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A Beautiful Sunday Morning in Gravenhurst
Gravenhurst was a winter wonderland this Sunday morning December 8th. A blanket of fluffy snow covered the trees and ground giving the town a beautiful glistening white landscape. Enjoy these beautiful days before Christmas. Fred Schulz Photo
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To Connect With Today's Bracebridge Blog, Part of the Christmas Series Click Here-The Polar Express
1863 - THE WINTER ARRIVAL IN MUSKOKA - THE HARDSHIPS OF SETTING UP A HOMESTEAD
WE MUSKOKANS ARE A TOUGH, CARING AND SHARING POPULATION - AS IT WAS IN THE BEGINNING
"I WAS FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE. WE WERE IN DESPERATE FINANCIAL CONDITION. WE, THE FAMILY, TALKED OVER THE MATTER; WHAT COULD WE DO? IT WAS IN OUR MINDS TO STAY TOGETHER; WE WANTED LAND. MUSKOKA WAS BEING ADVERTISED. THE CORNWALL (ONTARIO) PAPERS WERE CARRYING ADS EVERY EDITION. THE BOYS, JOHN AND WILLIAM WANTED TO GO AND MAMMY AND I THOUGHT IT WOULD PERHAPS BE THE BEST MOVE TO MAKE. HERE WE DIDN'T OWN A ROOF TO COVER OUR HEADS; ONLY OUR PERSONAL BELONGINGS. WE HAD NO ROOF IN MUSKOKA BUT IT WAS UP IN THE BUSH AND THERE WOULD BE BRUSH FOR A BRUSH-SHANTY SOMEWHERE, AND WE ARRANGED FOR MAMMY AND THE GIRLS TO STAY BEHIND AND WE PICKED OUR ROUTE AND THE PLACE OF OUR DESTINATION; WATT TOWNSHIP, BY THE WAY OF PORT HOPE, LINDSAY, BEAVERTON, WASHAGO, SOUTH FALLS, NORTH FALLS AND ON."
THIS PASSAGE WAS INCLUDED IN THE BOOK BY BERT SHEA, ENTITLED "HISTORY OF THE SHEAS AND BIRTH OF A TOWNSHIP." THIS WAS A WINTER ADVENTURE FULL OF PERILS AND ASSUMED HARDSHIP FOR GRANDADDY SHEA AND FAMILY, MOVING NORTHWEST TO THE LARGELY UNSETTLED DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. THE LEADER OF THIS EXPEDITION WAS THEN FIFTY-FIVE YEARS OF AGE. I'M NOW FIFTY-EIGHT IN THE SAME MONTH, THE SHEA FAMILY MOVE WAS INITIATED, AND I CAN'T EVEN IMAGINE THE PHYSICAL DEMANDS ON THE BODY, HE AND HIS FAMILY WOULD HAVE EXPERIENCED IN THE HARSH TERRAIN. LADEN WITH SNOW AND AS COLD AS THE ARCTIC BLEW, CUTTING THROUGH THEIR INADEQUATE CLOTHING. I WOULD HAVE FROZEN TO DEATH, LIKELY FROM FALLING ASLEEP DUE TO PHYSICAL EXHAUSTION. THE PIONEERS SEEMED TO THRIVE AMIDST HARDSHIP. TO ME, THIS WAS NOT A PARTICULARLY WELL PLANNED TIME, TO ARRIVE IN MUSKOKA, HOMELESS, IN THE THROES OF A CANADIAN WINTER.
"WE STARTED OUT BY TEAM AND SLEIGH IN THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR OF 1863. AT LINDSAY, WE SOLD THE HORSES AND BOUGHT A PIG DRESSED WITH PART OF THE MONEY FROM THE SALE OF OUR HORSES," NOTES THE PENNED JOURNAL OF THE DANGEROUS TRIP. "OUR PORK, AN AXE, A GUN, POWDER, AND SHOT AND SNOWSHOES, WE WENT ON, WITH OUR PACKS ON OUR BACK. THE ROADS WERE LONG, THE WINDS WERE COLD. WE DID THE BEST WE COULD AT NIGHT, FOR ACCOMMODATION; ALMOST ANYPLACE THAT WAS SHELTER WAS ACCEPTABLE, BUT THE PEOPLE ALONG THE WAY WERE VERY GOOD. IT WAS NOT UNUSUAL TO SEE MEN ON THE TRAIL FOR MUSKOKA IN THE SUMMER, BUT IN JANUARY IT WAS STRANGE; BUT WE PUSHED ON DAY AFTER DAY, MILE AFTER MILE. WHEN SOUTH FALLS WAS BEHIND US, IT SEEMED THAT THE STILLNESS AND SOLITUDES OF NATURE WERE UNBROKEN.
