From the Huron Expositor - Wednesday, 20 April, 1994
Article 3 of 4: Colonel Van Egmond Helped to Open the Area
The soldier had turned to farming. By July of 1829, Colonel Anthony Van Egmond had cleared almost one hundred acres of his land west of present day Seaforth and half of that was planted in wheat.
“As this was the first field ripe in the Huron Tract, the old man (Colonel Van Egmond) determined to celebrate the event by asking some of the gentlemen connected with the Canada Company to dinner, and to witness the cutting of the first sheaf,” wrote Major Samuel Strickland of the Canada Company.
The Major and three others started out at 11 am and walked eighteen miles from Goderich through bush and “90° temperatures in the shade.”
But the journey was made a little more comfortable by the “civility of the mosquitoes.” Thomas Mercer Jones, a Canada Company Commissioner; Dr. William ‘Tiger’ Dunlop, Warden of the Forest; and Charles Pryor, eventual Justice of the Peace, accompanied the Major on the journey. And according to his account they were kept entertained on the way by stories told by Tiger Dunlop. At the half-way point of their journey, the four stopped and had a lunch of beef sandwiches, brandy and water.
“After an hour they resumed their journey and about five o'clock they reached their destination, Van Egmond's Tavern,” wrote Seaforth historian, W. B. Kerr.
“Here, we found an excellent supper ready for us, to which after a walk of eighteen miles, you may be sure we did ample justice,” according to Strickland's account in Fred Van Egmond’s The Importance of Liberty.
In the morning the group, accompanied by Colonel Anthony Van Egmond, took a tour of the farm and surveyed the crops. “I think I never saw a finer crop of oats, or a better promised for turnips, in my life. The wheat also looked extremely well. It was certainly an interesting sight, after walking for miles through a dense forest, suddenly to emerge from the wooded solitude upon a sea of waving grain, ripe for harvest,” wrote the eloquent Major Strickland.
His account of the wheat-cutting ceremony by Madame Van Egmond captures the celebratory spirit of the day and the flavour of the times.
“About noonday we all proceeded to the harvest field headed by our host and his lady and her fair daughters. As soon as we arrived at the scene of action a sickle was placed in the hands of Madame Van Egmond; and she was requested to cut and bind the first sheaf of wheat ever harvested in Huron Tract - an honour of which any person might be justly proud.“
“What were the red battlefields of Napoleon in comparison to the bloodless victory won over the forests of Huron! The sight of that first sheaf, cut by the gentle hand of woman, was one that angels rejoiced to see; while the fruits of his conquests were such as might well make the seraphs weep!”
“Madame Van Egmond handled her sickle something better than a mere amateur, which made us conjecture it was not the first sheaf she had cut and bound. As soon as this interesting ceremony was over, we gave three hearty cheers for the Canada Company. A horn of whiskey was served around in which we pledged our host and hostess and drank health to the settlement.”
“I need hardly describe our evening’s entertainment, save that we ate, drank, and were merry! Indeed, it would have been difficult to be otherwise with Dr Dunlop as one of our companions.”
Fred Van Egmond writes that Constant Van Egmond was also at the party and has a totally different account of what happened.
“Originally it had been decided that Dr Dunlop, Warden of the Forest, was to have had the honour of cutting the first sheaf. When dinner was over, the party adjourned to the wheat field for the ceremony. There, waiting to greet them in a very conspicuous place was the first sheaf of wheat ever to be cut and bound in the Huron Tract.”
“During dinner, Madame Van Egmond had seized the opportunity to slip out the backdoor and take the honour to herself.”
The Huron Road
“It became apparent by 1830 that a proper road had to be constructed in Huron to encourage settlement. The major part of the operation was given to Van Egmond, and his son, Constant,” wrote Professor James Scott.
“The Van Egmonds were to do their section for forty-eight pounds a mile and were to complete 7,024 rods of corduroys at 15 shillings a rod. The contract was signed on February 9, 1830, and three years were allowed for its completion,” according to Scott.
The Van Egmonds received many acres of land for payment since only one-third of their remuneration for road-building was paid in cash.
“There is no final tally of how much land Van Egmond actually held by 1837 but some estimates go as high as 13,000 acres. . . . In any event, Van Egmond was easily the greatest proprietor of land in the Huron Tract in the 1830s,” wrote Scott in The Settlement of Huron County.
Armed with equipment no more sophisticated than two yolks of oxen, the Van Egmonds began the enormous engineering feat. “They had to buy working cattle, vehicles and tools. They had to bring in practically all the supplies for the men since none of the families who had settled along the road were raising enough to support themselves let alone feed extra workers,” according to Scott.
The Van Egmonds found it difficult to attract workers to the “dark, gloomy and pathless forest amid the torment of endless nights and days of millions of insects and pests.” Pay rates rose and cash ran low. Van Egmond started paying the men in credit orders for land on the Canada Company. “In spite of troubles, the work was completed a year sooner than was required by the contract and the Van Egmond emerged as the richest man in the district.”
As soon as the road was completed in the fall of 1832, it was found that most of the corduroy (road made by logs laid side by side) was unsuitable for use.
“In this matter Van Egmond is not to be blamed because he was merely following the specifications which were laid down by Thomas Mercer Jones - the man who was sent in to replace Galt's ‘inefficiency’,” wrote Professor James Scott.
(With notes from Professor James Scott, W. B. Kerr, and Fred Van Egmond)
Photograph of a woman with a sickle bent over in a wheat field
Caption: THE FIRST WHEAT - Susan Van Egmond, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Madame Susanna Van Egmond, re-enacts the cutting of the first wheat in the Huron Tract in a ceremony held July 22, 1992, following an 18-mile walk from Goderich to the Van Egmond house.
