The Paths Of Adventure-A Family History

THE HISTORY OF THE SHEAS AND PATHS OF ADVENTURE -

SUZANNE AND HER FAMILY OF MUSKOKA BUILDERS

NOTE: SUZANNE'S MOTHER, HARRIET STRIPP, NEE SHEA, AS A HEARTFELT GIFT, BEFORE SHE PASSED AWAY, GAVE ME HER FATHER JOHN SHEA'S COPY OF ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOKS IN MUSKOKA HISTORY……THE 1871 RELEASE OF THOMAS MCMURAY'S "MUSKOKA AND PARRY SOUND," WHICH WAS A SETTLER'S GUIDEBOOK, MODELED AFTER EARLIER BOOKS IN CANADA, AIMED AT ATTRACTING SETTLERS TO CANADA EAST AND WEST. THIS BEGAN A LONG TERM HISTORICAL INTEREST IN COLLECTING MUSKOKA REGIONAL HISTORIES, AND LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE SETTLERS WHO CREATED OUR PIONEER HAMLETS, IN THE MOST ADVERSE CONDITIONS IMAGINABLE. HARRIET GOT US STARTED, ON THE BUILDING OF A WORTHY MUSKOKA COLLECTION, THAT WE USE ALMOST DAILY….THE MCMURRAY BOOK, BEING THE MOST PRECIOUS IN THE COLLECTION. I DEDICATE THE FOLLOWING SEVERAL BLOGS TO HARRIET STRIPP, AN ARTIST AND WRITER, WHO DEARLY LOVED HER FAMILY'S PLACE, IN THE HERITAGE OF OUR REGION OF ONTARIO.

WE HAVE A PORTRAIT OF THE ELDERLY JOHN SHEA, HANGING IN OUR LIVING ROOM, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW. HE WAS SUZANNE'S GRANDFATHER, WHO HAD A SMALL FARM IN UFFORD, WHERE THE SHEA AND VEITCH FAMILIES BEGAN HOMESTEADING, DATING FROM THE DECLARATION OF THE FREE GRANT LANDS, OF THE 1860'S……THE GOVERNMENT INITIATIVE TO OPEN UP NEW LANDS TO IMMIGRANTS. JOHN WAS A FORMER WATT TOWNSHIP (MUSKOKA LAKES) CLERK, AND A WELL KNOWN AND RESPECTED MEMBER OF THE ORANGE LODGE, FROM THE THREE MILE LAKE COMMUNITY……AS WERE MANY OF THE SHEAS FROM THE EARLIEST DAYS, FARMING IN MUSKOKA. ONE STORY I ALWAYS REMEMBER ABOUT JOHN, WAS HIS INITIATIVE TO FENCE A SMALL, OTHERWISE UNMARKED FAMILY GRAVES, ON THE DOHERTY ROAD, NEAR THE PRESENT UFFORD CEMETERY. A MAJORITY OF THE YOUNG "DOHERTY" FAMILY HAD PERISHED, DURING A RAGING SICKNESS ONE NIGHT, MANY DECADES EARLIER, SUCCUMBING TO DIPHTHERIA,; ALTHOUGH I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO CONFIRM IT WAS THIS PARTICULAR ILLNESS AND NOT INFLUENZA. JOHN MAY ALSO HAVE PLANTED THE LILACS THAT MARKED THE PLOT. THE FENCE IS NOW GONE, BUT SUZANNE AND I OFTEN VISIT THE SPOT, THAT VERY FEW FOLKS KNOW ABOUT.

