.rtl

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

1.0

I.:

US.

lis IIIIIM

1.8

1-25 U |||.6

■* 6"

►

•#

'^y

0>^

■^

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

^ 4

33 WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, NY. 14580

(716) 872-4503

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CIHIVI/ICMH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions

institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques

1980

Tachnical and Bibliographic Notas/Notas tachniquas at bibliographiquas

Tha Institute has attamptad to obtain tha bast
original copy availabia for filming. Faaturas of this
copy which may ba bibiiographicalh' uniqua,
which may altar any of tha imagas in tha
raproduction, or which may significantly chaiiga
tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackad balow.

□

Coloured covars/
Couvartura da coulaur

I I Covars damagad/

Couvartura endommagia

Covars rastor^d and/or laminatad/
Couvartura restaur6e at/ou palliculAa

I I Cover title missing/

La titra de couverture manque

□ Coloured maps/
Cartes gdographiques en couleur

Coloured inic (i.e. other than blue or black)/
Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire)

I I Coloured plates and/or illustrations/

Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur

Bound with other mateiial/
Reli6 avac d'autres documents

Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion
along interior margin/

La reliure serr6e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la
distortion la long da la marge intirieure

Blank leaves added during restoration may
appear within the text. Whenever possible, these
have been omitted from filming/
II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajouties
iors d'une restauration apparaissent dans la texte,
mais, lorsque cela itait possible, ces pages n'ont
pas AtA film^as.

Additional comments:/
Commentaires supplimentaires;

L'Institut a microfilm* la mailleur exemplaire
qu'il lui a At* possible de se procurer. Les ditails
da cet exemplaire qui sont peut-Atre uniques du
point de vue bibliographiqua. qui peuvent modifier
une image reproduite. ou qui peuvent exiger une
modification dans la mAthode normaie de filmage
sont indiquAs ci-dessous.

I I Coloured pages/

This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est film* au taux de reduction indiqu* ci-dessous.

Pages de couleur

Pages damaged/
Pages endommagias

Pages restored and/oi

Pages restaur^es et/ou pailiculies

Pages discoloured, stained or foxe(
Pages dicoiories., tachet^es ou piqu6es

Pages detached/
Pages d6tach6es

Showthrough/
Transparence

Quality of prir

Qualiti indgale de ('impression

Includes supplementary materit
Comprend du rriatdriel supplimentaire

I I Pages damaged/

I I Pages restored and/or laminated/

I I Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/

I I Pages detached/

I I Showthrough/

I I Quality of print varies/

nn Includes supplementary material/

Only edition available/
Seule Edition disponible

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to
ensure the best possible image/
Les pages totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure.
etc., ont 6X6 film6es A nouveau de faqon it
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

10X

14X

18X

22X

26X

aox

12X

16X

20X

24X

28X

32X

The copy filmed here hes been reproduced thenks
to the generosity of:

Netionei Librery of Cenede

L'exempieire fiimi f ut reproduit grice A it
gAntrosit* de:

BibllothAque netioneie du Cenade

The images appearing here are the best quality
possible considering the condition and legibility
of the original copy and in keeping with the
filming contract specifications.

Orir|inal copies in printed paper covers are filmed
bi^ginning with the front cover and ending on
the last page with a printed or iliuslrsted impres-
sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All
other original copies are filmed beginning on the
first page with a printed or illustrated impres-
sion, and ending on the lest page with a printed
or illustrated impression.

Les images suivantes ont MA reproduites avec ie
plus grend soin, compte tenu de la condition et
de ia nettetA de I'exemplaire fiimA, et en
conformity avec les conditions du contret de
filmage.

Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en
papier est imprimAe tfont filmto en commenpant
par Ie premier plat et en terminant soit par la
derniAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iliustration, soit par Ie second
plat, s&!on ie cas. Tous les auires exemplaires
originaux sont filmte en cor.tmenpant par ia
premiAre page qui comporte une empreinte
d'impression ou d'iliustration et en terminant par
la dernlAre page qui comporte Mne telle
empreinte.

The last recorded frame on each microfiche
shall contain the symbol —^' (meaning "CON-
TINUED"), or the symbol y (meaning "END"),
whichever applies.

\)n des symboles suivants apparattra sur la
derniire image de cheque microfiche, seion Ie
cas: Ie symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", Ie
symbols V signifie "FIN".

Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at
different reduction ratios. Those too large to be
entirely included in one exposure are filmed
beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to
right and top to bottom, as many frames as
required. The following diagrams illustrate the
method:

Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre
fiimte A des taux de reduction diffArents.
Lorsque ie document est trop grand pour Atre
reproduit en un seul ciichA, il est f ilmA A partir
de Tangle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite,
et de haut en bas, en prenant Ie nombre
d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants
iiiustrent la mAthode.

12 3

ZORRA BOYS

AT HOME AND ABROAD

OR, HOW TO SUCCEED

TRattb portraft0

REV. W. A. MacKAY, B.A., D.D.,

Author of " Pioneer L\fe in Zorra," etc.

" The truest test of civilization is not the census, nor th' size of cities,
nor the crops ; no, but the kind of men the country turns out. " — Emerson.

TORONTO

\AriLLIAM BRIGGS

1900

P)3

1839;^.8

Entered nccording to Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one
thousand nine hundred, by William Briucs, at the Department of
Agriculture.

CONTENTS

Skktch

Introductory
I. James Wood
II. Alexander M. Sutherland

III. Prof. Henry John Cody, M.A.

IV. George Mackay
V. Thomas Adams

VI. George N. Mathbson
VII. Hon. Donald Mackay
VIII. Dr. James Fraser
IX. Paul Murray
X. James and John Fletcher
XI. Hon. J. R. Sutherland
XII. Mervin Cody
XIII. G. L. Mackay, D.D. .

Page

26
42
SI
65

73
81

103

109

121

126

136

' ■

.' :

CONTENTS

Sketch Paub

XIV. Prof. Donald Mackay, B.A., Ph.D. 149

XV. Nelson Janes 157

XVI. D. S. BuRDicK 160

XVII. John Griffiths . . -171

XVIII. Thomas Oliver, M.P. . . .177

XIX. Hon. James Sutherland, M.P. . 188

XX. Rev. Charles W. Gordon, B.A.

("Ralph Connor") . .198

XXI. Rev. Alexander S. Macleod, M.A. 205

XXII. Capt. John M. Ross . . . 208

XXIII. Dr. a E. Matheson . . .218

XXIV. John S. Mackay . . . .226

•

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS

Page

Clan Mackay .

Zorra Clergymen

Zorra Doctors . .

Zorra Lawyers

The Murray Family

The Ferguson Family

Rev. Donald McKenzie .

Rev. G. Munro, M.A.

Rev. E. D. Silcox .

Rev. G. C. Patterson, M.A.

James Wood .

A. M. Sutherland .

Prof. H. J. Cody, M.A. .

George Mackay

Thomas Adams

George N. Matheson

Hon. D. Mackay .

Dr. James Fraser .

73
81

Vlll

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS

fiit

Paul Murray and his son John
James and John Fletcher
Hon. John R. Sutherland

Mervin Cody

Rev. G. L. Mackay, D.D.
Prof. Donald Mackay, Ph.D. .

Nelson Janes

D. S. Burdick

John Griffiths

Thomas Oliver, M.P. . .

Hon. James Sutherland, M.P. .

Rev. C. W. Gordon, B.A. ("Ralph Connor")

Rev. A. S. Macleod, M.A.

Capt. John M. Ross ....

Dr. A. E. Matheson ....

J. S. Mackay ......

pAca
103
109
121
126
136
149

160
171
177
188
198
205
208
218
226

. ^•

»• -x

r ^ 5 3

^K - 7

* ' ."- 5

§.js;5"-i

•so

Si.

'< s

- o n ^

a" '-jfei

K y .Tit

• 3.2|

• 2 .« -'

O
>

JO
5^

O
>

y. — X P

3 ff-

■I 3 r

^^•-.■r

L — s^•

-I J! 3-n

lis?

2 3

a.. P^

3 ^

:.«

< £ • «

02
O

«- — — «<

Cesser

3 C '

? :?!

ft S • P

•5c' »5.

li'-*. ft

2 S «
^ S £ iJ S

^" ?ig

— _ 2 re
.- r - a.

ass?

c ?^-

" ■ o

I— P ^ (•

ss* ■ re "

? 2.5* re 5

■"r ^re

re !^

^2» -J J?

^ tt t: ,„ oi

• cr. ^ .-*- ***■

C2 I _•
re - £. » ^

re 2 - !i "

ft re tr ■»

K ^ ft JTS"

ft a. --St;

3 V

re • re
re - ^

3 2?;

•S:g ' P

res re
2, a.5o ^

p ' ■ "

A GROUP OF ZORRA LAWYERS, WITH A ZORRA
PROFESSOR AND TWO ZORRA GOLD-HUNTERS.

r^&^^^

i-i

■ ■-
■

3 v/

^ri

^^^^r ' ft;^

^ ' ' #"''.^^1

1
I

":- ■ . ">

^^^^^RT.'v'.

#"'" • ']

'h.

■5

1. John McCorquodale. 2. J. Sutherland MacKay. 3. John Mathetton. 4. Hu^h
Matheaon. 5. John S. MacKay. 6. Walter MacKay. 7. Hugh Morriuon. 8. James
Sutherland. 9. Prof. G. L. MacKay.

]

6. 1
9. ;
Joh

A TVl'ICAL ZORRA FAMILY OF THE CLAN MURRAY,
Consisting of father, mother and twelve children, all living except the father.

1. George Murray. 2. Mrs. Neil MacKay. 3. John R. Murray. 4. Mrs. (Judge) Crumpacker.
5. Hugh Murray. 6. Hector Murray-. 7. Mrs. A. U. Murray. 8. A. U. Murray, deceased, '92.
9. Alex. Murray. 10. Wni. Murray. 11. Mrs. W. L. M. Sackrider. 12. Donald Murray. 13. Mrs.
John Thurlow. 14. Norman Murray.

A WELL-KNOWN ZORRA FAMILY.

1. Win. B. Ferguson 2. Alexander Feivuson. 3. Hugh Ferguson. 4. Mrs. Wm.
y ' ' . —' Stewart. 5. George Ferguson. 6. Andrew Ferguson. 7. John Ferguson.

>♦

REV. DONALD MACKENZIE

KOK THlKTV-KKiHT YEAKS I'ASIttK l)K /.OKKA CHL'KCH

REV. G. MUNRO, M.A.