"WE REACHED NORTH FALLS, CROSSED THE RIVER, AND IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON WE PASSED THROUGH WHAT THEN CONSISTED OF TWO WHITE MENS' SHANTIES AND SOME INDIAN DWELLINGS. THE SNOW FALLING ON OUR LOADED PACKS, THE STEAM FROM OUR NOSTRILS, THE DEATHLY STILLNESS OF THE DEEP, DARK FOREST, SAVE FOR THE SNAP OF THE FROST IN TIMBER, AND THE SWISH OF OUR SNOWSHOES, AND THE SQUEAK OF THE HARNESS, THAT HELD THEM ON OUR FEET. WE WERE PUSHING ON IN SEARCH OF A HOME. THE WEARY MILES AND HOURS PASSED; WE REACHED THE JUNCTION OF THE PARRY SOUND ROAD. WE TOOK THE LATTER, IT BEING NOT MORE THAN A PICKET LINE RUNNING ACROSS SWAMPS FILLED WITH HEAVY VIRGIN TIMBER, OVER ROCKY HILLS AND GREAT HARDWOOD FLATS AND RIDGES. AFTER SEVERAL MILES, WE BRANCHED OFF THE PARRY SOUND LINE WHICH CEASED TO BE FOLLOWING A LINE IN A WESTERLY DIRECTION, AND TURNING NORTH AGAIN. THE AFTERNOON WAS WANING FAST; NIGHT WAS SETTING-IN UNDER THE HEAVY HEMLOCK; THE DARKNESS WAS GATHERING. WE WERE TIRED, AND HAD BEEN ON SNOWSHOES SINCE NOON; WE THOUGHT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE WAY, THERE SHOULD BE SOME SIGNS OF A CAMPING PLACE SERVED BY THE SURVEYORS, AND THEN WE CAME TO A LITTLE SHANTY IN A SMALL CLEARING SURROUNDED BY GIANT TREES.
"IT HAD NO DOORS OR WINDOWS, A ROOF ON ONE SIDE. HERE WE MADE CAMP FOR THE NIGHT, LIT A FIRE BY USE OF FLINT AND PUNK, COOKED BACON, MADE TEA, PROVIDED WOOD FOR THE OPEN FIRE, CUT BALSAM OR SPRUCE BOWS TO LAY ON. THERE WE SPREAD OUR BLANKETS AND LAID DOWN TO REST ON THAT NIGHT OF JANUARY 16TH, 1863. WE HAD ARRIVED IN THE TOWNSHIP OF WATT. (DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA)
THE KEEPER OF THE JOURNAL CONTINUES, "ON AWAKENING IN THE MORNING, WILLIAM, THE YOUNGEST SON, JUST SEVENTEEN YEARS, SAW A PARTRIDGE BUDDING ON THE LIMB OF A BIG TREE THAT SPREAD OVER THE SHANTY, AND WHILE IN BED, HE FIRED A SHOT AT IT WITH HIS FLINT-LOCK, AND THE BIRD FELL THROUGH THE OPEN ROOF INTO THE SHANTY. THIS WAS OUR FIRST GAME." ACCORDING TO AN ACCOUNT BY ROXBOROUGH SHEA, "AS TO THE SHANTY, THEY FOUND OUT LATER IT HAD BEEN BUILT BY ONE, JACOB BOGART, WHO HAD COME FROM WINCHESTER, THE YEAR BEFORE; BUILT THE CABIN AS IT WAS AND WENT BACK BEFORE WINTER SET IN, TO NEAR BRACEBRIDGE, WITH THE INTENTION OF RETURNING IN THE SPRING WITH HIS FAMILY; WITH THE MEANING THAT ONLY THE PIONEER KNOWS IN SHORT, THAT EVERY MAN FEELS HE IS HIS BROTHER'S KEEPER, AND PROVES IT BY HIS ACTION. IF THEY STAYED IN THE BOGART CABIN MORE THAN ONE NIGHT, IT IS NOT KNOWN NOW BY ANYONE LIVING. BUT THEY LEFT SOME OF THEIR LUGGAGE THERE TEMPORARILY, BEING SOME OF THEIR PORK, AND JOURNEYED-ON, EXPLORING, SEEKING LAND, GOOD LAND, WITH THE HEAVY COAT OF SNOW OVER THE EARTH; THE GROUND COULD NOT BE SEEN TO KNOW HOW STRONG OR SANDY IT COULD BE. BUT GRANDADDY SHEA AND HIS SONS WERE NOT THOSE WHO COULD BE FOOLED. THERE WERE OTHER SIGNS TO BE READ THAT TOLD THE TYPE OF LAND; COMMON SENSE SIGNS. AND AS THEY JOURNEYED ON INTO THE FLAT AND ROLLING LANDS THAT MADE THE NOW CENTRAL UFFORD, THE SIZE OF GREAT TREES AND THE VARIETY SPOKE OF THE EARTH BENEATH AND ITS STRENGTH, BEING FASCINATED BY THE DISCOVERY AND PUSHING NORTH, THROUGH THE HEALTHY SECOND GROWTH BENEATH THE HEAVY TIMBER, WILLIAM LEADING THE WAY. AS HE REACHED THE HEIGHT OF A RIDGE, HIS YOUNG SHARP EYE PIERCED THE FOREST BEYOND, AND FELL ON THE BROAD SURFACE OF A LAKE; TURNING QUICKLY TO HIS BROTHER SAYING, JOHN LILY, THERE IS A LAKE HERE AND AS THEY DREW TOGETHER, THEIR EYES RESTED FOR THE FIRST TIME ON THE SNOW CLAD BOSOM OF A LAKE, WHICH WAS AFTERWORDS CALLED THREE MILE LAKE."
