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ORONO WÉEKLY TIMES, TIIURSDAY, MARCH 5th, 1970 Essay On The Life 0f One of thle E yP;( - rs cf Clakc owuhipby Dr. Jllai'Iand, Billings Samuel Billinags Svas bor in Ogdensburg, New York, in 1809. Rlis mother was cf Frencli ex-- traction and spoke French as readi' r as. Engiish. Grand father ini bis later years would often surprise us witbi a French'expres- sien learned from hler. Ilis father probably descended froin the Rloger Billings branch cf the fami- jly centered in Dorchester, Mass.1 When Samuel was four the family rnoved te Ontario settling at the mouth of the Grand River, now the site cf Dunnville on Lake Erie. One of bis eariy recolec- tions was seeing soldiers marching along the road, (War cf 181214). For those early settiers if e was tough and there werc hungry times. Each faiîly had a small clearing wbcre anonigst the stumps tbey grew corn, potatees and wheat, the latter cut by cradle and scythe and thrcshed with a fiail. The year 1816 was "winter al ume"year. In ïouthern On- tario there was frost in cvcry montb. Crop failure was nearly comfplete. Young Sam, a lad of seven, worked with a youngerý brother ail day te pick a haif bar- rel of potatoes none larger than üherries. Grains did flot mature. At normai barvest time. en car of cern, squeezed in the hand, dripped water. Prophesies cf the cnd of the worid wcre common. The key facts did -not become public for mnany years;. Wheri phyN- sical scicntists got around ite as- sessing the facts th j v fouind 'that ,the1Peeiesycar was the year cf th(, worst tidal avc-s 0on the shores q of the Indian occean, known to history, andf oceano- graphy later discovered an un- ,dersea mountain ývoicano in ithiat ocean wbich,ein formiiing .hadl dis- cYmr~"d illins f tons cof ash and! dust that had ditdaon the rt'staopeerdcg the sun's heat anid liight An unl- doubtcd byproduct was t1-1t1ma11 peoi e revi ewed their shlortcoem- ings and vowed to do better. The followîng winter- was a timne of hunger, deprivatien and a valiant struggle te save sccd from previeus crops. Fisb was a great life saver. There weré many lindians in the district (Wyan- dots) but they wcremore peace- fui and socialable than those on yie American side. Samuel ai- ways, spoke well of them. When he killed a dcar oi made a fort- unate catch cf fish hie wouid takc some te his Indian neiglibors and invariabiy was rcwarded later when they had luck. There werc ne iocks on cabins. When an In- dian was absent hie proppcd a cordwood stick agains t bis door and te other Indians that, was a good hock. The whitc man found that a valuable trick te adopt. The first Wllnd canal was 1be- gun ini 1825'. t was a tremendous Upper-Canada projcct for those times and wbcn Sam was 18 (1827) he wcnt te work on it. There werc 1no stcamn shovels. The carth and rock wcrc band shovel- led into whclbarrows which wcre pushed up long inciined patits. Sam's forernan was a hefty Irish- man and when bis barrow, was filicd every man in the gang- had te pick up bis, handies and fal in line. The centracto'r's "grog man" carricd a cask of wiskcy and a measuring cup. The work- crs werc aiiowed ail they wanted unlcss they wobbhed - then they wcre rationed. ,Aftcrý a ycar cf barrow loads and much whiskcy young Sain went h 4m--e hclp wih th br- thýi ,vaý a loaded crii. The ccv- eli a,ît lie made with him cif, re- ci! ichiq ewn words. "You shahl net conquer mc. I bury you deep undler the ground and there yeu shahl stay." Hie would take a drink of, beer but seo far as- 1 .know he teck ne bard liquor, in his rernain-bg 75 years. There were tales of ice s kating On the Grand river on tingling winter days, of flying log jumps in pursuit, cf hare or deer. Then suddenly both lletber and Father died and Samuel found bimself, as; the oldest, respons.ible for the family. Other bc;79s were Edsil, William and Joseph. There were three sisters - Maria, Hannah and llarriett. ieý was fortunate in- deed te find and marry Julia Fisher, daughter in the family' of an American settler. Prom all ne- counts she had courage and char acter, the kind people came te when in trouble. Samn heard of the good land available in Clarke township and dccided tei make the 100 mile move. This was in 1831. They went through the vil- lage cf York, somewbat rcbuilt after bcing burned by the Amer- icans ici the War cf 1812. It was effîcially namcd Toronto ini 1834. Thcy travelled the1 Kingston, rond along the north shore cf Lake Ontario. It was net built a- long, the shore but severni miles back where it stili is. The iîdea, wns that, it being built as a miii- tary road cennecting Fort Front- enac at Kingston withFort Niag- ara, if it wcrc back in the woeds, military conveys could net be spetted from cncmy frigates on thelaclke. There were few settie- ments of more than a dezen bous- es beýtween York and Newcastle. The Ianid Samiuel bad obtained wa'50 acres, south-east cf what is, niow Orono. 