FOR EIGHTEEN YKAKS I'ASTOR OF ZOKRA CHURCH

KKV. K. I). SILCOX

My pastorate in Kmbro extended over fourteen of the happiest years of
my life. A more loving, devoted people I have never met.'

REV. (;. C. PATTKRSON, M.A.

I'ASTOK OK ZOKKA CoNCiKKliA TION

•'■.'.'

ZORRA BOYS

AT HOME AND ABROAD

INTRODUCTORY

By Zorra, in the following sketches, is meant
a little district in Oxford county, Ontario, some
ten miles square, composed of part of East and
part of West Zorra, and containing a population
of about fourteen hundred. It was settled about
the year 1830, chiefly by Highlanders from
Sutherlandshire, Scotland.

Within the last forty years there have gone
from this district over one hundred young men
who have made their mark in the world. With
most of these it has been the writer's good for-
tune to be personally and intimately acquainted ;
and companionship with some of them has been
to him a pleasure and a benefit. Three of them
are to-day millionaires, or within sight of that

ZORRA BOYS

coveted goal ; three are senators in the United
States ; two are presidents of colleges, one in
England and one in the United States ; one
is a professor in an American college and one
in a Canadian college; another was appointed
to a professor's chair but death intervened ; one
was a member of the Dominion Parliament, and
after him, a second ; and on his death, a third
was elected, and he is to-day a member of the
Dominion Cabinet ; one is at the head of the
largest departmental store in the world ; one is
a liberal patron of the fine arts ; one is the
most famous missionary in the world, while two
others are intimately associated with him in the
same work ; one is " Ralph Connor," the popular
author ; one is an inventor of wide reputa-
tion ; several are prominent lawyers ; two or
three dozen are physicians, and about twice that
number are clergymen. Of the latter, six have
the degree of B. A., four that of M.A., two Ph.D.,
and nine D.D.

It is not intended to include all these in the
following sketches ; this were impracticable, but
it is believed that a brief, unvarnished account

INTRODUCTORY

of the career of some of them may be an inspira-
tion, not only to the young men of Zorra to-day,
but to men everywhere struggling against diffi-
culties, and earnestly engaged in the conflict of
life. Such sketches will also be to many a pleas-
ant souvenir of early days, when

" Hearts were light as ony feather,
Free frae sorrow, care and strife."

When we speak of the boys abroad, we make
no comparison unfavorable to the boys at home,
some of whom, as we shall see, are filling high
and useful positions in the land. Still, it is the
absent one who is most frequently thought of
and spoken about, and news concerning him is
as water to a thirsty traveller.

The end of the nineteenth century finds us
living at high pressure, and engaged in a keen
competition for wealth, position or subsistence.
The indolent, the weak, the intemperate must go
under. Never were tact, push and principle
more necessary to him who would succeed in
life. In the " Zorra Boys at Home and Abroad "
we have success illustrated by example. Born
in humble though Christian homes, reared amid

4- .; - ■

ZORRA BOYS

hardships and sometimes want, they were un-
consciously trained by a stern but kind Provi-
dence in those habits of temperance, economy
and hard work which have brought them to the
front in almost every department of life.

What is success ? It is not wealth, learning
or power, although these may be included. It
is the building up of a pure, strong, noble charac-
ter. The man who overcomes selfishness, indo-
lence, wastefulness, and becomes kind, industri-
ous, frugal, is a success, though he may not
make much money, or be a great man for people
to look up to with wonder. Success has been
rightly defined as consisting in " the proper and
harmonious development of those faculties which
God has given us." The present is an intensely
materialistic age, when, in the mad rush after
gain and worldly pleasure, home life is at a low
ebb, the religious education of the young sadly
neglected, and the sanctity of the Sabbath
trampled under foot. We would seek to com-
bat this dangerous tendency of our day by
exhibiting men born and reared in homes where
God was honored, the children instructed in the

INTRODUCTORY

Scriptures, and the Sabbath observed as holy
unto the Lord and honorable. While the fol-
lowing sketches will introduce the reader to
some " boys " who have acquired considerable
wealth, yet, so far as known to the writer, they
have done it by honorable means. Their capital
has been energy, economy, tact, industry and
Christian character. Their money is not laid
up, but laid out, and their beneficence is a
benediction to many poor and needy ones. A
few of those of whom we shall speak, though
poor in material things, are rich in faith —
millionaires in qualities that go to constitute a
noble Christian life. One of them thus writes
to me : " I never enjoyed material prosperity.
The Lord saw best that I should not ; for when
I prospered financially I almost invariably suf-
fered spiritually." The example of such men,
rich or poor, is an honor to the memory of our
pioneer fathers and mothers, and ought to be an
inspiration to the young men and. women of
to-day.

Perhaps no son of Zorra would refer to the
humble circumstances surrounding his entrance

ZORRA BOYS

into life as a positive disadvantage. To the
brave, apparent hindrances are real helps. *' Ad
astra per aspera" No man was ever rocked into
a strong character in a hammock. Life is a
battle. We must conquer difficulties, or difficul-
ties will conquer us. It is with us, as with the
Highlanders in battle, when their chief called
out to them, " Lads, there they are. If ye dinna
kill them, they will kill you."

" There's always room at the top," someone
says.

"Yes," I reply, "but no man ever reached the
top sitting in a cushioned Pullman car."

Think of the early struggles of Lincoln, Grant,
Garfield. Call to mind the fact that of the seven
Dominion premiers we have had since Confed-
eration, nearly all were developed through the
struggles of early life. One was a shoemaker,
another a printer, another a stonemason, an-
other an errand boy. Self-indulgence is a
curse to anyone. The greatest misfortune that
can happen to a boy is to have all his wants
supplied without any effort on his part, so that
he grows up in a life of luxurious ease. Such a

INTRODUCTORY

misfortune did not overtake the Zorra boys, and
for that they have reason to be thankful.

In the following sketches we may occasion-
ally refer to the failings, foibles and amusing
experiences of the boys, for these are not with-
out their lessons ; but it was undoubtedly, in a
large measure.their stern Puritanical training that
sent them into the world armed against the
seductions of easy, luxurious indolence. They
were taught firmly to believe in an All-supreme
Ruler, to take the Bible as the infallible rule of
their faith and practice ; to regard every experi-
ence in life as coming from the Most High, and
to feel their responsibility to Him for every act
of life. This made them strong, devout, suc-
cessful.

" I have been," said Gladstone, " in public life
fifty-eight years, and forty-seven years in the
Cabinet of the British Government, and during
those forty-seven years I have been associated
with sixty of the master-minds of the country,
and all but five of the sixty were Christians."

So far as known to the writer, no Zorra boy
to-day is ashamed of either the porridge or the

ZORRA BOYS

; I

Catechism on which he was reared. On the
contrary, many readily testify how much they
owe to the wholesome physical and mental
pabulum of boyhood days.

The Indian motto is : " Don't walk if you can
ride ; don't stand if you can sit down ; don't sit
down if you can lie down." Different is the
motto of the typical Zorra boy : " Don't sleep
when you ought to be awake ; don't stay awake
with eyes closed and hands folded ; work with
your hand«, think with your head, and love with
your heart, and never forget that character is
capital."

If it should be objected to the following
sketches that they are partial and imperfect, in-
asmuch as I do not publish the faults of my
friends, I have only to reply that I plead guilty,
to the offence, if offence it be. There are so
many ready to point out faults, that I may be
excused if I prefer to look on the sunny side of
life.

Don't look for the flaws as you go through life,

And even when you find them
'Tis wise and kind to be somewhat blind,

And look for the virtues behind them.

INTRODUCTORY

«?

Alexander the Great had an ugly scar on his
forehead, received in battle. When an eminent
artist was requested to paint his portrait, he
said : " If I retain the scar it will be an offence
to the admirers of the monarch, and if I omit it,
it will fail to be a perfect likeness. What shall
I do?" He hit upon a happy expedient. He
sketched the monarch leaning upon his elbow
with his forefinger upon his brow covering the
scar. There was the likeness, and the scar
hidden.

Thus I would study to paint with the finger
of charity on the scar of a brother, hiding the
ugly mark, and revealing only the beautiful, the
true and the good.

P.S. — A number of these sketches originally
appeared in the Montreal Witness, and were
copied extensively by the press of the Dominion.
At the request of many friends they are now
collected, revised, and published in permanent
form.

Sketch I
JAMES WOOD;

OR, HOW A ZORRA BOY BECAME THE FOREMOST
COMMISSION MERCHANT OF CHICAGO.

Of few of her sons is Zorra more justly proud
than of James Wood, with whom we begin our
sketches of " Zorra Boys at Home and Abroad."
The accompanying engraving conveys a fair
idea of his strong, manly physique.

In stature he stands six feet two and a half
inches ; weighs two hundred and thirty pounds ;
is broad-shouldered, full-chested, straight as an
arrow, with muscles knit together like whip-
cords, and nerves like steel springs ; his grand
head well set upon massive shoulders, and
covered with a thick coat of glossy brown hair ;
his eye melting blue, his features clearly cut,
and his whole countenance beaming with the
strong manhood which it represents. Though

JAMKS wool)

COMMISSION Ml'liCllA.N 1, CIIICAC.O

.(? !

i \

I i

P '

JAMES WOOD

«f^

in the sixty-eighth year of his age, his step is
firm and elastic ; and there is a swing in his
gait which marks his movements with dignity
and energy. He is a man you cannot meet on
the street without an involuntary tribute of re-
spect to his fine presence, and a lingering look
at his manly figure, as he rapidly disappears out
of your sight on his way to his work, in the
stock yards.

From the humble log-house in Zorra to the
fashionable mansion on Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, is a long step, but James Wood has
taken it ; and he has taken it by means not less
creditable to the goodness of his heart than to
the cleverness of his head.

Canadians who visited the World's Fair in
Chicago perhaps saw few things that made a more
lasting impression upon their minds than what
they witnessed at the Union Stock Yards. This
enormous business centre includes no less than
475 acres of land, 320 of which are covered with
plank and brick flooring. These yards contain
25 miles of streets, 38 miles of water troughs, 90
miles of water pipes, and 50 miles of sewerage.

ZORRA BOYS

y I

III

The object of the yards is to furnish facilities
for marketing all kinds of live stock — cattle,
hogs, sheep, horses and goats. The value of
all animals marketed there during the year 1899,
I find, from the annual report, to be the incon-
ceivable sum of $233,711,180; while the bank
through which this enormous business is trans-
acted shows deposits of over $55o,cxx),ooo.

This vast business is transacted by about one
dozen different firms, and a Zorra boy is at the
head. The firm of Wood Brothers, with James
Wood as the leading member, stands first.

