the ground
Then soon he had a clearing there around
They squatted on the land until up to government standards
Then for the deed they went after working so long
In the spring around the stumps they planted seeds
So in the winter they had food to supply their needs
At first he made a cabin with only one room
\Which was done quickly as winter was coming soon
Each day from early morning until bedtime at night
Hard work they done to get things set up right
Things they wore or ate was all homemade
As there was no time to sit in the shade
The neighbours were few and many miles away
So the fire was kept going even on a hot day
The clothes were washed in a tub and hung on a tree
Where they would dry there in a little breeze
God was in their thoughts from morning until night
So why don’t we do the same only following what’s right
How many of us could live like this now days
But if a depression comes we will learn these ways
Winston E. Ralph
Bancroft, Ontario
[Source unknown]
One of Welland county’s most useful citizens, who has acquitted himself creditably as a business man, soldier and public official. He is a native son of Welland county and is a scion of one of the prominent and honored pioneer families of this county.
Major Evan E. Fraser was born at Allenburg, Welland county, Ont., March 15th, 1865.
His parents were Alex and Phoebe Fraser. His father was a well-known contractor who was born in Glengarry county, Ont., and moved in 1875 to Welland county, where he was engaged in the contracting business all his life until he passed away in 1921.
Major Fraser attended public and high schools in Thorold and from the very first after graduating engaged in public works. His first employment was on construction work with C.P.R., and he followed construction work all of his life. From 1904 to 1923 he was engaged in active contracting work on his own account, with the exception of his period in France during the World War, where he distinguished himself by his work of constructing railroads in the war zone. Major Fraser was a member of the 76th Battalion and preceded this battalion to France in the winter of 1917 and was with the 8th Light Battalion Railway Troops. For eight months he was actively at work building railroads in France.
A great part of that time was spent at Messines Ridge in France. He returned to Welland, Ont., in 1917.
During all of these years Major Fraser has been prominent as the leader in the councils and campaign activities of the Conservative Party, and his influence in public affairs far transcended mere local limitations, because after acting as councilman in Niagara Falls, South, he was paid the signal honor, in 1905, of being elected Member of Parliament in the Ontario Legislature and so well did he serve his constituents that they re-elected him in 1908 and again in 1911. For several years Mr. Fraser declined to take an active interest in political life to the extent of leading his party, but in 1917 he heeded the insistent call of Welland county citizens and was elected Member of Parliament to the Federal House at Ottawa and he sat there until his retirement in 1921. In 1925 he was appointed to his present responsible position of Welland County Recorder, which he holds with the esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
It is a tribute to his executive ability that several labor-saving methods have been introduced into the County Registrar’s office since he was appointed to his responsible position of
Mr. Fraser is a member of the Cataract Lodge of Oddfellows, of Niagara Falls, was well as maintaining a membership in the Mountain Masonic Lodge in Thorold. He is a member of the Church of England. There are few more enthusiastic sportsmen than Mr. Fraser. He makes an annual pilgrimage, during his vacation period, into northern Ontario hunting deer and while he does not indulge in the very strenuous forms of sport, he is nevertheless, intensely interested in bowling and is a member of two bowling clubs.
He married in 1887 to Miss Susie E. Harding, daughter of the late Andrew and Mary Harding of Thorold, Ont., Mr Fraser resides at Culp Street, Niagara Falls, Ont., and had six children, four of whom survive; Jessie, married to William Fraser, a real estate man of Niagara Falls; Eugene, manager of Government Brewery Warehouses, same place; Victor, an operator in the Electric Power House at Niagara Falls, and Kenneth, employed by this brother Eugene in the Provincial Government Brewery Warehouses.
Mr. Fraser is of Scotch and Pennsylvania Dutch extraction, which undoubtedly accounts for the fact that he is a man of strong convictions and is always fearless in expressing them. He is not afraid to live up to what he believes to be right, no matter what the personal cost might be. He always takes an active part in matters pertaining to the advancement of his home community and can be depended upon.
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