As I write this, my furnace has just been repaired. It broke down yesterday, as the temperature hovered around -20 C outside, and the service people were too involved with other calls to see us until today. Meanwhile, we bundled up and made use of some electric space heaters as the interior temperature dropped to 9 C. Those were some uncomfortable hours.
More than once, I said to my grumbling husband, “Think of your pioneer ancestors!” Imagine sprinting to an outdoor toilet in these conditions, the constant chopping of wood, and washing your face in a china basin after breaking the layer of ice on top of the water it held. We will never be able to grasp exactly how difficult life was for those hardy souls who first called Upper Canada home.
Rev. Samuel Ardagh was amazed at the beauty in the woodlands when he arrived in October of 1842. He had never seen such magnificent colours, and he marveled at the crimson, gold and purple foliage on the trees that autumn. Beautiful as they are, every living creature who has spent a year in Canada knows that those pretty hues are not merely for entertainment but are a warning to all that they had better get prepared – winter is coming!
It was a good thing that his physical stamina nearly matched his religious passion because Samuel would come to need every bit of it in his new position. The roads, which were barely roads, were terrible, and his pastoral journeys to outlying congregations were never less than 12 miles, so he had to make use of a horse to travel. Samuel was known to ride 100 miles in eight days, in all kinds of weather.
During one of his first winters in this country, Samuel found himself lost in the bush during a powerful blizzard. When the horse could go no further, Samuel tied it to a tree and went on foot. He marked the trees he passed to find his way back for the animal. The exhausted pastor collapsed finally at home and some others went out and retrieved his horse, which was nearly buried by the snow.
Early in 1843, Samuel set off to visit the settlers on the south side of Kempenfelt Bay, two miles across the ice. The wind was so strong that it blew him off his feet several times and sent him sliding a long way across the smooth ice. On the way back, the wind was against him and he had to struggle to return to the north side of the bay.
On more than one occasion, Samuel found the lake ice to be less than supportive. He fell through the ice one day, while on his way to Barrie to preach, but managed to free himself from the predicament and carry on, wearing frozen clothes. Another time, both he and his horse both fell through, and had nearly given up the struggle, when aid finally came.
The other seasons were perhaps a bit kinder, but not without difficulties of their own. Samuel Ardagh had several times lost his way in the woods, had to swim his horse over flooded streams and rode through forest fires to get to his parishioners in the Simcoe County wilderness.
He did all of this for next to no pay. His too small cabin was eventually enlarged to fit his family, and he did the work himself at his own expense. When that cabin began to crumble, Samuel rebuilt it, again out of his own nearly empty pocket.
Samuel was no doubt thrilled to hear that his labours had not gone unnoticed and, in 1845, he was given an assistant. Rev. George Bourne arrived and was very well liked by Rev. Samuel, and by the rural parishioners he met. Unfortunately, this assistant missionary wasn’t strong enough to withstand the rigours of backwoods work and had to give up after two years. The next assistant lasted three years and then was transferred elsewhere, while the third also remained three years and then went back to Ireland.
The right man for the job came along in 1854 when Rev. Edward Morgan visited Canada. His health had been suffering in the climate of the West Indies, where he had been posted for years, and so he decided to move to Barrie and take on the fast-growing Anglican parish there, and relieve Samuel of some of his work. The two became great friends and toiled together for 14 years.
Samuel Ardagh began to think that he might be more useful to those that he served if he moved into Barrie. After all, the town was booming, good buildings were springing up and the congregation was expanding all the time. Perhaps it was time for Samuel to leave the hardships of rustic life behind.
Each week, the Barrie Historical Archive provides BarrieToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past. This unique column features photos and stories from years gone by and is sure to appeal to the historian in each of us.