The following brief sketch of this son of Zorra
will be of interest.

He was born, January 16, 1833, in Morayshire,
Scotland ; emigrated with his parents to Canada
in 1834, and lived in Glengarry, Ont., for about
one year. He then, with the rest of his family,
moved to Zorra, and received his early education
in Embro school.

While yet little more than a boy, he was
made chaplain of the division of the Sons of
Temperance in the village. This caused him to
think seriously of his own spiritual condition.

e-i

JAMES WOOD

«••»

and his fitness to lead others in prayer. The
result was decidedly religious views, and an open
consecration of himself to God. At first he
thought of devoting himself to the Christian
ministry, and with this object in view, studied
two sessions in Knox College, Toronto. Dur-
ing this time he preached frequently and with
much acceptai. "3 to his hearers, though never to
his own satisfaction.

" How did you get along at ? " was asked

him after returning from a service in the country.
" Well, I preached about half an hour, and told
them all I knew, and a good deal I did not
know," was the frank and ready response.

But his health failed him, and he became con-
vinced that he could not stand the close confine-
ment of student life.

Leaving college, he served an apprenticeship
to coach building in London, Ont, with the firm
of Lowrie & Campbell, and in recognition of his
fidelity and efficiency his time of service was
reduced six months, and he was offered the
charge of the establishment, which, however, he
modestly declined to accept. After this he

ZORRA BOYS

worked for a time at his trade in Aylmer, Ont.
His master failed in business, and Mr. Wood,
with that energy and unselfish devotion to the
interests of his employer which has always
characterized him, got a team of horses and
peddled the unsold wagons through the country,
and in a short time had them all disposed of, to
the great relief of the owner. In this action we
see one of the secrets of success in life. The
trouble with most young men is that they never
think of doing more than they are paid for.
They don't put earnestness or enthusiasm into
their employer's work. So much work for so
much pay, is their motto. But to be appreciated,
a young man must at times show his willingness
to do more than he is paid for. To the utmost
of his ability he must make his master's interests
his own. Such men are scarce and, therefore,
sooner or later, sure of promotion.

Mr. Wood has never failed in business, and
has always promptly met every obligation when
due ; hence the great confidence placed in him
to-day by thousands who have never seen him,
and the immense business which he controls
extending into nearly State of the Union.

JAMES WOOD

We have seen that, early in life, Mr. Wood
identified himself with temperance workers, and
all his life he has practised total abstinence, not
only from drink, but from tobacco in every
form. This not only helped to make him a
strong, clean man ; but, while he was a poor
man, it greatly helped him in bu.siness by pre-
venting an unnecessary waste of money.

A young man came to a millionaire asking
for assistance to start in business.

" Do you drink ? " was the first query.

" Occasionally," was the response.

" Then stop drinking, and at the end of a year
come back and report to me."

At the end of a year the young man returned
and reported that he had not touched liquor for
the year.

" Do you smoke ? " was the next query.

" A little," was the response.

" Then stop smoking and at the end of a year
report to me."

He did so, and during the year the young
man said to a friend, " I am not going back
again, for I know what he will say to me. He

! '

ZORRA BOYS

will say, ' If you have stopped drinking and
smoking you have saved enough money to start
in business/ and I have," added he.

Ha**^^ work and a dogged determination to
succeed also help to account for this Zorra boy's
success. Genius has been defined as a capacity
for hard work. The Zorra pioneers had little
gold o» biU'ci to bequeath their children, but
they did tai.A th^m industry and frugality as
th« way t. maten,: ■ iccsss.

But niore ihan :\:.j •■ - else, early religious
training has conduced to James Wood's won-
derful business prosperity. His father was an
esteemed elder of the Church, and in his home
God was honored. James was always in his
place in church, and in the Sunday School ; first
as a scholar, and then as a teacher and superin-
tendent. He early declared his religious con-
victions, and to-day he is the main pillar of the
41st Street Presbyterian Church, Chicago ; and
his generous treatment of employees, his Chris-
tian activity, and large benefactions, are known
far beyond his own church and city.

We sometimes hear it said that high Christian

■(!■■

. /

JAMES WOOD

attainment is incompatible with great business
^uccess ; business, we are told, cannot be con-
ducted on the principles of the Golden Rule
The career of James Wood proves the contraiy,
and shows us that real Christianity, not a Phar-
'sa.cal profession of it, cannot fail to develop a
good character; and a good character is sure in
the long run, to bring a man to the front.

" Give us men !
Strong and stalwart ones ;
Men whom highest hope inspires,
Men whom purest honor fires,

Men who trample self beneath them
Men who make their country wreath them
As her noble sons.
Worthy of their sires.
Men who never shame their mothers,
Men who never fail their brothers.
True, however false are others ;
Give us men, I say again.
Give us men ! "

I \
I

f'i

Sketch II.

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND-

!'|
if;
'ill

OR, HOW A 20RRA BOY BECAME A NEW
YORK MILLIONAIRE.

In the Strong, well-defined features of the
accompanying engraving many of my readers
will recognize the full development of the stout,
sportive, muscular boy of fifty years ago. He'
was then known as Sandy Suthelan (Suther-
land), and sometimes as Sandy Benjy, to dis-
tinguish him from another Sandy in the same
neighborhood. He attended the small log
school-house built on the south-east corner of
Hugh Anderson's farm, 9th line East Zorra. This
was about a mile from his home. He says, " As
soon as I was able to walk so far, I was sent to
school, and I recollect my father driving a yoke
of oxen dragging a log after them, to make a
track for me in the snow to the school."

A. M. SUTlIKkl.AXI)

'If

i m

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

This, it may be added, was no unusual ex-
perience in those days. To get the boys of
Zorra to school, no compulsory education law
was necessary. Whatever the motive, the Zorra
pioneers highly appreciated the value of educa-
tion for both their boys and girls, and in many
cases, I have no doubt, they were strongly re-
minded of their duty by the consciousness of
their own lack of learning, until often, like their
prototypes in Drumtochty, they were willing to
live on " skim milk and oat cake, to let the
children have a chance."

In the case of Alexander Sutherland, the boy
was father of the man, and his schoolmates of
half a century ago are not surprised to read of
him to-day as one of the wealthy men, and one
of the famous inventors, of the United States,
whose business extends into almost every State
of the Union.

We remember him as the expert athlete of
the school, full of fun, apparently ready to
explode with pent-up energy, always ready for
some practical joke. When the taws could not
be found, there was a general suspicion that

ZORRA BOYS

; i

Sandy knew something about it ; when the tack,
point up, was found in the teacher's chair so
that the Dominie, suddenly sitting on it, quickly
rose with a shriek, Sandy was the boy that
didn't laugh ; when a large-sized caricature of
the teacher was pinned to the back of his coat,
the general opinion was that Sandy did it ; when
a greedy, selfish fellow forcibly took an apple
from Sandy, as he had often done before, and in
eating that apple found a mouthful of red
pepper, it was gravely suspected that Sandy put
the pepper into the apple " on purpose " ; and
when a big boy, the clown of the school, one
day suddenly doubled up and shrieked with
pain, which was found to proceed from a wasp
in his pants pocket, it was observed by the
scholars that the big boy had just previously been
wrestling with Sandy Suthelan, and suspicion
pointed to Sandy as having put the wasp in
the pocket. Sandy had a keen sense of the
ridiculous, and would tell the boys how one
spring morning when the snow was fast disap-
pearing, Andrew McKenzie, a neighboring
Highlander, thus accosted him, " Weel, Mr.
Suzzerland, I shink we're goin' to have a saw."

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

While kind-hearted enough, he was regarded
as stylish, or uppish in his manners, and too
dressy for the ordinary country Highlander of
that day. May we not here learn a lesson as to
the importance to the boy who would succeed in
life, of dressing himself neatly if not stylishly.
Boys, never be slovenly or careless in your
appearance.

I remember, also, his brother James and the
many circus tricks he could play. Standing
with one foot on the back of a horse, he would
ride as fast as the horse could run. He could
revolve at a rapid speed in the manner of a
wheel, throwing out his hands and feet for
spokes, and making his body the hub of the
wheel.

Alexander Sutherland still delights to tell of
the freaks and tricks of his early days in Zorra.
" I was," writes he, " rather a plain-looking
youth. My hair was very straight and black, and,
like all Zorra boys, I wore it long. My brother
James had brown wavy hair, and was quite a
favorite with the young ladies of our acquaint-
ance. I was determined to become so. I

'?'.v4

fii

i I

$ft

ZORRA BOYS

imagined that all I had to do to gain this end
was to get my hair curled like his. So before
going to the next party or * spree,' I was careful
to get my hair well curled. An old bachelor
friend of our family told me I looked well. (The
brute !) That night not one girl weald dance
with me, and I was puzzled. I had made the
mistake of trying to be like another. Many
keep erring all their lives in that way. I hope
the lesson was not lost upon me. In aping
another I looked neither like him nor like
myself. My mother wouldn't have known me.
Since that night I have tried always to be
real, to be myself, to be what God intended me
to be."

The old spelling match was at one time as
popular in Zorra as hockey and football are to-
day among the boys of our towns and cities, and
perhaps much more profitable. Those living on
one concession would usually be pitted against
those on another. The contest would take place
in a school-house, which was sure to be packed
to the door. The school-master, or one of the
best scholars in the neighborhood, would be

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

selected to give out the " spellings." Every old
spelling-book and every other book, from John-
son's Dictionary to Ayer's Almanac, would be
ransacked for hard words. Long and careful
preparation was made by the intending con-
testants ; and when the night came, excitement
in the district ran as high as in a modern politi-
cal election.

Each concession line was represented by fif-
teen or twenty spellers, chosen weeks before-
hand ; and as each speller scored a point against
his competitor, great was the cheering of his
friends. The excitement steadily increased as the
contestants grew fewer, and the words became
harder. Mr. Sutherland gives his experience on
one of these occasions. He says :

*' One night six of us went out to spell down
the I ith line school. We all went on horse-
back. I don't recollect all six, but Hugh Ander-
son, James Fletcher and myself were three of
them. We were good spellers, but were beaten.
One of the nth line young men gave out the
• spellings,' and exhausted several spelling
books. At last he took up an old dictionary.

ZORRA BOYS

ii<

An nth line lad and I were the last on the
floor. Soon my Waterloo came. The word
* mosquito * was given. I put an *e' at the end ;
he put two *t's' in it. We were given another
chance. I left the final 'e' off, and he spelled it
'muischetto' and won for the nth line. We
were shown the word, and it was so in the book.
I now wonder who compiled that dictionary."

