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Notes for William Sargeant: Grandpa Sargeant was born near Inglis Falls, on the first place owned by his father Jesse Sargeant. He was born the 24th April 1864.
His father passed away when he was 9.
William, or Will as he was usually known, being the oldest son, quit school and took over the operation of their small farm to help raise his five brothers and sisters. He also had to work out and talked of working for Joe Neelands a neighbour. He earned 50 cents his first week. He said "I've never been so rich, before or since,as that week I went home and gave my mother 50 cents. My week's salary."
Bert--Your grandfather also spent some time working in a lumber camp in Michigan, I believe it was.
Bert--He always had a mustache.(See photo in photo section)
Mildred--My mother was a seamstress, and she used to come to their home to help make clothes. That's how my father met her. I suppose father might have driven her home---I never did hear all their love story.
She had red hair when she was younger.
Dow--I once asked my father where he proposed marriage to my mother. He blushed and said very quickly, " In the buggy!"
He married Martha Milda(Millie) Robinson (15 Aug 1869 - 3 May 1937) on the 16 Sept 1890.
She was the daughter of George Robinson and Hannah Flower. (Hannah Flowers had married a Mr Robinson first and Millie was the daughter of the first marriage) Francis was a native of Birmingham England. He had a beautiful garden along the Syndenham River. He kept the grass mowed and it looked so nice. He was a gardener by trade. He had an orchard and grew flowers. He would keep a cow just to milk her. He'd bring her from Boyd's pasture and put her in the place which was fenced.
There is a picture of Millie with her mother Hannah Flower Robinson Richards in the photo section. She had an eyelid that was scarred by a live cinder from a fire place. She always had a red eyelid and it was very noticeable. She always wore a lovely little black bonnet with a veil at the back and a little white lace around her face.
I remember when Grandmother would walk out to our home. It was a long piece and she had two hills to climb, the cemetery hill and the creamery hill. Grandfather Richards would say " Be sure and take the kiddies some sweets". He was from Birmingham England and they always called this hard rock candy, sweets. That was really wonderful that she always brought us candy. Sometimes Aunt Ray, her youngest daughter, would come with her. She was quite a bit older than I, but we always enjoyed Aunt Ray's visit, with Grandma. (See photo of Aunt Ray, Grandma Robinson Richards, Grandma Sargeant and Dow Sargeant in the photo section)
Mr Richards died the 28th May 1901 and Hannah Flower Richards died 14 Dec 1917. They are buried in Greenwood Cemetery Owen Sound.
Bert--Will and his wife used to take a short cut to town sometimes over the rock. One Saturday they had eggs and stuff in the cutter. They had a big white-grey horse. There had been a big storm and the road was drifted bad. The cutter was high up off the road. When they came to this high drift, I guess it was such a lean that the cutter tipped over and dumped the both of them out, one on top of the other, all twisted up in the lines and in the deep snow. Millie said, "Will, get up and let me up!!".
He says "I can't get up" and they both lay there laughing.
Dow---One thing my father would say was " By George".
One time we were fighting and carrying on under the wood stove. Dad came in and looked at this riot going on and yelled "Thin out, you're getting too thick!"
Mildred---Jess used to call we children by pet names: I was Mengie, There was Tippie and Doadie (Cliff and Grace?). Tiny was Roseline and Dow was Dookie.
The Farms Bert---He actually had three places over the years. There was the place that Dan lived, where Bellwoods live now, south of the corner. He had the place behind where we live now, just west of here. And finally he had the farm at what is known as the Danard place just north of here. They were all within a short distance of each other.
