The Citizen Article: Jan 14, 1928 by line by George Wilson
Title: Old Time Stuff Reminiscences of the Ottawa of earlier days; Personages, Scenes and Incidents recalled for Evening readers
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Memories of Green’s Creek as it was in its Palmy
days; Bright Tales By Martin Hart
Waterway
in the early days noted for the quality of square timber
Mill pond at the head of the creek often used by deer to escape pursuit by dogs. Residents of district walked to Bytown to church. Ancient fish fossils were once numerous on the banks of the creek. Great place to fish.
Mr.
Martin Hart for 80 years of the Green’s Creek District and now a resident of
Ottawa is one of the veterans of Gloucester Township. Mr. Martin Hart of 163
Florence street is a son and Mrs. Michael McEvoy of 232 Stewart street is a daughter.
At present Mr. Hart is staying with the McEvoys. Peter Hart, Father of Martin
Hart came to this country considerably prior to the start of the Rideau canal
in 1826, worked for a time for Philemon Wright and Nicholas Sparks, The
founders of Hull and Ottawa and also for a year or two in the Rideau Canal
Construction.
In
1844 Peter Hart bought Lot 12 on the second concession of Gloucester, Near
Greens Creek, and started to hew a home out of the bush. It was on this bush
farm where martin Hart, who tells these stories, was born in 1846.
When Peter Hart came to green’s creek district, Green’s Creek was a great lumbering center. The country south of the Montreal road and for miles along the banks of the creek were was full of splendid pine. Between the forties and the sixties the pine of the district was cut by a series of lumbermen. Among those of whom Mr. Hart has heard or known were James Mann, O’Toole and Burns, Simon Armstrong, William Cosgrove, McHarry and Mosgrove. The latter firm operated in the sixties and early seventies. The junior member of this firm was William Mosgrove, who later became a lawyer and finally was county court judge of Carleton. McGarry and Mosgrove had a small sawmill at the mouth of the creek.
Mr.
Hart says it has frequently been stated that in no section of Canada, in
proportion to the size of area, has more timber or better timber been cut down
Green’s creek between the forties and the seventies. It was common thing to see
sticks of pine sixty feet long and 18 inches in diameter floating down the
creek. All the timber was squared at its cutting point on the creek floated and
cribbed and rafted at its mouth. Very few people will attempt to tell just how
long Green’s creek is, as its more crooked than a ram’s horn, but say that if
it were straightened it would measure about five miles long. Mr. Hart says that
when he was a small boy in the fifties he saw a small steamboat work its way to
fully two miles above the Montreal road bridge.
In the sixties one Proper Olivier operated a small mill on the upper end of the creek and built a dam from which he generated waterpower. This mill dam was a lifesaver for the deer that prevailed plentifully in the country then. These deer had their chief run in the Mer Bleu country to the south and when they were chased by hunting dogs they used to make for Olivier’s mill pond for safety. They would enter the pond even when the men were at the mill. They seemed to trust more to the mercies of the humans than to the dogs. Sometimes if pressed to hard they would swim the pond and continue their flight across the country.
Another
recollection of green’s creek is of the wonderful fish fossils, which used to
be found there in the early days. There are no fossils there now as Dominion
government scientists and amateur experts on fossil picked the banks clean
years ago. Most of the fossils found at Green’s creek were of a very remote
date and very valuable
In
the fifties and sixties the creek was said to a great place for fish – pike,
pickerel and suckers some of the pickerel caught there at the period weighed
eight and nine pounds. The fish were not long or big but numerous. Mr. Hart
tells of how his brother Peter Hart and John Cosgrove fished the creek one
evening and night with a square net and caught so many fish that they had to go
home and get a horse and cart to bring them home. That was in the spring of the
year in the sixties when the creek was high and the fish were working up from
the Ottawa River. John Cosgrove afterward went out to Seattle.
It
is told by Mr. Hart that in the forties his father and mother often made it a
practice to walk to Bytown to attend church. There was no church then in St
Joseph’s village (Orleans) and if the people of green’s creek district wanted
to attend church they had to either ride or walk, and as the Montreal road was
in such bad shape, they often preferred to walk than to tire their hard worked
horse on the bad roads.
