Former Mountain Grover seeking information for book on local families

Jeff Green | Sep 22, 2021

Sandra Pennycuick, who was Sandra Barker before she married, was born in 1949 in her grand-parents house in Mountain Grove, just three doors down from the Pioneer Memorial that was put up in 1934 to celebrate 86 family names that were associated with the village on the occasion of its 80th anniversary.

Her grandparents were Cora and Zina Kellar. Cora Kellar was a midwife, and she also gave birth to 13 children own, including Sandra’s mother Fern (Kellar) Barker.

Sandra grew up in a house near Long Lake and she remembers playing near the Pioneer Memorial when visiting her grandparents.

For Canada’s 150th, the memorial was moved to a better spot, and that gave Sandra an idea. She would like to publish a book detailing the family tree for all of the family surnames listed on the memorial.

“The book is about honouring the early settlers: the Prices, the Cronks, the Flynns, the Drews, the Godfreys, the Garretts, the Barrs, the Coulters, the MacDonalds and many, many more - for the descendants along the distaff line, who no longer bare the family name - for the homemakers in the far West, or elsewhere, and for all the pioneers in the wild regions of the township of Olden. They were a well-intentioned, law-abiding, courageous race, those sturdy pioneers, who took their women and children and pushed into this wilderness,” she said in an email to the News, asking if she could publish a request for anyone with information about any of the families listed on the Pioneer Memorial to contact her.

Sandra moved to Kingston after high school, and settled in Glenburnie. She worked for the Ministry of Transportation and was transferred several times during her long career at the ministry, and settled in the St. Catherines area, where she still lives.

But she returns to Mountain Grove each summer to visit family, and is now devoting her energy to this project.

“My intention is to include a family tree for each of the families in the book, along with any other information that I am able to verify. I have a personal curiosity and a general interest in the history of Olden Township,” she said.

The Pioneer Memorial project was spearheaded by Ethel Coulter Grasse, a school teacher who used to come home to Mountain Grove in the summers.

"This is no great historical contribution but rather a plain talk about those who came before us, based mainly upon sources accessible to all. We celebrate the actual settlement of the Township of Olden,” Ethel Coulter-Grasse said about the memorial project at the time.

Anyone with information about names or even a curiosity about the memorial is encouraged to email Sandra Pennycuick at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by phone at 905-892-0607