The Barber Farm Beth---William Sargeant was a farmer and owned, originally, a 50 acre farm west of Conc 3 Derby Twp. It is the same farm as Will Barber. To get to the farm, there was a road allowance (still there) going west along the south side of the Randall farm. This was behind the 50 acre Randall farm. My mother (Mildred), Jesse, Samuel(died at 24 hours of age), and Cliff, where born in this frame home. It was later moved to the 3rd Conc of Derby. At this farm my grandfather had sheep, cows, pigs, horses, hens, geese and turkeys. He raised hay, oats, peas and buckwheat. He also had a large vegetable garden. There was an orchard with Sheep's Nose and PeeWalkey apples. They used to gather large bags of butternuts and beechnuts. In the winter these would be used for cooking and to make toffee. They had toffee pulls and made toffee in the snow.
Working for Uncle George They then moved to Uncle George's place on the 3rd Conc. It was a brick house just north of the Randall place on the west side of the road. Grandpa Sargeant supervised George's dairy herd. A Mr and Mrs Stewart also helped. They lived in a smaller frame home on the farm. Mr Stewart was very Scotch. He was a big stout man, but his wife was a tiny little lady. Mr Stewart had a little dog. He was a well trained dairy dog. He'd just stand at the gate and order Sordy to bring up the cattle. He'd round up every animal and bring them to the gate.
After Stewarts left a Mr and Mrs John Taylor lived in the small house and worked with Grandfather. Grandmother boarded the hired men who worked on the farm.
The Danard Farm Grandfather worked there for a few years and then bought the Lew Danard Farm between 1903 and 1905.
Mildred---I think that there were 100 acres on the farm. There must have been 20 acres of bush and 30 acres of grain.
Marjorie--- George apparently loaned him the money to buy it and William wasn't too happy about the fact that interest was charged on the loan.
Beth---The Danard farm had a bush and timber from that bush was used to pay for the farm. Only one log could be put on the sleigh bunks at a time. It would be hauled to Harrison's mill in Owen Sound.
All quiet on the home front. The Danard farm had a stone house on it with a summer kitchen. We usually went in the side door and seldom used the front door. There was a fence around the whole garden and house area. There were lovely maple trees. My Dad planted them.
In the summer kitchen, there was an entrance to the basement, a winter outhouse, wood storage and a wood stove. We had to move it out there in the summer from the kitchen inside as we did not have two stoves. There was a pump in the kitchen--I think it was in the pantry originally and it came from the cistern in the basement. The drinking water was hauled from the well at the windmill at the barn. The pantry was very dark as there were no windows and had two lights a way up high. That led to the dining room. In there was a large dining room table. Off the dining room was the parlour and that was where the organ was and Grandma's whatnot. There were big double doors that could be closed between the dining room and the parlour. There was a front hall and stairs there to the upstairs. There was a Quebec heater in the dining room. The stove pipes went through the bedroom upstairs, supposedly to keep it warm.
Beth--I can remember Grandma taking us up the winding stairs to the bedrooms with the coal-oil lamp. There were four bedrooms upstairs and a hall.
Mildred---There were a number of outbuildings such as a milk house, a silo, a drive shed, an outhouse behind the drive shed. There was always an Eaton's catalog there for use. Mom had a large vegetable garden and loved flowers. There was a stump that had been left from a tree that was taken down. It used to grow switches (suckers) and when ever we needed a licking, Mother would send us out to cut a switch. The poor tree never did grow too well. We would always try to choose a switch that wasn't too sturdy.
A hired man's wife, Mrs Taylor and my mother had quite a relationship and remained friends for years. They used to tell each other their troubles.
Beth-- Grandma felt so bad about her wedding glass ware. It was so cold in the house in the winter that it cracked sitting on the side board. I have a quilt she made and her sewing basket. I recall when we were at her place with nothing to do, she would thread a needle with a long string and we would threat buttons onto it, hour after hour. I remember her battery radio. It was a big radio, with big black dials on it.We used to listen to Fibber McGee and Molly, the news, Ma Perkins and the farm report at noon. Grandpa wouldn't let us sit too long, as the battery would wear down.
