This episode is composed of accounts featured in “The Willey Stories 1614 to 1977” written by W. David Willey.
The Willey surname originates from England. Some cite the name as existing as early as 1272! The surname Willey is linked to several parishes in England and is believed to have direct lineage to Anglo-Saxon predecessors in Northumberland and Durham in England.
Isaac Willey 1614-1685 was born in Wiltshire, England. He travelled across the ocean to Boston Massachusetts sometime before 1640 and a few years later made home in Charlestown. From there, Isaac travelled to New London, Connecticut, where he was one of the first settlers in 1645. Isaac married Joanna Lutten of New London, together they had seven children.
With a surname with such lineage, we would need a whole episode, so today we will be focusing six generations later on a direct descendant of Isaac Willey, named Bray Willey. Bray was the eighth child of Lieutenant Abel and Mercy Willey born June 20, 1776, in Thornton, Grafton County, New Hampshire. A few years later in 1791, Bray moved with his family to Danville, Vermont. He then married Christina McNaughton, and they had nine children- Moses, Scott, Lot Wesley, David, Patience, Pamelia, Jane, Miriam and Christianna.
The family of Bray Willey remained in Vermont until around 1805. Around this time, a land survey of Lower Canada had been completed by Vermont resident, Christopher Bailey. Due to this a group migration was planned among several families in the New England State. The Bray Willey’s along with various brothers and their families, made their way to the Eastern Township of Shipton, Quebec, near the village of Danville.
Here the Willey family would hold various professions. Some of which include mechanics, blacksmiths, saw and grist mill workers, schoolteachers and farmers. During the War of 1812, the Willey men joined the Shipton militia. Bray Willey was a Cavalry Officer who received his commission from the Duke of Richmond. After the war, news spread of an excellent opportunity to start anew in the developing section along the shores of Lake Erie, Upper Canada. This caught the attention of 4 families in the Shipton area; the Hawkins, Randalls, Youngs, and Bray Willeys. The four groups along with navigator, Jimmy Watson, acquired two large open boats, gathered their supplies for their new life and departed from the St. Francis River June 8, 1819. The families stopped in Montreal for a few days gathering provisions. Along their way from the St. Lawrence to Lake Ontario the group experienced the hiccups of travelling by boat. After reaching Queenstown, the group travelled on land along the Niagara barrier, as at this time, the Welland Canal had yet to be opened, instead traffic travelled between Queenstown and Chippewa. Their voyage along Lake Erie was one of great caution. Storms made travel along the shore very unpredictable and unsafe.
Finally on August 8, 1819, they arrived in Port Talbot!
“As the 8th of August fell on a Sunday, a provincial land grant was issued pending the Oath of Allegiance being taken by the petitioners at a later date. From Port Talbot they carried their goods through the woods to what was then and has since been known as Back Street, running from Iona to Wallacetown. Three miles west of Iona they built a small log house, about thirty rods south of the road and a few rods east of a small creek crossing the road at a farm later owned by Neil Blue. This location is still marked by the Dunwich Township Road sign as “Willey’s Road”.
“During the first few years in the new settlement Bray Willey often worked for Colonel Talbot; the supplementary renumeration often helped to offset the lack of money supply during the pre-industrial times prior to 1860. At that particular time, the Colonel was building a vast variety of outbuildings of all imaginable shapes and sizes. A number of these outbuildings were to shelter the geese and poultry of which he reared an innumerable quantity. Although the Colonel was reputed to be domineering, he was also impressed with the strategic value of good roads and was thought to be a bit more affable toward settlers who were efficient in opening up half of the road front adjoining their farms. Perhaps something of this nature, and Bray having been a Cavalry Officer in the war of 1812, could have enhanced a little thought of comradeship in the working association with Colonel.”
Prior to the railroad, mass transportation of goods was very slim. In the early years, settlers made do with what they had and often made anything they needed by hand. One incredible, and rather funny reminiscent of the Willey family is the arrival of the first matches to the Talbot Settlement. It is said that around 1829, matches were brought through the settlement by a travelling soldier. As the Willey family tells it “–After supper when he produced his pipe, he also drew forth a phosphorous tipped match striking it on the table made it blase. The children thought he was “Old Nick Himself” and ran shrieking to hiding places. Thus, the children suddenly discovered Sir William Congreves invention, the phosphorous tipped match. The children were accustomed to seeing fire produced by the flint and tender box method. The sudden flash of fire was a little startling to them.” To learn about more ‘firsts’ in the Talbot Settlement, check out episode 14!