But the evening's entertainment was not yet
over. One of Mr. Sutherland's party suggested
a practical joke. There was at this time a toll-
keeper on the 1 2th line below Lappin's Hotel,
who was notorious throughout the district as an
irritable, profane and extremely disagreeable
creature. On that night the boys determined
after the spelling match to have some fun with
this cross man. So all six turned out of their
way, and headed for the toll-gate, of course,
not intending to go through. After much din
they roused the crankiest fellow in the town-
ship. It was a cold night, and after 12 o'clock,
and coming out of a warm bed the man was
more than ordinarily cross. He growled at
the young men for being out so late. One of

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND.

the party asked him how much he would charge
for all six horses passing through.

" Thirty cents, you young saphead," was the
answer.

" We'll not give you more than ten," replied
the spokesman of the party.

Then began a stream of skilfully assorted
profanity which would stagger Satan. The
toll-keeper needed neither candle nor book, and
yet the Jackdaw of Rheims never heard any-
thing like it. Ordinary profanity was, as Mark
Twain would say, "rudimentary" in comparison
with it.

When he had done he was asked if he would
not let all go through for twenty cents. The
man's streng.n and vocabulary were both insuf-
ficient for the occasion, and with a panting effort
he shouted " No ! "

" Well," was the reply, " we won't go through.
Good night ! " and the boys galloped home
feeling that they had paid off some old scores.

His old Zorra chums still enjoy telling how,
one dark night, Sandy was returning home from
a "party" on the ninth line. He had to pass

ZORRA BOYS

through a piece of dark woods. Just as he
entered the dismal forest he thought he heard a
rustling among the leaves, and also saw some
black thing moving in his direction. It was a
bear, no doubt. Quick as thought, Sandy turned
and took to his heels. Soon he appeared at
the house he so recently left, pale, speechless
and almost breathless, and related, as well as he
could, his adventure. It was a pioneer sensa-
tion. Quickly every man and boy present
armed himself with some weapon ; pitchforks,
axes, spades, knives were never in greater
demand. Under the leadership of Sandy, the
excited crowd boldly marched to the spot of
danger, but Bruin was not to be found. In vain
the woods were searched through and through,
and many, as well as loud, were the challenges
given out. The Canadians at Paardeberg were
not more brave, nor half so noisy. During this
midnight hunt Sandy quietly slipped away and
went home ; and soon after it was confidently
whispered, that Sandy was only shamming, that
he had seen no bear, but just wanted to " fool
the boys."

I, r

-WBRKT

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

At the age of seventeen Mr. Sutherland was
sent to learn the grocery business with J. &
A. Clark, of Woodstock ; but here he remained
only about a year. During this time the follow-
ing amusing incident occurred. One day a raw
young lad from the country came into the store
wishing to purchase a mouth organ. The inno-
cence of the young fellow, seeking for a mouth
organ in a grocery store, struck Sutherland as
ridiculous. Keeping a serious look, he replied,
" We have none here, but if you come with me
to the next door we will perhaps get one." So
saying, Mr. Sutherland led him into a dry-
goods store, and giving a knowing wink to the
clerk, quietly asked him for a glove stretcher.
With this young Sutherland proceeded to
measure the fellow's mouth, and holding it open
the full width of his face, asked the salesman if
he thought that he had a mouth organ to fit
that. Looking very serious, the salesman an-
swered, ** I am very sorry to say we have not."
The young fellow went away, sorry he was so
hard to fit.

Leaving the grocery business, Sutherland

p>»

ZORRA BOYS

entered the West End School, Woodstock, at
that time taught by Mr. Henry Izard, of whom
Mr. Sutherland still speaks in terms of the
highest respect. In this school he chummed
with John L. Murray and Peter Nichol, both of
whom are now well-known ministers of the
Gospel.

" Many a night," says Mr. Sutherland, " into
the wee sma' hours, did John Murray and I
wrestle with Colenso's Algebra. John was a
better algebraist than I, but I was not easily
excelled in Euclid ; for I so thoroughly mas-
tered the first four books that all I needed was
the number of a proposition, and the number of
the book containing it, and I would reel it off
like ' The Chief End of Man.' "

Leaving school, Mr. Sutherland was soon en-
gaged as a bookseller's clerk with William
Warwick, of Woodstock. " This," he observes,
" saved the County of Oxford the trouble and
expense of another poor lawyer, for a lawyer is
what I aspired to be."

In the bookselling business he continued
about two years, and then started a country

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

store of his own in the village of Maxwell,
County Grey, Ont Before leaving Woodstock
his many friends honored him w*th a public
supper, where many good thing? were said and
happy predictions made concerning the am-
bitious and popular young man.

At the time of the Fenian Raid, in 1865, the
military spirit ran high in Canada, and Mr.
Sutherland showed himself a true patriot. He
got together a fine rifle company, hired a drill
sergeant, and had the men drilled at his own
expense. However, the danger was soon over,
and their services were not required. Mr.
Sutherland says of this, ** I was glad. I would
not like to see a lot of reckless fellows like the
Fenians shooting in my direction."

After this Mr. Sutherland moved to Stayner
and then to CoUingwood. Here he amassed
considerable wealth, and was well known for
his public spirit.

Selling his CoUingwood business, he with a
few friends bought 2,000 acres of very fine pine
land near Barrie. For a while the business
prospered, but suddenly, through a change in

ZORRA BOYS

the American tariff, there came a panic among
Canadian lumbermen, and Mr. Sutherland was
left without a cent in the world.

He thus writes of his experience at this time :
" So at the age of forty my entire capital con-
sisted of a good, hopeful, cheerful wife, four
dear little girls, the respect of my neighbors,
and plenty of confidence in myself."

We cannot here go into all the ups and
downs, the trials and triumphs of Mr. Suther-
land's life at this time. He purchased a large
interest in the American patent covering the
McKinnon stylographic pen, which in Canada
was worse than a failure. Mr. Sutherland,
however, set his wits to work and improved
upon it. Thus improved, he took it to New
York, landing in the great city a perfect stran-
ger, with a small brass model of the pen and a
borrowed $50. All told him his patent would
be a failure. " But I went to work," he says,
" worked night and day, and within three
months I had a good paying business. I adver-
tised extensively, and in two years and a half
I had agents all over the rest of the civilized

'wLt

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND

world, as well as in every town and city in the
United States, and did a large business.

"In less than four and a half years I made
clear of all expenses a little over $30,cxx), and
sold the business to a bookseller in the city for
$68,000 more."

But the great financial event of his life took
place fifteen years ago, when he was swindled
into wonderful success. It happened in this way :
He was induced to purchase a patent for making
illuminating gas of a high candle-power, at the
rate of ten cents per thousand feet. But though
the model worked well, nothing could make a
larger apparatus than the model work success-
fully.

After experimenting for the greater part of
two years, paying expensive men to assist him,
he gave it up. He then went to work and in-
vented another apparatus for the same purpose,
on an entirely different plan. This succeeded,
and was the beginning of a career of uninter-
rupted and wonderful prosperity.

Mr. Sutherland is to-day one of the best
known men in Wall Street, New York City.

I 'I
8 i

sssss

ZORRA BOYS

ill I

He is President of the Sutherland Construction
and Improvement Company of New York, and
president or director of half a dozen other
companies, the aggregate capital stock of
which runs into the millions, and his contracts
run into hundreds of thousands of dollars
annually.

Being asked, To what do you attribute your
success in life ? Mr. Sutherland replied : " When
I achieved any degree of success I did it by first
laying out a plan, and then with unswerving
perseverance working out that plan and no
other. Have a purpose and stick to it."

Self-reliance is a strong characteristic of this
son of Zorra. Depend on yourself, is his motto.
He writes : " Once, when a boy, I was thrown
into deep water in a river by a much older boy,
who was a good swimmer, and I was told to
swim or drown. With many awkward flounder-
ings, and much spluttering, I managed to keep
afloat half the time, till I got ashore. Ever
since that time I could swim.

" Apart from that time I have never gained
anything by taking other people's advice, unless

ll^

Ws SI!

ALEXANDER M. SUTHERLAND 41

it was medical advice, and that wasn't right half
the time."

Mr. Sutherland speaks with gratitude of his
Christian parents and his religious home train-
ing, and concludes with these words, so important
to every young man to-day : « I have noticed
that those who have come nearest to living up to
the Golden Rule have been the most uniformly
successful, both as to character and competence."

Sketch III
PROF. HENRY JOHN CODY, M.A.;

OR, HOW A ZORRA BOY BECAME A COLLEGE PROFESSOR.

What George Howe, the lad o' pairts, was
to Drumtochty, Henry John Cody is to Zorra ;
and no more proud were the Drumtochtyites of
George than the Zorraites are of Henry John.
They point to the brilliant scholar of the uni-
versity, and the learned professor of Wyclifife
College, Toronto, and assure the visitor that he
is every inch of him a Zorra boy. True, Henry
John has some Sassenach blood in his veins, but
he is of good Gaelic stock, nevertheless ; and
although he is an Episcopal and doesna' gang to
the kirk, this arises from too much affection fo
his mother's religion, and so the Celts of Zorra
love him none the less.

H. J. Cody is the eldest son of Elijah Cody,

liv

PROF. HENRY JOHN CODY

of Embro, whose mother's maiden name was
Johanna Sutherland, and who was born in Gol-
spie, Sutherlandshire. His mother's name was
Margaret Louisa Torrance, a descendant from a
good Dublin family, and a member of the
Church of England.

He was born in Embro on December 6th,
1868. Among his early teachers were Hugh
Morrison, now a barrister in Lucknow, and
George Jamieson, now Dr. Jamieson, of Lone
Rock, Wisconsin, U.S.

Of these Prof. Cody says : " Two more accurate
and helpful teachers it would be hard to find. I
am sure that many of the boys received their
first impulse toward a general love of literature
and history from the suggestive and broad teach-
ing of these men."

These were the days of spelling matches, his-
tory matches, geography matches, and public
school debate^, when every library in the village,
public and private, was ransacked for the desired
information. The annual public examination,
with its recitations, prizes, etc., formed one of the
great events of the year. All this was very

^•t

ZORRA BOYS

stimulating to the keen, precocious mind of
young Cody.

New and improved methods of teaching were
beginning to be introduced, although the rod
was still in evidence, and there were many now
happily defunct methods of exercising discip-
line. Being made to stand on one foot, or sit
between two girls, or wear a fool's cap, were
some of these. Perhaps the most memorable
one was that called " sitting on nothing." You
were against the wall and had to put your foot
out to a certain line, almost a foot and a half
from the wall, and then put your back straight
against the wall. The result was sitting on
nothing, and the spectacle of half a dozen boys
poised thus against the wall was ludicrous
enough.

