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= THE FREE-PRESS, LONDON, ONTARIO, SATURDAY. JUNE 11. 1343 = Kfllv'TH ^SECTION--PAGE THIRTEEN of ^--II (•% \f ' _/** f*>--"~"*~~~-"^-^. " ~ - - Alvinston and Port Franks The first store at Inwood was built by Holmes, Moore and Cartwright. At the time this picture was taken it had changed hands and was owned by W. R. Dawson. General stores were centres of comunity life. Arrowhead Chipping Age-Old Industry at Port Franks CENTURIES BEFORE THE WHITE MAN came, Port Franks was the centre of a thriving manufacturing industry, arrowhead chipping -- an induslry that kept a whole nation at peace with their neighbors. With the white man came another prosperity. Fishing, lumbering and shipping brought a sudden growth to the community perched along the banks at the mouth of the Aux Sable. Then in 1876-77 "The Cut" was sliced through from Lake Bur- well to Port Franks, draining the lake and opening its rich bed to cultivation. With the first water through the cut, Port Franks' shipping prosperity passed away. The river mouth silted up, sand dunes grew and were washed away in the spring floods. About this time, too, the last of the timber was cut from the surrounding forest. New Personality Now, three-quarters of a century later, Port Franks has developed a new personality, that of a summer resort. But the joint efforts of the river and cut are HIGH QUALITY! The London Free Press for TOO years -- like Canadian Oil. Companies, Limited, for the 40 years of its existence -- has ever striven to render a service that is high in quality. We salute The Free Press on this occasion and congratulate it on the distinction which ir has achieved by reaching the century mark. Long may the citizens of London and Western Ontario in general continue to read its pages -- and long may they also continue with such regularity to "Stop at the Sign of the White Rose"! still shifting the sand bars and eating away valuable lakeside property. Near where children now play around summer cottages, bands of Neutral Indians once worked the flint deposits to be found along the Huron shore. Skilled craftsmen turned out arrow and spear heads for the constantly warring Iroquois and Algonquins. The Neutrals' skill kept them free of warfare, and the Western Ontario "no man's land" was strictly observed by other tribes. Arrow heads are believed to have gone to all parts of Eastern Canada and the United States. Then, in the 1840's, the first settlers arrived. Within a few years they had expanded from farming to lumbering and fishing. Drills bit into the earth tapping the underlying strata of rock for salt. Man-Made River And inland, across the sand dunes, men tested the lush bottom of Lake Burwell and coveted it. So they ran a man-made river through from the lake to the Aux Same near run. x>itm»va, aj.u emptied the lake. The snug little harbor of the fishing and lumbering vessels clogged up with sand, and these ships moved to other ports. As the white man had destroyed the arrow 'head factories of the Neutrals by supplying firearms to the Iroquois, so the early prosperity of Port Franks was destroyed by a man-made river. After slumbering for many years, however, Port Franks has found a new source of prosperity. When summer comes, its scores of cottages are filled with city folk enjoying the cool breezes and soft sand where history was made centuries ago. Alvinsfon Miller Left For Faith IN ALVINSTON there is » cairn dedicated to a miller. It was unveiled in 1946 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the westward trek to Utah of Archibald Gardiner, first miller of Alvinston and Mormon. This was the first monument of its kind to be erected in Canada by the Pioneer Trails' Association of Utah, and it stands today to remind the citizens of the Lambton County community, and the passers-by, that from that place a miller and the members of his group left more than a century ago to found a home city for their faith. Archibald Gardiner was born in Kilsythe, Scotland, and emigrated to Canada in 1822. He landed at Prescott and voyaged up the St. Lawrence to Dalhousie, where he settled for a time. He was a man who knew where he was going and what he was seeking. He was going west, and he was searching for a quiet place where he and his family could live their simple life. Built First Mill He eventually arrived in Warwick Township, eight miles from Alvinston', where he bought 500 acres of land at 50 cents an acre. In the manner of his sect, he gave 200 acres to his brother, 100 to his father, and retained the remainder. He was then 22 years old, and, having had experience in milling at home, he built the first mill of the district. He chose the site at Alvinston, then known as Bear Creek, and people from miles around made' their way over the lonely trails to have their grist ground. This was in 1837. Until 1844, Gardiner and his people did not actually belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. But following conversion he decided to follow the westward movement of the faith which was then centred at Nauvoo, 111. Road Still There Gardiner sold his mill and together with other pioneers who had become Mormons he set out through the woods toward the military road. This was in 1846. In order to get to the road, which was north of Watford, they had to cut a way through the bush. This was called the section of Highway 79 in that place is known as the Nauvoo road. Gardiner and his family helped to found Salt Lake City, the site of the Mormon temple. The mill at Alvinston eventually fell into decay, but one of the millstones was removed in 1928 to the local fair grounds where it was seen by thousands of visitors to the fair. The Pioneer Trails' Association learned that the historic relic existed, and in 1948 the stone was incorporated in a quaint cairn, dedicated to Archibald Gardiner and to those Alvinston settlers who a century ago blazed the Nauvoo road on their way to a new land and a new life. Paid $16 For Milk Cow "WE HAVE NOW GOT A MILK COW which is a luxury we have not enjoyed for many a day, she is a pretty good cow, six years old, price $16.00." So wrote William Webster, one of the earliest settlers in Florence, in the