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t plane stand up these bushy chinned ys men living advertisements for their- own beard growing contest have a lion in their midst with a mane on his chin at a joint dinner meeting of the ys men and lions club thursday at the ymca topics of discussion included fertilizer fatherinlaw relationships and who should use family tv set fines master bill wilson did much of the talk ing left to right theyre ys men howard pearce walter dubois doug copeland lion chief dave hunter and ys man rick coe staff photo resurface highway r highway 25 between highway 401 and the southern outskirts of acton will be completely resurfaced this year the ontario department of highways announced as the 196768 estimates were tabled in the legislature o harron of the information section dho explained the program would probably begin late this summer the resurfacing covers a 93 mile stretch of the twolane highway the work also includes a minor widening on the first mile of the highway north from highway 401 the present 20 foot wide pavement will be widened to 24 feet he said hotchens has thi ust hot cross buns oven fresh delicious 65c doz chocolate easter novelties 25c 250 oftdtx your hot cross buns now i baked fresh daily mb cakes tarts buns rous bread etc made and sold exclusively by hotchens hotchens bakery 11 wtuow st phoni b534710 niagara escarpment will be preserved for recreation area conversion of the 450milelong niagara escarpment and manitoulin islands into a gigantic recreation area were an nounced friday by premier john robarts the premier said in the legislature the cabinet committee on regional development will begin a wideranging study of the escarpment and the islands with the view of preserving them for recreational purposes a large section of the escarpment passes through halton county it is dotted with gravel and quarry operations and several recreational areas mr robarts said he has informed the cabinet committee of which he is chairman that this is an urgent matter meriting immediate attention jtthere has been in recent months a rising tide of con cern over the future of the escarpment which extends from queenston to tobermory and manitoulin island so aptly des cribed as southern ontarios last frontier this concern arises for many reasons among them the need for more public recreational areas the increasing use of the escarpment for housing development the longterm effect of quarrying operations the varying views held by municipal authorities who control parts of the escarpment and the published opinions of private organizations such as rhe federa tion of ontario naturalists the bruce trail association and the nature conservancy of canada the premier said mr robarts agreed development such as quarry opera tions would be frozen he promised talks with all municipal authorities involved classified reaofyuxna voluntary service organizations like the red cross preserve the right of the individual to choose to associate with others whose aim is the betterment of the com munity and mankind si clairtone mar 15 t april 15 savutyt up to loo on clawtone stereo 1867 1 1967 1867 1 1967 models priced from 399 up visit our color lounge watch year favorite abow in color color tv the earn ta our oon sharp ufa kenya know up color tv c w r et to est and son ltd kelly son ltd lane bean seo- color lot over 9 1113 wyndham st ouelph prompt delivery and service 224041 it jvttlw jfrtt ft i i ninetysecond yearno 37 acton ontario wednesday march 15 1967 second section history of rock wins centennial m67im67 cemetery essay award the flrat prise enay of the top 12 cboeen from grades 7 and t at rockwood public school follows the essay contest is a cen tennial project sponsored by rockwood home and school tws essay is by marjan drlj- her who received as her award a book written by miss jean little and a centennial silver dollar tws essay was given first standing by members of guelph historical society history of the rockwood cemetery by marjan drljber how they so softly rest all ail the holy dead unto whose dwelling place how doth my soul draw near how they so softly rest all in their silent graves deep to corruption slowly down sinking these poetical works of henry longfellow most cer tainly captured the sentiments in the heart of the rockwood cemeterys late founder john harris history john harris owned so acres of very productive and beauti ful land on the east half of lot 3 concession 4 eramosa township wellington county today this land is known as the academy lot in his generous way john harris donated two acres of this land for a cemetery and as a religious person he se lected a certain spot in the southeast corner as a place for his church the religious society of friends friends church john harris church the re ligious society of friends bet ter known as the quakers gratefully accepted his offer therefore in 1844 the friends organized a building bee and with willing powerful hands they erected their new church it was an impressive sight for any passerby on highway no 7 the church was a plain frame building with clapboard siding arid was never known to be painted in later years however it became weather ed to a pleasant gray the interior was lined with wide pine boards also unpainted according to the simple ways of the quakers of simple construction the building had two windows at the front and two at the rear there were two doors at the front of the building double doors most likely but only the right hand door was used it is said that the plan of two doors at the front of the building was in case it was desiied to divide the meeting house discussion as was some times done in quaker meeting houses this was done in the early days by erecting a wood- partition which divided the ce into two rooms so the women and men could meet and discuss separately also a good sunday school was conducted in this building u o childr of se buttaterreieased society of friends a few peo ple might have thought it shante to give this beautiful productive land for a cemetery