The annals of Embro inform the stranger that
in 1880 the first group of scholars from the vil-
lage school went up to Woodstock to write on
the comparatively new entrance examination to
the High School, that all the applicants were
successful, and that for years the Embro school
headed the county list, to the great pride of the
villagers.

7 I ^

PROF. HENRY JOHN CODY

Young Cody had a brilliant literary career.
In 1 88 1 he went to Gait Collegiate Institute,
which he attended for four years, preparing for
matriculation examination in the university.
The holidays were, of course, spent at his home
in Embro.

In 1885 he matriculated into the University
of Toronto with first-class honors in classics,
mathematics and modern languages, and win-
ning four schola»*ships — the classical, modern
languages. Prince of Wales and general profi-
ciency — perhaps as high honors as were ever
won by any student on a similar occasion. His
university career, thus auspiciously begun, was
pursued with fidelity and marvellous success.
He took to Latin and Greek like a duck takes
to water. The records show that in the first
year he won the classical, modern language and
general proficiency scholarships ; in the second
year, the general and modern languages scholar-
ships, the medal for general proficiency, and first-
class honors in logic, metaphysics and ethics ;
and so on till the fourth or final year, when he
swept the boards, coming out without a peer,

•'l

Ifi

ZORRA BOYS

having captured the McCaul gold medal in
classics, first-class honors in metaphysics, the
prize for best English essay, and other high
honors. The like of it had never been known
before, said a Zorra man.

His high attainments entitled him to a fellow-
ship in classics at the University, but instead of
taking it he accepted the appointment of Classi-
cal Master in Bishop Ridley College, St.
Catharines.

After holding this post for some time he
returned to Toronto, and completed his theolo-
gical course at Wycliffe College. He was after-
wards appointed to the chair of Church History
in this college, where he is at present. He is
also examiner in classics at the University of
Toronto, as well as lecturer in Latin.

Last autumn he was appointed rector of St.
Paul's Church, Toronto, one of the most impor-
tant and beautiful Anglican places of worship in
the city. Since his installation the congregation
has made wonderful prog»jss, and recently a
large addition was made to the church edifice to
accommodate the increasing numbers of wor-

PROF. HENRY JOHN CODY

shippers. At the dedication meeting, on April
2 1st, 1900, his Lordship the Bishop of Toronto
attributed a great deal of the success of the con-
gregation to the unusual abilities, earnestness
and energy of character and the great personal
charm of manner of Prof. Cody. At the same
meeting one of the leading laymen of Toronto
described him as an able minister, who presented
the simple gospel truths and who did not indulge
in fantastic ceremonies, or in the presentation
of strange doctrines. In April, 1900, he was
selected as the representative of Wycliffe Col-
lege to the great Ecumenical Missionary Con-
ference held in New York.

Surely this son of Zorra reflects no little credit
on his native township.

It will be interesting to trace some of the early
influences which helped to make Prof Cody the
man he is. Being asked to state these influences
he replied as follows :

" I. The reverent observance of the Lord's
Day. In my own experience that day was
never made dreary or oppressive ; but everyone
really believed that the Lord's Day had some

<»

ZORRA BOYS

decided authority, and could not lightly be dis-
regarded. That feeling lasts and does a man
good as long as he lives.

" 2. The great amount of Scripture memorized
in those days. I am astonished when I recall
what feats we accomplished in this respect.

" 3. The stimulating character of the general
religious atmosphere of both the village and
township. Any boy who chose could have had
the opportunity of hearing profound and earnest
theological discussions carried on at all sorts of
odd times.

" I remember on the occasion of the re-union of
the professional men of Zorra, at the garden
party held on the grounds of the late Donald
Matheson, hearing Dr. George Duncan and the
Rev. John Ross, of Brucefield, arguing ingeni-
ously on the subject of election. Each had, as he
thought, an impregnable position, and remained
in it, fearing to sally forth lest he might be taken
captive by his opponent. Dr. Duncan kept
asking, ' Did not Jesus taste death for every
man?' and Mr. Ross kept replying, 'Jesus
will have every man for whom he died.' The

PROF. HENRY JOHN CODY

theologian, at least, will appreciate the caution
of the contestants.

" 4. The establishing of the public library at
Embro, under the care of Capt. Alex. Gordon,
was one of the most helpful and stimulating in-
fluences c ' my early days. To that library I
owe personally a great debt of gratitude. Here
were carried on, almost nightly, the discussions
— political, religious, literary — in which the genial
captain. Dr. Ross, Wm. Stewart, my father (if it
was a political discussion) and others displayed
marvellous dexterity, as well as great breadth
of information.

" 5. The spirit of sturdy independence, and a
reliance, under God, upon one's own persistent
efforts, could not fail to be helpful to any young
man. Any success I have ever met in life has
been, by God's blessing, due to downright hard
work.

" The general early training of Zorra boys in
plain living, and a reasonable degree of high
thinking, made them self-reliant, resourceful, and
determined to push forward.

" Some of my most amusing recollections of

ZORRA BOYS

old Zorra days are connected with political and
other public meetings. Of course their political
meetings were tremendously one-sided, as a
solid phalanx of Reform voters usually filled the
hall. But the few Conservatives in Embro were
all the more resolute and vigorous in their cham-
pionship of John A. and his doings. There was
a time, I think, when the only copy of the Mail
which came to Embro post-office was that which
my father took.

" I cannot close without paying a warm tribute
to the splendid influence, intellectual and moral,
of the various clergymen who ministered in
Embro in my time — the Rev. Gustavus Munro,
M.A., the Rev. John Salmon, M. A., and the Rev.
E. D. Silcox." ' ■

]\'

i«

C.EORGE MACKAV

iU:

Sketch IV

GEORGE MACKAY;

OR, THE YOUTHFUL STANDARD-BEARER.

If SO far in these sketches I have said little
directly of the religious life of some of Zorra's
young men, it has certainly not been because
of scarcity of good material. But having in
" Pioneer Life in Zorra " dwelt largely upon this
aspect of the life of the district, I did not wish
to repeat myself here, though the task was
tempting enough.

In this sketch, however, I present a few things
concerning the religious life and the triumphant
death of a young man of lofty purpose and
noble character, who was early called to his
reward, but whose memory will long be fragrant
in Zorra.

George Mackay was born on May 27th, 1856.

ZORRA BOYS

He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Mac-
kay, and was one of a family of eight, seven
sons and one daughter. Four of the sons were
dedicated to the ministry of the Presbyterian
Church. His brothers, Hugh Mackay, of Broad-
view, N.W.T., and Angus Mackay, of Lucknow,
Ont., are well-known ministers to-day. His
brother William died in i8ii.

George, like all Zorra boys, received his prim-
ary education in the district school.

After attending for some time the High
School at St. Mary's, he went to Upper Canada
College, and entered Toronto University in

1874-

In the summer of 1875 he taught school and

preached a few times. In February, 1 876, he con-
tracted a heavy cold, which brought on pleurisy,
and necessitated his leaving college and seek-
ing rest at home. Thinking that a trip across
the ocean might benefit him, his father took
him in the month of June to visit friends in
Scotland. While there he gained some strength,
but on returning, got overheated in Montreal,
drank too freely of cold water, suffered a relapse,

GEORGE MACKAY

I 7

and scarcely reached his home when he was
stricken with typhoid fever, and after an illness
of ten days passed away on August 25th, 1876,
in the twenty-first year of his age.

Young in years, he was ripe in grace, and is
it not natural for the ripe fruit to fall ? Young
or old, have they not run long enough who have
reached the goal and won the prize ?

Some of George Mackay's letters and death-
bed sayings have been preserved. Though
never hitherto published, I venture to say they
would do no discredit to John Newton or
Robert Murray McCheyne, if published along-
side their wonderful words. Such clear views
of evangelical truth, such depth of Christian
experie.ice, and such an all-absorbing spirit of
devot on, combined with deep tenderness and
humility, are seldom found in one so young.

On August 3rd, 1874, in a letter to his bro-
ther Hugh, who had recently entered the Chris-
tian ministry, he says :

" Dear Hugh, — I suppose you will be think-
ing that I ought to be more mindful of you than
I have been since I left you in Toronto, but I

ZORRA BOYS

must say that I am kept so busy that I can
scarcely get time to do anything but work,
work. I mean phy^Mcal labor. However, I can
assure you, that whci^. I come in from work
every night, perhaps very tired and wearied out
after a hard day's toil, I never forget to call you
and your work to mind, and to present the
desires of my heart to our common Father in
heaven, that prosperity may accompany your
labors, and that you may indeed feel the assist-
ance of His Holy Spirit directing y^u in all
things. Dear Hugh, I often think what a
responsible position yours is, and the great
account you will have to render at the final day
of retribution. Oh, the need of being closely
united to the true Vine from which you may
draw enough to supply all your need ! "

Writing to his mother from Toronto, he
makes reference to the recent marriage of his
sister as follows :

" My Dear Mother,— ■ am sure you will be
feeling a little lonely since Tena left you ; and
who can blame you, for we can all testify that
she has been to you a kind and dutiful daughter ;

■

/ ,

GEORGE MACKAY 55

and the fact of her being separated from you,
to become more closely connected with an-
other, cannot but leave an aching void which
can only be filled by daily intimacy with the
Friend who has promised that His kindness shall
never fail. We need not expect to have earthly
friends who shall last us all our lifetime. Those
who are our most intimate companions to-day
may to-morrow forsake us. But I hope you
will enjoy spiritual life more than ever, and seek
to devote all the health and strength God may
see fit to grant you, in His own service and to
His own glory. I think you have been a Martha
long enough ; turn a new leaf now and become
a Mary. You will realize more happiness in
old age than you have done hitherto, by ascend-
ing betimes, with the eye of faith, the heights of
Pisgah, and viewi-g the beautiful homr, bright
and fair, that lies beyond the Jordan. I hope
you are all well. Give my regards to father
and all, and believe me to be,

" Your loving son,

" George."

ZORRA BOYS

Under date " Knox College, Toronto, Janu-
ary 24th, 1875," he writes to a cousin about
whose spiritual interest he felt much concern.
He says : " Oh, if there is anything that rejoices
my heart, and gives me moments of true happi-
ness, it is to see one whom I love becoming a
lover of the Saviour, and thus enjoying the
same happiness, partaking of the same fulness
of love and grace, and above all, cherishing the
same blessed prospect of eternal bliss as myself.
I have made trial both of the world and of
Christ, and oh, what a contrast ! Alas ! that I
should have filled out fifteen long years to no
purpose, satisfying self and Satan, when all my
time was ^ue to Him who died that I might
live. Alas ! that I should have so long lived on
the husks of the world, when in the Father's
house there was plenty and to spare, Ala*^ I
that I should have lived naked and destitute of
raiment, when during all these long years Jesus
was offering to me the spotless robe of His own
righteousness.

