M(a)cEwans and cheese (pt.2)

Without doubt, any discussion of the McEwan connection to the cheese industry must lead directly to Thomas Ballantyne.  Thomas Ballantyne and Agnes Ballantyne McEwan were doubly related.  First, Agnes' father Robert was the younger brother of Thomas' father James, and second, Thomas married Agnes' younger sister Mary.  This means that Thomas was both first cousin and brother-in-law to Agnes McEwan. This double relationship may explain why John McEwan was willing to transfer to Thomas Ballantyne five acres of land on the north-west corner of  Lot 25 Concession 4 in Downie Township at the point where the Black Creek takes a lazy bend to the east as it skirts the high rise of land on which John McEwan built his stone house.
Here is what I know about Thomas Ballantyne. Several years after his Uncle Robert left Scotland in 1839 to settle in Canada, Thomas' two older brothers emigrated and took up land near Robert.  Then in 1852, Thomas, his parents and his sister

Agnes left Scotland to live in Canada. Shortly after he arrived in Canada Thomas was hired as a teacher in one of the newly established schools in the community. He was 24 years old. The year was 1853.  Almost immediately. Thomas became involved in municipal politics.  In 1855 Thomas became the township auditor and in the next year he was the township clerk.  In the same year he married his first cousin Mary Ballantyne, the daughter of his Uncle Robert, and Thomas and Mary went to live in a log house near the school where he taught.  Six years later, in 1861 Thomas quit teaching (there may have been a dispute about salary) and he returned to farming. However, it appears that farming was not totally satisfying to Thomas.  During this period, new business opportunities were opening up in the dairy industry for settlers in this fertile land of Upper Canada which I will write about next time. (In the meantime, I have attached a photo of Thomas and the only one I have of Mary.  Neither picture portrays them as they would have appeared in their younger years during the heady - but doubtlessly frightening -  years when Thomas developed the Black Creek Cheese Factory.)

M(a)cEwans and Cheese

The McEwans who lived in Perth County in the second half of the 19th century were deeply connected to the cheese making industry. In the next several blogs I will attempt to recount what I know about that connection. However, before I begin, it may be useful to provide some context.  In 1845 John McEwan, a 26 year old iron moulder from Scotland leased 100 acres of land to the south of the Stratford-to-Goderich road in Perth County. Fortunately, John's land had a good source of water.  Winding through the McEwan property is the Black Creek which originates in the huge Ellice swamp to the north. From the swamp the creek meanders through the flat lands of Perth County, moving in a slow westerly direction through Sebringville, past the school house, on to the Ballantyne and McEwan land and then westwardly toward Mitchell where it connects to the Thames river and ultimately Lake St. Clair.  By the 1840's when John arrived, the land to the east of his property had almost all been taken up.  His future in-laws the Ballantynes, for example, who lived nearby, had already been on the land for 12 years, and in the previous year Robert Ballantyne, John's future brother-in-law had leased the 100 acres adjoining John's property on the north.  I don't know if John had any prior connection to the Ballantynes or why he moved into Perth County but two years after he first leased the land  John married 21 year old Agnes Ballantyne  the daughter of the original Ballantyne settler.  John and Agnes built a classic Scottish style stone house of dressed field stone, and in 1850 John added another 50 acres of land to his property. [I have attached two pictures of John's property as it appears nowadays. First, the picture of the rich farm land that he cleared and second, the situation of the house back from the road and overlooking the Black Creek.  You need to look closely to see the house back among the trees and

if you would like to see a close-up view of the house with its immaculately proportioned dressed field stones I refer you to the 4/16/09 blog.]  It is evident from the 1861 agricultural census that John and Agnes became prosperous farmers.  On the 1861 census record sheet which contains the McEwan statistics there are 49 names. I have used the records on the census sheet to compare the McEwans to their neighbours.  The McEwans owned 150 acres of land (only 6 owned more), the McEwans had 80 acres under cultivation (only 5 had more), the McEwans had 54 acres under crops (only 7 had more) and the property was valued at $4 000 (only 7 properties on the list were worth more). John had 32 acres in wheat, 10 acres in oats and 3 acres in peas. He was also growing potatoes and turnips. To sum up: the evidence suggests that John and Agnes McEwan were doing as well in 1861 - if not better - than many of their neighbours.