HomeMy WebLinkAbout2080"Dunkeld, Mrs. Thomas. 1947. “Local History of Atha and Altona Pioneers,” The Tribune,
Stouffville (Thursday, 27 February).
The year 1830 marks the beginning of a new era in the history of Upper Canada.
It is estimated that 34 000 settlers entered the province in 1831 and during the next four years
fully 160 000 were added to the population. Pickering Township had its growing time in this
period. It was during this time that the communities of which we are interested namely Atha
and Altona had their beginning .
ATHA
The first settler to come to the eighth concession of Pickering was Nathan Bently who came in
1831 and purchased the bush farm, which Mrs. Carruthers now owns. Mr. and Mrs. Bently lived
there till his death in 1874. One of his daughters Mrs. C. McAvoy remained on the farm until
the death of her husband. They had one son Otto.
On this farm was the first school house built in the southwest corner in 1811. It was a cottage
type and was a fine school in its day. My father went to that school. The desks were all around
the wall the children facing the wall. The playground was the King’s highway and as much
woods as they wished to play in.
The present school house was built in 1864, opened on Jan. 1st 1865.
The Lehman family were one of the next to come. Daniel Lehman came in 1839 from
Pennsylvania, bought the south half of lot 35, con 8. In 1835 he and his bride settled on the
farm. Before he brought his bride he cleared a few acres of land and built a log house.
In the three years he rode the same horse nine times to Pennsylvania and back. When he
brought his bride they came on horseback. He erected a sawmill, which continued in busy and
successful operation as long as he lived. After his death in 1867 one of his sons Abraham
(my father) continued to operate the sawmill. He also had a shingle and lath machine.
We elder children many a day packed shingles all day. The mill was later transformed into a
chopping mill run with a stone grinder. The mill at this time is torn down. The property still
remains in the Lehman name, Eli being the present owner.
John Bell a native of Dumfriesshire, Scotland came to Canada with his wife in 1834 and
settled on lot 28, con 7. One of his sons John M. Bell married and remained on the homestead
making stock raising a prominent feature of his farming activities. His daughter Mrs. Peter
Stewart and her two sons John and Peter lived there until the death of their mother.
Then John married Mary Duncan and farmed for some time. After John’s death the property
was sold to Fred Byer.
Michael Nighswander and his bride came in 1838 and located on lot 34, con 7.
In 1845 he also erected a sawmill on the farm in which he did a good business for 45 years.
Their family numbered ten, two sons, Michael and Tillman, lived on the homestead until their
death. The property was sold to Mr. Kirton. Tillman had one son Otto. Mrs. Nighswander is
still living and Mrs. Ralph Nighswander lives on the townline.
The Whitson family also came from Scotland in 1839 settling on lot 28, con 8 and since the
death of their parents the two daughters Misses Ella and Georgie still reside on the farm with
Mr. Fred Draper as manager. Robert Whitson owned the next farm east of his brother’s with
his two sisters Janny and Margaret. They had the post office till the rural route came from
Claremont.
Abraham Hoover with his wife came from Markham purchased lot 39, con 8, in Oct. 1843.
A house having been built and ten acres cleared. As time went by he owned 400 acres of land.
His sons Sam, Noah, Elsie and Jacob took possession of the farms.
The farms are now owned by Mr. Tran, Mrs. Louis Hoover, Mrs. MacDonald, and Mr. and
Mrs. Eli Lehman.
Adam Spears, a native of Scotland, settled on lot 29, con 7, in 1840 and also built a sawmill.
The lumber was teamed to Frenchman’s Bay. The mill was continued in operation by his son
James until about fifty years ago. The farm was sold and his son Adam lives in Whitevale.
Other pioneer names familiar are Lapp, Burks, Lott, Harrison, Hisey, but they are all gone and
others have taken their places.
Mr. Joe Brown came to the eighth in 1830 and in 1889 the Dunkelds bought the farm.
The father died soon after. The mother Lizzie and the three boys James, William and Thomas
took over till their death, then Murray Dunkeld bought the farm.
I can’t recall when the Byers came from Markham but I remember Mr. Joe Byers’ grandmother
so well. She was a kind lady. I worked there when she died and recall Joe Byers’ sister
passed away the same day.
The only church near Atha was erected by the Baptist denomination and was opened on
Sunday August 1835. The services were held there for 35 years. Only the cemetery remains
on the Frank Gostick farm. The minister was Rev. I.D. Gostick. He came to Canada in 1832
from England and was always in his place on the sabbath. After it closed the Sunday School
for awhile was held in the Atha school house. There was once a store and blacksmith at Atha
corners managed by Mr. and Mrs. Beattie.
