James Ballantyne MacEwan - prominent business- & sportman

Even a cursory review of references to the name MacEwan in the newspapers of New Zealand spanning the period from the 1890's through to the 1940's will attest to the fact that James Ballantyne MacEwan was a well-know, highly-respected and prosperous businessman and society figure in New Zealand.  In the National Library of New Zealand collection of newspapers there are a total of 16,693 references to the name of MacEwan. While some of those references are for non-family MacEwans and many are advertisements for the MacEwan businesses, there still remain numerous reports of trips, golfing exploits, social activities, business meetings and board memberships.  Several articles involve court disputes over copyright infringements and contract conditions. Obviously, the MacEwan brothers did not shy away from confrontation when they felt it was necessary.
During those years James made several return trips to Canada and to the farm on Black Creek.  We know that he included Canada in his 1890's trip in which he planned to inspect dairy practices in both North America and Europe.  In addition, his son Ian tells that "I was taken to Canada in 1914 when 11 years old to be shown to the family and we went to the old home. I was a year a Upper Canada College, Toronto when the 1914 War started and Father came home at once to see how things developed."  There must have been at least one more trip.  Gordon McEwan who was born in 1914 remembered James this way: "I can recall him sitting on our front porch complete in Homburg hat, pear-grey suit and black, shiny shoes on one of his periodic visits."
One final story by way of  James' son Ian and as recorded by Gordon McEwan:  "On one occasion Jim was called upon to act as a judge at the exhibition for New Zealand-made cheese. After carefully considering the products, Uncle Jim gave two exhibits a tie for first place and then a second and third.  Because of this, the organizers of the exhibit were upset as only three prizes had been provided and they urged Uncle Jim to re-assess his judging and award only a first, second and third prize. Again testing the products, James turned to the committee and stated that they would have to have another judge as he could not find any difference between the two samples he had listed in first position.  Reluctantly they agreed to award four prizes and then, to their amazement they discovered when they opened the exhibition tags that the two first prize samples had been cut from the same cheese. Jim McEwan's reputation as a master judge had been established."
I have attached a newspaper photograph of James in his plus-fours on the first tee at a golf tournament in 1919.

James Ballantyne MacEwan and the move to New Zealand

In 1911, J. A. Ruddick published an article entitled An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Dairying Industry in Canada. Here is a quote from that article:  "In 1894, Mr. J. B. MacEwan, who was then a member of the Dairy Commissioner's staff, received and accepted an offer to go to New Zealand, as Chief Dairy Expert. Mr. MacEwan was only two years in the dairying service of New Zealand, but to the writer's personal knowledge, he left a most excellent record behind him." (p. 56). Attached is the farewell testimonial dated October 1894 from James' colleagues in the Office of the Dairy Commissioner in Ottawa which was presented to James as he prepared to travel to New Zealand.   A small sidelight: I notice that he is addressed as "Mac" a nickname that many other McEwans have carried over the years.  The next piece of evidence related to James' career development is an article from the Otago Witness in New Zealand dated 8th October 1896.  The article  notes that James had passed through Auckland on his way to America.  The writer then goes on to explain: "The desirability of one of our experts visiting Europe about this time was mooted at the Dairy Conference held in Dunedin in June last, and Mr MacEwan made his plans for the trip under the impression that the Government would offer no objection to the tour of inspection, which he considered necessary in the interests of the colony.  But the Cabinet, after discussing his application decided that the department could not easily dispense with his services at this moment. Mr MacEwan accordingly resigned."

James Ballantyne MacEwan and the Cheese Industry (2)

APPENDIX TO THE REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE BEING REPORT OF THE DAIRY COMMISSIONER

 Ottawa 30th January 1891

 To the Honourable The Minister or Agriculture 

From the report of the Dairy Commissioner here is a sample of the report writing of James MacEwan:

" REPORT OF J B MacEWAN

 Ottawa April 29th 1893

 Prof Jas. W. Robertson Dominion Dairy Commissioner Ottawa

 Sir

 I have the honour to submit my second annual report of work carried on under your supervision during the year 1892 and up to the present time of 1893. During the early months of 1892 the series of milk tests were continued the object being to show if it were possible to increase the percentage of fat or total solids in milk from a number of cows by increasing the amount of meal fed daily. A full report of the work was delivered to you and the conclusions went to indicate ....  These tests together with office work occupied my time up to the 9th of May at which time an application having been made to you by Mr D Derbyshire President of the Creameries Association of Ontario and Mr Wm Eager President of the Dairymen's Association of Eastern Ontario for a person to take up the Dairy School work for Eastern Ontario I at your request and in accordance with arrangements made by you with Messrs. Derbyshire and Eager reported at Brockville on the 9th of May and for the next five months my time was occupied in carrying out the work as mapped and supervised by the executive of the Dairymen's Association of Eastern Ontario. The object of the work for which a grant had been made by the Ontario Government was the establishment of a Dairy School at a central point in Eastern Ontario where all cheese makers dairymen and all persons interested could attend and receive instructions in the most approved methods of making cheese in the different months of the season, the testing of milk with the Babcock and lactometer, and any other desired information. Owing to the large area to be covered extending from Lancaster on the east to Port Hope, Lindsay and Peterborough on the west it was not deemed advisable to establish this school at any one point but to have the school go from one centre to another and thus bring it within reach of every one. It was also arranged to hold meetings of dairymen wherever desired and we were thus enabled to give some practical talks on this most important home end of the industry along the lines of lessening the cost of production by a better system of feeding and breeding the care of milk by thorough aeration and the absolute necessity for cleanliness in all matters pertaining to the dairy. ..... I covered the ground twice visiting Brockville, Morrisburg, Gananoque, Kingston, Napanee. Belleville, Campbellford, Peterborough, Lindsay, and Port Hope districts visiting in all 184 factories met with 244 cheese makers and held 20 meetings at which nearly 1,500 dairymen attended. I am hopeful that the money and time spent were and will be productive of good results. ....."
Attached is a picture of J B Ballantyne taken about the time of this report. 

James Ballantyne MacEwan and the cheese industry

James Ballantyne MacEwan the seventh child of John and Agnes McEwan was 15 at the time of the 1881 census. He was living in the fieldstone house overlooking Black Creek along with his parents and six other siblings including his married 28 year old brother Alexander whose wife Mary was expecting their first child in the Fall.  John McEwan the originator of the clan was now 60 and his wife Agnes was 55. The census listed James and his younger brother Arthur as attending school.  I suspect that meant the local elementary school.  (The closest secondary school would have been in Stratford, and given the distance and the expense of boarding in town, I imagine that secondary school was not possible.)  There is evidence that the McEwan boys spent much time at the Black Creek cheese factory which was built on the corner of their property.  Some years later  James reminisced: "I started to learn the business of cheese making when a mere boy. I was in the Ingersoll district and was taught to cool the milk.  I remember that one season our maker never put water to the milk or cooled it in any way and the cheese had that beautiful nutty flavor so much desired and so seldom realized." (Attached is a picture of the cheese factory where James learned his skills.)

 By the spring of 1991 James was living in Stratford in a Hotel where he was one of close to 20 lodgers. The census lists his occupation as a Cheese B__ er.  ( I cannot decipher the word. See picture. Any ideas?)  By this time James' uncle Thomas Ballantyne was a member of the Ontario Legislature and a leader in the Dairymen's Association where he continued his strong advocacy for an apprenticeship system for cheese makers, the creation of dairy schools for training and an inspection and supervision system for cheese factories.  As part of his continued involvement in cheese making Thomas Ballantyne was the first to introduce the Babcock system for testing the butterfat content of milk. It may be that Thomas Ballantyne had a part to play in the job in Ottawa for which James (Mac) MacEwan was hired in 1891.  In a report to the federal Minister of Agriculture prepared by the Dairy Commissioner for the Dominion of Canada dated Ottawa, 30th January 1891. The Commissioner notes that the paper would also contain an report from J B MacEwan in which:

 "1. Mr MacEwan reports on the work of testing milk by the Babcock tester at the dairy on the Central Experimental Farm

2. He was released from his engagement as one of my assistants for five months of the summer in order to act as dairy instructor for the Dairymen's Association of Eastern Ontario, He visited 184 cheese factories met 244 cheese makers and held 20 meetings

 3. He reports on certain faults which he found prevalent in connection with cheese factories and cheese making, He states that he observed the effects of very much carelessness as to condition and appearance of the buildings and that he found a tendency on the part of cheese makers to over ripen the milk before adding the rennet

 4. He reports on the work at the butter making station at Wellman's Corners Ont of which he was put in charge after he returned from his leave of absence. The Dairy Station was used in some measure as a school of instruction during the winter. Twenty three cheese makers visited it during the winter to learn something of the art of making butter He attended 12 meetings. Reference to the work which they severally did in Ontario during part of the season will be found also in the reports of Messrs T J Dillon PEI C C Macdonald Quebec and E Cornett Manitoba".

 In the next blog I will include portions of James' report:  A report demonstrating his ability to write in a style reflective of his intelligence and the quality of his education. 

