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James Bruce, 8th Earl of
Elgin and Kincardine, was Governor-General of Canada from 1847 to 1854.
Out of compliment to him this township, as well as the county, bears the
name of Bruce.
Extract from the Report of
County Valuators, 1901.
"In this township there is
a great deal of very good land and fine, well-kept farms, while the lake
range and the south-east corner are very light and stony. In fact, a
greater portion of the former, as the figures will show, is almost without
value. Your valuators lost about $30,000 on the lake range. One-half of
this amount was lost on the once prosperous village of Inverhuron, nothing
of which now remains but drifting sand and a few small farm-houses of
little value. Formerly this range was valuable for its large quantity of
cedar, which has now disappeared, leaving nothing but stone and sand of
little value. There are some sections of this township of too stiff clay,
which detracts somewhat from its value. A great deal of Bruce is badly
watered, and some seasons parts of the township have to draw water for
miles. This is the only township south of Wiarton without a railway
station. In order to make a fair comparison between Bruce and some of the
other townships, it would be only fair to strike off the shore range of
6,386 acres, valued at $20,100, then the balance will give a rate of
nearly $32 per acre. The rate per acre for this township, including
village property, is $29.03. The village property amounts to only 58 cents
per acre."
The first surveyor to enter
this township was A. Wilkinson, in 1847. His work covered a large area,
extending not only beyond the township, but the county also, and was in
part of a preliminary character by which to form a basis for subsequent
surveys. When passing along the front of this township his survey was
limited to the marking, at every mile and a quarter, each block of ten
farm lots in the Lake Shore Range. In 1851 A. P. Brough commenced the
survey of the township (as related in Chapter V.), but by the time his
work had progressed to the 10th side-line he contracted a fatal illness
and the work had to be stopped. In the following year C. Miller, P.L.S.,
completed the survey of the township.
The lands in the township
of Bruce were among the "School Lands" opened for sale August 17th, 1854.
[See Appendix K.] Prior to this a large number of settlers had Squatted on
lands in various parts of the township. The first of these squatters is
said [See "Historical Sketch" in Belden's Atlas of County of Bruce.] to
have been Timothys Allan, who located on lot 2, concession 1, and Hugh and
William: McManamy on the same concession nearer the lake; these settled on
their lots in the fall of 1850 or during the following winter. In May
1851, the fourth settler in Bruce, Michael Green, took up lot "J" on the
second concession. After this, for the next three years the stream of
land-seekers looking for a desirable location developed in volume until
all the best lands in the township were squatted upon. These land-seekers
many a time realized that travelling in the backwoods of Bruce involved
hardships; it meant that often they had to sleep in the bush, roughing it
as best they could, and that largely they had to depend for food on what
they carried with them. At the same time, it should be remembered that the
log shanties of the settlers were, with proverbial hospitality, thrown
open to travellers, and their meagre fare generously shared. The following
incidents, illustrate how open-handed this hospitality was: Michael Green,
above mentioned, tells of thirteen men who came to his shanty one; evening
asking for something to eat; and a night's lodging. Fortunately for his
guests, he that day had brought home a half-barrel of fresh fish; for
their evening meal he cooked a pot of fish and two-large pots of potatoes.
After they had eaten to their heart's content, one old gentleman of their
number placed a one-dollar bill on the; table, telling the rest to do
likewise, resulting in thirteen one-dollar bills being placed on the
table. In three weeks the old gentleman returned, accompanied by another
gentleman, and asked for a night's lodging. Michael told them they could
get that on one condition, namely, that they would not insist on him
taking any remuneration for their keep. Of course they complied. Before
leaving in the morning the old gentleman asked his host if he would be
kind enough to fetch them a fresh drink of water from the spring near-by.
He went, but not with the best of grace, thinking they might do this act
themselves. They met him outside on his return, and, thanking him for his
hospitality, took their departure. On entering his shanty Michael noticed
a cup turned face downward, and on lifting it found two shining
half-dollars; it then dawned upon him why he had been sent for the water.
