.Group C19a (Canada) Summerwill

• JAMES: Born 1862, son of George and Lydia (see Group C19). Emigrated with his mother to Canada in 1872 (1901 census). Married MARY MABEL JACK 31 Oct 1887 -. See account below. From 1936 James suffered from cancer of the groin, from which he sought a herbal cure. He died 14 Aug 1938. (Click here for the story of his 'cure'). Mary born Strachan Avenue, Toronto, 26 Dec 1869; died 1947. In 1901 census James is a farmer; the family is Methodist. Buried together St Paul's and Sprucedale Cemetery.
• HAZEL ETHEL: Born 22 Feb 1887; at home age 3 in 1891 census; in 1901 census listed as Ethel (Summerville), born 22 Feb 1887, but probably the same person; married James Melvin Roy in United Church, Burks Falls, Ontario, 1 Jan 1908, age 21. Hazel died 12(22) Sep 1928. Roy born 1877, died 1970. Buried together St Paul's and Sprucedale Cemetery. (Children: Edgar 1908; Violet Mary 1910 m Ernest Block, Fred Hohl; Zelphy(Zelpha) Hazel 1913 m Harry Puddy; George Melvin 1914; Frederick Roy 1918 m Hilda Mae Beagan; Bertha Audrey 1919 m Wilbert Barks; Archie Melvin 1921; Ruby Flora 1923 m Wilbert Dingman; Ethel Innez 1924 m Joseph Murdy)
• JOHN: Born 8 Sep 1889. Married CASSIE LILLIAN LOVEGROVE 9 Dec 1917. Cassie born 29 Jul 1898 and raised in Whitehall, Ontario. John was station agent first in Whitney, then in Sprucedale, Ontario. They lived between the Orange Lodge and the Catholic Church, "covered on both sides!" as people said. John was Justice of the Peace in Sprucedale. John died 7 Jul 1965; Cassie died 31 Dec 1970. Buried together at St Paul's and Sprucedale Cemetery. See account below
  • JOHN LESLIE: Born 3 Feb 1921. From 15 Oct 1937 worked for the Royal Bank of Canada, Huntsville, Ontario branch. Enlisted in Royal Canadian Air Force at Niagara Falls, 16 Apr 1942. Graduated from No 4 Wireless School, Guelph, Ontario, in February 1943 with honours and completed his course at Jarvis, Ontario, where he received his commission as Pilot Officer J/24806 24 Mar 1943. Reported missing on an operational flight from Debert, Nova Scotia, Saturday 5 June 1943, and assumed to have been killed in action, age 22. No known grave. Click here for the story as told by one of his colleagues (with photo). Commemorated on parents' grave, on the Ottowa Memorial, Panel 2, Column 4, and on the RBC website (with photo)
• MARY MABEL: Born 28 Apr 1891; died 16 May 1920, age 29. Buried St Paul's and Sprucedale Cemetery.
• ANN GERTRUDE: Born 7 Jun 1893; married Robert Forbes Dey (born 24 Apr 1883, died 2 Jun 1970) 27 Jun 1921. Photo next page. Gertrude died 1978. Buried St Paul's & Sprucedale Cemetery
• BERTHA: Born 4 Oct 1895. Married Calvin Harold Elliott 31 Dec 1919 Sprucedale, Ontario. Calvin born 24 Jun 1898 Fern Glen, Ontario, son of Samuel John Elliott, cartwright, and Mary Jane (nee Cunningham). Bertha and Calvin married in Sprucedale and then moved to Trout Creek Ontario where Calvin became a barber. He had attended a barber school in Toronto prior to their marriage. They lived in Trout Creek until their deaths in 1985 and 1988 respectively. In addition to being the town barber Cal also was Mayor (Reeve) of the town for over 30 years. The barber shop also contained a pool table and acted as a gathering place for many of the town's young people as well as the older folk. Bertha was active in the United Church, teaching Sunday school and playing the organ for 25 years. She also taught school for a while. Bertha died of a stroke in hospital in North Bay Ontario 1 Jul 1985 and is buried in Trout Creek Cemetery. Calvin continued to live in the family home until hospitalized in February 1988 where he died on 14 Feb 1988; he is buried by Bertha's side.
  (Children: Audrey 1920-2000; Hilburn John (1921-1993) married Mary Elizabeth Dixon (1922-2002) 1946; Elvin (1924-) married Lois Thomas(1924-) 1943; Gertrude Arlene (1933-) married Robert Sheriff 1963; Mildred (1936-)
• FREDERICK H.: Born 4 Apr 1897. Married CASSIE NICHOLS from Whitney, Ontario. Barber in Whitney, then in South River.Served in Canadian Army in both World Wars. Died 1960; buried St Paul's and Sprucedale Cemetery.
  • JEREMIAH: Married ORLEAN PINKERTON from South River, Ontario. Lives South River.
• MARJORIE FLORA: Born township of McMurrich 9 May 1899; died 18 Mar 1901, age 1 year 10 months, after 6 months diarrhoea. Death regd McMurrich, Parry Sound, by James 19 Mar 1901; residence: #28, 9th con, McMurrich; physician Dr Barbar

