WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4, 1976. PAGE e, e Historical Whitby. biy flan w linterj TWEEDIE HOUSE The house pictured'above is une of the first brick farm houses buiit in WhiLby township, a building considered Lu be quite a marvel in iLs time, when iess prosperous farmers were still living in log cabins. IL was built in 1 845 on the crest of a hil overîooking the corner of the third concession and Codchrane Street, for JaMes Tweedie, une of Whitby's pioneer settiers. The builder of tlie house was George Soniey, a resident of the fourth concession, who lived to be more than 85 years old. James Tweedie was born in 1803 at Symington, Lanarkshire, Scotland, and emimigrated to Canada in the late 1820s. He first settled at Scarborougli, but in May 1831, he moved to Whitby Township because the farm land was better and the harbor aL Windsor (Port Whitby) was a convenient shipping place for his produice. Mr. Tweedie settled aL Hamer's Corners (Dundas and Hopkins Streets) wherc he purchased 1 00 acres of land and gave the former uwner instructions Lu build him a house 40 feet long, 22 feet wide, sturey and a haif, with a cellar 16 by 24 feet. In a letter to his brother, Aug. 21, 1831, Mr. Tweedie reports that he raised a crop of 200 bushels of wheat on seven acres in tis first year in Whitby, and had 16 acres of oats and eighit of summer fallow. He reports that 65 to 70 of lis I100 acres were cleared, and most of the stumps were gune. Mr. Tweedie also old his brother that he intended to start a dairy and make cheese. "I shouîd like Lu geL a good ploughman out from our neiglibourliood as the land works well with the iron plough and Lhe mnen here know nothing about ploughing", he reported. "I have had nu hired man this summer and it keeps me a littie too busy". The average annual wage for a hited man in 1831 was $100. Some time before 1837, Mr. Tweedie moved from Hamer's Corners Lu the third concession, and buiît a log house hear the easL brandli of the Lynde Creek, which became known as Tweedie's Creek. In 1 845 the cabin was replaced by the brick house, which Mr. Trweedie called "Broadfieid", after his family's home in Scotland. Mr. Tweedie built his first barn at "Broadfield" in 1843, and this building was replacedy a new barn in 1886. ln politics, Mr. Tweedile was an ardent siQpporter of William Lyon Mackenzie, but there is no record of whetlier he took part in the Rebellion of 1837. On May 6, 1857, Mr. Tweedie died at the comparatively early age of 54, leaving a wife and 13 children, five sons and elght daugliters. His wife Jane died in 1890. Early records show that John Tweedie, one of his sons, died on April 23, 1909, David Tweedie died on Feb. 16, 1912, aL the age of 73, and a da ughter, Cathierine Tweediè Grant, who was born in the log house at "Broadfield" in 1837, died on April 2, 1912. Catherine Tweedie had the tragie experience of being married for only 40 days, before the death of her husband. On May 8, 1878 she married John Grant, a Dominion Land Surveyor who was planning the city of Winnipeg, and on June 17, lie died while they were returning to tlie West after their honeymoon. Mrs. Grant came back to Whitby and spent the remnainder of ber life at "Broadfield" with lier brothers, who managed the farm. An accc'unt of the building of the second barn on the Tweedic firmn records that more tlian 125 friends and neiglibors of James Tweedie Jr. assisted 'at tlie barn raising. Jose9h Pearson, a stone mason from Ashburn built tlie stone f )u-idation 78 feet by 45 feet and fine feet higli, and a Mr. 1' ;acI ill was the contractur for tlie carpe ntry work. Or 'ti. arrival at Whitby in 1831, James Tweedie Sr. was ,~ A as prosperous as lie was in later years. He fr3quent1y had to write to lis family in Scotland for money set up his farm. However, at tlie ime of lis dea' id a farm that wa1s tlie envy of many of his and a showplace in Whitby township. 1 have a question for you. Would yuu like to be a 44Young person" again? (My definition of' a 'young person is aged between 13 and 20 years.) Frankly, l'in surprised at the number of people 30 years and older xvho say they would prefer Lu be young again. 