but the friends noticed and realized the sacrifice john harris was making and there fore acceptedit for it was fpr the use of the lord and noth ing was too good for him 1 also on this land a church was built which was removed in 1898 location as a person comes into rockwood on highway no 7 travelling in a northerly direc tion they will see three signs namely welcome to rock wood settle here and the most inappropriate yet the one we are interested in rock wood cemetery on the two acres or half of lot 3 concession 4 eramosa township wellington county lies the burial grounds of rockwood rockwood ceme tery in the founders day and up to frank days time it was known as the a ademy lot it probably recei id this title as the academy is but one house away from the boun dary line and mr browns farm borders the cemetery also reasons john harris donated the land for the cemetery bot only because of his genercjus and religious character but the population and death rates were going up causes of death in the pioneers day there were many causes of death and few medicines or reme dies the main cause as al ways was a great amount of sickness and few or no doc tors for these reasons fami lies learned and were forced to make their remedies and diagnosis whiskey and other such bev erages were the- chief medi cines but other home remedies were used sometimes the drunkenness that overcame them put them in the deepest slate of relaxation death the families did not know what sterilization precautions to take when treating for snake and rabid animal bites tetan us steppingonarusty nail or animal attacks so many a person died from blood poison ing also when the axe slipped or the food was fermented or the well was too shallow or too near the outhouse poison ing took place many men were killed in the wars wars of 1812 to 1814 and frontier justice was to string a man up or kill him as a mob even in our quiet township there were suicides and mur ders not only by indians but also by fellow white man in 1848 10yearold margaret wood went to visit her grand father robert scott and a sick uncle in doing this she had to pass through a thick forest and according to the authori ties this is when it happened about two oclock she had ben strangled to death and the murderer was never caught though one man was arrested harris would donate some of his land to be used for a church and cemetery before the burial took place a wake the nights until the body leaves the home for burial was held in the one- room house the friends of the family would come the night before the burial bringing food so the family would not have to cook they arrived by horses or oxen pulling a jumper sleigh bobsled but most preferred to walk as the roads were more blazed trails only one carriage wide when the right a person who makes wheels for carts and such arrived the richer people obtained wag gons lumber planks put to gether over four wheels that were pulled by oxen as horses were scarce while on the trail the folks brought a gun for protection and a light as the forests were so dense they couldnt see even in the daylight many of the people were quakers therefore they would wear no ornaments and plain homespun black clothes the men had beards and the wo men long plaited hair the children were brought along as they didnt believe in babysit ters when the day arrived the service was conducted by the circuit rider if he was avail able but in rockwood quak ers were the main denomina tion and as each quaker can act as a minister an elder was given the privilege of perform ing the burial the grave was dug by the family and friends the casket was of rough lumber if the deceased had one and if not he was wrapped in a shroud to buy a casket the family did not use money but rather barter after the interment was com pleted the group went to the familys home where the friends again cooked the meal the mourners stayed thenlght and in the morning started off home igain 1880 manner after the roads bega to u g ravel led 1870 wagons were more common though horses were still few in number also the bereaved arrived in buggies two seater democrats fam ily buggy and for winter cere monies in cutters pioneers were more prosperous now and some even had store- bought clothes made especially for burials there were regular ministers now but the family still dug the graves it was about this time that people other than quakers were allowed to be buried in the quaker cemetery at rockwood for the village was more populous now all the dead had caskets now when the ceremony was over the friends were entertained at the deceaseds home present day manner today one has to apply to the secretary of the cemetery board who is also the secre tary of the village for a ceme tery plot then with the clerk mr obrien this year the person finds out what plot is denominations the seating ca pacity was around 40 indivi duals and the wood burning stove threw off its heat to the large group some of the first families of this meeting were the norths wetheralds smiths and harris family as the time went by older friends passed on and were buried in a portion of the cemetery along the north side well back later owing to the distance from the village of some of the cemeteries other burials people who were not friends were permitted and plots that has been laid out were soon taken up in 1898 it was thought best to have a more central site in the i village for the friends church and this was provided by john r harris son of john harris the land was located next to the chopping mill hortops mill on main street highway no 7 the new building presbyterian church was opened in august of the same year 1898 recently a simple stone marker has been placed on the site of the old meeting house in the cemetery bearing the following inscription site of friends meeting house 1844 1898 cemetery founding john harris a generous and religious man donated two acres of land to the religious the ordinary pioneer might have complained of an ache and be soothed with the thought it was a stomach ache when he