SHORTLY AFTER MY OWN FAMILY MOVED TO MUSKOKA, FROM BURLINGTON, ONTARIO, IN THE WINTER OF 1966, SOMEBODY MADE A COMMENT TO MY FATHER, ABOUT HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO GET ACCEPTED BY THE COMMUNITY. WE'D NEVER LIVED IN A SMALL TOWN, SO ED WASN'T QUITE SURE HOW TO TAKE THE ADVICE. THE CHAP WENT ON TO EXPLAIN THAT OUR FAMILY WOULD BE "NEW TO THE AREA" BASICALLY FOREVER. IN RETROSPECT, I THINK HE WAS SAYING IT SARCASTICALLY, ALTHOUGH SIMILAR STATEMENTS WERE MADE, AT OTHER TIMES, IN OTHER PLACES, THAT SEEMED TO REINFORCE THE ADVISORY.

I GOT BEAT-UP A LOT BECAUSE I WAS NEW TO BRACEBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL. THAT WAS MADE CLEAR TO ME. I REMEMBER ONE OF THE BIG-SHOT KIDS, FROM ONE OF THE UPPER ECHELON FAMILIES, KNOCKING ME OVER IN THE SCHOOL YARD JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT. HE WOULDN'T LET ME UP. OBVIOUSLY, I WAS PAYING THE PRICE OF BEING THE "FRESH FISH" TO BORROW THE LINE FROM THE MOVIE "ANDERSONVILLE," ABOUT THE BRUTALITY OF A CIVIL WAR PRISON. OUT OF NOWHERE, CAME A LARGER STUDENT, WHO INTERVENED ON MY BEHALF, KNOCKING MY ADVERSARY ON HIS BEHIND. HE LET HIM KNOW, IN NO UNCERTAIN TERMS, THAT HE WAS TO LEAVE THE "NEW KID" ALONE FROM THAT POINT ON. MY DEFENDER, ON THAT DAY, WAS A KINDLY GENTLEMAN NAMED PAUL DUFF, WHO WENT ON TO BE MY PROTECTOR EVEN IN THE RANKS OF MINOR HOCKEY. WHILE MY TEAM-MATES LET ME KNOW HOW CRAPPY A GOALTENDER I WAS, WHEN A PUCK HIT THE MESH BEHIND, MY DEFENSEMAN, PAUL DUFF, WOULD COME BACK, HIT MY PADS WITH HIS STICK, AND SAY SOMETHING LIKE, "IT'S OKAY TED. IT'S JUST A GOAL. DON'T PAY ATTENTION TO THOSE GUYS." THAT WAS ABOUT 45 YEARS AGO, AND WHEN I MEET HIM AROUND THE AREA, EVEN TODAY, HE'S PRETTY MUCH THE SAME GUY AS I REMEMBER. THE ONE WHO NEVER TREATED ME DIFFERENTLY, BECAUSE I WAS A CITY KID TRANSPLANTED INTO THE RURAL WAY OF LIFE.

I DIGRESS, AS USUAL. THE POINT IS, WHETHER IT WAS TRUE THAT NEWBIES WERE TREATED AS INTERLOPERS, UPON THE TRADITIONAL RANK AND FILE CITIZENRY, WHO ALSO DOMINATED LOCAL COUNCIL, I DON'T HAVE A CLUE WHETHER THIS WAS A VALID CRITIQUE. I NEVER DID A POLL TO FIND OUT. I WAS TOO SCARED! EVEN IF THAT COMMENT CAME FROM ONE OF THE LOCAL FAMILIES, DATING BACK TO THE FIRST LOG SHANTY OF THE 1860'S HAMLET, I COULDN'T GENERALIZE THAT THE WHOLE COMMUNITY FELT THE SAME WAY. PAUL DUFF DIDN'T CARE WHERE I CAME FROM, BEFORE ARRIVING IN THE GRAVEL YARD OF BRACEBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOL. BUT, OTHER STUDENTS WEREN'T SO KINDLY, AS I FOUND OUT.