Elsewhere, about the same time, six men seeking for land came to a shanty
and asked the good lady of the house if they could get anything to eat.
She told them to step in and they could have the best in the house. She
cooked a large pot of potatoes, but having no table and but few dishes,
she pulled a large empty box to the middle of the floor, emptied the
contents of the potato pot on the centre of it, placed a pinch of salt
before each man, and explained that she had no bread or meat, or any other
food but potatoes and salt to live on, her husband and sons being away
earning money to pay for the first instalment on the land. After
completing their homely fare they departed, and that evening came to a
small clearing where they found potatoes planted. They made a fire and
cooked some of the potatoes under the ashes, at the same time wishing they
had some of the salt the good lady had given them for breakfast, Such
incidents illustrate the experiences of the early settlers.
In 1852 William Gunn [See biographical sketch
of Mr. Gunn in Chapter VII.] settled at Inverhuron. Mr. Gunn for the next
fifteen years occupied a prominent place in the affairs of the township.
His choice of Inverhuron as an advantageous point at which to settle arose
from a conviction he cherished that a harbor of refuge would be
constructed at that point, and that it would become one of the principal
ports in the county. Mr. Gunn was the first postmaster of the post-office
established there in 1854. Inverhuron was the second post-office in the
township, the first, opened in 1853, being at Sinclair's Corners, known as
"Bruce" P. O. Peter Sinclair was the officer in charge. These two offices
were on the Kincardine and Southampton mail route, over which, twice each
week, John Urquhart (of the Boundary) tramped, carrying the mails on his
back. In 1852
Archibald Sinclair [It was in the summer of 1849 that Archibald Sinclair
left his home, near Martintown, Glengarry, to inspect the new lands then
being opened for settlement in the Huron district, his purpose being to
provide farms for his three sons, the eldest of which was then approaching
manhood. He found lands to suit him in the township of Kincardine, in the
Lake Range. After taking the necessary steps to secure a title to the
lands selected, he returned for his family. The start for their new home
in the bush was made in October, 1849, there being no railways in Ontario
at that time, The first part of their journey, as far as Hamilton, was
made by steamboat, thence by waggon to Goderich. The story of their trip
from Goderich to Kincardine is to be found in Chapter V., as related by
Mr. Sinclair's daughter, Mrs. John Reekie. When Bruce separated from
Kincardine township and became, in 1856, a separate municipality,
Archibald Sinclair was elected as the first reeve, an honor he gave up
before the end of the first year. He died May 11th, 1858, and was buried
in Tiverton cemetery, where many others of the pioneers of Bruce are
sleeping their last sleep.] sold his farm in Kincardine township, where he
had settled three years previous, and moved into Bruce, taking up land a
mile and a quarter north of what we now know as Tiverton, then marked only
by a squatter's shanty and a small clearing. The locality where Mr.
Sinclair took up land still bears the name of "Sinclair's Corners." There
Mr. Sinclair built a sawmill, and then a grist-mill, the first in the
township. It was owing to the fact of these mills being there situated, as
well as to friendly feelings felt for their owner, that David Gibson, the
government engineer, when letting the contracts for cutting out the
Saugeen and Goderich road, had it take the jog it had at the second
concession, instead of continuing it on the fifth side-road to the
Kincardine boundary.
Adam Burwash, who settled on the fifth concession, is to be mentioned as
one of the very earliest pioneers of the township. Another of those who
entered Bruce in 1852, or earlier, was Allan McLean, who settled on lot
12, concession 8. [Allan McLean was a native of the Island of Tiree,
Scotland. He had been five years in Canada before settling in Bruce, in
which township he has filled a prominent place, as councillor, collector,
and assessor.] When he put up his shanty he was without a neighbor on that
concession. The author has been favored with a full and detailed account
of one of the settlers of 1853, Murdoch L. Martin (which in an epitomized
form is here given in a footnote 2), the experiences of any one pioneer
being the tale of all to a greater or less extent is excuse enough for
this lengthy sketch.
