PIONEER SKETCHES

OF

LONG POINT SETTLEMENT

OR

NORFOLK’S FOUNDATION BUILDERS AND

THEIR FAMILY GENEALOGIES

E. A. OWEN

Commercial Essayist

TORONTO

WILLIAM BRIGGS

WESLEY BUILDINGS

MONTREAL: C. W. COATES HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS

1898

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and ninety-eight, by EGBERT AMERCUS OWEN, at the Department of Agriculture.

TO

The Grandchildren and Great-grandchildren

of the brave old Pioneers

WHO

ERECTED THE FIRST CABINS AND BUILT THE FIRST LOG-HEAPS

IN “GLORIOUS OLD NORFOLK,”

THIS VOLUME IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED BY

THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

___________________

This book is not a history of Norfolk County. It is simply a series of historical sketches and essays which tell the story of pioneer life in the early days of Long Point Settlement and depict the character and life work of the first cabin-builders. As a whole, it is a history of the old trench-diggers and their crude beginnings; and, in this sense, the book may properly be styled a history of Long Point Settlement during the time it remained judicial headquarters for old London District.

These sketches are not presented to the public as gems of literary excellence. Their real worth, whatever that may be, lies in what they reveal and not how they reveal it; therefore, the writer has no fears for the possible adverse criticism which a handful of merciless literary critics may deem proper to give them.

That the opportune time has arrived for a publication of this kind is apparent. More than a century has passed since the old foundation builders began their work. They told the story of their experiences to their children, but of all the sons and daughters born to them in their early cabins not one is left to repeat the story. Generation has succeeded generation until we find ourselves so far removed from the old pioneer days that we know very little about them. In the Public Schools throughout the Province, and in many a district school in the neighboring States, may be found the great-great-grandchildren of the men who fired the first log heaps in Norfolk; and it is to these and the rising generation generally, who know sol little of their ancestors, that this volume is especially dedicated; and the author trusts that it may infuse into their young minds a keener sense of gratitude for the wonderful advantages which have fallen to their lot, and inspire them with renewed courage to battle for the right and overcome the many difficulties which await them in the pathway of life. If future generations of Norfolk’s citizenship are to remain as patriotic and loyal as the present and past have been, we must awaken in the minds of the young an interest in the story of pioneer life. They must study the character of the men and women who lost everything and suffered everything for conscience sake; and they must know of the hardships endured with fortitude, the privations suffered with patient resignation, and the great obstacles surmounted by firm determination and resolute perseverance, which mark the lives of these old pioneers in their struggles for existence in the primeval forest.

The author endeavoured to gather as much of this wonderful story as he possibly could, and this volume contains the fruits of his labors. No available source of information was spared, and yet the work is far from being complete. Owing to the destruction of so many of the old records and other documentary evidences of pioneer happenings, much of the data required was obtained by careful and repeated interviews with the remaining few who, in their youthful days, sat at the feet of the old pioneers themselves. That the memories of these old people may have become more or less clouded with the infirmities of old age is quite possible, and the thoughtful reader, therefore, will not be unduly shocked if he detect an occasional error in the family histories, and more especially, in the family genealogies. It must also be remembered that these living oracles, standing with one foot in the grave, as it were, will very soon be laid beside their fathers in the silent city of the dead, and that much of the information recorded on these pages, had it not been gathered in time, would then have been lost forever.

In planning the work the author decided to commence at the very beginning of things in Norfolk and follow down to a certain fixed date, so far, at least, as the family histories are concerned. This was found to be necessary for two reasons: First, that the volume might be complete in its purport and yet not too large or cumbersome for a binding of cloth; and second, that the writer might avoid the charge of favoritism in his treatment of the old families. This date is the year 1805; and, accordingly, every family settlement made during, or previous to, that year, where the requisite data were obtainable, is made the subject, in whole or in part, of a separate sketch in the series; and in connection with the old family genealogies—which are carried down to the third generation—will be found short sketches of numerous families who came to the settlement at a later date.

In conclusion, the reader is again reminded of the difficulties encountered in obtaining authentic information. This is the first history of our old families ever written, although some of the scenes depicted in these sketches were enacted more than a hundred years ago; and as the dead cannot speak to us, nor old records be restored after having been destroyed, the lights that shone out from the early cabin windows were becoming more obscure as the years went by. The author has simply gathered what has not been lost, and this volume will preserve it. Trusting that those to whom it is especially dedicated will find both pleasure and profit on its pages, he commits it to their care.

E. A. OWEN.