WHAT I CAN RELAY, WITH CONSIDERABLE KNOWLEDGE, IS THAT MY EDITORIAL TIME IN MUSKOKA, IN THE EARLY GOING OF MY CAREER, WAS HAMPERED BY THE FACT I HAD NO FAMILY ANCHOR IN THIS REGION. THIS WAS PREVALENT ESPECIALLY WHEN I WOULD ATTEMPT TO ARRANGE INTERVIEWS FOR FEATURE STORIES, FOR THE HERALD-GAZETTE. IF I WAS CONDUCTING AN INTERVIEW WITH AN OLDTIMER, I WAS GENERALLY RAKED-OVER-THE-COALS, BECAUSE THE PAPER HADN'T SENT A REPORTER WITH MUCH DEEPER ROOTS, THAN THE ONE (ME), SITTING IN THEIR KITCHEN, WHO HAD ARRIVED HERE IN THE MID 1960'S. I CAN REMEMBER COUNCILLORS, WHEN I'D GO TO CONDUCT A NEWS RELATED INTERVIEW, QUESTIONING ME BEFORE I HAD A CHANCE TO DIRECT EVEN ONE AT THEM. THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHO I WAS, WHERE I CAME FROM, AND WHY I HAD DECIDED TO LIVE IN BRACEBRIDGE. I BECAME EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE IN THE EARLY 1980'S, AND THIS WAS A MAJOR COUP, AND I OWE IT TO MY SENSITIVITY TO LOCAL HERITAGE AND TRADITIONS, THANKS TO MY MENTOR, ROBERT BOYER, ONE OF OUR BEST KNOWN REGIONAL HISTORIANS. BOB WAS AN ASSISTANT EDITOR OF THE HERALD-GAZETTE, AND EDITOR OF THE MUSKOKA SUN. I THOUGHT SO HIGHLY OF BOB, AND WHAT HE HAD DONE FOR ME OVER THE YEARS, THAT OUR SECOND SON, ROBERT, WAS NAMED IN HIS HONOR. BOB SHOWED ME HOW TO WIN THE LOCALS OVER….AND WHEN I WENT OUT ON INTERVIEWS, USING HIS NAME, AS MY MENTOR, IT OPENED A LOT OF DOORS THAT WERE PRETTY MUCH NAILED SHUT. THEY TRUSTED THE BOYER FAMILY NAME. THEY'D KNOWN HIS FATHER GEORGE AND MOTHER VICTORIA, FROM THIER TENURE AT THE NEWSPAPER….AND THEIR FAMILY'S TIES TO THE EARLY BUILDING OF THE TOWN ITSELF.

BY THE MID 1980'S, I'D MARRIED A GAL I HAD KNOWN BRIEFLY FROM HIGH SCHOOL GEOGRAPHY CLASS, BACK IN 1974. WE HAD NEVER DATED IN THOSE YEARS, BUT BY CIRCUMSTANCE OF MUTUAL FRIENDSHIPS, WE HAD REKINDLED OUR SCHOOL DAYS, DURING AN EVENT OF THE MUSKOKA WINTER CARNIVAL. SUZANNE STRIPP AGREED TO MARRY ME, AND THE REST IS A HUGE TEXT OF FAMILY HISTORY. I WENT FROM BEING RELATED TO A VERY FEW, TO BEING RELATED TO A FAMILY BORDERING ON AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY. IT WAS HER UNCLE BERT SHEA, WHO WROTE THE ABOVE MENTIONED FAMILY CHRONICLE, "HISTORY OF THE SHEAS AND THE PATHS OF ADVENTURE," WHICH WAS THE SECOND OF HIS FAMILY TOMES. I BECAME AN IN-LAW TO MANY FROM THE SHEA AND VEITCH FAMILIES, SPREAD OUT FROM THE THREE MILE LAKE, UFFORD AREA OF THE TOWNSHIP OF MUSKOKA LAKES. I BECAME A DISTANT IN-LAW OF SEVERAL MEMBERS OF OUR NEWSPAPER STAFF, AT THE TIME, INCLUDING MR. BOYER. HIS DAUGHTER VICKY HAD MARRIED SUZANNE'S COUSIN, DOUG BILLINGSLEY. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY OF THOSE BOLTED-SHUT DOORS STARTED TO OPEN. IT WASN'T JUST THE SHEA AND VEITCH CONNECTION, BUT THE STRIPP FAMILY INFLUENCES AS WELL. SUZANNE'S FATHER NORM, WAS KNOWN AS AN EXPERT ON VINTAGE WOODEN BOAT RESTORATIONS IN MUSKOKA. HIS FATHER, SAM STRIPP, HAD BEEN THE WELL KNOWN ICE-PAINTER, FOR MANY OF BRACEBRIDGE'S HISTORIC FIGURE SKATING CARNIVALS…..SOMETHING HE DID AS A VOLUNTEER. SAM WAS A HOUSE PAINTER, AND WORKED ON BOATS AS WELL, INCLUDING THE PRESENT DAY STEAM YACHT, "WANDA," (NOW IN GRAVENHURST), FORMERLY OWNED BY THE EATON FAMILY OF RAVENSCRAG, AT WINDERMERE. THE STRIPPS ARE LONGTIME RESIDENTS OF WINDERMERE.