[Footnote 2: Murdoch L. Martin and his brother, in September, 1853, landed
at Inverhuron, then known as the Sauble. Starting off into the bush to
find land on which to settle, they walked along "the boundary," staying
the first night in the log shanty of a settler, where they were hospitably
entertained. In the morning, guided by one of the sons of this settler,
they walked on to the present site of Glammis. As all the best lots along
the boundary line had been taken up, they passed into Greenock where his
brother took up 200 acres, while Mr. Martin located in Bruce (lot 35,
concession 5). The first thing he did was to erect a shanty— 12x14 feet
was its dimensions—built of logs and roofed with basswood scoops. As
winter was drawing on and lacking a supply of provisions, Mr. Martin went
to Stratford to seek work under some contractor engaged in the
construction of the Buffalo and Lake Huron Railway. The weather that
winter was very broken and work irregular, consequently no money was
saved. When spring came, he returned to his shanty in the bush walking all
the way from Stratford. When he reached Kincardine he purchased as much
flour as he could carry on his back, in addition to a Dutch oven, in which
to bake bread.. Reaching his lot, a small piece of ground was cleared in
which to plant potatoes. The next thing was to obtain seed potatoes. After
inquiry and search a few bushels were purchased from Archie McLean (who
lived a few miles below Tiverton), and a hoe was bought at Kincardine. The
carrying of the seed potatoes through the bush for twelve miles was no
small undertaking, but it had to be done. To earn money to purchase
provisions for the coming winter another journey to Stratford was made,
and the summer spent iri working for the railway contractors. This was the
summer of 1854. When the time of the "Big Land Sale" drew near work had to
be given up so as to attend the sale. The journey to Goderich was by
stage., land the sixty miles beyond, to Southampton, was covered on foot.
Regarding the sale, Mr. Martin says: Mr. McNabb and Mr. Gunn were at the
land office to receive the payments from the settlers. The building itself
was a small log shanty, with an open window, through which the money in
payment for land was handed and a certificate of purchase given in return.
The crowd was so large that the supply of provisions in the village gave
out; the second day nothing could be, had but potatoes, fish and whiskey.
Of the latter some partook too freely, which resulted in quarrels and
fights. The crowd never seemed to diminish, the place of those who had
completed their business being taken by fresh arrivals.
In the fall his sister and a neighbor, with his family, seven in all,
arrived. As this party had not a roof to cover their heads Mr. Martin
received them into his limited quarters. One end of the shanty was fitted
out with bunks, one above another; at the other end of the shanty a
fireplace of stones was constructed, with a chimney built of splints of
wood covered with clay. Having, an abundance of wood, the shanty was kept
warm all winter. The supply of flour,: however, gave out, and owing to
severe snow storms it was impossible to go for a fresh supply, so their
fare was reduced to potatoes and turnips for a while. As soon as possible
in the spring the winter's chopping was logged and burnt. On the land so
cleared wheat of the Black Sea variety was sown, the ground being prepared
with a hoe. The crop being put in the ground, again and for the third
summer the farm had to be left, so as to work elsewhere to obtain some
ready money.
