Glenn’s talk on YouTube – give it a listen
Glenn Stott tells about 33 years of troubles that took place in Biddulph Township and Lucan Ontario region in Upper Canada from 1847 to 1880 and ended with the murder of five members of the Donnelly family.
Read moreRegister : https://www.historysymposium.com/glenn-stott
The talk will be a livestream on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeOdo89QhQQOSnROHKN3HoA.
The Donnellys are one of Southwestern Ontario’s most notorious families. This talk will be an overview of the 33 year troubles that took place in Biddulph Township and Lucan, Ontario region from 1847 to 1880 and ultimately ended with the murder of the five members of the Donnelly family.
The “Black” Donnellys were an Irish Catholic immigrant family who settled in Biddulph township, Canada West (later the province of Ontario), about 15 km northwest of London, in the 1840s. The family settled on a concession road which became known as the Roman Line due to its high concentration of Irish Catholic immigrants in the predominantly Protestant area. Many Irish Canadians arrived in the 19th-century, many fleeing the Great Famine of Ireland (1845-52). The Donnellys’ ongoing feuds with local residents culminated in an attack on the family’s homestead by a vigilante mob on 4 February 1880, leaving five of the family dead and their farm burned to the ground. No one was convicted of the murders, despite two trials and a reliable eyewitness
February 22, 2024 – “Peter McArthur: Our Famous Canadian – 1866 – 1924”
A large crowd attended the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives to experience Peter McArthur, the “Sage of Ekfrid”. It would appear that McArthur is as popular today as he was over 100 years ago. In addition to 30 viewing online, over 50 turned up in person. Norm McGill welcomed guests before president Ken Beecroft made some announcements. Kosta Vaklev offered a reading by McArthur before historian Harold Carruthers described his lifelong interest in the farmer/author.
Joining from Ireland, guest speaker Stephanie McDonald, described McArthur’s life and works, focussing on the last 16 years of his life after he moved back to the home farm in Ekfrid Township. Another long- time McArthur enthusiast, Don Sinclair closed the afternoon event, speaking about his connection to McArthur through the home farm and, in particular, the demonstration woodlot where McArthur wrote about his unique appreciation for rural life and nature.
In 1908, at the age of 42, Peter McArthur returned to his family farm in Ekfrid Township with his wife and five children after living and working in Toronto, New York and London, England. For the next 16 years he wrote weekly columns in The Globe, amusing and enlightening his readers about life on a rural Ontario farm.
October 28, 2024 will mark the centenary of McArthur’s death at the age of 58 following an operation. The man dubbed the “Sage of Ekfrid”, who had the most famous farm in Canada, is now nearly forgotten. With wit and wisdom, McArthur interrogated questions that we’re still asking today – how to bridge the rural/urban divide, how to protect the natural environment, and how to spend our days and live a good life.
Stephanie McDonald grew up on a mixed farm in Ekfrid Township. She has worked as a newspaper reporter in the Canadian Arctic, and in communications, policy and administration roles in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Ottawa and now Dublin, Ireland. Stephanie has had articles published in various newspapers and magazines, mostly about farmers, farming, food security and the climate crisis.
My name is Andrew McGill, I’m a young farmer and a photographer. I grew up on a farm 6 kilometres north of Glencoe, Ontario. In mid 1940 my great grandfather Fred McGill purchased a farm building which was to be moved from the site of the No. 4 Bombing and Gunnery School at Fingal Ontario. The building was dismantled and moved 45 kilometres north of Fingal to its final resting place on the McGill farm at Taits rd. Glencoe where it has sat to this day. My father and I think the building was then reassembled with a new roof sometime in 1941. The site of No. 4 B&G school sat on a swath of 724 acres of land that was returned to the crown for the purpose of building the training facility. One can imagine the numerous agricultural buildings on the land that would have had to be dismantled and moved in short order to make way for the multiple airplane hangers and triangle runway of the Fingal school.
Aerial photo of the McGill farm circa 1977. The building in question can be seen directly to the left of the barn. (Photo care of McGill family Archive, 1977.)
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.
July 28, 2019. Community Memorial Service. Gough Cemetery, 5018 Scotchmere Drive, Glencoe, Metcalfe Township, ON. 2:00 p.m. Bring a lawn chair. No rain date. In case of rain, the event will relocate to The Archives, 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe, ON.
October 16, 2019. at The Archives. 7:00 pm
The Robert Land / Clement Lucas Family Trees
JoAnn Lucas Galbraith, Charter Member of The Glencoe and District Historical Society, Charter member of the Ekfrid Museum, member of the London Branch U.E.L., Strathroy Historical Society, Author, Genealogist, and Historian, will take folks back in time beginning in the 11th century at the time of the Norman Conquest in the British Isles.
JoAnn will tell of the family’s voyage from the British Isles to America, their achievements, their similarities and the talents of her United Empire Loyalists families.
May 15, 2019. Open House at The Archives! 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe, ON. Come and see what we are all about.
10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Ribbon Cutting at 11 a.m. Re-dedication of Rotary Memorial. Refreshments and tours. Draws for free memberships.
Main Price – Ancestry DNA kit.
February 20, 2019. “I Continue the Journey”.
Stan Grizzle and his father both have devoted their lives to fighting racism.
Join us for this important event during Black History month. 2:00 pm. 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe.
This story printed with permission from Marie Williams-Gagnon.
The descendants of Archibald and Nancy McKellar gathered together, Saturday, August 25, 2018 to celebrate the milestone anniversary of their arrival and settlement in Metcalfe Township. The reunion was held at A.W. Campbell Conservation Area at Alvinston. Although it was a rainy and inhospitable day, about 100 interested family attendees enjoyed food, games, contests, stories and photos, and exchanged genealogy information.
The McKellars, both natives of the parish of Kilmicheal-Glassary, Argyll, Scotland, migrated to Canada in 1831 and eventually made their way to Metcalfe Township in west Middlesex County. This was certainly a time of hardship and toil for the early pioneer family.
The original homestead farm located at Lot 24, Concession 6, was purchased and carved from the forest in 1838 and has been continuously in the family since then, handed down, inherited and purchased by direct descendants. The current owners are sixth generation, Hugh McKellar and his wife Andrea Boyd.