The Pioneer History Of Stephenson Township By Enid Brown

Tombstone of well known entertainer Smiley Bates in the St. Thomas Anglican Church Cemetery in Ullswater.
(Photo By Fred Schulz)

The cemetery at St. Thomas Anglican Church at Ullswater was filled with some wonderful history. (Photo By Fred Schulz)

RARE MUSKOKA BOOKS AND JOURNALS ARE ALWAYS IN DEMAND - I WANT THESE OBSCURE HISTORIES - HAVE ANY TO LOAN?

MY QUEST FOR THE FOLKLORE OF MUSKOKA, AND THE RAREST OF RARE REGIONAL DIARIES, BOOKLETS AND DOCUMENTS

     I HAVE IN FRONT OF ME TODAY, A RARE MUSKOKA HISTORY, GIVEN TO ME BY AN OLD FRIEND, CAROL SCHOLEY, OF BRACEBRIDGE, ENTITLED "STEPHENSON TOWNSHIP; ITS FOUNDERS AND EARLY CHURCH LIFE, 1868-1957," BY MRS. ENID BROWN, (FORMERLY EDID HANES) OF UTTERSON, ONTARIO. IT WAS A LIMITED PRINTING, WITH A STAPLE BINDING, RELEASED IN 1958, BY THE WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION OF UTTERSON UNITED CHURCH. CAROL, A FORMER TEACHER AT BRACEBRIDGE HIGH SCHOOL, AND ONE OF THE FINE FOLKS I WORKED WITH AT WOODCHESTER VILLA AND MUSEUM, INSISTED I READ THIS WONDERFUL LITTLE HISTORY, PRIMARILY OF THE CHURCHES AND HAMLETS IN STEPHENSON TOWNSHIP, FOR A FEATURE ARTICLE IN THE MUSKOKA SUN. WELL, TRUTH BE KNOWN, SHE DIDN'T LEAVE IT AS A SUGGESTION. SHE TOLD ME I WAS DOING IT, BECAUSE IT'S WHAT REGIONAL HISTORIANS WERE SUPPOSED TO DO, WHEN HANDED SOMETHING SO RARE AND INTERESTING. I WAS EDITOR OF THE MUSKOKA SUN THEN, AND THE MANAGING EDITOR, BOB BOYER, WAS RAVENOUS FOR FEATURE COPY. WE WERE RUNNING HUGE PAPERS IN THOSE DAYS, AND THERE WAS A HONKING BIG WHITE SPACE TO FILL EACH WEEK. CAROL AND BOB WERE FRIENDS, BUT SOMEHOW SHE NEVER MENTIONED THE BOOK TO HIM…..OR HE'D HAVE BADGERED ME UNTIL IT WAS WRITTEN INTO A SERIES OF ARTICLES. I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY HISTORIANS CAN LAY CLAIM TO THE "PUSHING" AND "DEMANDING" THAT I HAD EXPERIENCED FROM  MENTORS, DURING MY APPRENTICESHIP, BUT PAINFULLY, OVER MANY YEARS, IT WORKED FOR ME THEN, AND NOW.