Speaking of one occasion
where some household effects were to be brought home, Mr. Martin says::
Our company consisted of a man, his three boys and myself. At Kincardine
we came across a settler who offered to take on his ox-sleigh our boxes as
far as his own place, some ten miles on our way. When we reached there it
was dark, so we were invited to remain all night. We were all ravenously
hungry and were delighted on entering the house to see abundant provisions
in the shape of a pot full of potatoes on the table, flanked by a saucer
of salt. These were speedily disposed of by the thirteen people that
ranged themselves without loss of time around the table. The next day we
proceeded on our journey, each ladened with all he could carry. Time was
lost by missing their direction in the woods, and it was getting dark as
they were passing through a swamp, walking single file. Just then they
heard a wild hoot, which in their inexperience they attributed to some
wild beast. Urged on by fear, they pressed forward with all haste so as to
get out of the swamp; but again the hoot was heard, this time directly
overhead. Terror gave speed to their feet, and in a short time they
reached a clearing, where, on relating their adventures to the dweller
thereon, were heartily laughed at and informed that the cry they heard was
but the hoot of an owl.
In 1854 there moved into Bruce Richard
McGregor, with his family of eleven sons, and took up 1,750 acres of land
near the Greenock boundary on the fourth, fifth and sixth concessions and
in the sixteenth concession of Greenock. They came from the county of
Elgin. Being acquainted with Canadian modes of farming and being fairly
well-to-do they made good progress in clearing up their land. They also
built a sawmill, run by water-power derived from a creek which ran through
one of their farms; George, one of the sons, told the author that in the
year of their arrival he drove the first yoke of oxen which had ever been
driven over the boundary line. Angus, the last of the eleven sons, lately
retired from farming and moved to Kincardine.
In September, 1854, the United Counties
Council received a petition from John McLaren and others, praying that the
township of Bruce be separated from the township of Kincardine and erected
into a distinct municipality. The committee appointed to consider the
petition reported as follows: "Upon inquiry we have ascertained that no
natural impediments (other than such as might reasonably be expected in a
new place) exist, Further, we are informed that although a number of
squatters are upon lands of this township, yet not a single grant, patent,
or other authority from government has been obtained for its settlement.
Accompanying the petition we find an affidavit setting forth that the body
of the petition is not in all respects similar to that upon which the
signatures were obtained. Taking these matters into consideration, we
cannot recommend that the prayer of the petition be granted." A similar
petition, presented the following year by Hugh Matheson and others, met
with a better reception, and the favor asked was granted; and on the 1st
January, 1856, Bruce township became a separate municipality. The first
election for councillors was held at the house of James Kippen, Peter
Sinclair being the returning officer. The following are the names of those
then elected: Archibald Sinclair, Alex. McKinnon, Nath. Burwash, Richard
McGregor and George Butchart. At that time the choice of a reeve was made
by the council from among its members. Arch. Sinclair was the one chosen,
but he, after retaining the reeveship for a few months, resigned. Dr.
Hotchkin Haynes was elected to fill in the balance of the year. In a
footnote [1] a list of the various reeves of the township up to 1906 is
given.
[Footnote 1: The following
are the names of those who have been reeve of the township of Bruce, with
year of office : Arch. Sinclair, part 1856; Dr. H. Haynes, part 1856;
Alex. McKinnon, 1857; Thos. Brown, 1858; Wm. Gunn, 1859, 1864; Donald
McLellan, 1860, '61, '62, '63, '66, '67, '68, '76; John Scott, part 1865;
John McEwen, part of 1865; J. H. Coulthard, 1869, 1870, '71, '72, '73; E.
J. Brown, 1874, '75, '77, '78, '79, 1880, '81; John Tolmie, 1882, '83,
'84, '85; Geo. Leeds, 1886, '87, '94, '95, '96, '97, '98; Dr. Andrew
MacKay, 1888, '89 and part of 1890; B. H. Curry, part of 1890; D.
McNaughton, 1891, '92, '93; John McNellidge, 1899, 1900; Wm. Brown, 1901,
'02; A. McLean, 1903, '04; James McEwen, 1905, '06.]
