The First John McEwan

John McEwan who was born in Glasgow in 1819 was the originator of the McEwan clan in Perth County. Gordon tells the story that John and his brother Arthur  (footnote 2017: I wonder whether the name should be George) came by boat to Goderich and then walked east toward Stratford. Arthur stopped in Huron County while John walked on into Perth where he met the Ballantynes. While that story may be accurate, the registration of John's marriage to Agnes Ballantyne in 1847 lists John's residence as being Toronto, and his witness John McGaelin as also being from Toronto.   After their marriage, John and Agnes settled in the extreme west of Downie Township on the border of Fullarton Township. Black Creek ran through the McEwan property and it was on this land that the Black Creek Cheese Factory was built by John's brother-in-law Thomas Ballantyne. Although the cheese factory has disappeared, the square fieldstone house of the McEwans still sits overlooking the valley of Black Creek. (Below is a picture of how the house appears currently.) While John's obituary paints the picture of a staid man who was a devote member of the Presbyterian Church and a staunch reformer in politics, family stories reveal a more colourful character. Here, in Gordon's words, are a couple of stories passed down by Gordon's father Jack. "Besides being afraid of the Lord, John had a healthy respect for trains that thundered east and west along the track that crossed the Fullarton-Downie road to link Stratford and Goderich. To people of another generation, it is difficult to visualize the fear that horses had of the train as it raced across country spitting out sparks with smoke belching from its stack. Also great forests blocked one's vision and it was a real fear that the horse and driver might reach the track at the same moment as the train roared by.
To guard against such happenings, John used to get Agnes to run ahead of the horse which he stopped a long distance from the track. After Agnes had checked carefully in both directions for oncoming trains, she would give the "all clear" signal and John would urge the horse onward at as speedy a pace as could be mustered, cross the rails, pick up Agnes and hurry on to what was a zone of safety. Agnes would shop at the village store, wait for John to leave the bar and set herself patiently in the buggy for the homeward ride.
Undoubtedly, John would be in an expansive mood and I am certain his countenance would not wear that grim, dour look which he wears in the only picture of him that I have seen. As they turned southward and began to approach the dreaded railroad track, Agnes realized that John was doing nothing to abate the speed of the steed. Their conversation is recorded as being something like this:
Agnes: "We're coming close to the track, John!"
John: "Aye"
Agnes: "Do you want me to get out and look after the train?"
John: "Let the train look after itself, Agnes! Get up Prince!"
(more John McEwan stories next time.)

Birthday Celebration

On one occasion at least, Gordon planned a special birthday celebration for Lois. This one occurred after Gordon had retired from teaching. They had travelled to Arizona to vist their friends Clare and Gwen Odbert who spent several months each year in the south. Gordon organized the party on his own, something which he would find difficult and something with which he had little experience. A big group of their friends: the Douglases, the two Somervilles, the Aitchesons, the Bill Douglases, and the Betteridges were all invited. One of the small gifts given to Lois was this small candy dish from Chips and Charlie Betteridge. The Bettridges had a cottage at the Bend next to the cottage which Gordon and Lois rented for several years. On one of their trips out from the Bend Gordon and Lois had purchased a new set of dishes which carried a thistle pattern. The Bettridges had either been part of the purchase or had been shown the purchase. In any case, Chips remembered the pattern and gave this dish to Lois as a birthday gift.

Lois' 30th Birthday

March is Lois' birthday month. Here are two of the birthday cards which she received for her thirtieth birthday in 1944. The first is from her mother-in-law Beanie. Inside the card there is a letter in which Beanie relates the story of her trip to Windsor to attend the funeral of her older brother Alex, a rather handsome man who in his younger days had a head of dark curly hair. Alex was a baker. He and his wife Alice moved to Windsor in the era when Windsor was a booming city with its car plants, its industry and its proximity to Detroit. Beanie relates that she travelled with her sister Alice and her brother-in-law Charlie who did the driving (I don't believe that either of the women had a license.) I presume they drove in Charlie's Model A. On the trip home they left Windsor at 12:30 a.m. and did not arrive back in Stratford until 6 a.m., having travelled all night. No wonder Beanie complained of being tired.

The second card is from Lois's Aunt Ada, her father's sister. Here is what it looked like.

Peat as a Fuel Source in the 1930s

Peat was the fuel burned in the kitchen of Jack and Beanie McEwan. Each Fall Jack would drive out to the Ellice Swamp where he would purchase a load of peat. Peat came as round cylinder-shaped tubes of densely compacted, dry vegetation. Jack would store the peat in the cellar where it could be brought up in a kettle to be burned in the kitchen stove throughout the winter. Of course they had no furnace. The pipe from the peat stove which went up through the ceiling to the second floor provided the only source of heat for the remainder of the house: small wonder that everyone gathered in the kitchen on cold winter evenings. Lois remembers that the peat burned very hot and that resulted in problems for the grates in the stove. Lois' second recollection was that peat was a dusty and dirty fuel. According to a recent article in the Stratford Beacon Herald, ( 7 Jan 09) William Leasa was producing peat in the Ellice swamp outside of Gads Hill on a commercial basis as early as 1835. "Mr Leasa invented a machine which greatly facilitated the production of peat as a commercial fuel. The harvested peat was put into a mixer which ground it into a powder. Once properly mixed it was forced by pressure through three tubes and as it came out it was chopped into six-inch lengths by the workmen." (p. 5). When Lois married Gordon in 1937 the McEwan farm home was split into two parts and Lois got a proper cook stove in which they did not burn peat. In any case, the use of peat as a source of heat was weakening. By the late 1940s, according to the article in the Beacon Herald, " the demand for peat as a fuel had waned and the land was sold to the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority which has since reforested it." On the left is a picture from the Stratford Archives of peat harvesters in Ellice Township in the 1890's.

Mae Hearn's apron

For Christmas this year I was given a red-striped apron with a bib and long apron strings that can be pulled around and tied in front. When I put on my new apron for the first time I was reminded of a story which Lois sometimes tells about her mother's apron. Mae Hearn, had a reputation for being a hard-working and meticulous housekeeper who always wore a white apron. Here is a picture taken about 1932 showing Mae in her apron. Whenever visitors dropped in unexpectedly, Mae would greet them at the door in an apron that looked as clean and fresh as if she had just put it on. The apron was so suspiciously white that someone once suggested that Mae must keep an unused, clean apron hanging by the kitchen door to be used whenever visitors appeared unexpectedly. Lois, however, says that there never was a fresh, "visitor-ready" apron hanging by the side door. The explanation is even more simple. Unlike some of her descendants, Mae was not a messy spiller-type cook. While my apron will very quickly show signs of my cooking and greasy hand-wipes, Mae was able to keep hers spotlessly white.
Post script June 2017: I have recently recalled an addendum to this story.  Lois explained that it was Mae's sister-in-law Minnie Hern (herself a meticulous housekeeper) who first expressed the believe that Mae must have had a fresh apron hanging by the door in case visitors appeared. On one occasion, however, when Minnie stopped in her sister-in-law Mae was not to be found. Minnie found Mae in the basement where Mae stored all her canned fruit. And the apron was as white and clean as if she had just put it on!