July 27 – Walk with the Ancestors – Simpson Cemetery Memorial

Simpson Cemetery Memorial – Honouring the Ancestors

Remembering Our Ancestors at Simpson Cemetery

Sunday, July 27, 2025

12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Simpson Cemetery.Located at 21563 Pratt Siding Road Woodgreen (Hwy. 76), Municipality of Southwest Middlesex, South of Longwoods Road (Hwy. 2) – between River Drive and the Thames River

It’s going to be hot! Please come prepared with umbrellas, water, hats, cool damp cloths for your neck, suncreen and all your favourite ways to keep cool and comfortable. There is shade but not a lot.

PROGRAM (Updated)

11:00 a.m.
 Bring your family and make a day of it and arrive in the morning and explore the
Simpson Cemetery. Bring a photo to tape on your ancestors’ stones. Tell your kids
about their ancestors.

12 Noon Picnic
 Time for an old-fashioned picnic. Spread out your blanket and share a meal with your
family and friends.

1:00 p.m. Commencement
 Welcome and introductory remarks (Brian Huis)
o Land acknowledgement
 Remarks from the President, Glencoe and District Historical Society (Mary Simpson)
 History of the Simpson Cemetery (Ken Willis)
 Walk with the Ancestors: a series of rotating talks and activities:
o Spirit walk with “Nicolas Bodine”
o The “Simpson” Ancestors (Wendy Bestward, Dennis Simpson, Wanda
Simpson, and Micheline Champagne-Johnston)
o Demonstration: How to properly clean and care for a gravestone (Norm McGill)
o Demonstration: How to do a gravestone rubbing (Ken Beecroft and Gerry
Cross)
o How to fix an old broken gravestone (Harold Carruthers)

2:00 p.m. Gather to Remember
 Honour Roll – Reading of the names from the plaque of those who served their
country in times of war (is there a name attached to this?)

 Tribute to “Nicholas Bodine” (1788 to 1885), Upper Canada militia veteran, War of
1812 (Harold Carruthers)
 Closing prayer (Ken Willis?)

2: 45 p.m. Wrap-up and Adjournment

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2:30 – 5:00 Bill Allan’s Celebration of Life at the Glencoe Agricultural Hall – we will miss him.

Bill Allan

Wendy Simms Bestward telling a story about her ancestor, Simpson Cemetery, Woodgreen, Southwest Middlesex, ON

Organized by the Glencoe & District Historical Society and the Simpson Descendants Circle: Micheline Champagne-Johnston, Brian Huis, Wanda Simpson, Wendy Bestward, Jan Simpson, Dennis Simpson, Mary Simpson.

Supported by Ryan Tuer, Scary Gnome Productions & Recording SG Studios, Woodgreen.

“Beyond the gates of the cemetery lives an historical account of our past, a rich heritage populated by friends and relatives. Loved ones who can no longer be with us, but whose memories live on.” – Josh Kekosz.

Link to History of Simpson Cemetery, Woodgreen, Ontario.

Simpson Cemetery is located at M4. Our District includes Woodgreen, Newbury, Mosa, Ekfrid, Alvinston, Caradoc, Appin, Melbourne, Wardsville, Glencoe and the Thames Valley Watershed,

History of The Appin Cemetery

August 11, 2024October 12, 2024Glencoe & District Historical Society

By Jim May

Presented to the Appin Memorial Day gathering August 1, 2000 by Jim May, whose family had a long association with Appin Cemetery. Jim’s first recollection of the cemetery was a phone call in the early 1950s: “Could my Dad come with his truck to help collect up stones for the cemetery gates?” This presentation tells the history of the Appin Cemetery, Appin, Ontario, Canada

Napier Decoration Day Service

Please join us for the annual Decoration Day Service at St. Mary’s Anglican Church – Napier, Ontario on June 23, 2024 at 3 pm.

St. Mary’s Anglican Church Napier – 1418 Melwood Drive, Strathroy, ON N7G 3H5.

The following history is an excerpt from an old service bulletin and the author is unknown.

This church has been standing straight, fine and true for over one hundred and eighty years. It stands as a testament to the faith of those who built it, those who came to regular services, and to those who worked over the years to keep their church alive and active. But it is a symbol, not primarily of their strength and perseverance, but of the presence of God in their midst.