The offices of clerk and treasurer of the
township were jointly held by Peter Sinclair from the formation of the
municipality until his death in 1869. Hugh Murray [Hugh Murray was born in
Sutherlandshire, Scotland, in 1833. Having received a good education, he
engaged in business until he emigrated to Canada in 1857. The following
year he came to Bruce. For about seven years he taught school in the
township. In 1869 he received the appointment of township clerk and
treasurer, and held the position until his death, which occurred November
10th, 1902. He was made Division Court Clerk about the same time as he
received the municipal appointments, and some six years later was made
postmaster at Underwood. Mr. Murray held several other positions of public
trust, showing how largely he possessed the confidence of the community in
which he dwelt.] succeeded Mr. Sinclair to the position of clerk and
treasurer, filling the various duties incumbent upon him for a third of a
century to the satisfaction of all concerned. The offices left vacant on
Mr. Murray's death were during the next fifteen months filled by Mrs.
Murray and her two sons, Clark and Hugh Murray, Jr. In 1904 J. G. McKay
was appointed clerk and treasurer, which offices he continues to hold. The
first assessor appointed by the Council was Alex. G. Smith, and the first
collector was Alex. McLaren. The first township auditors were David Cowan
and Malcolm McKinnon.
The "Famine Year," 1859, will be remembered in
Bruce as long as any who witnessed it survive. As the details connected
with it, particularly regarding this township, are given in full in
Chapter VI. and Appendix P, the reader is referred to them there.
The interests of the township of Bruce have
been, and are, chiefly of an agricultural character. As there exists no
river in the township to furnish good and continuous water-power,
manufactures have not developed to any extent; consequently its villages
have never attained any considerable size. Kincardine, Port Elgin and
Paisley have all along attracted a good deal of the trade of the township;
this is shared by Tiverton (of which only one-half is in Bruce), and by
Glammis (lying partly in Bruce, Greenock and Kincardine); Underwood, the
only village wholly in the township, does not receive the share of
business given to some other villages in the county by the surrounding
townships—e.g., such as Carrick gives to Mildmay, Culross to Teeswater, or
Huron to Ripley.
At the time the township was surveyed it was
decided to lay out a town-plot on lots 1 to 10, Lake Range, but it was
1856 before the survey of Inverhuron was made. The possibilities for
making a harbor of refuge there have not been developed. The money
received from government toward building a breakwater, extending from the
point southward, was expended in building a pier. This enabled steamers to
call, which was a great thing for trade and travel in the days before
railways had entered the county, but it was not a harbor of refuge, which,
if built, would have fixed a town there. The little village in its
palmiest days had a population of about 200. A grist mill and two or three
sawmills found plenty to do in the sixties; a decade later the sawmills
were reduced to one, but three grain warehouses had been erected, and
Inverhuron became quite a grain market, as much as 100,000 bushels of
grain having been shipped in a season from there by water. Hemlock bark
was also a large item in the list of exports. The fishermen who lived at
Inverhuron were prosperous, and the place boasted of a brick school-house.
The prosperity of the little village closed suddenly: on April 13th, 1882,
the three grain warehouses were burnt and 30,000 bushels of grain in them.
The fire is said to have been of incendiary origin. However it arose, the
fire killed Inverhuron, and to-day, as one gazes at its mounds of white,
shifting sand, it is hard to believe a flourishing village ever existed
there. On a map of the township of Bruce, some three or four miles north
of Inverhuron, there will be seen the two town-plots of Port Bruce and
Malta. Those adjoin one another, and together surround the expanse of
water that bears the name of "Baie de Dore." [This spelling is said to be
a corruption of what is claimed to be the original French name-Baie du
Dard; or, Bay of Darts-applicable, owing to the large fields of reeds at
the south end of the bay.] This bay impresses a stranger who views it for
the first time, as possessing in a marked degree the shelter required in a
harbor of refuge; as such, however, the bay can be used to only a limited
extent, owing to the presence of extensive rocky shoals extending under
the waters of the bay. The two town-plots mentioned above were surveyed at
the same time. In the year 1855 George Butchart had the survey made of
Port Bruce, and Capt. A. Murray McGregor that of Malta. The first settler
at Port Bruce was Duncan Bannerman; he was also the first merchant. In the
same line of business there were Cowan & Brownlee, and Walter MacFarlane &
Co., John Lindsay ran a sawmill, and Wm. Turner and D. McCannell kept
hotels, and Geo. Bridges did a conveyancing business. The total number of
inhabitants was about 150. At Malta, Murray McGregor's two brothers, John
and Gregor, put up the first sawmill; this, however, was burnt in the fall
of 1858. The post-office, established in 1856, was in charge of W.