     CAROL WAS RIGHT, AS SHE OFTEN WAS, BUT SOMEHOW, IN THE FOG OF RUNNING A MUSEUM AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET, AND WITHOUT STAFF, I JUST TUCKED THE SMALL YELLOW-COVERED BOOKLET IN AN ARCHIVES TRAY, AND CARRIED ON BEING A NEW FATHER AND A STRESSED OUT MANAGER. DID I MENTION EDITOR AS WELL. CAROL DIED SOME YEARS BACK AND FOR YEARS, I'VE HAD THIS GNAWING FEELING, THAT SHE WAS TRYING TO REMIND ME FROM THE OTHER SIDE, THAT I HAD BEEN RIDICULOUSLY TARDY, PROMOTING THE WORK OF MRS. BROWN. SO I WENT LOOKING FOR IT LAST NIGHT, AFTER FEELING HER SPIRIT POKING AT ME TO FINALLY "GET CRACKING," AND WITHIN TEN MINUTES, I'D PULLED IT OUT OF A BOOKSHELF WHERE MY WIFE HAD TRANSPLANTED IT, WHEN I DOWNSIZED MY BOOK COLLECTION RECENTLY. THANK GOD SHE KNEW WHERE IT WAS, OR CAROL, AS SHE USED TO IN LIFE, WOULD HAVE EVEN GOT ON SUZANNE'S CASE, AS A WHISP OF SPIRITUAL WIND, TO LOCATE THIS SIGNIFICANT REGIONAL HISTORY. WE HAVE A LOT OF SPIRITUAL INTERACTIONS HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, LET ME TELL YOU, SO IF YOU THINK THIS IS ODD, OR WEIRDLY PARANORMAL, I COULD MAKE YOUR HEAD SPIN WITH THE SUCCESSION OF STRANGE COINCIDENCES; THAT ALWAYS SEEM TO OCCUR IN VOLUME, WHEN SUZANNE AND I BEGIN WORKING ON MUSKOKA HERITAGE PROJECTS. THIS IS SMALL BANANAS, BUT AS WE RELATED TO CAROL, FROM THE MEMORIES OF WHEN WE WORKED TOGETHER, WE JUST PUT OUR HEADS TOGETHER TO RETRIEVE IT; BECAUSE WE WERE GENUINELY NERVOUS OF HER BRAND OF HAUNTING. SHE DEFINED THE WORD "STALWART," AND WE WERE, FOR A LOT OF YEARS, ON THE RECEIVING END OF THOSE UNFALTERING EFFORTS TO MAKE THE MUSEUM, EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE AND DYNAMIC. I ONCE ASKED FORMER HISTORICAL SOCIETY PRESIDENT, AND WOODCHESTER VILLA FOUNDER, WHAT NAME CAME TO FIRST, IN HIS RETROSPECTIVES OF THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE. "CAROL SCHOLEY….NO DOUBT ABOUT IT," HE SAID. "SHE ALWAYS HAD JOBS FOR ME. ALWAYS."

     AS A SIDEBAR NOTE TO THIS, CAROL SCHOLEY WAS A BRILLIANT, AGGRESSIVE, AMBITIOUS WOMAN, WHO CAME TO LIVE ON A STEEP HILLSIDE, NEAR SANTA'S VILLAGE, IN BRACEBRIDGE, SHE CALLED THE HILLSIDE "MOSSY MOUNT HOLLOW," WHERE SHE WAS A SORT OF MODERN DAY HOMESTEADER, WITH BEE COLONIES, THE DOGS SHE LOVED, AND THE NECESSARY ARMAMENTS TO DO BATTLE WITH BLACK BEARS, THAT CAME TOO NEAR HER HIVES. SHE SHOT ONE OF THE INTRUDERS THAT BEGAN SHOWING AN INTEREST IN JOINING HER FOR A SIT-DOWN DINNER, IN THE HOUSE SHE BASICALLY BUILT FROM THE FOUNDATION UP. SHE DIDN'T WANT TO DO THIS, BECAUSE SHE WAS VERY ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE. ONE DAY, WHEN WE LIVED NEAR BANGOR LODGE, ON GOLDEN BEACH ROAD, SHE CALLED ME IN THE MORNING, TO COME OVER TO THE HOUSE, AND BRING WHATEVER PAILS I COULD FIND. WE WERE GOING ON A HUNT. I DECIDED, THAT DAY, TO BRING SON ANDREW, BECAUSE I SORT OF THOUGHT WE WERE GOING BERRY PICKING. WHEN WE GOT THERE, SHE HAD HER SOCKS PULLED UP OVER HER TROUSERS, AND HER  SLEEVES DOWN, AND SHIRT DONE UP TO THE TOP BUTTON. AND A HAT. A CRUMPLED WHITE CLOTH HAT DOWN OVER HER EARS. THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE TIP-OFF, THIS WAS NOT GOING TO BE AN AVERAGE BERRY PICKING VENTURE. "IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO WEAR, TO HIKE DOWN IN THE HOLLOW," SHE ASKED. KEEP IN MIND IT WAS THE LATE SPRING AND THE BUGS WERE WILD. "WHY," I ASKED. "WE'RE GOING DOWN INTO THE SWAMP," SHE SAID. "YOU'D BETTER PUT SOMETHING ELSE ON ANDREW OR HE'S GOING TO BE EATEN ALIVE." THIS, I THOUGHT, WOULD BE GOOD FOR SUZANNE TO KNOW, WHEN I BRING BACK A SKELETON, INSTEAD OF THE CHILD SHE GAVE BIRTH.