" Oh, if you have not yet received Christ into
your heart, let me entreat you as one who loves

GEORGE MACKAY

, S

your soul, to receive Him now ; and then you
will have something for m'! 'ch to live, and when
life's battle is ending, and you are about to
exchange the mortal for the immortal, you can
sing—

' I'll soon be at home over there,
Por the end of my journey I see ;
Many dear to my heart over there
Are waiting and watching for me.' "

His last illness, as already indicated, was short
in duration, but it was very rich in Christian
experience and testimony.

To his father, who was sitting beside his bed,
he said :

" Oh, father, you have been so good to me.
You have done so much for me, and i have been
so bad to you." He then address' his Father
in heaven and said : " I will ask God's forgive-
ness first. Fither^ I have sinned against Heaven
and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son ; make me as one of thy servants."
After praying to God for some time in this
manner, he turned again to his earthly father,
and confessed his many sins to him. "Oh, father,
I have been so stubborn, strong-headed and

ZORRA BOYS

self-willed. I have disobeyed you so often. Will
you forgive me, father?" The father assured
him he had nothing hard against him in his
mind, but if he had done anything ill, he had
forgiven him long ago. He then burst forth in
expressions of gratitude to God for such a
father. In speaking about himself he expressed
deep humility, and his utter unworthiness of any
of the least of God's mercies. " Oh, the love of
God," he said, " Christ dying for sinners, poor
lost sinners, Christ dying for worms ! What an
ocean of love is seen here. May we all, blessed
Saviour, be drinking largely out of this ocean
which is free to the vilest sinner."

Observing his sister standing beside the bed,
he said : " Oh, sister, do not rest one moment
satisfied without a real union with Christ. I do
not know but that you knew Jesus long before
I did ; but do not rest until you are sure of a
real union — a lasting union e listing between your
soul and Chr.'st. Do not rest satisfied with an
outward confession of sins, but may the blessed
work of the Spirit be carried on to perfection
within your soul. Walk in the ways of love,

•A

GEORGE MACKAY

>i^

joy, peace, long-suffering, meekness, holiness and
truth, for these are the fruits of the Spirit."

At another time he spoke to his sister Tena
alone, and said : " Remember, dear sister, that in
times of prosperity you need to be very watch-
ful. You are very apt then to set your heart on
the things of time and sense. You are apt to
be allured from the straight and narrow path,
and to forget your God. You require more
grace at such times to keep your heart. Do not
let anything here have the room in your heart
that Christ should have. I believe God will be
with you, and keep you, and preserve you. I
trust 3^ou are united to the Lord Jesus Christ by
living faith, and that He will never leave
you, nor forsake you."

At another time, speaking about growth in
grace, he said : " I believe decidedly we ought to
be making progress in the divine life every day
we live. We ought to be getting closer to God
in love and likeness every day." He then
repeated the verse : " Nearer, my God, to Thee."

He often mourned over how little he had
done for Jesus. On one of these occasions, he

i; '!

ZORRA BOYS

said : " Have we not enlisted as soldiers under
thy banner, the blood-red banner of King
Emanuel, and should we not be doing some-
thing? Is it possible that there is one idle
soldier in the army ? There are precious souls
perishing around us, and so many millions
throughout the world. Should we not try to
rescue the perishing? We have even many
friends and relatives who are far from Christ.
Let us speak to them lovingly, and try to win
them by love that we may give them no
offence."

On one occasion he repeated a verse that his
cousin John gave him, and seemed to be greatly
pleased with it. It was Ps. xliii. 5 : " Why art
thou cast down, O my soul ? And why art thou
disquieted v thin me? Hope thou in God: for I
shall yet praise him, who is the health of my
countenance, and my God."

*' John gave me that verse," said he. He then
prayed for him, and afterwards for all the family,
that God would bless them, and make them a
blessing to others. He spoke some time about
, who had infidel views. " Oh," he said, " he

GEORGE MACKAY

has such good natural qualities ; he seems to be
so meek, kind and agreeable ; I feel so sorry
that he should hold such views. To live without
God and die without hope is too awful to think
of. I often thought I would write him a letter,
but I could never get courage to do so. I hope
he may yet be brought into a knowledge of the
truth. May God bless all the family."

Seeing his brothers and sisters standing
around him weeping, he exclaimed : " Do not
shed a tear for me. I love you all ; you are so
good to me, but I would rather depart and be
with Christ, which is far better than to remain
with the nearest and dearest friends here. Our
light afflictions are but for a moment, and work
out for us an exceeding and eternal weight of
glory."

He often prayed for patience to bear his
trouble, and to be resigned to the will of God.
On one occasion he said : '* I pray not that thou
wouldst take me out of this affliction, but that
thou wouldst give me grace that 1 may b;iar it
patiently." Again he said : " For my part I
would rather go, but for your sakes 1 would like

ZORRA BOYS

to stay." He then gave some reasons for wish-
ing to go, enumerating a list of the qualities of
this earth, and also a list of the qualities of the
"home over there," and told his friends to
contrast the two.

Speaking to his father about faith in God, he
said : " Would it not be dishonoring to you, if I
would not believe you ? It would be mean and
unworthy. So it must be very dishonoring to
God not to believe what He says. I do think
unbelief is the great sin."

At one time he repeated very emphatically: " I
would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my
God than dwell in the tents of sin for a season,"
and then, as if addressing David, he said: "Well
might you say that, David. I would rather be
a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
dwell in the palaces A sin."

On another occasion he repeated the first
verse of the thirteenth chapter of Zechariah, and
asked : " What did the clause ' To the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem '
mean?" It was explained to him that this
indicated provision made in Christ for the king

I**- \

GEORGE MACKAY

and for the common people, high and low, rich
and poor. He was greatly pleased with the
explanation, and requested that the whole
chapter be read to him.

To his aunt, who was attending him, and to
v^hom he many times expressed his gratitude
for her .,reat kindness, he remarked that she
looked so much like his dear mother, who had
died two years before, and then added : "Auntie,
is it not right that we should use every means
in our power to induce our friends and relatives
who are far from Christ, to come to Him ? "

" Oh, Tena," said he to his sister, " what an
awful thing it will be if even one of our family
will be lost in the great day."

As the end drew near the pearly gate seemed
to stand ajar, and he had a transporting vision
of the Golden City. " Oh, the glory ! " he ex-
claimed, "of the heavenly land. It passes our
finite comprehension. The great things that
God hath prepared for us, eye hath not seen nor
ear heard, nor mind conceived, but," continued
he, his countenance glowing with celestial
radiance, " these things are not unknown to us

ZORRA BOYS

even here, for God hath revealed them to us by
His Spirit."

Of few are the following lines more descrip-
tive than of George Mackay :

"E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be till I die.

"Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I'll sing Thy power to save.
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue
Lies silent in the grave."

i^ "^z

i^HiiiiiiMi^

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

1.0

I.I

l^|2£ 12.5

|5o ""^ M^H

" lis 1110

2.2

1-25 III! 1.4

IllllJi^

•> .>>'

Hiotographic

Sciences

Corporation

23 WfST MAIN STREiT

WEBSTER, N.Y. I4S80

(716) 873-4503

THOMAS ADAMS

Sketch V

THOMAS ADAMS;

OR, THE GREAT SHIPOWNER OF DETROIT.

A ZORRA boy who dearly loves the old town-
ship, and whose great delight it is royally to
entertain any of its people who give him the
opportunity, is Mr. Thomas Adams, of Detroit.
In a recent letter to the writer, he says : " The
impressions made upon my young mind during
the years I spent in Zorra, by contact with the
practical, persevering, industrious and self-deny-
ing character of the people of that time, have
been my ideal through life ; and to my Zorra
education I attribute in great measure what
success I have attained. Young men. whether
remaining in their Zorra homes, or casting their
lot in strange lands, will comir.'t no mistake
in making Zorra ethics of the forties their

standard."

5 65

ZORRA BOYS

Providence has been kind to Mr. Adams, en-
trusting him with a large amount of this world's
goods, and seldom has wealth been committed
to more worthy hands. A total abstainer, in-
dustrious, thrifty and God-fearing, success in
business was assured him from the start. At
first he worked for a time in Col. Dent's distil-
lery, Embro ; but he soon concluded that
making whiskey was not the work for him.

The event that brought him to this conclu-
sion is worthy of note. A companion and fel-
low-worker had recently moved from the dis-
tillery in Embro to that in Stratford. One
morning he was found dead under circumstances
that clearly indicated that he fell a victim to
strong drink. Notice of his death reached
Embro on Saturday, and he was to be buried
the following Sunday. Thomas Adams, along
with John Cody, Michael and Edward Brophy,
and a few other young men, started early Sun-
day morning and walked from Embro to Strat-
ford and back, thirty-two miles, in order to
attend the funeral. The funeral service was
conducted by the late Rev. Thomas McPherson,

THOMAS ADAMS

who took occasion faithfully to admonish his
hearers against intemperance, and quoted the
scripture warning, " No drunkard shall inherit
the kingdom of God." The sermon was a
searching one, and together with the mournful
occasion, made a deep impression on the minds
of the young men from Embro. " On the way
home," says Mr. Adams, " we discussed the
whole matter, and some of us pledged ourselves
to have nothing more to do either with the
making or selling of whiskey. This determina-
tion in no small degree shaped my future career.
Next day I informed my master that I was
leaving the whiskey business. He tried hard to
laugh me out of such a * foolish notion,' as he
called it ; but he did not succeed, and to my
firm decision on that occasion I trace, in a large
measure, my success in life."

Leaving Embro, he went to Buffalo, where he
worked as a day laborer. His wages were very
small, but from the first he determined to lay
aside a little for the rainy day — an example to
the young men of to-day.

From Buffalo he went to Detroit, where he

ZORRA BOYS

(J-

apprenticed himself to a brass-founder, named
Silas N. Kendrick. Mr. Kendrick was a man of
generous spirit, and the relation between master
and servant was a peculiarly happy one. Mr.
Adams writes : " My apprenticeship agreement
with him was for forty cents a day for the first
year, sixty cents per day for the second, and
seventy-five cents for the third. Th*; second
month of the first year I was paid fifty cents per
day to the end of that year, at which time I re-
minded Mr. Kendrick of the beginning of the
second year, expecting to be paid the sixty cents,
according to the original agreement. He replied,
* After working hours this evening, come to the
office.' I expected to get a good fatherly talk-
ing to as well as the sixty cents per day. Well,
I got the first, after which he said : * Thomas,
how much do you think you are worth to me ? '
I replied, ' I wish I was worth one dollar a day
to you.* After a few moments of silence the
cheering reply came, ' Thomas, you are worth it,
and you shall be paid it.' That moment,"
continues Mr. Adams, " inspired me with richer
feelings than any event of subsequent years."