Much of the economic prosperity in the early days of the settlement is closely linked to wheat. In the 1830’s up until the 1860’s, there was a great market for wheat, possibly reaching its peak during the Crimean War from 1854-1856. During this time, wheat was sold as high as $2.25 a bushel. The income from wheat was an economic boom to local farmers who had previously struggled, and the extra income created a large period of building throughout the community around 1845 to 1865. Homes that were previously log, were replaced with brick, frame and stone. After 1870, farming methods began to change with the incoming of cheese factories. Consequently, in 1866 the area saw an increase in farm cattle, and the dependance on wheat lessened. After cheese manufacturing levelled off in the 1870’s, farmers turned to beef cattle, hogs, and horses to make their income. In the mid 1870’s and again in 1890, the area saw an economic depression. Business in many townships lessened, causing many rural populations to decline. Many people moved towards towns where industry was expanding, some even going to the prairies and mid-west.
Even throughout the countless struggles the area saw, the community remained lively. Neighbours helped each other out and always came together to celebrate the small and big milestones. One common way to pastime and liven up the community was music! The main instrument of the time was the violin. Other popular and up-and-comings were the accordion and concertina. During the winter months, when a good deal of neighbour-ly visits took place, neighbourhood parties and dances were rampant, and music was loved dearly. A widely known story from the pioneer days was the saga of the axe and the fiddle.
“—The true story, often recollected by the older pioneers of Scottish origin, concerned their coming to the new land. Occasionally one of the newcomers would be carrying, in addition to his pack and axe, a “violin” which in later days became known as “The Saga of the Axe and the Fiddle”. It was typical of the times of pioneers, and some reminiscing in later years remarked that they were never quite sure which came first, the axe or the fiddle. In pure utilitarian terms, the axe was essential, but many pioneers were at times quite lonesome and being some three thousand miles from home brought a feeling of mild despair which became an enemy as serious as nature itself, and it was then that the lilting strains of the old familiar “Scottish Airs” restored the spirit.”
One rather funny story that reflects the early days of pioneer life relates to a militia training day. Able-bodied men aged 21-60 were required to assemble at the appointed place and take part in a training. On this occasion, there were few horses leaving many men to walk miles from their homes in very hot weather. One Colonel dressed in full uniform and mounted on a horse would be present at these assemblies. For about an hour or so, the men marched side by side, struggling for synchrony. It became painfully evident that the men were not getting anywhere. As the Willey book says it “to make matters worse, some mischievous fellow had attached a bunch of grass to the brass buttons adorning the clawhammer tails of a comrade’s coat, and at a rather crucial point in the maneuvers the Colonel’s steed reached out and seized upon the morsel and held on until the cloth of the tails gave way. The weaver of the garment, seeing his fine work torn to shreds, then expressed his wrath in no measured terms, and the absurd incident so upset the gravity of the already confused amateur soldier that there was nothing else to do but for the Officers to propose “Three Cheers for the Queen” and dismiss them.”
While on the topic of the area’s militia, here is another story passed down through the Willey family. “A story which comes forth from Great Grandfather’s Day, tells of a schoolteacher’s discipline to counteract the use of pea guns, which were promptly confiscated and, in some instances, arrogated to the teacher’s use as an instrument of discipline. When one boy was receiving a few strokes across his back, he affirmed that the stick sounded hollow; the teacher responded with a few strokes with a more substantial piece of hickory and inquired if that sounded hollow. Years had passed when during the rising(?) of 1837 it so happened that the teacher and former pupil were together in the same Company as rebels. They had been marching steadily for over forty-eight hours without food, and the older man became so foot weary that he was starting to lag behind. Presently the rest of the Company came upon a cranberry bog and after eating until satisfied resumed their march quite refreshed, but one of them remembered his former teacher and filling his cap with berries he went back to where the mad sat exhausted. “Here”, he said, “eat some of these”, and after he ate some of the berries, the younger man, patted him on the back, said “There, that doesn’t sound quite so hollow.”
The stories from the Willey family really paint a picture on what life was like in the Talbot Settlement. Stay tuned for more episodes and thank you so much for reading!