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8-Orono Weekly Times, Wednesday, October 31, 1984 Familiar Faces-Prlaces The Burk's of Darlington "The Burks and their friençIs are long gone but evidence of their lives as sfrugglîng pioncers lias been kept « " A few years ago, wlien 34 year old Paul Burk of Oshawa read this sentence in a Times piece about fthe Dari- ingfon generating site, lis îm- mnediate reaction was "wliat do you mean long gone. l'm not dead.- He then plioned flic reporter who wrote ftle 5fory and explained to lier tliat lie was thc iglifl genera- tion descendent of John Burk thie pioneer and was in fact Paul Burke of Oshawa vcry mucli alive. The state- ment also prompt cd him f0 investigafe flic past of lis prominent ancestors. He found fliat they did indeed struggle in their early days as -tte in Upper Canada. Yet, f hey persisted and sur- vived and laid the cor- nersfones for the future Town of Bowmanville. It ail started wTth John Burk who ived on tlie North Brancli of thie Susquelianna River in Upper New York state before coming to Canada. He was, as one grandson wrote "a very capable persan" wlio did weil at anything lie put lis mind to. While in tIe U.S., lie was both a scliool teaclier and a businessman. Life, thougli, was difficult and before lie camne to Canada John Burk had moved around quit e a bit barcly making a living wherever lie went. The desire to live under Britishi rule, and the enticing prospects of Sim- coe' s land Grants lured him, along with Roger Canant and John Trull to move their families lock stock and barrel to Upper Canada in 1794. The prospect of free land, oufweiglied tlie enormous liardships f lese people had to confend wif h in order te reach Canada. John Burk hired someone ta bring his wife and children to Newark (Niagara-on-the-Lake) while lie and some of flic older male members of the famîly transported their wordly belongings first in ox carts, then by batteau on Lake On- t ario when they rached Oswego. Other miembers of the famîly made the entire trip overland. Many years tater in 1867, Jessiah Burk a son of John Burk wlxo -Ira returned tu rue U.S. re- counted to his nepSw William Harvey Burk how as a 14 year old boy hne had to ielp run the livestock of 2 cows and a horse f0 Canada around Lake Ont ario. "I camne alI the way by foot and helped drive the cattle. We had some difficulty at the Big Bay . .. .So we thought we could swim the caff le over... If was Oct ober 2, 1794 whcn flic Burks arrived in Darlington Township, the freacherous journey behind tlicm. But more hardship lay ahcad as fhey faced the task of carving a life in the midst of the densly woodcd uninhabited forcst that lined the shores of Lake Ontarioy. So fhey immediately set ouf buildin g lot shanties alongside Barber's (Bowman- ville) Creek. They were crude functional buildings describ- ed as having.bark roo fs and plaster on the insiçle walls. Here, they lived in virtual isolation, the only neighbours being the Indians and the wolves with which tliey shared the forest. With no stores around they also had to be fairly self sufficient. Ajiother inconvenience was, of course, the absenceof a mili, the nearesf one being, Meyers Mill, 60 miles away. It was a 2 week canoe trip there which involved camping in the forest overnight. Nof surprisingly John Burk decid- ed to build a milI in dloser proximitýy and opened up- Darlington's first grist milI and saw milI where Vanstone's Mill now stands. Burk wasn'f content to stop there and also opened the first general store in the area and later the first Inn. In do- ing a!! this he created the nucleus for the future com- merce and developmnent of the tiny community. Evert- fually in 1824 Charles Bowman, the namesake of Bowmanville would purchase the store. John Burk's entrepreneur- ship also led him in to the ac-. quisition of enormous amounts of land in DarI- ington Township. After he received his own land grant in 1798 for the property alongside Barber's Creek he proceeded to buy -or acquire over one thousand acres of land. Much of this was in- herited by numerous descendents. Today, much of what used to be Burk land formns a large part of Danl- ington Provincial Park as well as the Darlington generating site. SQ the, Burk name once associated with the water power that turned the first milis is now con- nected to the power to be generated at Ontario Hydro's plant. Ironically, Darlington's fîrst citizen did not live out the rest of his life in the com- munity he helped start as he returned to the United States just over twenty-five years after arriving. In, 1820 he sold Li*fe-style program Clarke High Sehool The Parent-Teacher f0 five speciFic areas; fîtness; Liaison commiffee on Thurs- nutrition; stress and relaxa- day cvening of last week at tion; mental hlîfh and drug tlic Clarike Schol Iwcre and alcohol abuse. Eadh of -irfformcd of th~e Life,,Style flic five areas are furfher program whidli is to lie dîvîded int o f0 sub-areas. undertaketr -on -November 27th at the school. Parents are welcomne to take part in the sessions that are planned for the program. The program, designed for the students, wilI be an al-ý day feature at the school. The program is divided in- Harvey Burk and Bowman- ville lawyer John fturk- Simpson. How does Paul Burk feel having s0 prominent a lineage? He chuckles and says, "I joke with a guy at