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The following was written in 1973 by W. C. Gardiner, grandson of James Halls, and published in the Devon Family Historian, vol 66.
James Halls 1830-1901
James Halls was born in Merton, Devonshire, 25 October 1830. James was the youngest son of Philip and Jenny Halls. He had six brothers and two sisters and was educated in a private school in Devonshire. The family were 'Freeholders', that is they owned the land on which their home was built and enjoyed the Franchise. They were all builders and James together with his brothers served their Apprenticeship in the Masonry trade. He worked on building construction until he went to Canada in 1849. His father died of apoplexy, 20th December 1846 and his mother died just four days later, on Christmas Day 1846. By that time most of his brothers had emigrated to Canada. His sister Mary had died eleven years earlier, but Charlotte six years James senior continued to keep the home until he sailed for Canada in 1849. He left behind one brother and one sister.
Sailing vessels were the only ocean transportation in those days and it took about six weeks to cross the Atlantic. The ships were small and the accommodation very poor. Passengers had to provide their own bedding and food. There was no refrigeration to keep meat or other food fresh, so salted and dried meats, hard tack biscuits and tea composed the principal diet. An ocean voyage at that time was a real adventure and a real hardship if the weather was bad. Only those in good health ventured to cross the ocean.
However James decided to go to Canada when he was only nineteen. By that time he was a fully fledged mason and went directly to London, Ontario near where his elder brothers, Thomas and Samuel were living in Lambeth and carrying on a building and contracting business. He worked with them for a while but went to Chicago in 1854.
He worked at his trade in Chicago for one year on such buildings as the Chicago City Water Works and a group of buildings on the North side of the river. One of the group was an ornamental tower which is still a feature in the centre of Michigan Avenue Boulevard, north of the Chicago river.
After working in Chicago for about a year, he took a trip south as far as New Orleans but did not remain long. He then returned to Canada and went into partnership with his brother Thomas at Lambeth, carrying on a contracting business, building brick and stone buildings and houses for people in that district.
By that time (1855) Western Ontario was opening up to settlement and many people from the rural districts of England, Ireland and Scotland were moving into the area buying land, which was cheap at that time, and making homes for themselves and their families. It was all heavily timbered land with hardwood trees such as oak, elm, maple and beech which required tremendous amount of work to clear. But the men and women of that period had strong backs and stout hearts. They cut down the trees and made great bonfires to burn the timbers and clear the land to make farms and homes. Leaching the ashes to make potash and soft soap was one of their early crops for cash. They literally carved their farms and homes out of virgin forest.
In 1855, or earlier, James Halls bought 100 acres of this forest land, 30 miles north of London and 18 miles east of Lake Huron, in the district known then as 'The Huron Tract'. A village called Elimville had been founded nearby in 1851 which had twenty four homes by 1860 and in 1854 a schoolhouse had been built in another community called Winchelsea.
I have James Halls' dairy for 1856. He starts: "O God, should I be permitted to survive the coming year may I devote a part of each day to the honour and glory of God". He had built a log shanty beside a small stream that ran through the front part of the farm. Each winter for four or five years, James Halls with a friend from the masonry trade, worked at clearing the land whilst living in the log shanty. On January 8th he reported a heavy storm and that his finger tips froze.
On January 9th, although it was still storming, he went to a school meeting where they voted to have a 'free school' next year.
He was always a great reader and used to read by the light of the wood fire in the huge fireplace. Just at that time, Harriet Beecher Stowe's famous book 'Uncle Tom's Cabin was creating quite a sensation in the United States and Canada and it was one of the books he read by the fire one winter.
In 1860, James met Mary Ann Andrew, who had emigrated from England with her parents, brothers and sisters some years before and were living on a neighbouring farm. The Andrew family came from Little Torrington, Devonshire. During the 1840s, George Andrew with his son Samuel, Samuel's wife Elizabeth, and their family of five sons and three daughters took up farming in the Huron Tract at Elimville. 'Grandfather Andrew' had been a practical farmer in Devonshire and had brought his family to Canada where farmland was cheaper and with the opportunity for development. The sons all eventually secured farms in the district and the daughters married and lived in the neighbourhood. They were all capable, successful farmers.
James Halls and Mary Ann Andrew were married in 1861. James built the first brick house in the neighbourhood beside the log shanty and they lived on the 100 acre farm until the end of the century when they sold the farm to a cousin and moved to Exeter. During construction of the brick house, one brick was left out where the scaffolding had been supported. Honey bees made a home in the wall and my mother (Ellen Elizabeth Halls) remembered honey leaking through the bricks. I visited the farm in my youth and the bees were still in the wall. They had four daughters, Mary Jane (1862 to 1945), Ellen Elizabeth (1870 to 1957), Charlotte Ann (1873 to 1933) and Lillian Louisa (1877 to 1947) and three sons, Philip (1864 to 1902), George (1867 to 1870) and Frank (1872 to 1950). For a number of years, James Halls continued his work as a builder in the construction season while his wife and family lived on the farm. Hired help worked the land under the supervision of Mary Ann who was a capable and practical woman. Eventually the burden was rather too great and after a few years James gave up construction to spend all of his time farming. They were quite successful and the family became, what was known at that time as 'well off'.
James was a very public spirited man, supported every good movement and was greatly respected by his friends and acquaintances. In 1876, James Halls was elected a councilman for Elimville and held the position for twenty consecutive years. A Mutual Fire Insurance Company, the Usborne and Hibbert Fire Insurance was organized with Robert Gardiner as President and James Halls on the Board of Directors. He was also a director of the Winchelsea Creamery. He was a great reader and organized a local lending library. He had a retentive memory and could converse intelligently on any subject. He was a great lover of nature, a man of high ideals, and had a splendid philosophy of life.
I have his diary for 1899. It is mostly notes on the daily activities on the farm of James and his two hired men and the weather. Between 1899 and 1901 he and Mary Ann sold the farm to William Skinner, who was married to Catherine Andrew, a niece of Mary Ann's and moved to Exeter. James died on June 2nd 1901 and Mary Ann died October 26th 1907. Their obituaries from the Exeter Times are quoted in part.
"He enjoyed excellent health until about a year ago. For the last six months he suffered severely from anaemia and other complications, but nothing serious was anticipated until the last few weeks. His sufferings at the last were intense and death came as a happy release.
"She had hardly known what it was to be sick until some five years ago when a kind of rheumatism made itself manifest, first in one thumb, then in the wrist, and latterly in many different joints, sometimes in one place and sometimes another. Her age and this trouble caused her to be confined to the house during most of her residence her (Exeter), but she was obliged to keep to her room only during the last two weeks".
They are buried in the Churchyard in Elimville.
W.C. Gardiner April 14th 1973, from the Devon Family Historian, volume 66, page 11
Obituary from the Huron Expositor, June 14th, 1901
On Sunday, June 2nd, James Halls, one of the oldest and most highly respected residents of Usborne township, passed away. Deceased had been in poor health for the past year, and for the past six months had been a severe sufferer. He was born in Devonshire, England, on October 25th, 1830, and came to Canada at the age of 18. After spending three years around London and St. Thomas, he came north to Huron county, located in Usborne and commenced like other settlers to chop out a home for himself in the forest. In 1851 he purchased a farm on the 6th concession and before long had enough timber cut to build himself a log house on the hillside. For some time he spent the winters each year clearing his land for cultivation, and in the summer he worked at his trade in the building business, around London. In 1861 he married Miss Andrew, of Usborne, who with four daughters and two sons survive him. For twenty years he was a member of the Usborne township council and always took a lively interest in public affairs.
James Halls will can be found here.
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