Mildred--When I was a little girl I'd run out to the kitchen stove and open the oven door and stand on the mat in front of the stove and dress. Old Mr Walker, that lived across the fence in the next property was sitting there one morning. I recall he buttoned up my waistcoat. It was a padded waistcoat that we wore in the winter. There were pockets in it and it was sewn with cotton. It buttoned up the back and had wide straps over the shoulders. We wore woolen petticoats and Grandma knitted woolen stockings.
Beth--Grandma used to do a lot of knitting, made lye soap, and used the wash tub and scrub board. All the laundry was done by hand. She made the soap from barrels of ashes, Gillette's Lye, and fat. Fat was saved from everything. It was all put in a big black pot and hung over an outdoor fire. It was boiled down and poured into a cloth lined box. That made hard soap. It was cut into bars.
For soft soap, they put it into cans and to use it, you dipped it out and put it in the big cedar wash tub. In the winter, when it was cold, snow would be melted in a boiler on the snow until there was enough for washing. She would boil the clothes in the same copper boiler she melted the snow. She always hung her clothes outside, even in winter. The was a clothes reel on a platform outside the back door.
She also made her own butter in a dash churn. She would sell her butter to McLeans Grocery in Owen Sound. With that money she bought groceries for the family. Mr McLean always put a bag of hard candy in the groceries for the children. This was a real treat, as they didn't get many extras in those days.
She had a shelf, hanging from the rafters in the basement so the food would keep. The basement would flood in the spring and the kids would take the big wash tub and use it as a boat to reach the shelf.
Grandma had a pantry. In the pantry were two windows and in this pantry they had no hydro. She had cupboards, upper and lower, and Grandma was not that tall. She used to make us brown sugar sandwiches. She had a crock of butter and she would make them on the shelf in the pantry which was about shoulder height. She was up like this spreading butter over her head. Then she would take a shaker with brown sugar in it and shake it on the buttered bread. Boy were they good---brown sugar sandwiches. We also had ketchup sandwiches up there.
When we were there in the winter time, we would sleep in the room upstairs with the stove-pipe in it. It was the warmest room and we froze.
I have a quilt of Grandma's and I have her sewing basket. To amuse Helen and I when we were there, she would thread a long cord on a needle and she gave us this basket of thousands of different kinds of buttons. We'd string these for hours. I remember her battery radio. She used to listen to Ma Perkins, Fibber McGee and Molly, the news at noon and the farm report. You had to use earphones. It was a real thrill, because we just turned the switch and you could hear it. It was a big radio with big black dials on it. It sat in the dining room. We never went into the parlour. Grandpa wouldn't let us listen too long as the battery would wear down.
Mildred--We didn't have a telephone for many years. We didn't have it when I went to Toronto. (1910)
Beth--There was one there when we were kids, cause when the phone would ring, Grandma would let us listen in on the party line. The phone was high up on the wall and she was short so she had to pull the mouthpiece down and strain up with her neck to speak into it. They had to speak extra loud and had to ring central for a connection.
They got hydro after many years, while Dow and Roseline were there. They had to get enough people on the road to want it, before the power company would connect everyone.
Mildred--There weren't many people down farther on the road, except Jiggledy Jack McDermott. The gypsies used to go down there too. I remember the gypsies. They used to stay on the commons on the right hand side beyond our house. They had horses and caravans. I was always afraid of them. They came to get water at the windmill. I don't think they had any animals with them other than the horses. First thing you know, they'd be gone from the commons.
Now Jiggledy Jack McDermott had St Vitus dance. One day, when mother was pregnant with the first Samuel Cleveland, Jiggledy came to the door. He would twitch and he couldn't talk. He frightened mother and I think that that had to do with the little baby having a hare lip and cleft palate. I know, that's an old wife's tale.