G.M. (where hie works) wlio lives in Bowmanville. I tell him you'çl better watch ouf ,cause one day 'm going to take all that land back. He also lias a sense of awe at belonging f0 the past. For the most part though, Burk is rather modesf at being a live -relic, especially when hie goes fo the Bowmnanville Museum and is introduced to visifors as John Burk's descent. "l'm shy thaf way" lie says. Yef, he is commitfed to p reserving the memory of lis ancestors, especially for thie benefit of his 2 children Keith and Cheryl. That article in the Tuimes fuelled a fervor for the past whichi resulted in a family geneology and history. And apparently, word lias spread for Burk says lie gets requests for information from Burk descendents al over North America. Ontario Hydro liasn't hesitated to acknowiedge Burk's connection to hiistory and invited him fo an openirig of the new information centre onl the Darlington site where Premier Davis was to have been in attendance. "Im- agine, me and Bill Davis at thc samie party" lie says, but the reception was postponed. Hydro 'is also working on renovating the Burk cemiefery on the generating site whicli contains the graves of 10 family members încluding John Burk Il. WIat's next for Paul Burk- --well lie plans on1 drawing up a proper family- tree and researching Francis Burk, John Burk's father wvho came over from lreland in 1725. The Burks long gone? .. .never says tlie custodian of the family hisfory. In 1784, United Empire Loyalisf s left America and headed norf h to live under tIe peaceful conditions of British rule in the Province of Canada. In doing so, f ley lay the cornerstones of the pro- vince of Ontario. fi wasn't until 1794 that these loyalists came to the newly formed Darlington Township. John Burk, John TrulI and Roger Conant aIl left Upstate New York undertaking a long treaclierous trip over land and 'by water to cventually make their homes in this area. Conant, tliough, would move on to what is now Osliawa. Trull and Burk re- mained in Darlington. It was John Burk whose en- t repreneurship formed the commercial nucleus of what was later to become the Town of Bowmanville. Students mnust make a choice of attending four ses- sions during the day with drug and alcohol abuse being mnandafory as one of their dhoices. Special guesf s and speakers will be presenf for flic Life- style program and of interest, Sylvia Ruegger and Milan Popodicli, former Clarke students, wlio have oufsfan- ding accQmplishments in afhletics, will be present f0 assisf wîf h the programn. Teams of a feacher from. flic Pines, a teaclier fromu Clarke along wif h one parent and a grade thirfeen sfudents will also assisf wifh the ses- sions and the discussion dur- ing flic sessions. In the five areas fhere is expected f0 be a total of fwenfy-five sessions. Mr. Empringliam, vice- principal at flic scliool spcaks of flic educational process for aIl areas under consideration BARN STORAGE CARS a VANS e BOATS KENDAL AREA 983-5523 APPOI NTM ENTS TO BOARD S AND COMM ITTEES Applications will be received by the undersigned n writing until Friday, November 30th 1984, fromn any eligible person who would like to be con- sidered for appointment or re-appointment to any of the following local boards and committees of the Town of Newcastle. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and meet the qualifications associated with the board or committees for which the application is being submitted. AIl ap- plications should state the office being applied for and must include full name, address, telephone number, qualifications or experience, and present occupation. BOARDS AND COMMITTEES: Public Library Board Committee of Adjustment (one to be ap- pointed from Ward -1) Museum Boards (Clarke and Bowmanville> Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee Game Commission Livestock Valuers Fence Viewers Pound Keepers Property Standards Committee Hospital Board (to be appointed in June 1985) Ail applications should be forwarded to the Town Clerk David \N. Qakes, B.A.,A.M.C.T., Town Clerk rç), jTown of Newcastle 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario LiC 3A6 File: 10.12.4. Date of Publication: October 31st, 1984 P.O. No.AG333 KINSMEN BINGO ORONO ARENA COMMUNITY CENTRE S500.00 JACKPOT EVERY SECOND TUESDAY 7:30 p.m. OCT. 9 à23, NOV. 6& 20, DEC. 4 & 18 -~ - - in the Life-style program. PIle said the educational process miust precede development of a program or undertakeing. As an example the schoo', Iast June ruled out smokin._ in the school an acf that was undertaken prior to setting of a goal or an educational pro- gram. Following discussions with teachers, some who are smokers, and two further meetings with aIl smokers present the sehool as November 8th will open a smoking area withîn the school for a period prior to morning classes, during the noon hour and following school. Last year the smoking area was open during study periods and between classes, as well as during the noon hour period and prior to, school opening and following affernoon classes. The total ban of a smoking area in the scliool did not eliminate smoking but rather pushed smokingi onto a neiglibouring property. The vice-principal said the smoking policy will be under periodic review and he states that both teachers and students accept the goal of non-smoking in the school as a worthy goal to obtain.