Township History - Carling Township
by Marion Belanger
This article first appeared in
the April 1986 newsletter, Volume 2 - Number 1
The township of Carling is situated on the eastern shore
of Georgian Bay northwest of the Town of Parry Sound. It was surveyed
in 1973 by James Bolger and named for the Honourable Sir John Carling,
president of the noted Carling Brewing and Malting Company. He was also
an MPP for London, Ontario in the 1860s.
The Proclamation Date for the township was 29 May 1897.
David McFarland was elected Reeve. Council members were: Alexander Alves,
Francis Dillon, John Buchannon and David McFarland (the younger). James
Crerar was the clerk.
The first meeting of the Council was held at No. 2 schoolhouse on 5 June
1897.
One of the early settlers in the area was Arthur Hailstone who purchased
property in Carling Township in 1873 for $40. The following is taken from
a letter he wrote describing the life and times of a pioneer in the Parry
Sound District.
notes from Arthur Hailstone circa 1937
"During the winter of 1873-74, we worked in the woods lumbering
and during the winter we earned enough money to pay the passage of my
mother and four brothers and two sisters and we obtained what was called
assisted passages which meant that after three months residence in Canada,
a refund of $6 on each ticket was made and by that means we were in possession
of sufficient money to buy our winter's flour. . .
"We had to be very economical in our living. . . as wages were
small and the necessaries of life were rather high but with industry and
frugality combined we were soon in easier circumstances. . .
"Now I would like to record a few things in regard to this part
of Canada known as Parry Sound District . . . I consider that there is
not a better place for a man with limited means in this whole Dominion.
. . work was always to be had and at wages as good as those paid anywhere
in Ontario. . . This District . . . is noted for its superior quality
of mutton and also for its fine grazing land for any class of stock the
farmer owns . . . there is always an abundance of both feed and water
. . . always food to be had for winter feeding if a man uses common sense.
There are beaver meadows all through this north country and these can
either be used as marsh land or drained and become the most fertile of
land as the muck deposit in these flats are generally heavy varying loam,
one to three feet in thickness. In our own experience, having a large
quantity of this low land, we have raised eighty bushels of oats per acre,
forty-two of Marquis wheat, four hundred and twenty bushels of potatoes,
and other crops to correspond with this. . .
"The greatest drawback . . . is the want of better roads. The
Statute Labour system is not a success as has been proved, the work done
in this way being of a decidedly temporary nature. The Government of Ontario
has been fairly liberal in the grants made for this work, but unfortunately
the money has not been wisely spent as whichever party has been in power,
there has been favouritism shown to the detriment of the roads.
". . . Now in conclusion, that if anyone should come here with
the idea that the world owes him a living without an effort on his part,
he will be badly fooled, but anyone possessed of energy and ambition and
wanting to obtain a place to call his own and make a success of life,
even though his means are limited, he will be welcomed by the residents
of this part of His Majesty's domains."
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Township History - McMurrich Township
by Gail Stupka
This article first appeared in
the April 1986 newsletter, Volume 2 - Number 1
The glowing accounts which painted Muskoka as an agricultural paradise
were largely responsible for the settlement, in the 1870s, of yet another
township: McMurrich, which, with Perry and Armour townships, formed the
East Parry Sound Agency--opened up about the year 1869.
McMurrich contains some 38,787 acres of land and 3,324 acres of water.
most lots suitable for settlement had been taken up when Mr. Hamilton
wrote his Guide Book in 1879. According to the report of Mr. C.F. Miles,
P.L.S., the greater portion of the township was composed of open, rolling
hardwood land, with a certain portion of tamarack, spruce and cedar swamps--very
wet in places. The soil was said to be a good sandy loam in the uplands
and a rich black loam in the lowlands. So much for the official reports.
By bitter experience, it was found to be far more suitable for timber
lots than agriculture.
McMurrich had a number of settlements. The earliest was Beggsborough,
located just north of the present-day Sprucedale. Other communities in
the township were: Whitehall, Bourdeau, Banbury, McMurrich and Haldane
Hill. With the exception of Sprucedale, all of these communities have,
in practical terms, disappeared.
Lumbering was a very big business in those early days. Huge log booms
were driven down the rivers to far-off mills to be cut into timber. Some
of the names associated with the lumbering in McMurrich were: Dollar,
Lawrence, Deans, Gayman, Fritz, Farrel, Demberline, Reid, Crawford, Shirk,
Howell and many others.
About the year 1879, approximately ten years after the first settlers
moved into McMurrich, Mr. Boothe, a wealthy lumberman from Ottawa, considered
the advisability of building a railway from Ottawa to Depot Harbour on
Georgian Bay. It provided work for the young men of the villages.
The township was organized in 1391 with the first council meeting in
the Orange Hall on the 8th Concession, on 23 February 1891. Mr. M. Deans
was the first reeve and the council consisted of J.C. Marshall, Thomas
Cudmore, Asa McKague and D.H. Lawrence with Joseph Malkin as treasurer
and Thomas Upton as the clerk.
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Township History - Foley Township
by Marion Belanger
This article first appeared in
the November 1986 newsletter, Volume 2 - Number 2
It has been described as a little bit of heaven just
nestled in among the rocks, trees and hills just south of the Town of
Parry Sound. The Township of Foley was surveyed by the late 1860s and
consists of 12 concessions with 35 lots in each concession. An additional
40 lots followed the Parry Sound Road on the north and south side through
the area.
The first council minutes were for a meeting held on 4 December 1872 at
the home of Thomas Healy on the Parry Sound Road. The Reeve was Thomas
McGown and the councillors were William Wilcox, Thomas Healy, Homan Haines
and William Scott. Only two Reeves served the Township between 1872 and
1894, these being Thomas McGown and William Wilcox.
In 1880, a special meeting was called by Reeve McGown to discuss the expenses
of sending delegates to advocate, in Toronto, the locating of the Canadian
Pacific Railway junction line to the west of Lake Rosseau through the
Township of Foley.
The name of the village of Carrington was changed to Parry Harbour in
1886 and that year a plank sidewalk was erected on Emily Street from Church
to James Streets (now McFarlane Street). In 1886 the village of Parry
Sound acquired lots 149 and 150, Concession A, from the Township of Foley.
John McClelland was Mayor of Parry Sound during this time and waited until
the village of Parry Harbour was set up and surveyed before annexing these
lots. This caused many heated discussions between the two councils.
In August 1897, it was moved that the Ottawa, Arnprior, and Parry Sound
Railway Company have permission to erect and maintain telephone and telegraph
lines along or across the Rose Point Road. In January 1898, Reeve William
Wilcox was appointed delegate to the provincial government to point out
advantages of constructing the James Bay Railway through western Parry
Sound District to Sudbury.
Road work took up much of the time of those early councillors. On the
Christie Road, Haines Creek was always giving them trouble and had to
be bridged. In 1922, it was planked with no flagman needed as the only
traffic that day was one team of horses. A far cry from today's busy Highway
518, the route tourists use greatly during July and August.
Over the years, Foley has proven to be a most progressive township and
even today holds one of the largest rural fall fairs in Parry Sound District.
Many of the early families have left their mark in the naming of roads,
hills, parks and lakes.
Others still retain the pioneer homes belonging to their great-grandparents.
They carry on the traditions first established in this stalwart community
founded on the principles of enterprise and industry
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