The first settler in this general area was Captain John Charlton in 1825. In 1829, Richard, Thomas, and Christopher Moyle and their families and Captain Christopher Beer established residences along the river in the Napier area. In 1831, Lieutenant Charles Preston and his family came from Cornwall in Upper Canada. Preston had been granted 100 acres when he commuted his pension for land. They settled on this property where St. Mary’s Church stands.

The first church services were held in Captain Christopher Beer’s house. Captain Beer’s rank gave him the privilege of conducting the first church services and first burials in the community. After the congregation became too large, they moved to the home of Captain Johnson. When the congregation became too large for his house, a school was built on this property in 1839 and used for church services. The log school was built on one acre of land donated by Charles Preston for a church and a cemetery. Preston also gave three acres of land for a rectory.

In 1841, the residents of the community sent a petition to the Bishop of Toronto requesting permission and assistance to build a church. The petitioners declared themselves to be generally poor and unable to pay for a frame church to be built but the increase in the congregation was such that the school was no longer large enough. Captain Beer had prepared some walnut lumber to use in building a new house. However, when the news came that a church could be built, he donated this lumber to the church and postponed construction of his own home. This gift, which represented a considerable sacrifice, was well used; the walnut was worked into pews, wainscotting and the chancel. It still stands here as a memorial to a man who loved his church and community.

In 1860, the church and cemetery were consecrated by the Right Reverend Benjamin Cronyn, the Bishop of Huron and the church officially received the name “St. Mary”. In Ireland, the Cronyn’s had attended St. Mary’s Church Kilkenny. This name linked the new land with the old.

The last regular weekly service was held on January 29, 1920 and annual services were initiated in the early 1930’s. We must be grateful to the residents of this area and especially to the Toohill family for their loving care of St. Mary’s Church. It is thanks to them that this oldest church building in Middlesex County still exists.

Short road trip: The Haunts of Peter McArthur. June 16

Farmer, writer, radical, sage: Re-introducing Peter McArthur

Peter McArthur’s Haunts – his farm, his grave, and back to the Archives.

June 16, 2024. 1:30 – 5:00 p.m.

A tour with three stops: Please park carefully. Bring a lawn chair. There is no rain date – check facebook Page for last minute instructions:

1:30 p.m. Peter McArthur’s Farm, 22517 McArthur Road, Southwest Middlesex.

2:30 p.m. Eddie Cemetery, 4490 Glendon Dr, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0. Mr. McArthur’s grave.

3:30 p.m. The Archives, 178 McKellar St, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0

Father’s Day afternoon. Bring Dad and Grandpa out for a trip down our local literary path. Get to know Peter McArthur. Who was this local writer that was famous across Canada.? He was a pal of the Prime Minister, had an amazing career in New York City and London England, and gave it up to came back to write in his cabin on the farm. That’s when he found his audience.

Download his timeless books on your e-reader here: faded page downloads.

Detailed itinerary:

1:30 p.m. Peter McArthur’s Farm. 22517 McArthur Road, Southwest Middlesex. Carefully park along the road. Hosted by John Sinclair, current owner of the McArthur property. We’ll check out the new interpretive sign; listen to tales by Donny Sinclair; and learn about this famous writer’s life. We will coordinate our parking at Eddie Cemetery for the utmost safety.

2:30 p.m. Eddie Cemetery. We’ll jump in our cars and go a couple miles north to Mr. McArthur’s grave where the historical society has installed another commemorative panel. We’ll share some readings and pay tribute to a great Canadian writer. Please take your time to park carefully along the side of the road.

3:30 p.m. The Archives. Then we’ll go back to The Archives in Glencoe, drink coffee, learn about his family, and check out his books and memorabilia. Stephanie McDonald and Harold Carruthers will share more stories. We are hoping some of Mr. and Mrs. McArthur’s descendants will attend.

For more information, email contactus@glencoehistoricalsociety.ca or phone (519) 287-3897 or Mary Simpson at 5193181074

Fundraiser: We are fundraising to pay for the interpretive panels dedicated to the life work of Peter McArthur. Target is $750. Mark cheque “Peter McArthur” and mail it to G&DHS, 178 McKellar St, Glencoe, ON N0L 1M0 or bring it along June 16, 2024

“Although I have lived in far countries and great cities, no place ever was my home except this farm.”