I DIDN'T HAVE MUCH LOCAL HERITAGE TO BRING TO THE TABLE. I WAS A DIRECTOR OF THE NEWLY FORMED BRACEBRIDGE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AND EDITOR OF THE LOCAL NEWSPAPER, BUT I WAS STILL A GLOWING EXAMPLE OF A NEWBIE TO TOWN. THIS WAS ABOUT TO CHANGE. AND I'M ENORMOUSLY PROUD OF OUR FAMILY CONNECTION, TO THE EARLY HERITAGE OF THE DISTRICT OF MUSKOKA. IN FACT, WHEN I'M QUESTIONED, EVEN TODAY, ABOUT MY FAMILY'S ROOTS IN MUSKOKA, I LOVE TO RESPOND, ASKING THEM WHETHER OR NOT THEY'VE SEEN THE DUG-OUT CANOE ON DISPLAY AT THE MUSKOKA LAKES MUSEUM. I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW GREAT IT IS, TO RESPOND THAT "MY BOY'S KIN CARVED OUT THAT CANOE." IT WAS MADE BY A GREAT, GREAT GRANDFATHER ON THE SHEA SIDE. NOW IF THEY WERE TO ASK ABOUT THE CURRIE CLAN, WITH SUSPICION OF OUR CONNECTION TO A BROTHEL IN THE OLD COUNTRY, I WON'T BE ABLE TO ANSWER THAT ONE THE GROUNDS IN MIGHT INCRIMINATE ME. MY FATHER WAS FROM THE LEGENDARY CABBAGETOWN NEIGHBORHOOD IN TORONTO…..AND IT WAS THE FIGHTING IRISH I'LL TELL YOU THAT. I HEARD LOTS OF STORIES ABOUT MY GRANDFATHER EDDIE, AND THE SCRAPS HE USED TO GET INTO….AND MY DAD, A SAILOR, WAS NO STRANGER TO FISTICUFFS, FIGHTING FOR ANY ONE OF A NUMBER OF THINGS…..IRISH PRIDE AND MY MOTHER'S HONOR…..AND BY THE LOOKS OF HIS CROOKED NOSE, FIGHTING JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT.