died though people discovered they were calling many diseases as appendicitis pneumonia typhoid fever and influenza the epidemic during the war this also consump tion and diphtheria were com mon there were some drownings and the cemetery holds one such victim samuel morris at the age of five years 1871 also a man killed by a falling tree was nothing unusual burial ceremonies earliest manner the first burying ceremony was done completely by the famil and if possible a few friends might attend it was done in the family clearance a part of the land kept separ ately for burials first a shallow grave was dug they would wrap the de ceased in a sheet lay him in the ground and then cover him up leaving a wooden cross as a marker it was done this way as there were no churches or ministers l people were isolated from one another and in order to take the dead to a cemetery they had to travel through woods where indians and wild animals roamed manner when the population increas ed a rich devout man as john available in an emergency the undertaker will do this for a villager a grave four feet by eight feet will cost 50 dollars while an outsider must pay 75 dollars before this the cemetery plots were the cheap est in this area costing from 2 dollars to 30 dollars and a plot for a family of six would co- only 50 dollars becaux- of this many people from other towns were putting their dead here filling up the cemetcrv space some families uere buying plots for all their children when the children moved away they left empty plots which couldnt be used for anyone else- today if the p dies he will be put in a funeral home for a few days and then in his church he will be blessed la ter he is driven in a hearse fol lowed by his family and friends to the cemetery where he will be buried in his own plot a gravestone is added later if desired pjople come only for the funeral leaving the family alone occasionally a tea is served in the church after the burial transfer on february 1 1927 the first motioiji was made in the police village trustees meeting to transfer the deed of the ceme tery from the quakers to the police village of rockwood on a perpetual care basis it was thought in this meeting that the funds derived from the selling of plots would be used for perpetual care on april 5 1928 the friends decided to accept the offer to transfer the deed of the ceme tery to the police village of rockwood also the methods of securing money forpeipetu- al care of the cemetery were taken it is recorded that someone saw to it that william harris grandson of john har ris got a copy of the minutes rnady on october 16 1908 mr william harris represent ing the trustees of the relig ious society of friends gave the deed of the cemetery to the village of rockwood his wish was that the following conditions be followed it is understood that in ac cepting the burial grounds from the friends church the police village of rockwood shall keep the grounds with proper care and preservation of all trees until replacement is necessary no plowing shall be done in any part where graves are located the friends shall have the privilege of erec ting a memorial stone on the west side of their former place of worship also on december 7 1931 an agreement was signed by wil liam richard and edgar w harris who were the current trustees for the friends and by the police village trustees so that the cemetery was convey ed to the police vihage care while the quakers still had access to the cemetery and the church they put a picket fence along the front now removed while cedar rail fences were er ected on its other sides la ter a wire fence replaced it with their typical devotion to their duties the quakers un dertook the task of beautifying the burial grounds to a splen did condition they had plant ed evergreens around the ceme tery cut the grass weeded it and performed other such tasks when the church was moved to its new site william har- is planted trees on each side of the site of the first friends church at the same time spruce trees were planted along the south side and rear boundaries of the property pyramid cedars were also planted to mark out plots when rockwood received the cemetery the trustees did not only follow william harris wishes but also laid out flow er beds seeds could easily be obtained as rockwood was the centre of the horticultural so ciety at that time for mr wil liam harris had a great field of flowers in order not to bury people one on tp of the other rock wood must now keep a record of all present burials after each burial a plan must be sent lo the department of health in toronto where they check all d tails and send approval if all is in proper order because ot this rockwood must employ a man to keep care of the cemetery records mr obrien and a grave digger presently mr mclaren who also cuts the grass weeds the flower beds and plants flowers besides this in places where the ground has sunk in he must put in new sod making the plot look level and before winter arrives he must put stakes in the ground showing where the plots are in 193a when a general in spection of all provincial ceme teries was made rockwood was proc nmed excellent rockwood must thank the friend for this remark and after the friends retired grati tude is owed to the energetic abilities of the late fred smith and the late john lister and to frank schneider who of his own accord spends much of his time on the flower beds which arc now a spot of beauty the village foreman and mr schneider also provide beauty for the resting place of rock wood soldiers topajr or the care rock wood uses the money from the sale of the plots the first few years and in 1961 taxes were also usedfor perpetual care of the fifftv dollars acquired from the sale of the plot thirty goes toward the perpetu al care fund as of november 1 1966 there is fifteen thous and dollars in the perpetual care fund description today the cemetery is very beautiful with its border of trees and its shrubs green grass and wellkept flower beds continued on page 85 j i ai3dvs oodiw irnd