Chisholm. George and John Foard were shipbuilders. In all there were about
125 inhabitants in Malta. These two adjoining villages seemed to be
thriving and likely to develop into an important commercial centre, when,
on July 4th, 1862, a conflagration wiped the two villages out of
existence. Only one house was left. The inhabitants lost everything; not
having the means to rebuild, there was no recovery from the blow, and the
villages were not. The names are almost forgotten, and the locality where
Port Bruce and Malta stood is now known as Baie de Dore.
Underwood became a post-office in 1863. J. H.
Coulthard was the first to hold the position of postmaster. He also had a
pearl-ash factory and kept a store; from these the village appears to have
developed. An hotel, of course, was early there, the "Green Bush," kept by
Charles McLean. The addition of a sawmill in 1870, a grist mill in 1875,
and also a cheese factory in the same year, and the building of two
churches, with the location of the township hall there, helped to make
Underwood the municipal, business and social centre of a large portion of
the township. [Of the two churches above referred to, the first erected
was a frame building built about 1869 by the united efforts of the
Presbyterians and Baptists, who jointly worshipped there. The latter
denomination ultimately sold its share in the building to the
Presbyterians, who now own the edifice. The second church mentioned was
built by the Methodists in 1876. It is a brick building and cost in the
vicinity of $1,800.] But the greatest impetus that Underwood received was
from the wiping out of the competition exerted by Port Bruce and Malta.
The bulk of the trade which had gone to these villages previous to their
destruction by fire naturally drifted to Underwood, as well as some of the
population of the two defunct villages.
Glammis ["Glammis'' is the spelling adopted by
our Post Office authorities. The inhabitants of the village prefer
spelling it "Glamis," which agrees with the present spelling of "Glamis
Castle," Forfarshire, Scotland. But there the word is pronounced as if
spelled "Glams." There seems to be no reason to doubt that the village is
named after Glamis Castle, made famous in Shakespeare's ''Macbeth.''] is
situated at the junction of three townships, and while noticing it among
the villages of the township of Bruce, the author is aware that it would
have been as appropriate to include it in the chapter on Greenock or
Kincardine townships. It was in 1852 when the first settlers at Glammis
[The author desires to acknowledge his indebtedness for many of the facts
here given to an historical sketch of Glammis village, prepared by F. H.
Leslie, and published in 1900.] took up their farm lots. Their names were
Allan Boss and Duncan Campbell. At that time there was no thought of a
village developing there; but in time a Presbyterian congregation was
formed in the locality, and there, in 1858, they erected a fine hewed log
building as a church in which to worship. Then, in 1860, a post-office was
opened, and the place had a name. James Crawford, the first merchant,
became also the first postmaster. R. W. Harrison, in 1867, was the next to
open a store, and he acted as postmaster for many years. The first sawmill
is said to have been built by one John Fraser. This passed into the hands
of M. J. McIntyre. It was ultimately purchased by Thos. Pickard, and the
business, with a new mill, is now run by T. Pickard & Son. The
Presbyterian church remained unplastered for about five years after being
erected, and was used until 1896, when it was replaced by the present
handsome edifice. The Baptists built a modest building for a church in
1866, which was used until 1884, when a new church was built across the
street. The Methodists in 1889 built the church they now occupy. This
little village gives evidence of developing, and promises to continue the
business centre for the immediate district surrounding it.