M(a)cEwans and cheese (pt. 4)

The Black Creek cheese factory was originally a cooperative with the local farmers providing the capital.  “in 1868 the price of cheese dropped suddenly and the industry briefly contracted.  As the number of Black Creek’s patrons tumbled from 120 to 30, Ballantyne sold his farm and with the help of a provincial grant, bought the factory outright” (Dictionary of Canadian Biography).  Of course, it would be interesting to know whether John McEwan and all the Ballantyne connections were patrons of the factory and whether they lost money in the contraction of 1868 but I have never heard any stories of disagreements over the factory.  During this period there was potential for a large export market to Britain but only if cheese of consistent quality and volume could be produced. The factory system was central to this vision and Ballantyne became a strong advocate for training skilled cheesemakers and demanding the highest standard of cleanliness and sanitation. Gordon’s father John drew milk from neighbouring farmers to the Black Creek Factory. Here is a story told by Gordon many years later.  It illustrates the challenges that Thomas Ballantyne faced in insuring the highest quality of professionalism in his factory.  “On John’s (i.e. John McEwan the grandson of the original John) route was a half-mad woman, who had won for herself acclaim by chasing the tax collector to the road at the end of a pitch-fork.  My fearful recollection of her was a slim, supple-looking woman with gray hair piled in a myriad of wisps about her face and tied in a knot at the back of her head.  Wild eyes indicated the dangers to be discovered in this strange and dangerous woman who appeared to wear the same apparel at all times – a woollen upper-garment, a pair of rubber boots and a piece of filthy sacking strapped to her waist by binder-twine. One morning, John picked up her milk as usual but when the cheesemaker was examining the first can, he discovered an errant cat had tumbled in to meet a milky death.  The cheesemaker holding the milk-drenched feline gingerly turned to John and said. “Well, Jack, you have the welcome job of taking her milk back to her.  We’ll bury the cat.” You can imagine that John quickly deposited the cans on her milk-stand that day and sped the horses on their way. However, the story is not done because the next morning as his team trotted westward, he noted her cans plus the mistress of the estate gathered by her milk-stand.  As the team was pulled to a halt, she went straight to the point: “McEwan, why did you bring my milk home yesterday?” John told the story attempting, if possible, to mollify her and let her see the reason of the happening.  When he had finished, she summarized her position clearly and finally: “McEwan, if you ever bring my milk home again, I’ll put the dung fork through you.” Then, having stated her case, she strode into the house.  John, however, found a way of placating her.  When her milk was considered unfit by the factory, John dumped it into the ditch and filled the cans with whey and because she could  neither read nor do mathematics she simply cashed her cheque"and life carried on.  The attached internet picture from an unknown factory is what it may have looked like as the driver's pulled up to unload their milk at the cheese factory.
Addendum: I now realize that Gordon's cat story above is from a later period when the factory had been transferred in ownership to Thomas' son William Wallace Ballantyne.  

The M(a)cEwan's and cheese in Perth County (pt.3)

By the 1860's the initial land-clearing/setting-up-home phase of pioneer settlement was largely complete in Downie Township in Upper Canada.  The Agriculture and Personal Census of 1861 creates a portrait of an establishing community with solid farms, a range of denominational churches, tuition-free public schools and a growing urban society able to pay for farm produce.  John McEwan who had married into the Ballantyne clan in 1847 as a 28 year old Scottish moulder, now owned 150  acres of land, at least a third of which was cleared and on which he grew a variety of crops. He was the father of growing family ranging in age from Robert who was 12, Alex (age 9 ), Janet (age 7), Mary (age 4), and Johnnie who was a baby. It is very likely that John owned several Ayshire cows, a breed which originated in Scotland and had been steadily developed in Canada West.  The milk from the cows would be churned by Agnes into butter for home consumption. On some farms the milk was also used to produce cheese. Of course, there was a ready market for any excess butter or cheese in the growing urban centre of Stratford. There are family stories of Fordyce Murray (Agnes McEwan's younger sister) regularly walking from Avonton to Stratford, a distance of about 12 kl. to sell her butter at the Stratford market.  Already, in Oxford county to the south there were examples of two farm women with herds of cows who were producing cheese on a relatively large scale for sell in the surrounding urban centres of London or Woodstock.  The huge British market was also a potential export market for cheese.

 In 1861 Thomas Ballantyne (Agnes McEwan's brother-in-law) had recently resigned his position as a school teacher and had bought a 50 acre farm in the eastern part of Downie Township. He was 31 years old and the father of two children.  He was active in municipal politics being first the auditor and later the clerk of the township. In July, 1867 he travelled south to Ingersoll in Oxford County to attend a gathering at which he was elected as a vice-president of the newly-formed Dairymen's Association. Among other things the association was dedicated to the improvement of the science of cheese making in Canada West.  The same year - 1867- Thomas established the Black Creek Cheese Factory on McEwan property in Downie Township.  During this period several members of the Ballantyne clan played significant role in the breeding and improvement of Ayrshire cows which, of course, was central to the development of the dairy industry in Canada West. I have attached a picture from a later era of several prize Ayrshire cows owned by Robert Ballantyne and sold at the Guelph market.

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.)