Historical Society
Cobourg, Ontario
February13, 1999
Ralph Stutt and Mary (Potts) arrived at Cobourg harbour, from Ireland, in the Spring of 1833, with baby John. We believe they lived first with Mary's brother William Potts and his wife on the 4th concession of Haldimand, near the Pattersons. Then in the 1836 assessment Ralph Stutt is shown to have cultivated 6 acres on the land of Alexander Noble on lot 31. Stutt, Potts, Patterson and Noble families all came from Ireland.
After studying the family history for several years, I prepared an account of their movement from the Rhineland of Germany in 1709, to Ireland with the help of Queen Anne for the next 124 years, then to Canada, where generations of Stutts made their homes in Haldimand Twp., Clarke Twp., and Bruce County in Ontario. Some went on to homestead in Assiniboia and Saskatchewan leaving Stutt "vines" from Ontario to British Columbia as well as into the U.S.
Copies of "The Seeking Vine" as the story is called, are just about gone, but I would like to offer a copy for your collection at the Cobourg Library, so that others might learn of the story of one family who began their life there in your part of Canada. Three little girls were born in the Haldimand Hills, before the family moved on, to land of their own in Clarke Twp ... and the birth of my great grandfather Archibald Stutt soon after. He was conceived in "them thar hills".
The Stutt story as far as I know it, has been told in Memories of Haldimand. Along with The Seeking Vine, I enclose the article submitted to the Haldimand Twp. History Committee. Copies of the letter from the Anglican Church Archives, baptism records for the three girls, together with items on Rev. A. N. Bethune who baptized them in 1835, 1837 and 1839, are enclosed as well, for your interest. I was certainly glad to see them and appreciate all the help I've received in gathering the information to tell this story. The Diary of Walter Riddell describing his voyage from Scotland to Canada in 1833, the same year as the Stutts came, was thrilling to discover during Heritage Days in Cobourg last year.
The story continues to unfold I am pleased to say, with the discovery of Paul Ulrich Stutte in Siegenland, Germany. Stutt families, of various spellings such as Stute, Staudt have lived there since 1450 when the name was Stutthenne. He does not understand English and I know no German, but we do our best to share what we have learned. I sent a picture book of Cobourg and the newspaper page celebrating the twinning of the German city with its "little sister" here on the shores of Lake Ontario. So as you can probably tell, Cobourg has become a favourite place for our family.
Thank you for all your efforts in preserving the stories of our country's past and best wishes in all your future endeavours.
Eunice (Stutt Davis) Streeter,
385 Beatrice St. E., #217, Oshawa L1G 7L4. 905-725-1773