If the annals of the early school days in
Bruce could be written by the pen of a "Ralph Connor," they would prove to
be an interesting chapter in the experiences of a new settlement in the
bush. The author is pleased to acknowledge the kindness of the Rev. N. D.
McKinnon in supplying some recollections of his early school days spent in
a Bruce school. As he remembers it, the school buildings at first were
generally of logs. The furniture was the simplest possible, consisting of
a long desk along each side of the room, with corresponding benches for
the pupils to sit on. The walls adorned with but few maps. The blackboard,
about 3x4 feet, on which, with a piece of carpenter's chalk, problems in
mathematics were worked out. Instruction was to a, large extent conveyed
by a "tanning process." There was a teacher in S. S. No. 14. in the year
1864, well remembered because of his severity, who on one occasion
punished a girl so unreasonably that her enraged father came to the school
with the intent of dealing out summary justice to. • the teacher, had not
the latter circumnavigated the area around the stove so nimbly that he
could not be caught. As a last resort the father called his children out
of the school, and other parents who had come to witness the teacher being
thrashed, did likewise. For the remaining three months to the end of the
year the regular attendance of scholars was one lonely boy, varied by the
occasional appearance of three others toward the end of the term. But
there were other teachers of a different type. One school in the township
(S.S. No. 13) attained more than a local reputation for the interest
manifested in higher education. A teacher in the person of Peter McTavish
was secured for this school, a man of scholarly attainments, filled with
an intense desire to impart instruction. That this enthusiasm was
recognized is shown by the fact that grown-up men and women, from not only
Bruce but Saugeen, came to satisfy their thirst at this fountain of
knowledge. As a result of such a teacher, the honor-roll of men and women
from this school who have, in their several ways, made a name for
themselves in the battle of life will favorably compare with that of any
other school in the county. Of these the following entered the ministry:
the Rev. D. Finlay, Rev. J. M. McLeod, Rev. Donald McGillivray (missionary
to China), Rev. John McGillivray, Rev. Malcolm McGillivray, Rev. N. D.
McKinnon, Rev. Albert Jones, Rev. Jacob Howe, and Dr. Margaret McKellar
(medical missionary in India). Of teachers, those who have entered the
profession from this school are the following: A. H. Smith, James
McKinnon, Charles Cameron, D. McKinnon, Mrs. P. McTavish, Mrs. J.
Anderson, and others.
The churches in which the people of the
township worshipped are mostly mentioned elsewhere in this chapter, or in
that on Tiverton. Of those not to be so found are two churches of the
United Brethren in Christ, on the fifth concession. Originally there was
but one congregation, but when the denomination at large divided on some
point, this congregation followed suit, the seceders building for
themselves a brick church not far from the site of the parent one.
The Presbyterian church on the Saugeen
boundary, known as that of the Queen's Hill, or North Bruce congregation,
was built in 1866. Its first minister was the Rev. Wm. Matheson; following
him was the Rev. John Scott, D.D., inducted April 28th, 1875. The minister
at present in charge is the Rev. Hector McQuarrie. At first the
congregation at North Bruce was united to one on the eighth concession at
Gresham, known as the Centre Bruce congregation. This union was dissolved,
North Bruce becoming united with St. Andrew's, Saugeen, and Centre Bruce
with the Underwood congregation. Of public works on which the municipality
has spent money, the township of Bruce has but little to show, the
drainage of the hemlock swamp on the fourth concession being about all.
Debentures for $800 were issued to pay for this work, which was carried
out in the late seventies.
The first settlers in Bruce township were
largely natives of Scotland, or of Scotch parentage; their descendants of
to-day evidence by their general prosperity and by the honorable position
they occupy in the community at large that they are worthy descendants of
the sturdy, God-fearing Scotch settlers who, dreading not the hardships of
pioneer life in the bush, have been instrumental in making the township of
Bruce what it is to-day, one of the most prosperous in the county. |