     CAROL BEGAN AT THE LEVEL OF SANTA'S VILLAGE ROAD, AND ALL I REMEMBER HER SAYING, WAS "FOLLOW ME," AND THE REST WAS A BLUR. CAROL, AT THAT TIME, WAS IN HER LATE SIXTIES, AND WAS LEAPING LIKE A MOUNTAIN GOAT, FROM PLATFORM TO PLATFORM, WHICH WAS OFTEN JUST A LOOSE MOUND OF ROCKS, OR A DECAYING LOG MORPHING INTO SOIL. SUCH, THAY WHEN I FOLLOWED HER, THE LANDING SPOT HAD BEEN KNOCKED INTO THE GORGE. ANDREW AND I STUMBLED AND FELL, AND I EVEN MANAGED A SMALL TUMBLE, TRYING TO FOLLOW THIS HALF-MORTAL, HALF WILD ANIMAL, DOWN INTO WHAT I CAN ONLY DESCRIBE, AS THE MOST PRIMAL PLACE I'D EVER BEEN IN MUSKOKA. IT WAS AS IF, AT ANY MOMENT, A DINOSAUR COULD COME CRASHING THROUGH THE VINES AND PRICKLY SHRUBS IN THAT TROPICAL BASIN,  SEEMINGLY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD. SO WHY WERE WE THERE? WELL SIR, CAROL INSISTED THAT WE PLANT ALL THE WOODCHESTER FLOWERS OURSELVES, IN ORDER TO SPARE OUR BUDGET EXTRA MONEY, AT THE GREENHOUSE, WHERE WE USUALLY SHOPPED EACH SPRING. WE'D BUY THE FLOWERS FROM THEM, PUT MAKE UP THE PLANTERS OURSELVES. GOODY. THERE WERE PROBABLY TWENTY LARGE PLANTERS HANGING AROUND THE VERANDAH OF WOODCHESTER, AND SHE OFFICIATED THE PREPARATION OF EACH AND EVERY ONE. WHAT WE WERE GATHERING ON THIS INTERESTING ODYSSEY, WAS I BELIEVE, A SPAGNUM MOSS IN THE ROUGH, AND IT WAS AMAZING HOW MUCH OF THIS STUFF WAS GROWING AROUND THE BASIN. THE MOSS WAS USED FOR THE BOTTOM OF THE PLANTERS, WHICH REPLACED THE MORE CONVENTIONAL PLASTIC PAILS BEING SOLD BY MOST GARDEN CENTERS. SHE WANTED VICTORIAN LOOKING DECORATION FOR THE BUILDING, BUT DIDN'T WANT TO PAY THE EXTRA COST. SO WE SAVED ON THE MOSS. WE HAD BUCKETS OF THE MOSS, AND MADE FOUR OR FIVE TRIPS DOWN INTO THE STEAM QUAGMIRE OF NATURAL HISTORY, BEFORE SHE FINALLY DECLARED, "TED, I BELIEVE WE HAVE ENOUGH TO DO ALL THE BASKETS." ANDREW WAS ACTUALLY THRILLED BY ALL THIS NATURAL DISCOVERY IMMERSION, BUT I WAS CUT, BRUISED, AND HAD BEEN SHOWN UP BY THE RIGORS OF A MID-SIXTIES "TORNADO," OF A WOMAN. LET ME TELL YOU, IF HER SPIRIT WAS EVEN HALF AS STRONG AS SHE WAS BODILY, IN LIFE, NO WONDER I FEEL HER PRESENCE, CATCHING ME UP ON MY CHORES…..MY PROMISE MADE A LONG TIME AGO. SO HERE ARE A FEW LINES FROM THE BOOK SHE GAVE ME, ABOUT A PIONEER TIME IN OUR REGION, THAT I SUPPOSE, LOOKED AN AWFUL LOT LIKE WHAT WE SAW THAT DAY, WAY, WAY BELOW, MOSSY MOUNT HOLLOW. CAROL BY THE WAY, WAS WELL VERSED ON LOCAL HISTORY, BECAUSE OF THE SCHOLEY FAMILY, WHO HAD A BEAUTIFUL HERITAGE FARM JUST OFF SANTA'S VILLAGE ROAD.