THE JOURNAL CONTINUES WITH THE NOTATIONS, "ITS SHORES COVERED BY TALL CEDAR, BALSAM, PINE AND HARDWOOD. AROUND THEM THE GREAT RIDGES CLAD WITH HEAVY TIMBER. SOME FIVE FEET IN DIAMETER ON THE STUMP AND ONE HUNDRED AND MORE FEET HIGH; MUCH OAK AND HEMLOCK AND PINE, THROUGH THE FLAT LAND; THE TILLABLE LAND WAS GREAT. ELM FIVE TO SIX FEET ACROSS. GREAT RED BIRCH, BASSWOOD AND MAPLE. CLEAN TRUNKS WITH GREAT LOFTY INTERWOVEN TOPS; STRETCHING FOR MILES IN EITHER DIRECTION, LAY THE GREAT UNKNOWN WILDS. EARTH AND SNOW BELOW AND THE SKY ABOVE. SEPARATED FROM ALL FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES BY MILES AND MILES OF THE HARD, HEAVY, TIRING TRAIL, BACK TO STORMONT AND ROXBOROUGH."
"ON THIS LOCATION, LOT 15, CON., SIX,, THEY SET TO WORK TO BUILD A SHELTER. AS RELATED BY JOHN L. SHEA, MY GREAT UNCLE, IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS WAS THE MONTH OF JANUARY IN MUSKOKA, WITH NORMALLY THREE FEET OF SNOW, NORTHWEST WINDS, AND TEMPERATURE AS LOW AS FORTY-FIVE DEGREES BELOW ZERO, AND NO HOUSE. TO SURVIVE, KNOWLEDGE, RESOURCE AND SELF RELIANCE IS NECESSARY, COUPLED WITH DETERMINATION. NO PLACE TO BUY NECESSITIES, NO ONE TO CONSULT. NO LIVING HUMAN BEING FOR MILES AND MILES. BRACEBRIDGE 16 MILES AND THERE WERE INDIANS AND TWO WHITE FAMILIES WHO HAD NOTHING TO SPARE.IN FAITH AND COURAGE THEY SET TO WORK TO BUILD A BRUSH SHANTY, WARMED BY AN OPEN FIRE, WHICH NEVER WENT OUT; OVER WHICH COOKING WAS DONE, MOSTLY MEAT AND SOME SCONES IF THEY HAD FLOUR WHICH THEY HAD TO CARRY FROM WASHAGO."
THIS IS OUR HERITAGE. IT SEEMS APPROPRIATE THIS TIME OF THE YEAR, TO RECOGNIZE HOW CAPABLE THESE PIONEERS WERE, TO OPENING UP THIS VAST HINTERLAND TO THE SETTLEMENT WE ENJOY TODAY. IT SHOULD ALSO ATTEST, TO THE RUGGEDNESS OF MUSKOKANS OF THIS HOMESTEAD CULTURE, TO DEAL WITH HARDSHIP. IT'S WHAT ADA FLORENCE KINTON SAW IN THE SETTLEMENT OF NORTH MUSKOKA, IN THE 1880'S. SHE HAD A LATER OPPORTUNITY, TO SEE THE PROGRESS THAT HAD BEEN ACHIEVED, AFTER ONLY SEVERAL DECADES, FROM THOSE FIRST PRIMITIVE SHANTIES CONSTRUCTED LARGELY FROM BRUSH.
WE NOW RETURN TO ANOTHER CHAPTER OF THE ADA KINTON STORY.