Mr.
Hart tells how his father used to compromise between walking and driving by
having his young wife and himself take one horse out and ride on it, the young
wife sitting on the front of the saddle, which was of course quite a nice thing
for a young married couple, especially as the young husband had to hold his
bride tightly to prevent her from being thrown off when the horse lurched on
the bad roads. Frequently the young couple walked and if the weather was nice
the seven miles in and seven miles out was pleasant on the roadside path.
These
excursions to church did not take place every Sunday, as when later the
children came, they had to be left with the neighbors. So the Harts and their
neighbors swapped Sundays and took care of the children alternately
In
due time the neighbors (mostly roman Catholics and Irish) clubbed together and
built a mission church at St Joseph’s village. Mr. Hart cannot remember just
when this mission was built but knows that the building was frame. The old
church is still in existence but is now used as a hall in connection with the
new church.
Mr.
Hart says that in the early period of St Joseph’s village the place was
generally called stovepipe village because not a house in the place could boast
of a brick chimney. Stovepipes protruded from the top of every roof. Despite
this fact the village was strangely free from fires.
This
is a little story of a strong man. Unfortunately, the name of the man has been
forgotten by the narrator Mr. Martin Hart. Mr. Hart tells us, however, that the
feat of strength referred to occurred in one of Eddy’s shanties on the Des
Joachim in the sixties. Hay is not very heavy but when it is pressed and the
bundle is big enough and weighs five hundred pounds it is different. In the
shanties in the sixties pressed hay came in big bundles which averaged 500
pounds. In the present day bundles of pressed hay averaged 140 pounds in
weight. The shanty hay of the sixties was pressed in big hand pressers and was
not as nicely pressed as the hay of the present that is pressed in power presses. Consequently a 500 pound bundle
of pressed hay bulked large.
Readers
will remember the old question “Which would you rather have fall on you, 100
pounds of feathers or 100 pounds of lead?” Of Course, most people said 100
pounds of feathers. But a pound is a pound. Now for the story- the strong man
in this case was a Frenchman of only medium size, but very muscular. This man
was frequently put to tests by his companions
One
day one of his fellows offered to bet him a new made flannel shirt against a
pound of tobacco that he couldn’t lift 500 lbs and carry it for a hundred
yards. The strong man accepted the bet. A bale of pressed hay of 500 pounds
known weight was chosen for the test. The Frenchman stipulated that the hay be
lifted off the top of two pork barrels and that he be allowed to use a tamp
line. Not thinking that the strong man could handle 500 pounds under any
conditions the challenger agreed.
At
the start the strong man staggered for a few seconds as he lifted the bundle
off its supporting base. He soon rallied, however, and carried the big bundle
farther than the 100 yards, replacing it on top of the barrels. Mr. Hart, who
was a teamster, saw the hay carried.
There
was another man whom Mr. Hart knew who could stand with one foot in a rivermans
boat and the other on shore and thus placed with legs straddled, could lift 300
pound barrel of pork from shore or from shore into the boat, and did it quite
handily. There were giants in strength in those days
While
talking about expert log riders. Mr. Hart told of about a Greens Creek man
named Bob Murphy (married to Louisa Kenny) who when short of a boat to cross
the river opposite Greens Creek never hesitated to jump on a log and pole
himself across the Ottawa. It was impossible to dislodge Murphy from a log.
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Youth Planned Thrill At A Wake but received surprise
of life
Attending Bride Was to Have Been Pinched from the
Vantage Point of Dark Room Through Stove Hole, But Goose in crate Bit his
Finger and Caused Yell Which Surprised All the Wakers
In the old days a “wake” among the Irish was a “Function”. A “wake” might result in anything from giving the deceased a post-mortem character of quality, which he did not have in life, to a free fight or the upsetting of the box stove and possibly the burning of the house. Such things have happened.
People
use to go “wakes” not only to pat their respects to the dead but to enjoy any
possible kick or thrill, which might eventuate. Some went to hear the “keeners”
both professional and amateur, because it was worth miles of walking to hear
the “cries “ of a good “keener”.
It
was the duty of the “keener” ordinarily
always an old or elderly woman to send the deceased off with a good character.