STEPHENSON TOWNSHIP

     IN THE WORDS OF THE AUTHOR, EDID BROWN:  "IN WRITING THE HISTORY OF OUR LITTLE CHURCH, SITUATED IN THE VILLAGE OF UTTERSON, TOWNSHIP OF STEPHENSON, I THOUGHT THAT I COULD WRITE OR GIVE A FEW FACTS ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR TOWNSHIP; HOW IT CAME TO BE A TOWNSHIP; HOW IT DERIVED ITS NAME AND SO ON.

     "I HAVE GIVEN CONSIDERABLE TIME TO READING IN AN OLD DIARY OF MATHIAS MOORE, FALKENBURG (NORTH OF BRACEBRIDGE), MEMBER OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE OLD UNITED TOWNSHIPS OF DRAPER, MACAULEY, STEPHENSON AND RYDE. MR. MOORE HAS STATED IN ONE OF HIS WRITINGS, IN HIS DIARY, THAT ON JANUARY 20, 1868, THERE WAS HELD THE FIRST COUNCIL MEETING OF THE UNITED TOWNSHIPS. AFTER A GOOD DEAL OF DISCUSSION, SCHOOLS WERE CONSIDERED, AND THE BYLAWS OF THE UNITED TOWNSHIPS WERE MADE. STEPHENSON TOWNSHIP WAS NAMED FOR ROBERT STEPHENSON, A CIVIL ENGINEER, WHO DESIGNED THE VICTORIA TUBULAR BRIDGE, MONTREAL, THE GREATEST CANADIAN BRIDGE OF ITS TIME. ONE OF THE BYLAWS OF THIS NEWLY FORMED COUNCIL OF THE FOUR TOWNSHIPS AND THE ONLY ONCE CONCERNING STEPHENSON, WAS THE APPOINTMENT OF JERIMIAH HANES, AS TAX COLLECTOR AT A SALARY OF TEN DOLLARS A YEAR."

     "ALL MUNICIPALITIES WEST OF THE LINE WERE IN SIMCOE COUNTY, AND THEIR REEVES SAT IN THE COUNTY COUNCIL OF THAT COUNTY, WHICH MET IN BARRIE, THE COUNTY TOWN. AS LATE AS THE INCORPORATION OF BRACEBRIDGE, AS A TOWN, THAT OLD SYSTEM WAS STILL IN EFFECT. READING FROM SOUTH TO NORTH, RYDE, DRAPER, MACAULAY AND STEPHENSON, AND THE THEN UNINCORPORATED TOWNSHIP OF STISTED, FORMED THE MOST WESTERLY ROW OF TOWNSHIPS, WITHIN THE VICTORIA COUNTY PART OF MUSKOKA.