I REMEMBER TELLING OUR BOYS, BACK IN THEIR EARLY TEENS, ONE OF THE FAMOUS SHEA FAMILY STORIES, AS TOLD BY THEIR GREAT UNCLE, BERT SHEA….., AND WATCHING THEM WINCE. I LOVE DOING THAT TO FOLKS, WITH AN HISTORICAL "BELIEVE IT OR NOT." I SAID "BOYS, YOU HAVEN'T KNOWN THIS UNTIL NOW, BUT YOU ARE DESCENDANTS OF THE 'THREE MILE LAKE WOLVES'." "WHAT?" WAS ANDREW'S RESPONSE, WHILE ROBERT JUST STARED AT ME, WITH MOUTH GAPING OPEN, WAITING FOR THE PUNCH LINE. "HOW ARE WE RELATED TO WOLVES," ANDREW ASKED. I REPLIED THAT, YOU GUYS, BECAUSE OF YOUR FAMILY, ON MOM'S SIDE, ARE RELATED TO THE "THREE MILE LAKE WOLVES." "WAS IT A HOCKEY TEAM," ROBERT ASKED HIS MOM. "MORE VIOLENT," I INTERJECTED. THE THREE MILE LAKES WOLVES WERE ACTUALLY MALE MEMBERS OF THE SHEA FAMILY OF UFFORD. A FEARED GROUP OF ORANGEMEN, WITH A STORMY IRISH DISPOSITION, WHO WOULD COME INTO BRACEBRIDGE, FOR SUPPLIES, AND WALK ARM AND ARM DOWN THE CENTRE OF MANITOBA STREET (MAIN BUSINESS CORRIDOR), AS A DIRECT CHALLENGE TO ANY LOCAL PUGILIST, OR GROUP LOOKING FOR A DUST-UP, FOR ENTERTAINMENT, TO STAND IN THEIR WAY…..,WHILE CHEERFULLY HEADING DOWN TO THE QUEEN'S HOTEL FOR A BITE OF LUNCH. A FEW DID THINK IT WORTH A CHALLENGE, BUT NEVER REPEATED THE ERROR IN JUDGEMENT A SECOND TIME. THERE WAS ONE INCIDENT, DETAILED MY BERT SHEA, OF HIS KIN, WHEN A WAITOR AT THE QUEEN'S HOTEL, KICKED THEIR DOG AWAY FROM A DINING TABLE…..AND THAT CAUSED A MINOR DONNYBROOK BEFORE LUNCH COULD BE SERVED. I THINK THE BOYS REALLY DID BELIEVE THEIR FAMILY WERE ACTUALLY WOLVES. THERE WAS NO MISTAKING, THAT THEY HAVE BEEN QUITE PROUD OF THEIR HERITAGE IN THIS REGARD. NOT BECAUSE THEIR FAMILY WERE BRUTALLY HONEST WITH OPPONENTS, BUT BECAUSE THEY WERE OF HARDY PIONEER STOCK, WHO DIDN'T SHY AWAY FROM THE CHALLENGES OF THE DAY, THE MONTH OR THE YEAR.

ONE DAY, QUITE UNEXPECTEDLY, A CUSTOMER CAME INTO THE BOYS' GRAVENHURST MUSIC SHOP, AND BEGAN TALKING ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MUSKOKA. ANDREW, AFTER LISTENING TO THIS CUSTOMER'S CONNECTION TO THE PIONEER PAST, SAID WITH A WEE GRIN, "MY FAMILY WERE MEMBERS OF THE THREE MILE LAKE WOLVES." "HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THE THREE MILE LAKE WOLVES," SHE SHOT BACK, AS IF SHE'D SEEN A GHOST. TURNS OUT, SHE WAS ALSO RELATED TO THE SHEA FAMILY, BUT WE'RE NOT SURE JUST HOW EMBEDDED SHE WAS. THEY SEEMED QUITE DELIGHTED, THE WOMAN KNEW ABOUT THE WOLVES; WHO WAS POSSIBLY SURPRISED BY THE LIKENESS OF THE TWO LARGE LADS, STANDING IN THEIR SHOP, ARMS FOLDED, AS IF PROTECTING THE FAMILY CREST. THEY PROBABLY REMINDED HER OF THE WOLVES POSTURING, ON THOSE MAIN STREET STROLLS. SUZANNE, WHO HAS ALWAYS SHIED AWAY FROM TALKING ABOUT "THE WOLVES," WAS QUITE IMPRESSED, BY HOW PROUD THE BOYS ACTUALLY WERE, OF THEIR FAMILY HERITAGE.