Feature Article August 26, 2004
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Away back in Clarendon and MillerDaughter reissues her fathers book
reviewed by Jeff Green
Back in 1976, Charles Armstrong, then 67, published Away Back in Clarendon and Miller, a book about the history of settlement in the Ardoch/Plevna area that he had been researching for a couple of years. He later published a second edition, but over time the existing copies of the book were bought up. In 1994 when the Armstrong cottage on Buckshot Lake burned down, all remaining copies of the book along with Armstrongs notes for it were burned, as did the notes for a book he was working on about Olden township.
The Armstrong family built a new cottage, but Charles book-writing days were done. A few years later, Bethany Armstrong, the daughter of Charles and Vera, decided to prepare a new edition of Away Back in Clarendon and Miller. When her parents then died over a short period of time a few years ago, republishing the book became a memorial project for Bethany Armstrong.
In her preface to the handsome third edition, Bethany Armstrong writes about what motivated her father to write the book: Charles was in semi-retirement and living, over extended summers, at his beloved cottage on the Mountain Road outside Plevna. He wrote it, he said, because he had read many local histories and felt that one for the area should be available. He visited villages throughout the area and spoke with hundreds of families Many will remember the twinkle in his eyes as he told stories or sang long-remembered ditties.
At the beginning of the book Charles Armstrong describes what a traveller in the area would see.
In some of these forests the summer traveller would have found a cathedral-like atmosphere. Large tree trunks would form pillars, and their branches with their leaves, high above, would form a canopy through which he could see rare glimpses of the sun.
In the 1840s the cutting of timber began in the area, changing the landscape forever. The Clarendon and Miller area had pine forests with mature trees suitable for shipbuilding timber. The market for this timber continued until sometime in the 1880s when steel plates replaced wooden timbers in the construction of ships (page 37) Later, some of the settlers were able to make use of abandoned lumbering shanties for a time before putting up log homes.
Away back in Clarendon and Miller paints a compelling picture of how settler communities developed along the Frontenac and Snow Roads starting in the 1850s. The Frontenac Road, which does not extend north of Highway 7 anymore, used to run past Gull Lake, Malcolm Lake, and through the villages of Ardoch and Plevna to Brule Lake and Buckshot Lake.
Settlement occurred around 1860 when land had been surveyed along the Frontenac Road. Would-be settlers were given a location ticket, after which they were required to settle on their lot within one month, to live on it for a minimum of four years, to clear 12 acres of land and erect certain buildings. Once these conditions were met, the settler families were granted a patent over their lot.
One gap in the book - but this is no fault of Charles Armstrong because it reflects a gap in the historical record as a whole - concerns the effect the granting of these patents and wholesale logging in the area had on the hunting and gathering culture of the Algonquins, whom Armstrong identified as being the inhabitants on the land at the time of settlement.
The development of villages along the Frontenac and Snow Roads is outlined in the book. At the time of settlement, there was a need for a hotel about every ten miles. Many villages, such as Playfair and Wensley, thrived for a time but have since disappeared. Other important early settlements are now only tiny villages, such as Ardoch, the first major settlement, and Fernleigh.
Another early community was known as Buckshot. For unknown reasons, the post office department objected to the name and requested that a new name be forwarded for their approval. Trying to agree on a name caused such a rift that it almost led to violence. This led Sam Barton Sr. to say the situation was as bad as in a small fortress town in Bulgaria that was always ending up in the middle of European battles, ever since the times of Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great. The name of that town turned out to be neutral to all concerned, and rather than carrying on fighting, the citizens of Buckshot agreed to forward the name of Plevna to the Postal Authorities.
What separates Away Back in Clarendon and Miller from other historical accounts, is the delight Armstrong took in storytelling. He peppers the drier historical accounts with some ripping yarns.
The prime example of this is his account of the Deacon murder. As the story goes, in about 1870, Thomas Deacon, who lived on the Mud Lake Road, became enamoured with a Miss VanKoughnet. Mr. Deacon had a wife, however. Although his wife was ill, she was recovering, but then she suddenly died. Neighbours became suspicious when Thomas Deacon arrived at the funeral with Miss VanKoughnet. As the casket was being lowered, George Monds called a halt to the proceedings. Deacon was grabbed and placed under guard. Eventually it was revealed that Mrs. Deacon died of strychnine poisoning, and Deacon was convicted of her murder at the courthouse in Harrowsmith, after much testimony from various neighbours. Deacon was hanged for his crime.
The story eventually became the subject of a ballad, which is reproduced in the book. On several occasions the ballad repeats a line that reveals certain prejudices of the time, and twas by a foolish serving girl that he was led astray
The final section of the book, called Family Histories, turns through family histories by family name, from Allan to Young.
Bethany Armstrong has had 1500 copies of Away Back in Clarendon and Miller printed, and she has decided to put any profits the book brings in once printing costs have been covered towards the development of a small archive of historical materials in Clarendon and Miller. It is important to collect pictures, papers, and other materials before too long, as items are being lost as the generations pass, she told a recent meeting of North Frontenac Council. She would also like to get out to record some of the stories of older residents of the area in the near future.
Away Back in Clarendon and Miller sells for $20, and is available at the North Frontenac township office, and at stores in the Plevna area, James General Store, North of 7, and Lookout Home Hardware, among others.