To be a good “keener “ required dramatic ability and an attitude of not being
too excessive and always telling the exact myth. People who could afford to
hear professional “keeners “ would travel for miles to get there
Mr. Hart
tells of one humorous incident in which he figured as the principal when he was
about in the late fifties. A lady had died in the Green’s creek district and
the neighbors had gathered from miles around. Among those who had gathered was
a newly married couple. Some of the boys at the wake thought it would be good
fun to give the bride a ”thrill”. The proposed thrill was to scare the bride by
pinching her from another room, which had communication with the living room by
means of the old-fashioned stove hole. The bride sat near the hole
Into
the dark room the young conspirators went. Young Martin Hart was to do the
pinching. But unbeknown to Hart the farmer had placed a large goose in a crate
in the dark room for some reason or other. While stooping down to pinch the
young bride young Hart placed his hand on the crate to steady himself. His
fingers went into the crate. The goose gave the fingers a hard pinch. The youth
let out a yell and the conspirators made for the outside through the open
window. The bride did not get pinched, but she got a thrill just the same. So
did all the mourners.
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Piece of Upper Town for a Years Work
Nicholas Sparks is said to have made this offer
From time to time there come to hand stories about people to whom the pioneer Nicholas Sparks Offered pieces of Upper Town in the twenties of the last century in return for various services rendered or proposed to be rendered. In this connection it must be remembered that at that period ready money was really scarce, though a lot of people had plenty of land. It can be readily understood that in those early days Mr.Sparks in trying to carry out his various enterprises – his farm work , his lumbering, his teaming, his mill work etc. would often have financial difficulties and might be quite ready to barter part of his land for work which he wanted done.
In
this connection it is told by Mr. Hart that some time between 1820-26 Mr.
Sparks wanted to hire his father, Peter Hart, for the period of a year to work on
his farm and offered to give him in payment therfor a chunk of land (Mr. Hart
does not know how much or just where located) in Upper Town. Mr. Hart did not
want land just then; not being married at the time and so declined the offer.
His forebears are sorry he did not take the land. Perhaps, however, it wouldn’t
have made much difference, as he would have turned it over at the first
opportunity.
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Lively Episode Shiner Days At Head of the Long Sault
Two Irish Raftsmen Attacked By a Crowd of French
Strangers
Were supposed to be Shiners but were not . A lively
Fight. An Axe Finally Brought Victory to The Minority Forces. Father of Ottawa
Man one of the Men Attacked
From
time to time Old Times Staff has told little stories about the days of the
“Shiners” (origin- Philemon Wright had let to the Peter Aylen’s of Aylmer Irish
Lumber Crews the right to harvest a section of Oak (du Chene) around the
present day Masson/Buckingham area. The French referred to this group as Des
Cheneurs - oak cutters- anglized later to Shiners). In the thirties and the
forties and of various wild acts of which the Shiners were accused and also the
many lively scraps that took place between the Shiners and the French rivermen.
It will be remembered that the Shiners were practically all Irish rivermen and
there was a standing war between them and the French rivermen. The Shiners were
a rough hardy lot who were credited with a desire to drive the French off the
river.
The
Shiners got so used to fighting that they got into the habit of committing
overt acts against English speaking people as well as French and made
themselves obnoxious to villagers of all nationalities. They were the terror of
Bytown in the thirties. Citizens were afraid to be on the streets at night unless
they were in numbers. All women stayed discreetly in their homes once dark
came. The feud grew in scale that the French rivermen got to marking every
Irish face as that of a Shiner and it often happened that Irish rivermen had no
sympathy with their belligerent brothers and even Irishmen who were not
rivermen at all were attacked by the French whenever opportunity offered.
Mr.
Martin Hart tells how his father, Peter Hart, when a riverman in his thirties had
to fight for his life against an attack in force of Frenchmen at the head of
the Long Sault Rapids on the Ottawa. The raft on which Peter Hart had been
traveling (from the Chats to Quebec) had been snagged at the head of the rapids
and all the raft except for himself and another Irishman had gone ashore.