2011
ADA FLORENCE KINTON - PIONEER ARTIST, MISSIONARY
By Ted Currie
There is a strangely alluring, well worn pathway, quaintly winding over the newly fallen leaves, meandering quite close to the final resting place of Ada Florence Kinton. Artist, writer, poet, philosopher, missionary. Some person(s) is obviously making the rounds of the cemetery regularly, visiting family plots or the grave-sites of friends and neighbors.
It isn't likely the case, the visitors are pausing at the tombstone belonging to Miss Kinton, in this small, quiet, secluded cemetery, not far from the bustling business centre of downtown Huntsville, Ontario.
A few folks here still remember the art work of Ada Kinton. A few more know about her stay in the community, in the late 1800's, and have heard about the book, "Just One Blue Bonnet," which was a small memorial text published by the artist's sister, Sara Randleson, shortly after Ada's death, at the turn of the 1900's. There have been others who have taken the time to learn about this talented, under-recognized artist, and there have been many responses sent to me this past year, asking for more information on this extraordinary woman.
But as far as this path being beaten down to visit her tombstone, as a pilgrimage of faith, she would feel, even in the spirit sense, that she wasn't worth the fuss. As she lived and worked modestly in her pursuit of art, she was a committed volunteer, a stalwart missionary, working tirelessly to help others help themselves. One family member has already paid compliments to the series, and we hope as well, that a donation or several, have been made to local food banks in her name, as this series has been dedicated to the Gravenhurst Salvation Army Food Bank. A donation this fall, to any food bank, would be greatly appreciated, and one that would be heartily appreciated by Miss Kinton, in her own spirit of giving and compassion toward the less fortunate. Thanks so much for joining this multi blog series of columns, about a woman who inspired such goodwill and harmonious living. She was the epitome of peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
Ada Kinton died while convalescing at her brother's homestead in Huntsville, not long into the 1900's. She was still quite young but the rigors of missionary work, especially in Australia, and then the Northern United States, wore her small body into a progressive decline. Her sister noted that she was in great discomfort in those final years, although she was so much at peace, looking out from the verandah, onto the little town she had written about in her journal, so many years earlier, and had painted in snowclad winter finery during the first months of her stay in Canada in the 1880's.
Ada Florence Kinton gave up a promising career in fine art, and as a talented art instructor, in England, and later in Canada, to join the efforts of the Salvation Army, to administer the word of God, and the kindnesses of good faith and compassion, to those who were most in need. She stood out in the bitter cold, on the streets of Toronto, to help those who could not find shelter, or sustenance. Hers was the voice of optimism and resolve, that God would provide. With her unmeasurable kindnesses and faith bestowed, she gave those without hope, the rare reason to smile. There are testimonials from people she did assist, who later came to tell her, so proudly, of their respective, newfound successes, and to tell her, face to face, what her intervention had meant to them. As well, there were many talented artists, who went on to earn names for themselves as painters, who bestowed thanks on Miss Kinton, who gave them the benefit of her expertise, and her unique capabilities to capture the scenes she witnessed. She inspired many to better themselves by hard work and sensitive lives. Her abilities both as an artist and writer, were captured in the pages of the Salvation Army's "War Cry," a publication she adored working with, during her final years in this mortal coil.
As many times as I beat down this modest, winding footpath, over this peaceful acreage in beautiful Muskoka, I never once arrive at the marker belonging to Ada Florence Kinton, that I don't somehow feel the aura of peaceful solitude, without nary a twig of mournful emotion. It is, as if, she is letting her biographer know, that her death more than a century ago, followed a fulfilled, accomplished life. One that she had celebrated despite the hardships. It was, in her mindset, no hardship whatsoever doing God's work. And it is of considerable comfort, to stand out here, facing the cold wind and colder rain of early November, to look upon the subtle glow I bestow her name, etched onto the modest stone face of the weather-worn marker, and enjoy the contentment, her good name and work have lived on into this new century. For the Christmas season this year, in our hometown, our family will be hosting the annual Christmas Concert, at the Gravenhurst Opera House, in support of the Salvation Army Food Bank, that helps so many in our community provide for their festive season. We will proudly announce, that the concert is dedicated to the memory of Ada Florence Kinton, friend of Muskoka, artist, and missionary.
Please consider making a donation to a food bank in your own community, to help those who find themselves in crisis. It would please Ada Kinton so much, to know her own kindnesses are still impacting the goodwill of folks more than a century later.
Enjoy a late autumn adventure in our beautiful province. It is a time of the rolling year, the Group of Seven Artists loved to venture forth, into the countryside, to depict the haunted landscapes, the misty lakelands, and the curious light and shadows that illuminated our townscapes and historic architecture. There is a beauty even in the leafless forests, and windswept pastures, and the great bank of dark rolling clouds that enchant the month of December in Ontario.
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