Beth--I can remember Grandmother when I was sick in bed and she was making doll clothes for me. She'd have all these little bits and pieces of materials, lace, tiny little wee buttons and beads. She had such patience. With a that pair of scissors and needle, she's sit on the side of the bed and cut out these things. She'd talk to me and tell me stories and all the while she'd be hand-sewing these doll clothes. She'd take bits of lace and put them around the collars, make little button holes and put tiny buttons on. She made a little blue outfit with white bunny fur. It was a strip that had been left over. She made that for one of my dolls. I think she was the one who started me being interested in sewing.
I can also see her standing in front of the mirror in the bathroom at our home in Guelph, doing her hair. She'd flip it around her index finger and then put the roll through her mouth and hold the hair that she had finished rolling, while she did the other side. She'd twist it at the back of her head and then put her hair pins in. I always remember white hair.
Mildred--A man called Mr McMillan arrived one day at our home with an organ on a pick-up truck. Father was haying and the organ man went out and helped father put on that hay load and bring it into the barn. There was the organ, on the truck. He felt that the Sargeants should have an organ. He would see that the eldest daughter got 12 music lessons free. He put that in with the sale of the organ. I forget what the organ cost. Father weakened and bought it and put it in our parlour, between the two windows. I got my 12 lessons and father used to love to come and sit and listen to me playing. I would try to sing the hymns.
Mildred-Grandma made most of our clothes. She was a seamstress before she married. She knit long stockings, mitts and socks for the kids.
She made me a red blanket coat and I hated it, although it was nice and warm. Years before we had the organ, we had a treadle sewing machine. Mr Wilcocks, the man who brought it, gave me a lovely little silver thimble, just to fit my little finger. I was so pleased with my thimble.
Beth-My grandmother made beautiful quilts and she hooked rugs and dyed woolens for rugs. She did beautiful embroidery work, crocheted and knitted. She made containers for flowers from old records, heating and bending them into shapes. She made vases for flowers from broken china pottery, beads, mirrors, and tiny animals. She would embed them in putty on the outside of the container. The containers used for decorating were actually cemetery containers. Lois Campbell has one of the containers made by Grandma.
Mildred-Mother would make up your summer dresses when you children were small. She embroidered the pockets---there were two little pockets with embroidered kittens faces on them. R.W. said that he never knew anyone who could put such expression into a kitten's face as mother.
Beth--Grandma used to let us stand on the stool in the kitchen and when the old magneto phone rang we could listen on the rural line and get all the news. The phone was fairly high up and she had to bend the mouth piece way down for us. You had a separate ear phone. When you made a call, you had to push a button and crank a handle to get the operator who would connect you.
Dow---My father's first car was a Whippet. I remember when I was about 15 he said "Do you not want to drive?" I said no, but then when I got older and we were on the way to town one day, he said "Come in here and learn to drive". I got in and just drove it off. He was very particular about his cars and I always asked before using them. If I was out much after 10 he'd be coming down the road to see where I was.
Farmers: Men outstanding in their field Mildred---Father always had a name for each cow, after the name of the person from who he bought the cow. There was the Brock cow, the Danard heifer, and the Sinclair cow. We had a couple of Jerseys, but I've forgotten their names.
The Danard Cow had long horns and when it had it's first calf, father kept the calf in the barn and let the cow out. She went back to the pasture with the other cows, but then decided to come back to the barn. I was just coming out of the stable and she took after me. The stone boat was leaning up against the stone foundation of the barn so I crawled in there quick. I screamed for father. He came running from the garden up near the house to see what was the matter. He said he'd have to get rid of the heifer as it was dangerous for the children.
Bert---Will used to carry milk to my father to deliver in his milk route. He had a yoke and carried two pails across the fields on his shoulders.
I used to help him out in haying time. That was after Dow left and he was there by himself. He said "You get your own hay in and I'll just keep working at mine, coiling it up." So then I used to go help him draw in. We got along pretty good. He was up on the Danard farm at that time. I lived way back about straight west from him on the back fifty. He had a long hundred (actually fifty acres according to the deed) that went right back. Our farms were separated by one farm.