After
the crew had gone a unruly crowd of Frenchmen who seemed to be farmers rather
than rivermen came on the raft and started to beat up Peter Hart and his Irish
companion. Both Hart and his companion put up a lively fight but were badly
outnumbered. The crowd threw Hart’s companion into the water. This chap was a
poor swimmer and had to cling to the raft while hart fought the crowd.
Finding
himself about to be overpowered, Hart ran to a part of the raft where tools
were kept and picked up an axe. Half a dozen of the strangers were on his heels
but hey turned when they saw hart with the axe. Hart muttering wild yells and
threats charged the crowd with the axe swinging it wildly
The
strangers retreated for awhile but finally tried to surround Hart and take the
ace away. But Hart was so active that he actually forced them to leave the
raft. But before they did so one of their number fell from a blow on the
shoulder from Hart’s axe. This man was carried off. A little later the rafts
crew returned and then all was well. Peter Hart never found out whether he had
killed the man.
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Shantymen of the Sixties Didn’t Fare Well
Chicago Pork, Bread, Beans
were Staples of Food
According to Mr. Hart the lumbermen of the sixties didn’t feed their shantymen very well. At that period the staples of food were bread, pork and beans (Chicago pork at that). Butter or syrup was unknown. There were no regular eating houses and no tables. The men sat around the caboose wherever they could, dished beans out of the pot and cut their own bread. There was no such thing as getting fried bacon on Sunday morning. In some camps occasionally beef was provided, but not in many. The American firms shantying in Canada were the first to provide a wider menu. Mr. Hart had to do with the shantying for 22 years in all, acting as a teamster. He teamed for the Gilmours on the Kazabazua plains as far back as Otter Lake; teamed for the Eddy Company up at fort Eddy and for firms operating around Sault St Marie
It
is told by Mr. martin Hart that somewhere about the year 1846 his respected
father had the peculiar experience of getting lost in the “letter O “ in
Lowertown. At the time Hart was living at Green’s Creek and had come into town
to buy some groceries. At the store the man told him that some fine ironwood
trees grew on Letter O at the foot of Sussex street and that if he wanted
material for axe handles (people made their own back then) he could get it
there. Mr. Hart borrowed an axe and started for the Letter O. At that time much
of lowertown was a cedar swamp. In Hunting for ironwood trees Peter Hart
wandered into the swamp and got lost. It was several hours before he found his
way out as he had walked in circles.
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Walking Feat of the Forties Gloucester Man
Simon Armstrong went to Prescott and Back 134 Miles Between Dark and Dark, Was a Remarkable Exploit
Much of the trip was made after night, A certified story
of Man who made trip is still alive. Armstrong was strong walker and loved
exercise
This
story can be believed or not as one chances but it is certified by Mr. Martin Hart
whose father knew the man who performed the feat and if that is not enough there
is a son and grandson of the man living in Ottawa and on the old homestead in
Gloucester who will also certify to the facts. Mr Sam Armstrong late of Green’s
Creek and now residing in Ottawa is the son referred to. The hero of the story
was Simon Armstrong, a pioneer of green’s Creek and the feat is stated to have
taken place away back in the forties of the last century when Gloucester was
pretty nearly all wilds.
The
Feat?
The
feat is a walking feat. Simon Armstrong, then a young married man he stated to
have walked from Gloucester(via Bytown) to Prescott and back between the night
of one day and the night of the next day. It was in the fall of the year.
Armstrong is alleged to have left Green’s Creek after work and returned home
before midnight the next day. If the passing years have not curtailed the time
this was some feat. From green’s Creek to Prescott and return (via Bytown)
would be counted as 134 miles long and hard miles as the road then was a mere
trail through the woods. Simon Armstrong walked to Prescott chiefly because he
did not own a horse in those very early days , but also largely because he
loved to walk and was a strong walker. He had to go to Prescott on business in
connection with the deed to his farm. What it was does not concern this story.
The main point is that he came and went, as stated , between dark and dark,
which means that the larger part of the trip was made at night. The interesting
part of this story is that Simon himself did not think he had done anything
unusual. He made the forced walk because he did not want to leave his family
alone too long in their little bush home. So chalk this story down as another
feat of endurance to be credited to the pioneers.