ALTONA
At Altona the Mennonites were the first to erect a church built in 1850. The church still stands
and services are held there by the Mennonites. The ministers are Mr. Thomas Reesor,
Mr. Fred Nighswander, Mr. A. Smith.
The union church, Mennonite and Christian, situated on the Abram Reesor property was built in
1872, Daniel Barkey being the promoter. He farmed east of Altona, his grandson Charlie
Barkey now lives on the farm. The same denomination still hold their Sunday School and
church services there. The present ministers are Mr. Hallman and Mr. G. Brown.
A name familiar to the Altona people was Joseph Monkhouse who came from Cumberland,
England in 1849 and married Christena Reesor. He built the Altona store and people came
from miles around to make purchases. After his death his son Willis took over the store.
He now lives in Stouffville. Fletcher Goudie now occupies the store building.
The homes of Mr. White and Mr. McChancy belonged to the Millard family, the land having
been purchased from the crown at the time. The Morris farm belonged to the same family.
A number will remember the old blacksmith shop where Mr. Boothby worked from morn till
night shoeing horses and doing repair work. On the corner was a hotel kept by Mr. Brown
where Mr. O. Madill now has a general store.
One of the earliest settlers to come to Altona district was the Daniel Yake family who came
from Germany in 1804. It took fourteen weeks to cross. He buried his wife and four children
at sea. He came to Canada from Pennsylvania with the rest of his family with their little effects
and three cattle. Of the children only Michael remained in Pickering. In 1816 he married
Jane VanZant. They had twelve children. One of his daughters Poly married Mr. Jones and
she spent all her long life on the farm where Ralph and Mary reside.
Robert Scott, John Scott’s father, came from Cumberland, England in 1868. In 1874 he
married Alice Jones, a daughter of Mrs. Jones, and mother of Mrs. Bunker.
There are many more who lived in Altona, the Whites, Stouffers, Reesors, Hoovers.
The Nighswander history was in the Tribune a few weeks ago.
The land at that time was nearly all bushland. They cut trees, the best of maple,
piled the logs and burnt them, thousands of feet of the best timber, to clear the land.
A tree at that time was of no value. In the spring they could tap any number of Maple trees,
made their own wooden sap spiles and troughs for the sap, boiled it in iron kettles down to
sugar. They made a year’s supply of sugar and used it for all kinds of sweetening purposes.
A day’s work from sunrise to sunset for 50c a day or take as pay wheat and apples.
They also had sheep and used the wool for socks, mitts, and took it to Cliff’s mill at Altona to
be made into cloth and yarn. The cloth was made into men’s shirts and boys’ suits and
overcoats, underwear and dresses.
GLASGOW
Mr. Alexander Gordon came from Glasgow, Scotland over 100 years ago. That was where
Glasgow got its name. Mr. Brown was 80 years old Feb. 13th of this year. He was born on the
farm where Mr. Will Reesor now lives. Joseph Brown, Mr. Brown’s grandfather got the farm
from the government.
Benjamin Parker built the Glasgow school about 100 years ago.
At one time there were three churches, two blacksmith shops, and a good general store
situated there. Going down from Glasgow we are sure each farm has some history attached to
it, while the pioneers have passed beyond and the buildings are gone leaving many gaps.
The Slack farm was owned by Mr. Hiram Kester who lived a retired life in Glasgow. Mr. and
Mrs. James Slack at one time lived where Mr. and Mrs. Walter Davis now live. We remember
the name of Forsyth, as being very prominent.
The land was cleared and ploughed with a yoke of oxen the seed sown by hand, the harvest
cut with the sickle and cradle, bound by hand, threshed by the flail, and flour made in the hollow
of a stump. Today it is ploughed, sown with a drill, cut and bound with a binder, threshed by a
machine, and all drawn with a tractor and the bread delivered to the house wife’s door.
Our grandmothers did the spinning of the wool and flax, made their own clothes by hand,
with the glimmer of the old grease lamp and tallow candle, the cooking done in the fireplace in
crude iron utensils. To-day the housewife presses a button, floods her rooms with
incandescent light, uses aluminum cooking utensils on an electric stove, goes to the large
centres and purchases the clothes for the family ready made. Some of the old settlers walked
as far as Brougham for mail, probably once a month. Now we have rural mail delivery at our
gates everyday and news of the world at our finger tip on the radio. In the early days the
Kingston road was the only road worthy of the name, other roads being simply paths blazed
through the forest, travelled by foot or on horseback, where to-day our roads are four rods wide,
well gravelled or paved with cement, making it possible for us to use automobiles to travel
long distances in short time and comfort, to attend social gatherings and meetings for the
education and benefit of the community such as we are enjoying this afternoon.
Do we appreciate our privileges?
[1850 words]
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