1 wonder if they have considered the following. As Young peuple, they would be f'aced sith denîands and decisions, the likes of whýihire almnost tnnequialledl in history. Presurnîng a normal homne life environnien t. one would be subject Lu parental directive and contrul. almost certainly in cunflict with heavy demnands froin ooutside friends and acquaintances. Let's caîlouer "Young person" Nancy. We'll give Nancy the upportunity of enjoying a well-balanced life at home and at school, buit this rneans that she nîust be mnaking her grades regfflarly and gain promotion annually, ultimately graduating fromn high scheol. loday, iL seemis high school graduation is a basic nitust if Nancy is te make iL as a career girl. Meantime, Nancy is quite widely read and lias already had two winter trips Lu Florida and one Lu continental Europe -- whereas ber parenLs travelled once te the West Coast and occasionally, between Niagara Falls and Ottawa. Currently Nancy is desperately seeking fonds in thec SIDINGY CasIo f or f res estimates VUNYL ALUMINUN COLOM.OK MITCHELL BROTHERS Bui9 prding Suppie tde arookIlf1. 655-14991 region of S I1.000.00 Lu juin some of hier pressing friends looking forward Lu several weeks abroad. Let's nuL torget, of course, that *Y.ancy is living in a permissive society and miust rely un lher own judgernenit as Lu whiat is righit and whiat is wrong. svhether iL be drinking under age. smoking pot or spending a mixed weekend at a ski resurt. 1 suggest une word descrihes the nunmereus situations Nancy faces. The word is temptatiun. Nancy's parents svere b-aced with temptations tuu, somne peuple weuld say; but 1 suggest that Nancy's parents, svhen they were yoing, hiad greater knowledge and lived within rnuch ia rrower beundaries sith clear cnt definitiuns of wvhat was righit and \vhat was wvrong. and hio\ t o ackle day-to-day living prebiemis. 1Nancy is constantly rernînded, flot only by the media, but by lier- friends and hier own intelligence and inLui t îvcness, tha t slîe ha s a certain fashi on level Lu main taini. Slacks. Jeans. tops. sandails, and bel ts can be cheap, 'but the grade. colotir. cu t, and trirn changes rapîdly. This cests meney -- lots ef moency. Nancy is expec ted te lie vîrtueus, bu t eutside inthuences, ie. magazines, films, televisîin, books anid people rang,îig lronm the falMeUS te thle in lamons, cia i lt hat chasti ty is ont. Now 1 helieve ha t Nancy ives in an agè of outstanding epportL11ity \vh ich she may kne.,w er îlot know. If she can1 survive hier parents' guidance (often referred te as initer- ference) and ShenLld slie he able to pre~s 011tlîroughi highi school and t try te read good litera turIc, incltîding Dickens, Stevenseîî, Shakespeare, (I destested the Bard at sehool'), I lailey (ye s, Ilailey ef I letel anid Airport fanie), autobiographies. and particnlarly noni-fiction books, but sprinkled xith seme fiction, she'll be oni the way Le making eut. New she'll need Le earn money over and above tha t received oni a nominal bxisis frem hume, bu t she'll necd a part-time Job (tha 's anothler snlec t) and she'll go far if she cati learn to save a littlc and spenid a McMANUS & STRONACH OPTICAL SUNGLASSES SUNGLASSES WHITBYMAL-576-4431- Su, would you like to bc "young" again in today's society? As for thiis writer, 1 candidiy admit, 1 have no wish to be a "young person" or a maie equivaient to Nancy. The lifestyle would be too rocky for me, perhaps for YOu too. i was born and raiýed in a different society and ime. I do flot know how 1 would react to the tremendous pressures 1 believe the young people today have to face. One must admire the tenacity of some and shudder at the prospects of others. Last but flot ieast, 1 believe iL shouid be made quite clear thiat life does flot spin around young people. Lt spins around peuple of ail ages, and one of the traits 1 have corne t respect, perhaps most highly, in our younger peuple is whien tliey show respect for their eiders. Then eider folks will often say, "Nancy is comning along n ice ly". k I MORTGAGES 1 M 1 T E 0 1mt & 2nd Arrangod1 Bougfht and Sold at Prime Rates cu Peter Kade, 668-1 556 ANUBIS 1NVESTMENTS Ltd. 149 erok SM. N.. Whltby STAR BURGER Drive-In 900 'Brock St. N. Whitby, Ontario. Specializing in take-out HAMBURGERS" BANQUET BURGERS -CHEESEBURGERS. - TWIN BURGERS_ - BACONEURGERS STEAK ON A KAISER HOT DOGS - FISH & CHIPS ONION RINGS - FRENCH FRIES SHAKES & SOFT DRINKS HOURS Monday - Thursday Friday and Saturday Suýnday il a.mh. - il p.m. il a.rn. - 12a.m. 12 noon - 10 mm.