     THE REGIONAL HISTORIAN WRITES, "IN 1868 THERE WAS NOT A MILE OF RAILROAD IN MUSKOKA, AND ALL TRAFFIC MOVED OVER ROUGH WAGON ROADS EXCEPT THAT IN THE SUMMER THERE WAS STEAM NAVIGATION, BETWEEN GRAVENHURST AND BRACEBRIDGE, PER THE SIDE-WHEELER, WENONAH, AN INDIAN WORD MEANING 'FIRST BORN DAUGHTER." THAT STEAMBOAT WAS OPERATEDD BY WHAT IS NOW CALLED THE MUSKOKA LAKES LINE, AND MADE HER FIRST TRIP FROM MCCABE'S BAY, GRAVENHURST, TO NORTH FALLS, BRACEBRIDGE, IN 1866." THIS IS INTERESTING, BECAUSE HER BOOK WAS WRITTEN IN THE LATE 1850'S, BUT THE REFERENCE POINT OF MCCABE'S BAY AND NORTH FALLS, SUGGESTS AMONGST MUSKOKANS, A LINGERING DISSATISFACTION WITH THE NAMING OF BOTH VILLAGE POST OFFICES, BY FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANT, WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR. LESUEUR OF COURSE, RULED AGAINST THE SUBMITTED NAME OF MCCABE'S BAY, WHEN APPLICATION WAS MADE FOR A POST OFFICE, INSTEAD GRANTING THE TITLE, "GRAVENHURST," BORROWED FROM THE TITLE OF A BOOK, WRITTEN BY WILLIAM HENRY SMITH, A POET / PHILOSOPHER, IN BRITAIN. IN 1864, LESUEUR DID IT AGAIN, WHEN HE DENIED THE CITIZENS OF NORTH FALLS, THE RIGHT TO USE THAT NAME, FOR THEIR POST OFFICE; GETTING INSTEAD, A NAME TAKEN FROM A BOOK WRITTEN BY AMERICAN AUTHOR, WASHINGTON IRVING, KNOWN AS "BRACEBRIDGE HALL." LESUEUR HAD HIS REASONS, WHICH I'VE WRITTEN EXTENSIVELY ABOUT, BUT IT'S JUST INTERESTING TO NOTE, THAT ALMOST A HUNDRED YEARS AFTER THE FACT, ENID BROWN STILL FELT IT NECESSARY TO PUT THE CAST-OFF NAMES FIRST, IN HER HERITAGE ROUND-UP.

     "TO THE NORTH OF UTTERSON WAS ANOTHER SMALL VILLAGE BY THE NAME OF LANCELOT, AT ONE TIME QUITE A LIVELY VILLAGE WITH POST OFFICE, ANGLICAN CHURCH AND SCHOOL. RESIDENTS AROUND LANCELOT WERE BROWNS, HIGGINS, WEBBERS, GRIFFITHS, HORNINGS, MARTINS, BALLS, KINGS, NELSONS, MITCHELS AND HALLS. ALLANSVILLE, NAMED AFTER ALLAN MACNICOL, IS STILL ANOTHER SMALL COMMUNITY TO THE NORTH-EAST OF UTTERSON. IT IS AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN A FARMING COMMUNITY. EARLY RESIDENTS OF THAT COMMUNITY WERE ALLAN MCNICOL, SEVERAL NICHOLS' FAMILIES, JOHNSTONES, CAMPBELLS, LASTS, MULVANEYS, PREBBLES, HOWARDS, PROUDFOOTS, BULLENS, WILLIAM ARTHUR, MCMILLAN, BRADLEY, SNELL, NOTTAGE, HARES, ALCOCKS AND TULLYS. THERE WAS ANOTHER SETTLEMENT TO THE NORTH CALLED MADILLS, WHERE A LOG CHURCH WAS ERECTED AT AN EARLY DATE, AND WHERE MORE THAN ONE FAMILY OF MADILLS LIVED. BETWEEN ALLANSVILLE AND LANCELOT IN THE EARLY DAYS, NAMES SUCH AS CASWELL, BENTLEY, MATCHET, HEMMING, GARVIN, AND TURNER ARE RECORDED. A SMALL LAKE NEAR THE NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE TOWNSHIP IS CALLED ROUND LAKE. SEVERAL FAMILIES OF BRAYS LIVED HERE AT AN EARLY DATE, AND SOME ARE STILL THERE."

