A tale of two families - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

On the outskirts of the village of Bluevale lived two families: the Duncan King family at Lot 31 in Turnberry Township and the John Gardner family at Lot 31 in Morris Township. These two locations, though fairly close together, are separated by a branch of the Maitland River.

 

Duncan King was born in Balquhidder, Perthshire, Scotland in 1819 and came to Canada two years later with his family to settle in Leeds. He and his wife, Mary Warwick, had at least three of their children in Leeds County. Around 1861, Duncan travelled westward to Turnberry Township and it was there that he was chopping down trees on his property when he heard the echo of another person with an axe on the opposite side of the river. He stopped his work immediately and rolled a log down to the riverbank. Straddling the log, he paddled his way across to the water and searched through the dense forest to find out who was there. He found it to be John Gardner, who was starting to make a home for himself and his family in Morris Township. Though there was a difference in age, these two pioneers became fast friends and remained so until death separated them.

 

The King family grew to include five sons and three daughters, namely John Warwick, George, Helen, Mary Jane, Thomas, Isabella, Robert and Peter. The occupations of these offspring included several farmers and school teachers, with one notable exception being Thomas, who became a veterinary surgeon who trained in Toronto and subsequently practised in Ontario before relocating to Ohio, where he was a professor at the Ohio Veterinary School.

 

Duncan was a progressive farmer who gradually improved his property and also acquired more land until he had amassed 200 acres. The Huron Expositor of September 1887 reported that Duncan had planted a row of maples on his farm three years previously and that he had made a walk between the trees and the fence. “Duncan is one of our tidy, good farmers," the newspaper added. 

 

Duncan did not limit his energy to establishing a good homestead; he was also an elder in the Presbyterian Church for 25 years and the superintendent of the Sunday school. In fact, one Sunday in 1889, when the Presbyterian minister was ill, Duncan King gave the sermon. He made his views on liquor consumption well known, as he was a delegate in 1885 at the Temperance Conference in Toronto and part of the delegation to Huron County Council that urged the appointment of a magistrate to hear and determine all prosecutions of the Scott Act (Temperance Act). 

 

The heart of this Turnberry pioneer ceased to beat in May of 1894 and he was buried in the Bluevale Cemetery.

 

John Gardner started his life’s journey in Ireland around 1839. He married Jane McGee, who was born in Ontario. The Gardner story is different from that of the King family. John and Jane sold off a northwest portion of their land to form the Gardner survey, a tract of 30 lots in Bluevale that in 2024 are located on Clyde and Morris Streets.

 

For almost 25 years, John was a rural mail carrier, faithfully keeping the local residents in touch with the outside world. John was also civic-minded and was a fence viewer for Morris Township for a few years. In addition, John was a dedicated member of the Loyal Orange Lodge #766.

 

In the era we are examining, newspaper reports were much more revealing of personal information than they are in the present day. For example, sometimes, the value of property sold made the news. As well, travel information was regular copy. By this means we learn that John Gardner took the train to Rat Portage (Kenora) in 1892. His son was a brakeman for the railway in that location.

 

As the years passed, John’s lifestyle changed and, in 1897, an auction sale was held for his 80-acre farm. It was described as having first class clay loam soil with all of the acreage cleared and being “well-watered”. The property came with a frame house and barn and an excellent young orchard. 

 

In 1909, the brethren at the Orange Lodge honoured John with a social evening on the occasion of his leaving Bluevale to live with family members. A “kindly-worded” address was given by Bro. Thomas Stewart while Bro. George Johnston presented the man of the hour with a fine black suit. John left Bluevale to visit with his daughter and family in Lion’s Head.

 

John Gardner passed away in Goderich in 1919 and was interred in Bluevale Cemetery.

 

The friendship formed between Duncan King and John Gardner in their pioneering days also extended to the children as well. In 1904, The Goderich Star reported a reunion at the home of Robert King in Goderich when John Gardner Jr. and his wife Minnie came calling. The story of the first meeting of their fathers was retold and many happy hours were spent together.