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Te Tm. "A Famlly Tradition for 128 Years" PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, November 7, 1995 - 19 Jt "place to live in. "interesting to look back and ventional and Sketches Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star the first issue of each month. ® ® [J REMINISCING My wife and I spent the Referendum weekend in Ottawa, renewing our acquaintance with our beautiful capital city and watching the Referendum events unfold; parades, speeches and rallies. Residents and visitors like ourselves, all became aware of the significance of the events which were unfolding. We all shared in the sense of pride in our nation and its accomplishments. We certainly renewed our appreciation for all those in the past who had helped to build Canada. As we walked past the impressive War Memorial, we realized how much suffer- ing and sacrifice had gone into building our great nation. It is my hope that in some way, these articles will also help to enhance that pride in our heritage. I hope that they will increase our appreciation for all those who have devoted their lives to making our small part of Canada a better This article marks the beginning of the third year in this series. It is realize that after 24 arti- cles, so much remains to be written. When 1 began this series, it was my intention to cover the main areas of the con- popular history of this region. However, as the research evolved it became obvious that there Our History - So Much More To Be Uncovered Woodman was first steam powered vessel on Scugog and dynamism helped to form our sense of community; Joseph Bigelow in Port Perry, T.C. Forman and the Currie and Ross families in Prince Albert and later Port Perry, the Hooples, Halls, Hooeys and Fergusons in Cartwright, the Lashers and Caesars in Caesarea, and two of the most notable people in our area; Dr. H.A. Bruce and James McBrien. LAKE SCUGOG TRANSPORTATION The story of transportation over the waters of Lake Scugog began hundreds of years ago when the Huron, then the Iroquois and finally the Mississaugas made their way around the broad mean- dering river which was later expanded to become Lake Scugog. The focus of this article and the next is on more modern methods of water trans- portation; firstly the oar and sail powered vessels and later the steam powered ships which transported people and goods from place to place on Lake Scugog, laying the economic base for today's communities. When William Purdy obtained govern- ment encouragement to build a dam at Lindsay in 1827, his primary sels moved people and goods around the lake, but the first to move into a mechani- cal phase were John Lasher and his neighbor Thomas Haywood. They had set- tled at the southeastern end of the lake and established a small settlement called Lasherville later to become Caesarea. In 1845, Lasher and Haywood built a scow with a horse powered tread mill. It carried freight and passengers from Lasherville (Caesarea) to sites on the lake including Lindsay. Around the same time Reuben Crandell, in competition with the Lasher boat, built a crude packet called the Firefly. It was propelled by oars and sails. GEORGE CRANDELL Reuben Crandell's son George who had always shown an interest in boating helped his father to build the Firefly. George's time aboard this vessel was short because of his involvement in the Markham Gang (see August and September 1995, Port Perry Star). For his part in the crime spree, he was sentenced to five years in the penitentiary. After he had served his sentence and was released in 1850, he returned to his home in Borelia to hear talk of the building of a purpose steam vessel at the water- front of Scugog Village. ize how soon that dream would come true. As the huge hull began to take shape, it would have attracted the rapt attention of all the settlers in the area. It was an immense vessel for this period even rivalling the steamers on Lake Ontario. It was 96 feet long at the keel and had an overall length of 110 feet. Its huge 14 foot side paddlewheels gave it a width of 30 feet. The Woodman was launched on August 29, 1850. After the launch, the huge steam engine had to be installed. It was a 25 horsepower unit built in New York. This enabled her to chug along gracefully at over eight miles per hour. There were two main decks. The lower deck had a large lounge as well as sepa- rate cabins for ladies and gentiemen, all fitted with bunks. The upper deck was open except for the wheel house where Captain Chisolm commanded his vessel. Excitement ran throughout the whole of Lake Scugog and the Scugog River all the way to Lindsay when it was announced that the Woodman was to have its maiden voyage on April 25, 1851. Dignitaries from Toronto, Whitby and the small settlement of Oshawa came to Scugog Village to board the vessel. To add an even more festive air to the occasion, the Brooklin Brass Band was also invited. MAIDEN VOYAGE The ship left her festooned moorings at Scugog Village at noon. She proudly steamed her way to