     SHE WRITES, "TO THE SOUTH OF UTTERSON IS A SMALL HAMLET CALLED PARKERSVILLE. AT ONE TIME IT WAS MUCH LARGER THAN IT IS TODAY. IT BOASTED OF A NICE LITTLE METHODIST CHURCH WITH QUITE A GOOD CONGREGATION. PARKERSVILLE WAS SO NAMED AFTER A WILLIAM PARKER, AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN FARMER AND LUMBERMAN, WHO WITH HIS WIFE AND FAMILY OF FIVE SONS AND A DAUGHTER, LIVED IN THE VICINITY OF PARKERSVILLE. BETWEEN PARKERSVILLE AND UTTERSON, AND TO THE SOUTH CLOSE TO THE MACAULAY TOWN LINE, SOME OF THE EARLY SETTLERS WERE T.H. OSBORNE, W. MONTGOMERY, J. BOYD, JACOB INCH, WILLIAM OLIVER, WILLIAM CHALMERS, J. FAULKNER, P. HUNTER, JAS. MCCANUS, D. HOGABOAM, JOHN WILSON, HIRAM ADAMS, REASINS, CHAS. WINTERS (WHO MAY HAVE SERVED IN THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR), AND MACKS. BELOW PORT SYDNEY AROUND DEER LAKE, WERE THE JAMES MACDONALDS, ESSONS, HUGHS, KNEESHAWS, THEOBALD, GARDINERS AND JAMES KAY. SOME EARLY SETTLERS IN AND AROUND PORT SYDNEY WERE JENNERS, ADDISONS, RUMBALS, KNEESHAWS, GARDINERS, MAINHOODS, ROPERS, KAYHS, THOMS, LADEL, CLARKS, THEOBALD, NICKASSON; COMING WEST TOWARD UTTERSON WERE THE BROWNS, HOGABOAM, BAYLEE, SCARLETT AND DANIEL BAIN.

     "UTTERSON DERIVED ITS NAME FROM FOUR NAMES SENT-IN BY THE POST MASTER AT THAT TIME, NAMELY UTTERSON, ULSWATER, UFFORD AND UFFINGTON. UTTERSON WAS CHOSEN FOR OUR LITTLE VILLAGE, THE OTHER NAMES GOING TO SISTER POST OFFICES. THE MAIL CAME IN BY STAGE FROM GRAVENHURST AND LATER FROM BRACEBRIDGE. A STAGE AND FREIGHT LINE ALSO CONTINUED ON TO PARRY SOUND THREE DAYS A WEEK, AND AS FAR NORTH AS BURK'S FALLS, THE ROUTE THEN GOING BY WAY OF ASPDIN, STANLEYDALE AND HALDANE. MR. E. HANES WAS THE FIRST POSTMASTER OF UTTERSON, THEN MR. ROBERT CREASOR, LATER MR. F.M. JOHNSTON AND NOW (1958) MRS. P.M. JOHNSTON. THE RAILWAY CAME THROUGH UTTERSON IN 1885. THE FIRST STATION WAS ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE TRACKS, ALMOST OPPOSITE THE PRESENT DAY BUILDING. THE ROAD TODAY RUNS BETWEEN APPOLONEYS AND MR. JAS. MCKENZIES, IS THE ORIGINAL ROAD TO PORT SYDNEY. THE RAILWAY WAS CALLED THE N. P. & J. RAILWAY (NORTHERN AND PACIFIC JUNCTION)."

