The following is copied from notes made by Jessie (Forsyth) Peacock, daughter of John Forsyth and Mary Dales - transcribed by Jessie's grand daughter, Jeanne. Written by Jessie before 1965.John Forsyth was born in Darlington (Dirleton)Parish Haddington Shire, Scotland and came to Canada with his parents when about 20 years old (ca. 1855), living for a time in King County near Kettleby, Ontario.
(Note: Records show that John came before his parents. In 1861 they are still in Scotland and he is with the Dales family in King Township.)
In 1861 he was married to Mary Dales, daughter of Diana Otherham and William Dales. Mary Dales was born in 1840 in Kettleby. They resided in King County (Township) till 1865. The young couple then left with team and oxen for Bracebridge, Muskoka which was a town in the making and had only one house in it and was practically a dense forest. There was no train running to Muskoka then and the roads were almost impassable.
They lived in Bracebridge for a time and John was chiefly engaged in cutting roads. He located two lots in Macaulay and cut a good road from them to Bracebridge. His lots were located on the 12th Concession of Macaulay where he lived the remainder of his life. He died July 2nd, 1908 and was buried in Falkenburg Cemetery.
His father and mother lived in the next lot to them and one night the house took fire. It was just a one-storey house and they had to get his father out through a small window or he would have been burnt to death.
They were Presbyterians and attended church when well every Sunday morning at Parkersville Church (which has been pulled down and rebuilt by the Cowley Fathers.) There was a large family - 7 girls and 5 boys, only 3 of us left now.
There were many hardships in those days. Lots of times Father had to walk to Orillia (more than 60 miles return trip) to get flour and other provisions for his family. There were lots of wild animals such as bears, wolves, and deer. Fortunately there were lots of berries and Mother used to pick them and put them on boards to dry, then they would cook them as they needed them. As sugar was scarce and dear she also used to peel apples and string them and hang them up to dry. When cooked they tasted like fresh apples.
They had to wash with a wash board and made their own soap by putting wood ashes in a barrel then putting water on them letting the lye run out of the barrel, then they boiled the lye with fat they had saved till it was thick and they used that to wash with and scrub their floor with a scrubbing brush on their knees. No such conveniences as they have now.
Mother also spun her own yarn. They kept sheep and Father would shear the sheep and take the wool to the woollen mill and had rollings made out of it. Then Mother would spin it on her spinning wheel and make it into yarn to knit socks and mitts for the family. She also made all their shirts, pants and all wearing apparel and still had time to go and visit a sick neighbour.
1881 Census - Macaulay Township, Muskoka, Ontario
John FORSYTH, Scottish, 45, b. Scotland, Farmer, C. Presbyterian
Mary FORSYTH, English, 40, b. Ontario
Charlotte FORSYTH...........18, b. Ontario, Servant
*Deiann FORSYTH............. 16, b. Ontario, Servant
Sarah FORSYTH............... 14, b. Ontario
John Thomas FORSYTH...12, b. Ontario..going to school
William FORSYTH............ 11, b. Ontario..going to school
James FORSYTH.................8, b. Ontario..going to school
Robert FORSYTH................6, b. Ontario..going to school
Mary FORSYTH.................. 4, b. Ontario
Elizabeth FORSYTH............2, b. Ontario
George FORSYTH....................b. April, 1881, Ontario
*Diana is also shown in King Township as a servant with her Uncle David Dales
1891 Census - Macaulay Township
p. 25
John Forsythe.......................56, b. Scotland
Mary Jane..................................... 50, b. Scotland
John J........................................... 22, b.Scotland
William..........................................21, b. Ontario
James.............................................19, b. Ontario
Robert........................................... 17, b. Ontario
Mary.............................................. 14, b. Ontario
Elizabeth........................................12, b. Ontario
George............................................10, b. Ontario
Emma.............................................. 8, b. Ontario
Jessie............................................... 5, b. Ontario
Joseph..............................................3, b. Ontario
and John and Charlotte's daughter, Alison, on Lot 6, Concession XIII
James McNee................................. 59, Presbyterian
Alison McNee..................................59
John McNee....................................23, b. Scotland (?)
James McNee..................................21, b. Ontario
Charlotte McNee.............................18, b. Ontario
Susan Rickett, 22
Order of families enumerated:
Schaffer, McNee, Clark, Forsyth, Emmery, Wol__, Orr
No comments:
Post a Comment