They were skidding logs out in our bush back here and I had a couple of big rock-elm trees way above the rest in the bush. I was cutting them down. Some of them were a pretty good price. I got Uncle Will to skid them out with the horses. The snow was deep in the bush. Anyway, one horse Charlie, was a bit lazy. Will hollered at him. CH--arlie!
His bottom false teeth plate jumped out, I can see him yet, they didn't land on the beaten track but in the deep snow. He kind of looked at us. We started to laugh and then he started to laugh. After hunting through the snow he finally found them though.
He used to sell wood and logs in the winter. I don't think he sold any hay. He believed in feeding everything on the farm and getting the manure to go back in the land again. I can remember he would sell tree loads of logs. I can recall something about him being away in a logging camp, too.
Mildred--Only one log could be put on the sleigh at a time. He would haul that to Harrison's Mill in Owen Sound. One day there was a doze at one end of the log. We cut it off with a cross-cut saw, and he got full price for the log. If the doze (an an enlargement where the tree meets the ground, or a set of branches cause it to swell), had been left on it would have been discounted. We rolled the doze to the side of the house near the woodshed and we put the milk pails on it to dry in the sun after they were washed out.
Beth--Grandpa used to belong to what they called a beef ring.It was made up of other farmers of the area. Each farmer took a turn in supplying a beast and when it was slaughtered it was shared by all in the ring. This was the way they carried fresh meat through the summer months as there was no refrigeration.
Mildred--Dad had a customer that always would complain about his price for meat. Dad would butcher in the winter and take the cuts of beef to town. This woman used to complain about the price. Father would boost the price when he saw her coming and then let her bargain him down to what the others were paying.
When I was quite a small girl, father always had a mother pig and she would have little piglets. There were so many little piglets one time that there weren't enough "faucets". So father brought this little velvet piglet to the house and we put him in a 6 quart basket with a blanket. We opened the oven door in the wood stove and put the basket on a chair in front of the oven door so he'd be nice and warm. We cuddled up that little piglet and looked after it. We fed it with an eye-dropper, and we just loved that little velvet piglet. We kept it in the house until it could fight it's own way. He was what is called the runt. He was left out on top. There was no pink tea at 4 o'clock for him.
Christmas Mildred--Christmas of 1899,my father had to do the Christmas shopping. Clifford was born that year in December and Mother wasn't able to go to town.
Father brought home a lovely little fancy lead doll buggy with an umbrella on top and a little rod down to the buggy. It was so lovely. I was just thrilled. I enjoyed the little buggy for an number of years and took good care of it, putting it on the clock shelf. Jess and I used to play with it. Then after a number of years, Jess and I would take a wheel off it and put it on the hot stove. It would melt and we'd pour it off and it would make funny shapes. We just broke off pieces and melted them until finally it was all gone. No more buggy. In later years, my daughter Lois showed me a picture in a doll book and there was an exact picture of my doll buggy with a story.
We had a Christmas tree but no fire place. We had a Quebec heater in the living room and hung our stockings at the end of our beds. We would get an orange, rock candy, and nuts.
We went to my father's parent's home at New Years. We went in a big box sleigh full of straw with blankets on top. We were covered with blankets because it was very cold. We had to travel two to three miles south to Grandma Sargeant's farm. All the families would gather there and they had a lovely New Years dinner and all the families would help. There was Uncle George and his children, and Aunt Emma had six children. We had a great time together.
We had turkey and goose and lovely Christmas puddings. Plum pudding. All kinds of good things to eat. I'm sure we had vegetables, although I can't remember. They were farmers, so I guess we had turnips.
If there was a storm, we would stay overnight. The kids would all sleep on the floor and the adults in different beds throughout the house. We'd get up early the next morning and Father would drive us home. The snow would be so deep sometimes and drifting and blowing. We would have to unhitch the horses and walk them back and forth to make a path to draw the sleigh through the drifts so it wouldn't tip over.