Next week the conclusion: Elections and Rebellion
Article 3 of 4: Colonel Van Egmond Helped to Open the Area
The soldier had turned to farming. By July of 1829, Colonel Anthony Van Egmond had cleared almost one hundred acres of his land west of present day Seaforth and half of that was planted in wheat.
“As this was the first field ripe in the Huron Tract, the old man (Colonel Van Egmond) determined to celebrate the event by asking some of the gentlemen connected with the Canada Company to dinner, and to witness the cutting of the first sheaf,” wrote Major Samuel Strickland of the Canada Company.
The Major and three others started out at 11 am and walked eighteen miles from Goderich through bush and “90° temperatures in the shade.”
But the journey was made a little more comfortable by the “civility of the mosquitoes.” Thomas Mercer Jones, a Canada Company Commissioner; Dr. William ‘Tiger’ Dunlop, Warden of the Forest; and Charles Pryor, eventual Justice of the Peace, accompanied the Major on the journey. And according to his account they were kept entertained on the way by stories told by Tiger Dunlop. At the half-way point of their journey, the four stopped and had a lunch of beef sandwiches, brandy and water.
“After an hour they resumed their journey and about five o'clock they reached their destination, Van Egmond's Tavern,” wrote Seaforth historian, W. B. Kerr.
“Here, we found an excellent supper ready for us, to which after a walk of eighteen miles, you may be sure we did ample justice,” according to Strickland's account in Fred Van Egmond’s The Importance of Liberty.
In the morning the group, accompanied by Colonel Anthony Van Egmond, took a tour of the farm and surveyed the crops. “I think I never saw a finer crop of oats, or a better promised for turnips, in my life. The wheat also looked extremely well. It was certainly an interesting sight, after walking for miles through a dense forest, suddenly to emerge from the wooded solitude upon a sea of waving grain, ripe for harvest,” wrote the eloquent Major Strickland.
His account of the wheat-cutting ceremony by Madame Van Egmond captures the celebratory spirit of the day and the flavour of the times.
“About noonday we all proceeded to the harvest field headed by our host and his lady and her fair daughters. As soon as we arrived at the scene of action a sickle was placed in the hands of Madame Van Egmond; and she was requested to cut and bind the first sheaf of wheat ever harvested in Huron Tract - an honour of which any person might be justly proud.“
“What were the red battlefields of Napoleon in comparison to the bloodless victory won over the forests of Huron! The sight of that first sheaf, cut by the gentle hand of woman, was one that angels rejoiced to see; while the fruits of his conquests were such as might well make the seraphs weep!”
“Madame Van Egmond handled her sickle something better than a mere amateur, which made us conjecture it was not the first sheaf she had cut and bound. As soon as this interesting ceremony was over, we gave three hearty cheers for the Canada Company. A horn of whiskey was served around in which we pledged our host and hostess and drank health to the settlement.”
“I need hardly describe our evening’s entertainment, save that we ate, drank, and were merry! Indeed, it would have been difficult to be otherwise with Dr Dunlop as one of our companions.”
Fred Van Egmond writes that Constant Van Egmond was also at the party and has a totally different account of what happened.
“Originally it had been decided that Dr Dunlop, Warden of the Forest, was to have had the honour of cutting the first sheaf. When dinner was over, the party adjourned to the wheat field for the ceremony. There, waiting to greet them in a very conspicuous place was the first sheaf of wheat ever to be cut and bound in the Huron Tract.”
“During dinner, Madame Van Egmond had seized the opportunity to slip out the backdoor and take the honour to herself.”
The Huron Road
“It became apparent by 1830 that a proper road had to be constructed in Huron to encourage settlement. The major part of the operation was given to Van Egmond, and his son, Constant,” wrote Professor James Scott.
“The Van Egmonds were to do their section for forty-eight pounds a mile and were to complete 7,024 rods of corduroys at 15 shillings a rod. The contract was signed on February 9, 1830, and three years were allowed for its completion,” according to Scott.
The Van Egmonds received many acres of land for payment since only one-third of their remuneration for road-building was paid in cash.
“There is no final tally of how much land Van Egmond actually held by 1837 but some estimates go as high as 13,000 acres. . . . In any event, Van Egmond was easily the greatest proprietor of land in the Huron Tract in the 1830s,” wrote Scott in The Settlement of Huron County.
Armed with equipment no more sophisticated than two yolks of oxen, the Van Egmonds began the enormous engineering feat. “They had to buy working cattle, vehicles and tools. They had to bring in practically all the supplies for the men since none of the families who had settled along the road were raising enough to support themselves let alone feed extra workers,” according to Scott.
The Van Egmonds found it difficult to attract workers to the “dark, gloomy and pathless forest amid the torment of endless nights and days of millions of insects and pests.” Pay rates rose and cash ran low. Van Egmond started paying the men in credit orders for land on the Canada Company. “In spite of troubles, the work was completed a year sooner than was required by the contract and the Van Egmond emerged as the richest man in the district.”
As soon as the road was completed in the fall of 1832, it was found that most of the corduroy (road made by logs laid side by side) was unsuitable for use.
“In this matter Van Egmond is not to be blamed because he was merely following the specifications which were laid down by Thomas Mercer Jones - the man who was sent in to replace Galt's ‘inefficiency’,” wrote Professor James Scott.
(With notes from Professor James Scott, W. B. Kerr, and Fred Van Egmond)
Photograph of a woman with a sickle bent over in a wheat field
Caption: THE FIRST WHEAT - Susan Van Egmond, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Madame Susanna Van Egmond, re-enacts the cutting of the first wheat in the Huron Tract in a ceremony held July 22, 1992, following an 18-mile walk from Goderich to the Van Egmond house.
Next week the conclusion: Elections and Rebellion