11e purchascd it fi'o','theit honorable Peter Jack- son at thrcc dllars. per acre. Lt ,cs now p)art of thec home of Mr, Alv1\in Blcwett. There was a pass- able rond ftbroughi the trees frem Newcastle north te what later be- camie Rcnwick's corners (fourth Bne). Beond w-as virgin forest eccept for the survcyor's blaze on a line cf trees indicating whcre thie rcad \was te go. Samuel got eut bis ax and cuit the road te bis ncwprpry about a mile.. Ouir imagination is straincd, at thiis distance in time, te renlize lîow rouigh life was for the eariy setters eseeiliythe first J/cars. They had 1no live stock éxccpt a *É,ai nief herses or oxen and, if lucky, a cew. Sam's family livcd in the wagon whiic they built thîcir first log cabin as they start- ed Iheir clearing. The cnrly set- tiers shared their limited resour- ces and hcipcd, cadi other in ern "-gencies. -It teck more than one or two te lift a log into pý--ce ici cabin building. Whcn word went eut tint a settier had en- ougi legs prcparcd, a day was set and neigibors came from a- fair for tic "raisin.". They bad brought fleur with thcmn andi sced grain. Bernies and game were plentiful. Tic major consideration. was l.weparaticn fer the first winter. Ahl the ligzht- cf the lonLr summer days was used te chop down and burn trcees te make a clearing, then te piow and plant bctween tie stumps - mostlii wbeat, -corn and petatees. The new land was fertile and mostiy pest free. The ash frem the tree fires was leacb- ST. SAVUOURS ANGLICAN Established 1869 Regular Sunday Worship Servces - 9:30 a.m. Holy Communion- First and Third Sundays Morning Prayer- Second and Fourth Sunday Holy Baptismn by -appointmeflt witb Rector 987-4745 The 1ev. H Robert Hayme, B.A.. L.Th. ed for potashI whicb, in that first year was the only cash crop. A barrel of potash brought five çcil lars (one po)und English money). lei. The early settI' r e i,)tic(, rairies buit Fod ,cabi;wi;ch gave ight wallï aud rooc UTe log cabin had to be prepared for wintc r' by calkng the cv'wk, b- tween the legs. with mud, the stckes ay being sought for the purpose. Wintcring in the forest had some prized advantag- es howevcr. The ta]] trees were a protection againFt wind and the driffting 5110w. 'A boundless supply of wood fuel both green and dead was'at hand for the ax- ing. At one end of every log cab- in was a ýhuge firepflac'e of stone ini whieh- swung the cookînr- nots. One (iiose bis desired tempera-' ture by the distance of his seat from the fireplace. Where Orono now stands was dense forest exccrpt for the creek valkjj where the iilpond 15 110W. A beaver dain had made a lush meadow whierc the deercame in winter to paw the snow and un- cover nature's suppl y of hay. Sam knew this spot well. The crack of lis rifle generally resul- ted iný a major addition to the famiiy meat supply. Venison was less expensive in ammunition than was. rabbit' and few shortages were more alarming than scarcity of ammunition. When the.powder horn got low, a trip "out front" was flot delayed. Bear and woives were more of a problem in winter when their- food was, scarce than in summer, but children and live stock had te be guarded at al times. The- fox, always a wily thief,, was most troublesome after domestic fowi was acquired. Woodchucks were plentiful and the settiers wcrc not above eating them when other meat was scarce. (to be continued) JJITD4HU1C S Orone Pastoral Charge M'niste Rev. B P. Long SUNDAY, MARCIT 8th, 1970 Orono mnîî.-Church- 'hindn. sehool t 10:00 Ser-vice at 175 arnm Mofrning Service at 9:45 a.m Sunday School at 11-00 PARENTS! Corne teO pe Lieuse and sec your chiid's work. It is frcm 2 o'clock - 4 o'clock in !, afteynoon ana frem 7 te 9 ici the evcning cf today, Thursday. cla sreom subjeeti, prejecti and art work wilh be dispiaycd on this day. Ail classes are preparing for Open House. Classroomn News: Ini art class Grade 1 are design, ing penguins frem cday. Along witb a study -of, Indians grade' 2 are making, a Tecpce, they are aise doing a few puppet shows. Grade. 3's' assembly on Friday of Iast wc was a smiashing suc- cess. t openeci with the singing_ cf 0 Canada- oloc by a coral readin,sn and the grade 3. Rhytùm Band. Projects, on transportation and,,, eo p 1, 011 o air1,pressure is, Grade V,, ba.g th-is week. 1n,hi rstudy of Australiaý gradeýý 5 arîe making Austraiarri aniaisfro pavrmache. They arc i o doing, creative writing.. Grade 6ijust finishied studying- au'thors. They are doing group. wor-k on the following countries- Great Britain, ,Mýexico, Russia, Japan, Jreland, Switzerland an&t llolland. Editor - Bonnie Dunlop Assistant Editor - Ed. Clarke, Bowmannville Veterinary Clinic, 270 King St. East Telephone 623-5908 DR. J. A. HIGGINSON is pleased to anhnounce that DR. D. E. Kartschau has joined him in the practice of Veterinary Medicine