summer of 1843. Webster had arrived in Euphemia Township the previous year, lived there the rest of his life, and was to become Division Court Clerk in his later years. His letter tells something of the early founding Florence. He mentions that there "is here the commencement of a village, with a grist mill, new territory caused confusion in the mails, the name was changed again to Florence. Until 1857 the growth of the tiny village was slow, but after that year - - when the Great-Western Railway was opened between Windsor and London -the massive stands of hardwood in the district were tapped, and Florence began to expand. With the end of the nardwood, more and more settlers moved on the cleared land, and Florence settled down to the quiet existence, serving the surrounding farming countryside. saw mill and carding mill, two blacksmith shops, and our shop (wood working) and Post Office, two stores, a distillery and a tavern, a schoolhouse and new church unfinished for the Episcopal connection." First Grist Mill The mill mentioned was built In 1827 and so far as is known was the first grist mill in Lamb-.ton County. Webster's fetter was written from "Zone Mills." Later the village name was changed to Victoria, and still later, when the profusion of "Victorias" In the Pledged Loyalty to Queen at Sarnia C A N A D I A N O I L CO M P AN I E S L I M IT ED "I DO SINCERELY promise and swear that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, and that I will faithfully serve Her Majesty in Canada, for the defence of the same against all her enemies and opposers whatsoever, according to the conditions of my service." This declaration was signed by 86 men and four officers of the Field Battery, Artillery (Volunteer Militia) of London, in 1864. Under the command of Lt-Col. Shanley, of Thorndale, these men, together with 67 more, were to defend their country, Canada, during the Fenian raids. They were stationed at Sarnia during the period. The service roll, with the signatures of all the volunteers (11 were identified by "their marks"), is now in the possession of W. G. Lee of Thorndale, which was named by ttie aristocratic Shanleys of whom the commander of the volunteers was one. This was the last time that men of Ontario were called upon to defend themselves in their own country, and, but for the so-called Riel Rebellion in the west, it was the last time that Canada was threatened by internal rebellion. Col. Shanley's nominal roll, a virtual glossary of London and Western Ontario family names, is an expression of the loyalty which characterized the Canadian people just prior to Confederation, "The world's shortest railway," is located at Petrolia. Some citizens were taken aback when this appeared in "Believe-lt-Or-Not-Ripley's" column some years ago. The half-mile-wide flats of Bear Creek, a tributary of the Sydenham River, bisect the town. When this bridge was built the street was not paved, but there was certainty in the minds of citizens that soon streetcars would be plying from eastern to western extremities of the two-mile-long main street and tracks were therefore laid in the bridge. The proposed street railway never materialized. 100 YEARS OF GROWTH and PROGRESS.... LAMBTON COUNTY AND THE LONDON FREE PRESS HAVE REACHED THEIR CENTENARY TOGETHER! Down the pages of history,, year by year, for one hundred years; The London Free Press has recorded the historical growth and progress of cPe"asea~population, gr^ar rntfusrtiai yiuwui,1' u.,o u ,,,•&,,*; of living for each and every one of its inhabitants. LAMBTON COUNTY The Garden County of Canada Lambton is immediately across the St. Clair River from Michigan . . .It extends up to and includes a long stretch of Lake Huron's sandy shore ... It is ideally situati in' a pocket of the most interesting country on the continent , . . This bit southland" gives to natives and visitors alike wonderful celery, fruit and early vegetables . . . the Thedford celery beds are famous the country-over, Industrial Lambton Lambton was the cradle of the oil producing industry in Canada. Lambton County is a hive of industry ... Its cities, towns and villages are busy with diversified industries, chief of which are the oil industries of Imperial Oil and Canadian Oil, located in Sarnia and Petrolic. The only synthetic rubber plant in the British Empire is located in Lambton County at Sarnia. Agricultural Lambton Lambton County's cetery beds, at Thedford, are known the continent over ... Its apple and fruit orchards produce th. . finest found anywhere in Canada ... Its grazing lands teed thousands of head of beef cattle which are fed to the Canadian population. . Commercial Lambton ERNEST E. KELLS Warden, Lambton County Centennial Yeor, 1949 Lambton County, with its strategic ports of Sarnia and Port Edward, offer a waterway to the trade units of the: work) . . . Linked to the United States by the Inrernat.onal Blue Water Highway Bridge, it affords easy contact with the United States On the main line of the Canadian Notional Rail- ways and King's Highway No. 7, it Connects with the mam cities of Canada. LAMBTON COUNTY IS MECCA FOR HOLIDAYS FISHING . . . BATHING . . . BOATING YACHTING . . . ETC. WRITE FOR INFORMATION If you want good food, good boating, good resort life you'll find any number of spots in Lambton complete with sandy beaches, cottages, luxurious hotels, camping grounds. Far further information on holidaying in Lambton County write to the Blue Water Highway Assoc.-Dtion, Sarnia, or the Lambton County resort your choice. THE CENTENNIAL COUNCIL OF LAMBTON COUNTY Alvinston Arkona Bosanquet Brooke. Courtright Dawn Euphemia --Pe/cy Willis --H. E. Marsh --Ralph Morrison --R. J. Ross --Clare Edgar --Wm. McDougall --Alvin Laur --William J. Boyle --Dewitt Martin --Wm. Johnson Enniskillen Forest Moore Oil Springs Petrolia Plympton -E, F. Metcalfe -Ben J. Warren •W. J. M'Forlane -Howard Miskell -Ralph White -John Kitchen -E. E. Kells -W. Taylor -Wm. Manning John McLean Pt. Edward Sarnio Sombro Thedford Warwick Watford Wyoming --T, McCord --John Durranee --Ray Pullen --H. Sheller --G. Branton --F. Morton --Ivor Weaver --Gordon Bryce --David Gribben --L M. Hall County Clerk--JOHN A. HUEY County Treasurer--JOHN HAIR