The Later Years Dow---After Mother died, Roseline and I stayed on the farm with Dad. Eventually though, he told us: "I shouldn't be keeping you from the work you've been doing. (Roseline was a Deaconess and Dow a pastor). I think I'll try to get married again."
Some years after Millie died, William married Annie MacMillan Day. She was uncle Henry Sargeant's wife's sister and a widow. Annie died the 12 Sept 1958 and is buried in the Buffalo Cemetery, Buffalo New York
Owen Sound October 16th 1951 Dear Roseline and Ernest Just a line to let you know we are all well and hope you are there. Annie and I got your letter and was glad to here you was well and happy teaching a class of girls. Well we are having fine weather here at present, like Indian Summer. There is some grain out. I had a very nice time this summer at Mildred's and also with Grace and Charlie. They were all so kind and thoughtful. Grace has a lovely home and a good provider. Mary and Cliff are very kind with both of us. I saw Mrs Read(?) today. She said her mother was fine that is Mrs Baze(?). John Zailer(?) is keeping a store. I see him often. George Sargeant is working out at Chatsworth on the road. Has a good job. Well Roseline, how long do you think I have been married. Just 61 years ago How is that. Well time still goes on. I think there will be a change soon. I suppose you here from you good friend Miss Speese. I would have wrote to her only Annie might not like that but I like her just the same. I suppose you here from Dow and May. I must write to them. That is all for this time. Love from Dad and Anne. good buy. Write when you can. William Sargeant
(A photocopy of this letter is included in the photo section to show William's handwriting. Also included is a sample of Millie's handwriting)
John--I can recall Grandpa coming to the parsonage at Breslau. I sat on his knees and he drew a little picture of a canary bird. I kept that picture for the longest time. My brother Ron had a little top he had made from a match stick and spool.
Beth--I remember Grandpa coming to our door at Guelph with his little suitcase. He'd just appear at the back door. He'd get off the bus at the corner and walk up the block. He's spend a week or so and then go back home again. He used to come down with Mr Brownscombe. They both had lost their wives.
Dow--My dad finally took quite bad. He had had trouble with his mind because of hardening of the arteries and had to go into Guelph several times. Finally he was sent to London. I visited him there just a day or so before he died. He was lying on a cot on the floor. There was no bed. He had pneumonia. I asked him how things were and if he was suffering. He said he wasn't but that he was just terribly weak. He was just as sane and sensible as any time I've ever known him. I said " Well, Dad this might be the last time I see you. How is it between you and the Lord?"
He said " I'm ready to go anytime." He just seemed to have real peace in his heart.
Will passed away 7 Sept 1952. He had lived with his son, Cliff at 354 10th St E in Owen Sound for about 6 years. He had been a member of the Calvary Missionary Church.
Anyone knowing Will Sargeant always speaks of him being a hard working man who lived an honest life.
29 Sept 2006
More About William Sargeant: Date born 2: 24 Apr 1864310 Burial: Unknown, Greenwood Cemetery, Owen Sound, Ontario.311, 312
More About William Sargeant and Martha Milda Robinson: Marriage Fact: Married at Owen Sound. Pastor: Rev Arthur H Mulholland. Single 1: 16 Sep 1890, Owen Sound, Ontario.313, 314 Single 2: 22 Dec 1940, Kitchener, Ontario.315, 316
Marriage Notes for William Sargeant and Martha Milda Robinson: [SargeantFamilyTree.FTW]
William was married a second time to Annie McMillan Day[SargeantFamilyTree.FBK]
Children of William Sargeant and Martha Milda Robinson are:
+Mildred Sargeant, b. 16 Aug 1891, Back 50- Prt Lot 14 Conc 3, Derby Township, Owen Sound, On, d. 14 Sep 1989, McMaster Medical Centre, Hamilton, On.
+Jesse Sargeant, b. 14 Oct 1894, Owen Sound, On316, d. 07 Feb 1939, Parkview Veteran's Hospital, London, Ontario316.