Port Hooveéi-."zd, Washburn Island, the sound of he: the lake. She finally wound her way up to the Scugog River to Lindsay where a gala reception was a considerable amount of fascinating history which had not been researched and that so much remained to be rediscovered. The recent articles on the Markham Gang and the Crandells and the earlier article on the "ghost" town of Port Hoover, are excellent examples of how little is really known about our past. It also shows how fascinating our own local his- tory is and how much has become hidden over the years. When I began this series I had thought that it could be more or less complete in 24 articles or so. It is now obvious that so much has yet to be covered, that these articles will probably continue for yet another two years. I have still to dig into the fascinating area of the Railway. There are several articles on that topic alone; all the color- ful characters who played a role in its ori- gins, its design, building and running and the controversies which surrounded each phase. There are still articles to be written on the communities of Blackstock, Caesarea, Seagrave, Epsom and Utica. I also have articles in the works on the great fires in Port Perry. There are biographies of some of the early community leaders. I have already written fairly extensively on Peter Perry and the Crandells, but there are many other significant personalities whose color Peter Perry per- suaded James to create power for a mill. The eventual consequence of the dam was the increase of seven feet of water all over Lake Scugog, thus doubling its size. This increased depth, and the larger surface of water made navigation much easier, a factor not immediately accepted by the area residents. Initially there was an outbreak of oppo- sition to the larger lake. Pioneers who had settled on the land around the lake and had begun to clear their acres on its shores were obviously outraged by the Purdy dam, so much so that in 1838 a group of farmers went up to Lindsay and destroyed the dam. But Purdy had the force of the government behind him and built a smaller dam lower down the river. The first lock was built at Lindsay in 1844. Peter Perry's vision for developing Lake Scugog and drawing trade and commerce to the south end of the lake and then overland to his harbor at Whitby was gaining acceptance. This began to draw settlers into the area thus creating a need for adequate transportation. A number of sail and oar powered ves- Rowe and Thomas Cotton to finance the building of the first steamboat in the region. James Rowe had become wealthy as a grain buyer in the Whitby area. He became reeve of Whitby in 1852. In 1853, he joined with John Watson to buy Peter Perry's road company which owned the road from Whitby to Lake Scugog. He formed the Port Whitby and Lake Huron Railway Company. He was later to play an influential role in bring- ing the railway to Port Perry. Cotton was also involved in grain buying. Rowe and Cotton hired Hugh Chisolm to build the steam powered vessel at Scugog Village. The keel was laid in the spring of 1850 on the waterfront. The ves- sel was to be called the Woodman. George Crandell had more experience in ships and ship building than most peo- ple in the area. When he approached Chisolm and expressed his desire to be involved in the building of the Woodman, he was hired immediately. No doubt, as he worked away, he would have expressed a desire to own such a vessel as the Woodman. Little did he real- was planned at Mitchell's hotel. She was scheduled to arrive in Lindsay at 3 in the afternoon, but logs, branches and all manner of debris in the river, delayed her arrival until 5 p.m. As she made her way up the last few miles of the river, excite- ment reached the pandemonium stage as the noise of her horn, the Brooklin Brass Band and the cheering of the Lindsay townsfolk greeted her arri- val. A huge banquet in the hotel ballroom was accompanied by the usual speeches. This was followed by singing and danc- ing, led by what must have been a com- pletely exhausted Brooklin Brass Band. The festivities carried on until the early hours of the morning. After her maiden voyage, she made the daily trip from Port Perry to Lindsay and then return. Along the way, regular stops were made at Port Hoover and Caesarea. The route along the river proved to be hazardous for many years. But there was a more serious danger in all steamboats of that era; fire. The potential for fire was always present on board these wooden steam vessels. The Woodman had her first major fire in 1854 as she lay at her wharf in Port Perry. She was so badly damaged that Rowe and Cotton decided to sell her. Her new owner; George Crandell. He imme- diately rebuilt her and in 1854 with her relaunching, began to build what was to become a steamboat empire on the Central Lakes. Next month: Crandell's Steamboat Empire. A sketch of the steamer Woodman on Lake Scugog The sketch was based on two partial views of the Woodman found in the Anglo American Magazine of 1854 steam horn reverberating all over