THOMAS ADAMS

Well would it be to-day if all masters and
servants practised the golden rule like Kendrick
and Adams.

Having served his apprenticeship, Mr. Adams
continued to work with Mr. Kendrick as a
journeyman until he was, through his industry
and thrift, in a position to start in business for
himself.

Selling out the brass works, he, ^.'th two
others, purchased an interest in a sailing vessel.

Then as financial conditions justified, the
company went on, purchasing and building, until
their fleet consisted of nine steam and sail crafts,
sailing between Duluth and Cleveland, Buffalo,
etc. At present Mr. Adams is sole owner of the
steamship Adams, capable of carrying one hun-
dred thousand bushels of corn, or three thousand
tons of ore or coal, and the contract building
price of which was $132,000.

Mr. Adams has a retentive memory, and he
delights to relate the incidents and experiences
of " Auld Lang Syne," some of which we will
here give. Speaking of the kind, self-sacrificing
spirit which so generally characterized the

ZORRA BOYS

pioneer fathers, he says : " No one could be
more earnest in that direction than Mr. J. Cody,
father of Mr. E. Cody, of Embro, who, when the
village doctor refused to personally administer
relief to cholera-stricken sufferers, did all that
lay in his power for them, knowing well the
danger involved. The exposure resulted in his
death ; he laid down his life for others. He was
as great a hero, and showed as much moral
courage, as any Canadian lad whose blood has
drenched African soil."

Mr. Mervin Cody, brother of John Cody, now
living near Sarnia, in the eighty-fifth year of his
age, enjoying the calm evening of a religious
life, forms a link connecting the present and the
past Zorra. " Some few years ago he favored
me," says Mr. Adams, " with a social call. Our
conversation turned upon those of Embro who
had gone to their eternal rest. In our minds we
started on a walk through Commissioner Street,
which was then, in 1844, all there was of the
village. Beginning at Mr. Laycock's mill, we
questioned ourselves about as follows : ' Where
was Mr. Laycock ? ' Answer, ' Dead.' * Where

THOMAS ADAMS

was Theron iHallock ? ' Answer, ' Dead.' And
so on through the street. Asa Saunder, John
D. Dent, John Cody, Donald Mackay, Mr. Rust,
big and little Angus Mackay, Walsh, Taft,
Gordon, John Mackay, Young and others whom
I cannot now call to mind, all dead ; very few
of that period now remain.

" Boys then, as now, were sometimes unmind-
ful of the exclusive rights of owners to their oWn
melon patches. That indiscrimination led to a
raid by some Embro boys on a bright moon-
light night, about eleven o'clock, on Mr. Mervin
Cody's melon patch, near the barn. Just as
they were about to help themselves to the
melons a dim light was seen in the barn. Sub-
sequently a voice was heard in prayer. The
boys scampered and remained hid in and behind
the shed, until Mr. Cody had gone from the barn
to the house. A consultation was then held by
the boys, with the resolve that Mr. Cody's
melons, under the circumstances, were not the
kind of melons they wanted, and they returned
to Embro, not with the melons, but with a good
lesson that in after years, I am constrained to

Kxiiam n \ mK >>4mfrrvmim

Ma-jiL-iyitiJi

•<ni«

ZORRA BOYS

think, bore good fruit. A few weeks after the
attempted raid, Mr. Cody was in Embro. On
learning this the boys in a body met him in his
brother's blacksmith shop, all feeling guilty, and
related to him the whole episode. In his good
nature he had a hearty laugh over it, and gave
the boys a little wholesome advice, telling them
that they were welcome to go in the day time
and help themselves to his melons or to the
fruit in his orchard."

GEORGE N. MATHESON

Sketch VI

GEORGE N. MATHESON ;

OR, A ZORRA BOY A PATRON OF THE FINE ARTS.

The educational power of fine painting is very
great. One of the earliest and most lasting im-
pressions of the writer's life was from the read-
ing of the story of the artist and his two pictures.
One* day, so the story ran, as the artist was
abroad, he saw a very beautiful child, and for
fear that he might never again see so lovely a
face, he at once painted its portrait. This pic-
ture he hung up in his study, and the beautiful
countenance cheered him in his work, as from
day to day he delighted to gaze upon it. He
resolved that if ever he had the opportunity he
would paint its opposite, and hang the two pic-
tures side by side by way of contrast. For a
long time he could find no face ugly enough,

ZORRA BOYS

I f

U i

but at last he found it in a hardened wretch con-
fined for life in a prison cell. There in his gallery
hung the pictures ; the one a lovely innocent
child, the other a hardened, profligate criminal.
Imagine the painter's astonishment when he
learned that the two pictures were of the same
person. Vice had transformed the innocent
child into the hardened criminal. The lesson
was not lost upon me, and I remember well how
the description impressed my youthful mind
with the awful possibility for good or evil that
lies before every young person.

Recently I spent a delightful hour in the art
gallery of a Zorra boy, and the following lines
are written with the hope that they may be
interesting and helpful to my young readers.

Perhaps no finer collection of original paint-
ings is possessed by any private individual in
the province than that of which George N.
Matheson, of Sarnia, is the happy possessor.
This collection is very valuable, and it has re-
ceived flattering notices from the press of both
Canada and the United States, and from many
prominent artists and art dealers.

i ' ;

1:1

GEORGE N. MATHESON

Mr. Matheson is a son of the late Mr. Donald
Matheson, of Embro, who for many years repre-
sented the County of Oxford in the Dominion
Parliament, and the son is characterized by the
same suavity of manner that so distinguished
his honored father. He has been for many years
collector of customs in Sarnia, and two large
rooms of the customs building are devoted to
his collection of paintings.

Calling on him, I was received with that
cordiality with which one Zorra boy always
receives another. Having talked over old
times, I expressed a desire to see his collection
of the fine arts. He was delighted to comply
with my request. Entering the room, the first
thing to attract the attention is an original paint-
ing by Byron Webb, its size being seven by
five feet. It exhibits a mountain scene with
a stag and some Scotch deerhounds. Just
opposite this picture, on the other side of the
room, is an Italian scene, by Claude Lorraine.
The frame of this picture alone cost two hundred
and fifty dollars. At the end of the room is a
painting thought to be the work of the great

ZORRA BOYS

Rubens, entitled "The Discomfiture of Achilles."
It is a magnificent representation of the well-
known classical romance in which Achilles, in
the disguise of a female, seeks to interview the
ladies of the Court of Lycomedes, King of the
Scyros. Lycomedes suspects his guest, and sets
a trap to catch Achilles. He puts in one part
of the room a basket filled with the most
beautiful jewelry, beads, bracelets, rings, etc.
Near by he places a warrior's helmet, and then
watches which would attract the attention of his
guest. The picture represents Achilles paying
no attention to the gew-gaws, but greatly
interested in the helmet. Thus he gave himself
away, and thus the old writer, as well as the
painter, teach us that male and female differed
in their tastes three thousand years ago much as
they do to-day.

Lying on a table in this room is a folio of
immense proportions, being no less than 33 by
23 inches. It was published in 1790, and con-
tains a large number of pictures by Royal
Academy artists, illustrating scenes in Shake-
speare. The author's name is Boydell. Along-

GEORGE N. MATHESON

side this lie the complete works of Hogarth.
This artist was born in 1697, and his works con-
sist of a great variety of engravings representing
life under different aspects. One that especially
struck me was a series of paintings representing
the various steps in the downward career of a
beautiful country girl. She came to the city
blooming and beautiful as a fragrant rose ; but
yielding to temptation, she sank lower and
lower, till her emblem became, not the rose in its
fragrant beauty, but the flower as it sometimes
clings to its stem after the autumn frosts have
done their work — decayed, putrid and loath-
some.

" Mr. Matheson," I asked, " what started you
in the line of fine arts ? "

" Well," was the smiling reply, " I think I was
born with some taste for the old and the beauti-
ful ; but it was a mere accident that led to the
development of that taste that now, alone in old
age, furnishes me so much enjoyment. I was
living in Sandwich, and wished to get a watch-
chain of a special design. I called at one of the
jewellers' shops and told them what I wanted.

)

ZORRA BOYS

It f

The man informed me that there were no chains
of that pattern manufactured, and the only man
he knew who could make one was a jeweller
named Thomas Miles, who lived at Port Huron.
One day, being in Port Huron, I saw this man's
sign, walked in, and met a little old Irishman,
who had at one time been a court jeweller.
Then and there began a friendship that lasted
till death " did us part." The old man was a
connoisseur in arts, and the possessor of a fine
lot of pictures."

Here Mr. Matheson, with all the glowing en-
thusiasm of the ancestral Highlander, exhibited
to me his family crest, wrought out of solid gold
by the little Irishman of Port Huron. It con-
sisted of a cock perched on a pedestal, richly
draped, and attached to a long pin, all of solid
gold. On the pedestal is inscribed the family
motto, " Face et spera " (Work and hope).

Looking towards a quiet part of the room my
eye rested on the beautiful picture of her who,
for the short period of nine years, shared with
Mr. Matheson the joys and sorrows of life. Her
memory is still cherished and her elevating in-
fluence still felt.

GEORGE N. MATHESON

George N. Matheson was born in Embro in
1835. In the eighteenth year of his age he left
home for Hamilton to see Mr. Brydges, in order
to get a situation on the G. W. Railway. " I
went," he says, "by the last stage that ever
drove between Woodstock and Hamilton ; I
returned by train, and I sold the first railway
ticket ever sold in Woodstock." In 1856 he
entered the customs in Paris, thence he was pro-
moted to Woodstock and Point Edward. Since
1874 he has occupied his present position of
great trust and responsibility.

His memory of boyhood days in Zorra is
vivid. He loves to talk of old neighbors and
friends — the Guns, the Gordons, the Hodgkin-
sons, the Youngs, the Kennedys and the Con-
nors.

He speaks of the late Rev. Mr. Mackenzie in
terms of the warmest affection. " I have heard,"
said he, " of my old pastor being charged with
neglecting the spiritual interests of the young ;
but there is no truth in the charge.

