Pioneers of Olden Township

Aug 02, 2023

Sandy Pennycuick (nee Barker) has always been fascinated by the pioneer plaque in Mountain Grove, where she was raised. The plaque was put up, on a cairn near the corner of Mill Street and Mountain Grove Road, in 1934, to mark the 80th anniversary of Olden Township. In 1915, to mark the 150th anniversary of Frontenac County, the plaque was pulled down off the cairn and affixed to a wagon wheel nearer to the road, for better visibility and public access to the community.

Sandy moved to Toronto for work in 1981, and lives now in Welland, but she gets back to her home town to visit family. Retirement, and the pandemic, drew her into researching all of the families on the Pioneer plaque, and their descendents.

“I guess you might say it became something of an obsession,” she says now, after putting all of the stories together in a 2166 page, two volume set.

She gathered stories from newspapers, making much use of the Ancestry.com sub-site Newspapers.com,

“Any newspaper article from 1878 forward is there, all the history of the schools and all the teachers, all the community effort to support the war years. It is quite amazing,” she said.

She also found material through word of mouth and following leads, and a teaser article in the Frontenac News a couple of years ago opened up some major leads as well.

“After doing some initial research people started contacting me, and that's where things really got interesting.”

When she sat down with people, looked at their scrap books, full of clippings and anecdotes, it really brought a picture of the life they led, the role of the schools and churches in the communities, the struggle for work, and family events that took place along the way.

Once she had checked and double checked the facts that were presented to her, she typed up all the material, reproducing photos and other documents, and began laying her book, in Microsoft Word, over 2,000 pages in all.

Since completing the book, and getting a small first run printed and bound by companies in St. Catherines, a copy of the two volume, hard-bound set, has been available for public viewing at Hope's store in Parham throughout the month of July, and will remain there until August 18.

“I had been hoping to get copies into the local libraries, and happily Arlene Uens has donated her copy to the Mountain Grove branch [of the Kingston Frontenac Public Library] and Sandra Good has donated her copy to the Parham branch.

“They really belong in Libraries so everyone can see them,” she said.

The books, Pioneer Families of Olden Township, volume 1 and 2, are available for pre-order only, for $270, which is the cost of printing and binding.

They are of general interest to anyone wanting to take a deep dive into how Olden Township came about, rode various waves of settlement for agriculture, a role as a railway centre, the two World Wars, and the decline of the local economy as the world changed dramatically in the years following the plaque's installation during the great depression.

It is also of interest to the decendents of the people whose names are on the plaque, and also to anyone who has moved into the former township, which goes to the edge of Arden to the east, on both sides of Long Lake Road towards Parham, along Road 38 to Brewer Road near Sharbot Lake, and to Road 509 north of Sharbot Lake.

Many properties still have she same houses that are in the pictures throughout the book, or other features on their properties.

It offers a glimpse into how people lived and celebrated milestones at the same spots where newcomers over the last 50 years have live and celebrated their own milestones, forging a connection between the past, present, and future.

For Sandy Pennycuick, it has been a long, satisfying journey, and with the book now out in the public and being made available, it is coming to a happy conclusion.

“I have looked at so many old newspapers, talked to so many people on the phone, and gathered what I call gold when they tell and show me their stories in person, that I am happy to have followed what became something of an obsession, all the way to this point,” she said.

To view the book, go to Hope's store before August 18. Sandy Pennycuick's contact information is at the store as well. Or contact Sandy directly by calling 905-892-0607 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..