“Something of this farm struck a tendril into my heart which neither time nor distance could break. It is the only spot on earth that ever gave me the feeling of home. … At all times it was my place of refuge, and, when I finally returned to it, it was with a feeling that my wanderings had ended, and that I could settle down and enjoy life where I belonged.”

Before the day of radio, TV, and the Internet, there were newspapers and pianos. Here is a song with lyrics by Peter and an illustration by the famous CW Jeffery. We’ll sing it together accompanied by Mirah Simpson, a descendant.

To be Taken With Salt – by Peter McArthur.

Donny Sinclair – history keeper of the Peter McArthur legacy

Oakland Cemetery Memorial

Each year the historical society honours those who came before us. On July 24, 2022, the Cemetery Memorial Service was held at Oakland Cemetery, which was opened May 1894 by a group of ten men who formed a Board of Directors.

Five acres was purchased from a local farmer in Mosa Township and surveyed into plots of 16 feet X 16 feet. These plots were purchased by families. One plot had room for 8 burials. The first burial was Thomas Hopkins in May 1894.

The community was previously served by small family plots and St. Andrew’s (Graham) Cemetery at 112 Main Street Glencoe (Concession 1, Lot 1). St. Andrew’s eventually contained approximately 500 burials between 1841 – 1931. It still exists and is classified as ‘abandonned’.

After the new Oakland Cemetery opened and families started purchasing plots, new stones were installed and the names of beloved previously deceased family members were commemorated. This could explain why there are 175 inscriptions whose dates of death are prior to May 1894.

Records are poor but we surmise that sometimes stones were moved to the new Oakland. Sometimes the stones might have been buried or lost from their original family plot locations. And what of the bodies? We guess that bodies probably remain in their original resting places. It seems doubtful if they would have been disinterred and moved

Link to interactive G&DHS Cemetery Map.

Glencoe historians pay homage to Gough Cemetery

July 28, 2019March 7, 2024Glencoe & District Historical Society

by Marie Williams-Gagnon, Hayter Publications Inc.

Seated in the shade of an old pine tree, a group of over 40 gathered to honour those interred at the Gough Cemetery on Sunday afternoon, July 28, 2019. The community memorial service, an annual event held at a different cemetery each year, was hosted by the Glencoe & District Historical Society.

The Gough Cemetery is located at 5018 Scotchmere Dr. in Adelaide-Metcalfe.After Society president Ken Beecroft welcomed guests and area historian Ken Willis offered a dedication and prayer, historian Harold Carruthers provided some background on the Cemetery itself which is on the property settled by the John and Eliza (Kellestine) MacGoughr (later Gough) family in 1845.

The couple had a large family of 13 but their son Nelson died in 1849. His was likely to be the first burial at the site, followed by those of his sisters Hannah in 1855 and Elizabeth in 1865. Since that time, the predominant family names of those interred on the tiny property are Ash, Boyd, Gough, Hetherington, Moore, Olde, Towers, Williams and Yager. Society member Marilyn (Gough) McCallum provided a detailed history of the “MacGoughr” family that voyaged to Canada from Ireland in 1831.

The family was among the earliest settlers of township in the early 1830s with Metcalfe itself not existing prior to 1846 when Ekfrid and Adelaide were divided. “They endured all the hardships of pioneer life having cut out of the wilderness homes for themselves on land given to them by the Crown.” McCallum detailed the life of settlers John and Eliza MacGoughr who received title on the property.

Sometime in the 1850s, the “Mac” and the “r” were dropped from their name. She shared details about family members, including those buried at that particular cemetery. She recalled visiting the cemetery as a child. “We would tread softly, touch the stones, speak the names…of those who came before.”

Lorne Munro added some information about the Kellestine family before the service closed. The property was sold to Charles Towers in 1909. The Cemetery is personally maintained by Heather and Charlie Towers who were recognized for their efforts and the new fence they constructed at the front of the property. They took over the responsibility from Reta and Alex Johnson and Vern and Shirley Towers who had maintained it over the years.