     MRS. BROWN, BEGAN WITH A PREAMBLE APOLOGY ABOUT THE POTENTIAL ERROR OF SOME DATES IN THE TEXT. ONE WOULD GATHER FROM HER EXPLANATION ABOUT THE POST OFFICES, THAT FOUR NAMES WERE ACQUIRED AT ONCE, SENT TO THE POSTMASTER OF THE VILLAGE ,THAT WOULD EVENTUALLY CHOOSE TO ADOPT THE NAME "UTTERSON."  MUSKOKA HAMLETS OF UTTERSON AND UFFINGTON WERE BOTH GRANTED NAMES FOR THEIR FLEDGLING POST OFFICES, IN THE YEAR 1864, THE SAME TIME BRACEBRIDGE GOT ITS NAME FROM WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR. IN THIS CASE, LESUEUR WAS PROBABLY BEHIND THE NAMING, AND HAD USED THE NAMES OF COMMUNITIES FOUND IN GREAT BRITAIN. SIX YEARS LATER, IN 1870,  POST OFFICES WERE NAMED IN ULLSWATER AND UFFORD. THERE IS NO INDICATION IN THE FEDERAL FILE, ON REGIONAL POST OFFICES, WHETHER THE CLAIM BY EDID BROWN IS CORRECT, THAT IT SOMEHOW WAS LEFT TO THE POSTMASTER OF UTTERSON, TO DOLE OUT THE FOUR AUTHORIZED NAMES. THESE KIND OF HISTORICAL QUESTIONS CONTINUALLY ARISE, WHEN LOOKING BACK ON OVERVIEWS WRITTEN BY WELL MEANING AUTHORS, WHO JUST DIDN'T FEEL IT NECESSARY TO REVEAL ALL THEIR SOURCES OF INFORMATION.

     THIS IS JUST ONE EXAMPLE, AMONGST MANY, OF THE KIND OF HISTORICAL BOOKLETS THAT WERE PUBLISHED IN MUSKOKA, FROM THE 1860'S, THAT DESERVE TO BE HIGHLIGHTED IN THIS MODERN ERA. SO MANY ARE RELEGATED TO THE ARCHIVE CABINETS OF LOCAL LIBRARIES AND, PROVINCIAL AND NATIONAL ARCHIVES, BUT SELDOM IF EVER, SOUGHT OUT BY MODERN DAY HISTORIANS…..WHO STILL OWE THEIR FOUNDATION WORK TO GOOD FOLKS LIKE ENID BROWN, WHO WENT FAR OUT OF HER WAY TO DOCUMENTS COMMUNITY AND CHURCH HISTORY IN STEPHENSON TOWNSHIP, OF THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. WE NEED TO BRING THESE BOOKS OUT AGAIN, AND EXPLOIT THE IMPORTANT REVELATIONS THEY CONTAINED, BECAUSE THEY ARE IMPORTANT CHRONICLES TO CONSIDER, AT THIS MUSKOKA CROSSROADS…..WHEN WE NEED TO KNOW MUCH MORE ABOUT THE MUSKOKA IDENTITY…..THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE GIVEN US THIS LEGACY, AS OUR FIRST AND FOUNDING STEWARDS.

CAROL SCHOLEY WAS RIGHT. THIS BOOK IS AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE PUZZLE, TO UNDERSTAND HOW IT ALL BEGAN IN THIS AMAZING AND STORIED REGION OF ONTARIO.

