CHAPTER 1
How It All Began
Let us turn
back the pages of time to the early 1800's and for a few moments ponder over the hardships
and privations of our stalwart ancestors. They left their homelands, mostly in
the Central part of Europe, commonly known as Alsace-Lorraine, Bavaria and Swiss regions. This area had become heavily populated
resulting in political unrest and a great deal of warring between different factions.
Europeans were advised, by the Missionaries and fur traders, that America was a huge country of unclaimed lands promising freedom
from wars, religious strife and a chance to a completely new way of
life.
Having decided
to embark on this arduous adventure, it would appear that they set about to gather the barest of
necessities to sustain life on the ocean journey that lay before them. Bear in
mind that when setting sail they had no idea what length of time was required for the journey; where they would be settling after
their anticipated landing, nor could they comprehend the dangers awaiting them.
Often due to severe storms, the trip of what might have been thirty days was extended weeks longer, resulting in serious sickness due
to lack of food supplies and proper shelter.
One of the main
ports of entry was the New York Harbour where many boarded smaller vessels and
followed up the Hudson River toward Buffalo. Many of the new-corners who had
originally planned to settle in Canada located enroute, while others
eventually landed in the Guelph-Waterloo region, taking up residence on the available lands. As their families grew up some twenty years
later, they, in turn, again had to seek out new territory.
About this
time, in the years 1847-8 an increasing number of immigrants were also landing upon
the shores of Canada, via the St. Lawrence River to establish new homes. In 1845
there were 25,375 im�migrants in Canada but in 1847 this increased to 89,440, and more and more came each year until the
population of Upper Canada increased over one hundred percent in less than ten years.
The demand for
lands, resulting from such a rapid increase in population, caused plans to be made for the
surveying and settling of the Crown Lands in the area known as the "Queen's Bush". In
general terms the interior
lands within a circle having its perimeter points Durham, Kin�cardine, Southampton and Stratford.
The first farm
lots were marked out in Bruce County in the Township of Kinloss in 1847. During the
late 1840's the Durham Road was blazed, with lands surveyed along its route, being
laid out in fifty acre lots. In 1852 three of the last townships in the southerly part of Bruce County, namely Carrick, Culross and Greenock were surveyed. The fact that the lands in Carrick and Cuirass were
already rumored to contain rich quality soil and, as Crown Lands were priced lower
than School Lands, this area had great appeal.
During 1851 sporadic squatting on these lands
took place. In our area upon completion
of the surveys practically all the lots had been claimed, in the hope that when the 'Big Land Sale'
would be held these squatters would be given first chance for the purchase of
such lands.
The 'Big Land Sale' was held on September 27,
1854. Many from this area left here
on Monday morning, the 25th, and arrived at Southampton on Tuesday afternoon.
Southampton was a small place with a population of about two or three hundred. With only three hotels, there was little
accommodation for the great amount of
people that had flocked to a small log building where land claims were to be established. Fortunately, the weather did cooperate and those who used
open-air accommodations did not find it
unpleasant. The lineup was most lengthy and to avoid unnecessary confusion it was finally decided
that each township in the county would be
allotted two hours in the lineup. The sale continued for the remainder of the week finishing on
Saturday afternoon.
When this area of Carrick and Culross was offered for sale it was settled enmasse by an
ethnic but tolerant group of first generation Canadian-born immigrants whose parents had also
settled in the same manner at Guelph, Wilmot,
Waterloo, Woolwich and Pilkington in about the 1820-1840 era. Most of the families that settled
in the Formosa Area were descendants of
immigrants from Alsace-Lorraine.
In January of 1853, the first Jesuit
Missionary, Rev. Gaspar Matoga, S.J.. visited this district to look after the
spiritual needs of the Catholic people. Upon
viewing the breath-taking beauty of the valley in which our small unincorporated village now rests, he
uttered "Formosa" meaning `beautiful', hence; the name of our village. At
that time, this area was a dense forest
and remembering this, we can fully appreciate the efforts of Father Matoga and
other missionaries and pioneers who ventured into this land, who surely endured
severe hardships. Father Matoga was stationed at Guelph and on his missionary
trips, travelling on foot, he visited the
new settlements north of Guelph following the road to Durham. At Durham he turned westward to reach the new
settlements in Carrick, Culross and Brant. To
complete each trip took about six weeks. Until his death on August 21, 1856, Father Matoga made these trips, recording his Baptisms at Guelph, indicating the localities
where they took place.
The missionary work started by Father Matoga was continued by Rev. William Blettner, S.J. who started the local
baptismal register in December, 1856.
Although there
were babies born in the Formosa area before that date, the following is the first entry made in the Baptismal register:
|
No. Name of person baptized |
Date and |
Date of |
Father's name |
|
|
1 |
Hauck, Henry |
Dec. 15, 1856 |
Dec.
19/56 |
Philip Hauck |
|
|
|
Culross |
|
Margaret Barberich |
|
2 |
Rich, Joseph |
Dec. 10, 1856 |
Dec.
19/56 |
Joseph Rich |
|
|
|
Carrick |
|
Elizabeth |
|
|
|
|
|
Hesterman |
|
3 |
Himmelspach, Anthony |
Dec. 18, 1856 Carrick |
Dec.
18/56 |
Geo. Himmelspach Anna M. Kirsch |
Father Blettner
visited the principal missions about once a month. At Christmas, 1858, he stayed in Formosa several
days from December 23rd to 27th. His
monthly visits continued until August, 1859.
At first the missionaries said Mass in the
houses of the early settlers and had
regular stations at certain homes. In 1854, a log school was built
and Mass was said in this building. The Most
Reverend John Farrell, D.D., Bishop of
Hamilton in 1856, designated the site where the present church was to be built. On this location a small log
church was erected in 1857. Formosa and Community now had a church and further
information concerning the
church will be found in Chapter 3.
The pioneers had a hard life. Some of the men
folk travelled to this area and cleared a bit of land, then assembled a log
cabin before returning for their
families. These families would often be apart for about six months. Some men brought their families with
them, travelling on foot from the Guelph
area and enduring much hardship. Among the first known settlers to venture into this wilderness, we
find such names as Andrew Zettel, Charles Uhrich, Joseph Seitz, Michael Seitz, Anthony Schumacher, Philip Hauch,
Michael Fischer, Christian Rich and Louis Meyer.
The nucleus of Formosa now having been
established, a log school was built in
1854, and many other families arrived. The need for a sawmill, various shops and stores was evident and soon
sprung into existence. The sawmill was
established by John B Kroetsch. A. Schich operated the first general store and the hotel was operated
by John Kartes.