|
The
Nay
Family
The Nay
family emigrated to Canada from Ireland at a very early date, but none
of them seemed to recall the exact time. This branch of the
family had five sons and four daughters, and lived at Gorrie, Ontario,
in Huron County.
William
Nay
Born
1843. Died 1915.
In
1874
William Nay with his wife, the former Jane Bawks, and their three
children, accompanied by his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Bawks, his sister
and his brother-in-law, Henry Latimer and family, sailed up the lakes
and rivers in flat boats. They went ashore for the nights.
They
finally arrived at Rat Portage (near where Kenora is today). Here
they prepared to follow the Dawson Route to Fort Garry.
They
had covered wagons and horses, with all the necessary equipment and
provisions. I do not know how many others were in the party.
Needless
to say it must have been a very arduous journey, fording rivers and
through bush country which was known to be very stony. The fear
of Indians was always present.
They
only travelled five days a week. On the Sabbath they rested, and
one day a week was taken for washing and the baking of bread.
They
arrived early in June, because Robert, the eldest child, celebrated his
sixth birthday, June 7, 1874, in Fort Garry.
They
continued on their search for land until they reached the Portage
Plains. Here their party each laid claim to a homestead.
They
broke some land and sowed a few acres to oats, which was broadcast by
hand, but unfortunately the few acres were entirely eaten by
grasshoppers. My father told of a walk he and his mother had to
borrow some yeast. The grasshoppers were so thick, he had to get
behind his mother and hang on to her skirt. He could not face the
horde of grasshoppers.
My
grandmother was not well, and Grandfather had been offered a thousand
dollars in gold for his horses, so he decided to return to
Ontario. They were afraid to take the gold with them, so they had
it hidden in a tin trunk among some of their clothing. They
shipped the trunk before they left for home. They returned home
by boat down the Red River until they reached a train. The trunk had
not arrived, and they had almost given up hope of it ever doing so, but
after two years it turned up, everything intact.
In 1882
the urge to go west again possessed them, and in March 1882, they
arrived back at Portage la Prairie with a family of six children.
Again Elizabeth Bawks accompanied them, but this time she came out to
marry her fiancé, W. U. Wade.
They
farmed here for one year, but land was scarce, so they moved west to
Heaslip. The nearest market was Brandon, and the grain was
delivered in wagons with oxen or horses.
In
the
spring of 1885, they moved to their homestead on 20-3-18, near what is
now called Ninga.
How
a
woman found strength to raise a large family, and do all the sewing,
knitting, washing, baking, and the making of butter, is beyond
comprehension. They used to spin yarn and weave the yarn into
cloth. I believe one of the aunts used to do the weaving.
Candles were made from tallow, for I heard my father tell how he helped
with that chore.
They
walked to a school south of Ninga, called Fern’s Hollow. In 1887
Bethel School was built, and they walked to Bertel, a distance of four
miles.
Two
children, Edgar and Myrtle, died in infancy. Grandmother, in
1892, passed away at the age of forty-five years. Will, a young
man of twenty, died in 1895.
Robert
had his own homestead. Samuel moved to his farm on section
33-3-18, in 1903. John, a medical doctor in Vancouver, and four
daughters, Esther, Margaret, Elizabeth and Mary. None are living
today.
Later
Grandfather married Miss Eliza Sparling. Most of the family were
married now, so he sold his farm to Mr. Boughner and retired to Ninga.
He
was
a great lover of horses and continued to drive them until his death in
1915 at the age of seventy-two years. His wife died at the home
of her step-son, Robert, in 1929.
During
his lifetime, he was a conservative in politics and he was one of the
first elders of the Presbyterian Church which was built in 1906.
Robert
Nay
Born
1868 in Gorrie, Ontario. Died 1953.
Robert,
the elder son of William Nay, remembered travelling in the covered
wagon over the Dawson Route in 1874, with his parents.
In 1885
he accompanied his family to Ninga and although only seventeen years of
age, was advised to take squatters’ rights on section 26-3-18.
The
railroad was being built in that year, so he walked three miles or more
and worked on the building of the railroad between Killarney and
Ninga. He earned enough to buy a horse and an ox as well as a
plow, a wagon and a few other essentials. He slept under the
wagon until he was able to erect a log shanty with a sod roof. He
said when it rained the only dry spot was under the table.
The
next year, he was old enough to file on his homestead. He bought
a horse and this now gave him a team to drive to Turtle Mountain, a
distance of twenty miles, to draw logs for his first barn. This
was a hazardous trip because days were short and there were no fences
to guide a person, especially if a blizzard came up. He often
would stop at William Ryan’s to water and rest his team.
The
original home was built in 1892 by William Hodgins. Here my
father brought his bride, the former Mary Dempsey, in November 1894.
It
was
in 1903 that the barn was built, the lower storey was made of stone and
mortar, the stone-work being done by William Hossack of
Killarney. I think the timbers were prepared in Turtle Mountain
by a Mr. Hopkins. When everything was in readiness, a ‘bee’ or
‘barn-raising’ was held. A barn-raising was a special event, and
usually some of the wives would come and help with the meals. The
children all came as well.
My
uncle and aunt lived in Deloraine. Their cow had gone dry, and of
course no milk could be bought. Grandfather lent them a milk cow,
and my father led it to Deloraine. Can you imagine a boy Walking
to Deloraine today?
Water
was always a problem on our farm, and it wasn’t until Mr. Joe Macauley
started drilling wells that we ever had a plentiful supply.
Father
had his own shop and would sharpen his own plow shares and often his
neighbours as well. He also would shoe his own horses.
This
was the day of horse-trading. If you wanted a matched team, you
would find someone who had a horse the colour of yours. Sometimes
it was an even trade, other times you would have to give something ‘to
boot.’
I
remember there always used to be two trails, side by side, leading from
town. If you were out of town first, you would hold your horses
up until your neighbour would catch up to you, and then you were
off. Sometimes you would be the winner, other times you would
lose the race. Before long every town had its own race track.
Life
was not all work. There was more visiting done them, then there is done
today. You would bundle your family up and drive several miles to
visit your families or friends. The young people would gather up a load
as they went along and surprise their friends.
Cousins
at Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, would drive to Ninga, visit every one
there, then go on to Souris or Treherne to visit other cousins.
There always seemed to be room and enough food for all.
I
remember as a child, my parents driving to Neepawa, a distance of one
hundred miles, to visit my great-grandfather. If we became cold,
my father would urge the horses to go faster. I remember a very
familiar saying of his, “Three years to make a horse and twenty years
to make a man.”
My
father had been a member of the Presbyterian Church at Ninga and was
superintendent of the Bethel Sunday School for many years. Later
when the church was built at Rowland, he and his family joined the
Methodist Church, now the United Church, where his place was rarely
ever known to be vacant. He was superintendent and adult
Bible-class teacher from 1920 until his death in 1933.
Our
family consisted of seven children. One daughter died of smallpox
in 1925. Father passed away in 1933, and Mother on January 2nd,
1965, at the age of ninety-three, on the farmstead where she had come
as a bride seventy years ago. A son, Wilbert, lived on the old
farmstead.
The
pioneer spirit has disappeared with the advance of time and all the
modern conveniences which today offers. Let us not forget the
sacrifices made by our parents to provide a good home and to give their
children a good scholastic and musical education.
“They
have left us a goodly heritage.”
Written
by Mrs. M. Arnott (Verly May) Dunrea, Manitoba
|
|