     AND IT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN WRITING ABOUT FOR THE PAST MONTH IN THIS BLOG…..TRYING TO SHED SOME LIGHT, ON AN ALMOST FORGOTTEN REALITY OF OUR HERITAGE, THAT TODAY IS BEING GLOSSED OVER BY THOSE WISHING TO EXPLOIT THE MUSKOKA BRAND FOR CORPORATE PROFIT…..AND INFORMING US, THAT "MIUSKOKA LIFESTYLE," AS IT IS BEING PROMOTED, NO LONGER ANCHORS ON THE PIONEER HERITAGE, ONCE CHERISHED IN THOSE HOMESTEAD NEIGHBORHOODS, WHERE MOST FAMILIES HAD EXTENSIVE FAMILY LINKS TO THOSE CHURCH GRAVEYARDS AND COMMUNITY CEMETERIES….AND IN THE CHURCHES WHERE MODEST ETCHED BRASS PLAQUES ADORNED THE BASE OF STAINED GLASS WINDOWS, NAMED IN MEMORIALS TO COMMUNITY FOUNDERS AND THEIR KIN. I AM OFFENDED THESE DAYS, TO HEAR AND READ ABOUT MUNICIPALITIES TRYING THEIR HAND AT CULTURAL MAPPING. WHEN IN FACT, MOST OF THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE NO IDEA, HOW DEEP AND PROFOUNDLY IMPORTANT THE MAPPING, TO BE COMPLETE, MUST ADHERE, TO PRODUCE ANYTHING THAT WILL HOLD WATER, SO TO SPEAK. WHAT HAS COME FIRST IN THIS REGION IS NOT JUST WHAT APPEARS POPULAR AT PRESENT. THE FACADES CONSTRUCTED TODAY, REMINDS US HISTORICAL TYPES, THAT NOTHING OF SUBSTANCE WHATSOEVER,  IMPRESSES FROM THE INSIDE OUTWARD. IT'S HOLLOWNESS THROUGH AND THROUGH! WHAT THESE ATTEMPTS ACHIEVE, IS NOTHING MORE THAN A BALLOON ATTEMPT TO COVER ALL THE BASES, FAILING TO BE ANYTHING MORE THAN AN OVERVIEW OF POPULAR CULTURE…..NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF CULTURAL HERITAGE FROM THE BEGINNING TO THE PRESENT, WHICH TO ME, IS WHAT CAROL SCHOLEY ONCE TOLD ME, WAS "DOING THE JOB THE RIGHT WAY, THE FIRST TIME, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN LATER." SHE LOOKED AT HERITAGE PROJECTS WITH GREAT ENTHUSIASM, BUT IN HER MIND, THERE WAS NO JUSTIFIABLE SHORTCUT ANYWHERE, AT ANY TIME. I WORKED BY HER STANDARD, AS AT THE MUSEUM, AS SHE WAS ONE OF MY BOSSES. AS AN EDITOR, MY OTHER STICKLER FOR DETAIL, WAS ROBERT BOYER, MUSKOKA'S WELL KNOWN HISTORIAN. SO ON ALL FRONTS, I HAD TUTORS WHO BELIEVED IN DUE DILIGENCE, WHEN IT CAME TO RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, OF HISTORICAL EXHIBITS AND PUBLICATIONS. I'M THANKFUL I HAD THESE HISTORIANS AS MENTORS, ALTHOUGH THEY WORE ME OUT.

     THANKS SO MUCH FOR VISITING TODAY, AND IF YOU HAPPEN TO POSSESS A PIONEER JOURNAL OR AN OBSCURE, UNDER-KNOWN REGIONAL HISTORY, MAYBE YOU'D ALSO LIKE TO SHARE IT WITH OUR BLOG READERS. THESE STORIES NEED TO BE CIRCULATED, NOT STORED FOREVER IN ARCHIVE COLLECTIONS. AT A TIME WHEN OUTSIDERS ARE DICTATING A NEW IMAGE FOR MUSKOKA, I'D LIKE TO ARM THE OPPOSITION, WITH MORE DOCUMENTATION AND ORIGINAL HISTORIES, TO REINFORCE THAT THE REAL MUSKOKA LIFESTYLE, DIDN'T BEGIN THIS CENTURY……BUT RATHER, IT BEGAN IN THE 1850'S, THROUGH THE LABORS OF OUR COMMUNITY BUILDERS…..A TRULY BRAVE LOT, WHO WE HAVE SOMEWHAT BEEN FORGOTTEN AND IGNORED FOR WAY TOO LONG. THE TRUTH ABOUT THE REAL MUSKOKA…..NEEDS TO BE SET FREE FOR MODERN DAY READERS TO CONSUME. AND IT'S NOT BORING STUFF, IF YOU PUT YOURSELF IN THE TIME FRAME, OF WHICH THE STORIES REFER.

     PLEASE JOIN ME ON THIS MILD CRUSADE, TO REPRESENT MUSKOKA HERITAGE TO A NEW CENTURY AUDIENCE.