Extract from A Track of Time: a History of the Township of McCurrich:

The earliest history of the SUMMERWILL family was gathered from the Census. The Summerwill name has been spelt several different ways: Summerwill was the name found on the land grant documents:Summerhill was the spelling found on the Cemetery stones: Summerville and Sommerville was the spelling recorded on the Census and in the Council minutes. The family name is Summerwill today.Mrs. Lydia Summerwill, born in England about 1829, emigrated to Ontario in 1865 when she was 37, with at least three of her children. Lydia received title to 200 acres in 1885, along Concession 3, Lots 25 and 26 of the Township of McMurrich. (Axe Lake area) The granting of crown land to new settlers, either male or female, was surprisingly non-sexist: widows were considered the head of a family and therefore eligible to 100 acres; daughters of families who were 18 years and older were also granted 100 acres each, considering they met all the requirements.Six years later Lydia, was living on her own, according to the 1891 Census. Her son, James, was located nearby with his wife Mary Jack and their two children Hazel (my grandmother) and John. Her daughter, Lydia, was married to George Marshall and they were residing in Whitehall.In the spring of 1894, the Council minutes record that Mrs. Summerwill's statue labour was being "considered", and by June of 1894 a decision resulted in her statue labour being remitted. Statute labour was road work performed by tax payers in lieu of their annual land taxes. Mrs. Lydia Summerwill was recorded on the 1901 Census, still farming on her own, in the same area, but after that there were no further records. Her son, James, went on to become a well respected citizen in Whitehall and Sprucedale, as did her grandson, John Summerwill, the Station Agent, and great grandson, Leslie, who died during World War II.James Summerwill and Mary Jack received title to another 200 acres just west of his mother's farm in 1893. Within the year they had moved further north to Banbury on Lot 28 of Concession 9 (Sydney Doupe's original farm). James Summerwill, along with a neighbour, Mr. Kratz, were allotted $25.00 worth of labour conducted on Concession 10, as recorded in the Council minutes of 1896. By 1901 James and Mary were still farming there and they now had six children with the older ones attending the Banbury School. In 1901 the Summerwills were neighbours to James Farrell who was managing the Banbury Post Offices.James Summerwill was the tax collector for 1900, when he was "to be allowed 6% of taxes collected in arrears". The 6% would have been his salary for the job. By 1902 he had been elected to represent the Township as a Councillor, a post he only held for that one year. It was a year when Council members voted in favour of a raise from $1.25 to $1.50 per council meeting they attended, which was a respectable increase for 1902. In 1903, Mary and James Summerwill and their family moved into the village of Sprucedale and are covered further in the chapter, Sprucedale Grows.

Life in Sprucedale - Note by Gwen Clark

Sprucedale today is a very small community. They were more thriving back seventy years ago but still considered small. Now they have one hotel/pub, one convenience store/coffee shop, a craft store, and three churches. Many years ago they had an orange lodge as well. Also at that time they had a public school and a high school. It was the only high school in the district. Many that attended the high school came from as far away as Parry Sound (approx. 50 miles). They would travel by train to Sprucedale and board with families in town during the week. My step-father was one of the Parry Sound students. He boarded with my great-grandparents. My mother did not meet him until years later even though she also lived in Sprucedale at the time.Lydia must have been a very strong willed person as well as strong physically. According to the Free Grants and Homesteads Act, when someone was given a grant of land, within 5 years of locating on 200 acres a settler had to build "a home of at least 16 x 20 ft and to have 15 acres cleared and continuously under cultivation, at least 2 acres a year for five years". The land was dense bush (forest). It was a very hard life. The cabins they built were of course made of logs. It was common to have a two room cabin and have a mother, father and a dozen kids all living in it. They used the loft for sleeping quarters for the children and the very small bedroom for the parents. The main room was for everything else. There were no comforts such as an indoor toilet, electricity, etc. When the snow was six feet deep, going to an outdoor toilet wasn't any fun. Many people just used the bush, as there weren't any neighbours near. Many people lived miles from their nearest neighbour. They lived off the land, growing their own vegetables and hunted, trapped or fished for their meat. Nothing was wasted. The animal skins and fur were used for clothing.

Sprucedale - Photo & Description by Murray Mandley

Parry Sound and Muskoka Districts, on the edge of the Precambrian Canadian Shield, are lands of rocks, trees, thin soil, infinite number of lakes, extremely cold winters, short growing season and very hot summers. For agriculturists it is quite inhospitable. It is most beautiful in the fall as the attached picture attests.

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