John Nelson Babcock, Grandfather. Mary Eliza Jane "Maude" Sanderson, Grandmother.
August 25, 1993
Jean and I drove east on #7 Hwy. to the historic Frontenac Road, turned right and drove 2 km. south directly to the Mountain Grove Cemetary. It was a hot day, 30°C, with no clouds and brilliant sunshine. We found tombstones of several relatives and took photographs of them. Great Grandfather John Sanderson’s stone had toppled and broken in two. The bottom portion was face down, but with great effort I overturned the bottom portion, eased the top portion into place and took a photo. The stone of Great Grandmother Louisa Ann (née Powley) Sanderson was still upright, but had some moss growing on it. The inscription on John Sanderson’s stone reads:
JOHN SANDERSON
DIED 7 MAY 1888
AGE 70 YRS. 3 MOS.
For Louisa, the inscription read:
LOUISA SANDERSON
WIFE OF JOHN SANDERSON
MARCH 31, 1880
AGE 62 YRS. 2 MOS. 20 DYS.
There was a stone for Harriet Erwin, First wife of Archibald Erwin, inscribed:
HARRIET BABCOCK
WIFE OF ARCHIBALD ERWIN
DIED FEB. 25 1898
AGE 20 YRS. 9 MOS. 3 DYS.
BESSIE THEIR DAUGHTER
MAY 24, 1898
AGE 3 MOS 10 DYS.
Harriet, or Aunt Hattie, was the second child of John Nelson Babcock and his first wife Elizabeth “Betsy” Martin.
After lunch at Sharbot Lake Provincial Park we drove north on Hwy. #509 to Mississippi Station and with the help of a couple of local residents found Hilda Geddes, the local historian. She is 85 years old, lives alone in the family home, which also used to be the local post office and general store, at the end of Snow Road, and still drives her own car. She attended the local Elementary School, earned her High School Certificate in 1921 and in 1930-31 attended Perth Business College and became eligible for the Civil Service for the 1931 Census. She worked in Ottawa until the census was completed in May 1932. The War made it possible for her to rejoin the Civil Service in 1940, working first for the War Department, and later for the Treasury Office of Trade and Commerce.
She began writing after her retirement at the insistence of the local Presbyterian minister and has written the following:
1. A book about the Presbyterian churches of the area, published in 1975.
2. Collaborated on a large hard-bound text on the history of the Frontenac County, in which she wrote the History of Palmerston, Canonto, and Donaldson Townships.
3. Her third book was the History of the Snow Road Presbyterian Church.
4. Her fourth book was the History of the Canadian Mississippi River. We bought a copy of this book and Hilda inscribed it “To Jean and Bill with best wishes, Hilda Geddes.”
She has been the organist at the Presbyterian Church for 70 years, and faithfully returned from Ottawa each weekend to perform on Sunday mornings.
We questioned her about the possible existence of a sawmill at Mississippi Station, after informing her of my Grandfather John Nelson Babcock, a sawyer, who probably worked there.
In her book she tells of Gilmour as being the first lumber baron in the area. He sold his timber rights to John Gillies in 1862. John Gillies arrived in Canada in May 1821 on the ship “David of London” at ten years of age with his father James Gillies, a weaver from Glasgow, his mother and four siblings. Around 1840, John Gillies left home and built a mill on the Clyde River near Lanark. The upright saw for his mill weighed 90 pounds and John carried it on his back from Brockville, a distance of 55 miles.
Peter McLaren was born 21 September, 1831 in Lanark Twp. He began working as a chore boy when very young and worked his way up to a partnership with John Gillies in 1854. In 1873 he bought out Gillies including the mill on the south shore of Millar Lake, Palmerston Twp. on the Mississippi River. The mill was equipped to saw 100,000 board feet of lumber a day. The Kingston and Pembroke Railway ran just west of the mill.
The mill was sold to the Canadian Lumber Company in 1887 and sold again to Isaac and James Allan in 1895. The Allan Bros. rebuilt on the north shore of Millar’s Lake. The mill was sold again to Chandler, Jones Lumber Co., of Ogdensburg, N.Y. December 17, 1910.
Since my father Fred Sanderson Babcock was born at Sharbot Lake 2 June, 1888, it is likely that John Nelson Babcock was employed before that date by Peter McLaren and later worked in succession for the Canadian Lumber Co., and then for Isaac and James Allen.
A photo shows the family in front of their house on Babcock Point, Sharbot Lake. There was only a trail through the bush to Mississippi so Grandfather John Nelson had to walk a distance of 12 miles along that trail. They worked six days a week, so he would walk home Saturday night after work and return Sunday night to be ready for work at 7 a.m. Monday. He probably boarded at a rooming house operated by the Allan’s. Jean expressed amazement that he would walk that distance twice each weekend.
We drove from Snow Road to Sharbot Lake, found Babcock Point and took a picture from the government dock, near the site of the old K&P railway station. Although K&P stands for Kingston Pembroke, it was affectionately known as the “Kick and Push” Railway.
John Nelson and “Maude” moved to Lindsay and lived on Lindsay Street. Uncle Roy worked at the creamery and would have been 19 or 20 years old.
Ida recalls being taken by Auntie Bea to visit on weekends when she was five years old circa 1914. One of her fondest memories was when they hired a “yacht” and went out on the Trent Waterway. Uncle Roy made ice cream with a hand-cranked freezer. Del also remembers the wonderful taste of that ice cream.
John Nelson and “Maude” moved from Lindsay to live with Uncle Roy and Hazel his bride at Harwood, Ontario, where he was in charge of the creamery. Harwood is on Rice Lake, north of Cobourg. Grandpa used to keep pigs which he fed on the buttermilk from the creamery. Grandpa used to take Del to see the pigs and used to scratch their backs with his cane. Ida says that he was devastated when the market for pigs collapsed and he received virtually nothing for his labors.
Grandma and Grandpa then lived for a short time in Unionville before moving in with Mother and Dad just before my brother Jack was born 25 September, 1915, at 8 Hazelwood Ave., Toronto.
In 1919 Grandma and Grandpa came to Aurora to live with Mother, Dad, Ida, Del, Ken, and Jack on Wellington Street. Grandpa did most of the gardening with the help of the two older boys Del and Ken. Mr. Staley, an old man who lived on the lot east of our home used to plough and harrow the land before planting. Dad assumed the mortgage on the Staley property and allowed him to live there until he died. Ida and Herb built their home on the same site. I remember watching with fascination as Drummer Lloyd scooped out the excavation with a horse and a drag scoop.
Just before I was born in August 1926, Dad rented a little apartment for Grandma and Grandpa at the back of Cosford’s house at 31 Wells Street, Aurora. They lived there until Grandpa died in 1929. He was “laid out” wearing his best dark suit in the living room and buried from there. Grandma remained for a while in the apartment and then moved in with us on Wellington Street. She suffered a stroke in November of 1935 and was nursed by my mother and by Grace Obee, who later became Mrs. Del Babcock. Grandma was buried from our home in the Aurora Cemetery beside Grandpa. In the summer of 1993, Idea (née Babcock) Stocks, Mary Ellen Scott-Fenwick, Delroy Babcock, cousin George Babcock, and Bill Babcock shared equally the expense of installing cornerstones and a suitable marker stone on their Grandparent’s graves, which had been hitherto unmarked. A fitting tribute to two ancestors descended from United Empire Loyalist stock.