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The Johnsons
Grandfather Ira Johnson was a direct descendant of United Empire Loyalists. His father, Richard, was born in 1803, and family history tells that the Johnson family came over from England at about the same time as the Pilgrim Fathers. On the plaque at Plymouth Rock where the Mayflower landed, is the name William Johnson. The Mayflower left England on December 11,1620, and while there is no proof that William Johnson is an ancestor, it has been fairly well established that the first Johnsons in our family came about that time. This information was obtained by the son of Parma Johnson who presumably obtained it from the government and/or family records. All of the family records were lost in a fire in 1940, and none have been assembled since. They settled on land not very far from the Canadian border where they and their descendants lived until the American Revolution in 1772. Then the families loyal to Britain fled to lower Canada and across the river into Quebec, for they would not join the rebels and fight against the Crown. They wanted to remain under the British flag. Grandfather Ira related this story of their flight into Canada to my mother, as it had been passed down to him. Because they would not join the rebels, but remained loyal to the British flag, the rebels came into their homes and took coals from the fireplace which they threw about the houses, setting them on fire. The girls had gathered some dresses which the rebels grabbed and threw into the fire. They burned houses, buildings and contents as they went with no regard for the occupants. Grandfather Ira's great uncle ran barefoot through the snow for about two miles to warn the neighbours that the rebels were coming, burning and pillaging. The Loyalists had to flee with practically nothing. Great Grandfather Richard Johnson brought his family from Quebec to Perth Road when Grandfather Ira was about ten years old, which would have been between 1837 and 1839, some sixty years after settling in Quebec. Some of Richard's family was born in Perth Road. Grandfather Ira grew up there, and married Mary Grace Clough when he was 27 and she was 18. Mary Grace was a sister to Fred Clough, who married Catherine Guthrie. Grandfather and Grandmother Johnson lived in Perth Road till about 1870. Two girls and five boys were born there. About 1870 Grandfather Ira decided that he would like to move to Orillia and take up a homestead. He and Owen Clough, a brother of Grandmother Mary Grace, drove a pair of oxen to Orillia. There they bought a tract of crown land and immediately cleared the space on which the house was built from the timber growing on the land. In the fall he returned to Perth Road, sold his farm there, and sent his family by boat to York (now Toronto). From there they travelled by train to Orillia where they were met by Owen, with an oxen team, who took them to a little cabin on the property until their house was built. Grandfather Ira and his oldest son Phylander (Jennie Hall's father) drove a team of horses with their household possessions all the way from Perth Road to their new home. The land was cleared and the farm grew. Grandfather planted a lot of apple trees, and when they began to produce fruit he would start out at 3:00 a.m. with a wagon filled with barrels of apples to sell in Gravenhurst. He would return about midnight, a long journey by wagon . They built a cider mill and made cider and vinegar which they sold in Orillia. All the furniture and clothing were made by hand. Cream, wood, and grain for flour, and maple syrup were also sold. Mother loved to tell about sugaring off when the last of the maple syrup was boiled down into cakes of maple sugar, and the very last poured on pans full of clean snow to make toffee. Many years later when we were children, she would use brown sugar to make toffee, and it tasted a bit like the maple toffee. My aunt Allie always sent us some real maple sugar from her farm every year while she lived. When Grandfather died Grandmother was virtually blind from cataracts, and their son Ed took over the farm with the understanding that he would keep Grandmother and care for her as long as she lived. But after a short time Ed's wife objected to the arrangement, and so they put her out. The oldest daughter Almena (aunt Allie) took her in and kept her till she passed away in 1912. Ed sold the farm to his brother Fred in 1909. He and aunt Rachel lived there until their deaths about 1936, when their son Elmer took it over. Elmer sold the farm in the 1970's, ending over a hundred years and three generations of ownership by the Johnson family. Mother was born on that farm, the youngest of ten children. It was located in the township of Hampshire Mills, about six miles out of Orillia. She lived at home until she came West in 1904 at the age of 26 to marry Walter Clough, her first cousin. They were married in the Presbyterian Church in Nelson on February 28,1904, and they lived in a house on the west side of Slocan, just across the bridge. In 1922 they bought The Ranch, and lived there until their deaths; Dad on January 10,1947 and Mother on Novembers, 1956. Grandfather Johnson was a very honest man. He worried constantly until he had the mortgage on the farm paid off, and he never allowed himself to have any other debts. He attended church every Sunday and asked the Blessing at every meal. They did all their Sunday cooking on Saturday, and did no work on Sundays except the daily chores. My father married Ada, the daughter of Mary Grace and Ira Johnson. Grandmother (Mary Grace Clough) had a small box which she treasured. Her mother (Janie Harrison) gave it to her, and this is the story of it. A crazed man went up in Westminster Abbey one time and set fire to it. It burned for three days before it was discovered, as the Abbey is built of solid oak which burns very slowly. When the carpenters were repairing the tower, the small pieces of unburnt wood were taken by the people nearby and were made into small articles or keepsakes. This little box was made of that wood. The last time my mother saw this little box was when she left home, and no one knows of its whereabouts now. JEN AND LEE Mother's brother, Phylander, had three daughters. They were in their late teens or early twenties when we were small. First Grace, the oldest, came for the winter to help mother, then Edna, the youngest came the next winter and Jenny came to help when I was eleven. She met Lee Hall that winter while she was here. He was driving a team, hauling ore I believe, from the Arlington. She went back home in the spring but came again in July and she and Lee were married at Alamo near Three Forks where Lee was then working hauling ore from the Alamo Mine down to the concentrator at the railroad. Roddy and Mrs. McMillan were there also. He was also hauling ore. He and Mrs. McMillan had been married not long before. Dad was on the steamer Slocan the day they were married as it travelled between Rosebery and New Denver where the minister lived. Mrs. McMillan had come out from Ontario to marry Roddy. MOTHER AND THE COUGAR Another time Dad, Mother, Carl, Edna Johnson (Mother's niece) and Annie Ray (teacher at Perry Siding at that time) went to Evans Creek in the launch and hiked up to the Little Lake to fish. They caught a nice feed and were on their way back down the hill. About half way down they sat down to rest. Our little dog, Jack, ran off into the woods. They noticed he had disappeared and started talking and joking about cougars when suddenly they heard Jack give a wild yelp. He continued his scared yelping, high tailing down the trail toward them. Dad said, "Don't move, there's something after him." When the dog came in sight they saw a cougar running fast behind him. The little dog ran right up to Mother and ducked under her long skirts. The cougar stopped a few feet away. The women screamed. It looked at them a moment, then slipped into the bush out of sight. They dropped their fish and hurried down the trail as fast as they could go with the feeling it was following them all the way. They tumbled into the boat in great haste and pushed off. Dad started the motor and headed for home, thankful all were safe and unharmed. |