This small rural fair in Lanark County is located on the TransCanada Highway #7, east of Kaladar and west of Perth and is held towards the end of August each year. It was founded in 1882 with the fairgrounds being secured about 1885.The fair continues to be a popular event today. More information can be found at https://www.maberlyfair.ca/. In 2023 the theme of the fair was “Bugs, the good, the bad, and the lovely”. The fair...

Every spring, as we travelled to the sugar camp, we would cross a flow of water moving from Grant’s Creek to the Tay River. The water would be about one to two feet deep in March and April, but the remainder of the year, the channel would be relatively dry. This seemed to be a natural watercourse and for farm convenience a small culvert was installed at one crossing, and, at the second crossing, loose stones were embedded in the mud to...

Glen Tay 1967 – late on a cold January day. The church was at the top of the hill at the centre of the photo When I was back in Ontario during the summer of 2022, I was able to view the site of the ‘old church on the hill’. As a child I had heard stories about the village Sunday school led by Mrs. Buchanan and knew that at one time there was one tombstone had been found on the land where the church once stood. All that remains...

Copy of an Address prepared by Miss Agnes Yuill for Presentation Before a Meeting of the Young People’s Society The following interesting account of early days in Middleville was included in an address delivered at a meeting of the Y.P.S., recently by Miss Agnes Yuill, clerk of Lanark Township and was kindly furnished to the Almonte Gazette for publication on the Gazette’s request. Found in the Perth Courier, 1 July 1932, pg. 7 How many of the...

The following was found in the Perth Courier of 30 June 1905 It was written by Donald Fraser, grandson of Col Donald Fraser of early times in Perth and Lanark. This was just one or several articles written in connection with the ‘Old Boys’ Reunion’ that was held that year. Additional articles can be found at https://www.perthhs.org/documents/the-fraser-reminiscences.pdf Fraser was born June 2, 1841, in the ‘Red...

William Murray Gibson, my first cousin twice removed, was a lad of 18 when he travelled on a freighter from Edmonton to Hay River on Great Slave Lake and back again. He was born on the Scotch Line, not far from my childhood home near Perth, Ontario, and received his early education at the Allan’s Mills school. His mother Janet Miller, my great aunt, was a sister of my great grandfather Robert Miller. He homesteaded on 15-40-27-W4 near...

I’m in the process of reviewing, updating, and ‘closing’ research on various branches of my ancestral lines. I gathered a vast amount of research over the years and need to consolidate, paper, electronic and other information. This is the first post identifying the research I am finalizing and I am inviting readers to contact me if this family is of interest to you. My philosophy is that there is a point where I can say...

Lanark Rural Routes, Volumes 1 and 2 Lanark County Routes, Lanark County Genealogical Society, 2021 In addition to my personal research, I enjoy contributing to the work of historical and genealogical societies that share my interest in family and community history. Among recent publications of Lanark County Genealogical Society (LCGS) were these two volumes detailing some of the history of rural Lanark County. A third book is planned...

Marriage Practices in the New Community Seeking a marriage license The settlers in the early settlement of Perth, and surrounding townships came from diverse religious backgrounds. Rev. William Bell arrived in 1817 to minister to the Scottish settlers from Edinburgh but soon decided to serve a much larger community. His friend Rev. William Smart, located in Brockville, had convinced the settlers during the preceding winter that they should set...

We often wonder what illnesses affected our ancestors and caused their death. Although Rev. Bell was careful to record marriages and baptisms during the early years, he did not record all deaths. He, and other diarists of the time, would mention the name of someone who died in passing. For the early settlement years our most source is found on memorial stone in cemeteries of the area. An these records can sometimes be misleading as they were...