" Well do I remember the little log building
where the Sabbath School was held, and where

ZORRA BOYS

Mr. Mackenzie taught me the catechism. Dur-
ing the summer months, every Sabbath evening,
Mr. Mackenzie taught a Bible-class in the
church."

Mr. Matheson speaks kindly even of his old
public school teachers — John Cameron, Lachlan
Macpherson, Nicholson, and John Ross. "These
men were stern, and made a liberal use of burnt
leather ; but they and others thought they were
doing their duty. The age was a stern one.
Soldiers were whipped in the army, prisoners in
the jails, children in their homes, and why
should they not be in the school ? I got many
a sound thrashing, but I cherish no ill-will to the
thrasher. He was faithfully doing that for
which he was paid, and perhaps it did me good.
It was a part of my early discipline."

]

^^^^^^^^I^H

I ja ! 1 , ..iii.-Vir,.,.,,, , ■ 1

f ^ 1

■

HON. 1). MACKAY

Sketch VII

HON. DONALD MACKAY ;

OR, HOW A ZORRA BOY BECAME A U. S. SENATOR.

The career of Donald Mackay affords us a
fine illustration of a Christian man retaining his
integrity even in politics. " Politics," says one,
" are so corrupt you cannot touch them without
being defiled ; better have nothing to do with
them." But such reasoning is neither Christian
nor courageous. A Christian can be a Christian
anywhere, and so long as politics are necessary
to the maintenance of the State, it is the duty of
the Christian to take part in them ; Joseph
remained pure amid the defilements of Egypt ;
Daniel maintained his integrity and lived a
noble and honored life amid the debasements
which surrounded him in the Babylonian court ;
Obadiah feared the Lord greatly, and lived a life
6 8i

ZORRA BOYS

of purity and virtue, though surrounded by in-
fluences as corrupting as ever encompassed any
man ; Manaen, though he had in his boyhood as
his companion one of the Herods, those mon-
sters of iniquity, yet arose to be an honored
teacher in the church at Antioch; uncongenial as
was the atmosphere in Caesar's household to the
cultivation of Christian character, still saints
were to be found there.

The late C. H. Spurgeon says : " The fact is,
a certain class of men love to be quiet, and are
ready to sell their country to the evil one him-
self, so that they may live at ease and make no
enemies. They have not the manliness to plead
for the right, for it might cost them a customer
or a friend, and so they profess a superior holi-
ness as a reason for skulking."

If politics have become shamefully corrupt,
does it follow that the cultured, the refined, the
godly are justified in holding themselves entirely
aloof, and thus make an increase in corruption
not only possible, but certain ? Shall we hand
the government of the country over to the devil,
and then complain that he does not run it on

HON. DONALD MACK AY

»3

religious principles ? Patriotism as well as piety
forbids such action.

The young men of Canada have great respon-
sibilites as well as possibilities before them.
Our Dominion has certainly entered upon a new
era of progress and development. Wc regard
ourselves no longer a separate colony of a few
million people, but a part of a great empire
which includes one-fourth of the earth's inhabi-
tants.

A new spirit is taking possession of the peo-
ple. Politics must be regarded not as something
outside the sphere of reHgion, but as a part — a
very important part — of a Christian's activity.
Christianity must be regarded, not as a mere
effort to save one's own soul, but as a daily
endeavor to build up a community in which
the souls of all will thrive in the common air of
truth, justice, morality and virtue. Young men
of Canada, be it your ambition to share this
higher patriotism, to be baptized into this new
spirit, that you may be prepared for the century
of enlarged hope about to dawn upon us. You will
become real men just as you learn to ask, not

ZORRA BOYS

what is popular, but what is right ; not what
others do, but what you ought to do ; not how
easily we can get through life, but how right-
eously. In developing such a manhood the career
of Hon. Donald Mackay will be very helpful to
you.

Donald Mackay was born on the seventh line,
West Zorra, in the year 1842. His father and
mother moved from Sutherlandshire to Zorra
in 1830. Here they raised a family of ten
children — seven sons and three daughters — of
whom nine are still living.

Having learned the plasterer's trade, Donald
left home in the twenty-third year of his age,
and went to San Francisco, where he worked six
months at his calling. After this he moved to
Portland, Oregon, where he still lives. Until
1890 he was known in Portland only as an in-
dustrious and honorable contractor and a suc-
cessful man of business. In this year he em-
barked in the lumber trade, and thus set out on
a career of wonderful prosperity and usefulness.
He is now president and treasurer of the North
Pacific Lumber Company, the largest plant of

HON. DONALD MACKAV

•5

the kind in the Stateof Oregon, having a capital
of $4CX),ooo. His son is secretary and assistant
manager. Besides the local trade, this company
ships to China, Japan, Siberia and the west
coast of South America.

The writer is not sufficiently acquainted with
Masonry to pronounce an opinion upon it, but
to those who are acquainted with the mysteries
of that society, I may say that Donald Mackay
has taken all the degrees, and at present repre-
sents the Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter of
Canada in the west.

In 1888 he was elected a member of the State
Senate, and still continues in this honorable
position.

Mr. Mackay says : " In early days my religious
life was developed through the means of my
minister, the Rev. D. Mackenzie ; my public
school teacher, Mr. James Yool ; my Sunday
school teacher, Mr. Joshua Youngs ; and, more
than all, through the influence of a godly, pray-
ing mother, and amid what some would call un-
favorable surroundings, these early religious
convictions I still fondly cherish."

ZORRA BOYS

Speaking of his public career, Mr. Mackay
says :

"In this part of the country the political con-
trol gradually drifted into the hands of the selfish
and irreligious. Trickery and corruption took
the place of statesmanship and patriotism, until
the term politician had become one of reproach.

" To many the task of purifying the body-
politic seemed hopeless, but to those who had
studied closely the practical working of politics,
nothing seemed clearer than that the hope of
the State lay in the purification of political life
through good men realizing the duties of
Christian citizenship. For many years I have
felt, with ever-increasing conviction, that true
Christianity, like the sap of a tree, runs through
every branch and twig and leaf of a man's
character, and sanctifies all ; and my humble
effort has been, in State and Church, to promote
that which tends to righteousness in the com-
Tiunity, and to restrain and put down that
which is hurtful and evil. Great Britain and
the United States will flourish, not in proportion
to the strength of their armies or navies, but

I '

HON. DONALD MACKAY

«l

just as their policy and administration are
founded upon righteousness ; to secure this
righteousness Christian people must awaken,
and make their influence felt.

" The responsibility for the present disgraceful
condition of affairs rests with those who, with
superior airs of sanctity, preserve their purity by
* keeping out of politics.' Multitudes of religious
professors regard their religion as they do their
Sunday clothes, too fine for everyday wear ;
instead of remembering that it is to be used as
an armor in the daily battle of life.

" To-day we need more of the noble fire and
living faith of the old Covenanters, who were in
the world and yet not of it, willing to shed their
life blood for the social and political welfare.
In no department of his life can the man of
integrity and religious conviction shine with
greater lustre than in the field of Christian
statesmanship."

Although Senator Mackay is now a matured
politician, he is noted as a man of quiet and
peaceable disposition.

The story is told that on one occasion a

ft'

msms

ZORRA BOYS

1 ;'

gentleman from Portland was travelling in a
distant part of the country, when he accident-
ally met Mr. Walter Mackay, a brother of the
Senator. In the course of conversation Mr. W.
Mackay soon learned that his fellow-traveller
was from Portland, and the following conversa-
tion ensued :

" Are you from Portland ? "

" I am."

" Do you know Senator Mackay, of that
place?"

" I do, and a good Christian gentleman he is."

" I did not use to think so ; he and I have
had many a spat."

"If so, it must have been your fault, for
Senator Mackay wouldn't quarrel with any
decent man."

" Decent ! Humph ! He allowed his mother
for years to do my washing."

Here the Portland man struck a belligerent
attitude, and angrily asked :

" What do you mean, sir ? "

" Oh," smilingly responded Mr. Macka^v " I
only mean that Senator Mackay's mother was
my mother."

DR. JAMES FRASKR

I'RESIIJKNl' KOVAL COIl.Kliti OK VKTKKINAKY SURGEONS, ENGLAND

Sketch VIII

DR. JAMES ERASER,

PRESIDENT OF R. C. V. S., ENGLAND.

The career of James Eraser, President of the
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons, England,
is fitted to inspire every young man to make the
most of himself Born of pious, industrious
parents, and reared under Christian influences,
he early dedicated himself to God, and from
that day a holy ambition fired his soul, and his
life has been onward and upward, until to-day
he occupies one of the highest positions ever won
by a Canadian, or by any colonist in England.
The object of this sketch is briefly to indicate
the steps by which he rose.

James Eraser was born on November 6th,
1846, on lot 9, concession 10, East Zorra. He is
the eldest son of Captain William and Jane

ZORRA BOYS

Fraser {n^e Mackay). His father is still living,
enjoying good health at the age of eighty-five,
and has been for many years an esteemed elder
in Chalmers Church, Woodstock. Like Timothy
of old, Dr. Fra.ser owes much to his mother and
paternal grandmother. If ever the history of
the famous women of Zorra should be written,
Mrs. Fraser, sen., will occupy a prominent place
in it.

Of his parents Dr. Fraser says : " I would be
less than grateful if I did not acknowledge my
indebtedness to my father and mother. They
denied themselves very much to educate their
children, and did all that parental love could
suggest, or their circumstances permit, to equip
us for the battle of life. When I was struggling
hard during the first few years in England, few
things gave me greater courage under disap-
pointment than the consciousness of their never-
failing sympathy. I always felt that if no per-
son else appreciated my efforts, they did. My
old home in Zorra is to me one of the dearest
spots in the world, and to send some little token
of my affection there from time to time is my
purest pleasure."

DR. JAMES FRASER

His happy English surroundings have in no
way diminished Dr. Eraser's attachment to the
district where first he saw the light. A Zorra
man who visited his charming English home
relates that on the plate glass over the front door
are inscribed in letters of gold the one word,
" Embro," and, true to his Highland ancestry,
he calls his home " Dornoch."

Of his early teachers he says : " The one who
helped me' most, and made the deepest impres-
sion on my mind, was Mr. John Shaw. He
took a great interest in his work, and boys who
really tried made good progress under his
tuition."

Some of his school-fellows he mentions and
characterizes as follows : " The Wood boys, who
were very kind and generous ; the Griffiths, so
friendly ; Sandy Mackay (Captain), who never
stooped to anything mean ; my uncle, Robert
Mackay, whose progress at school was ajike
creditable to himself and his teachers ; Billy
Bruce, so full of fun and mischief; George L.
Mackay, whose impulsive nature has since been
so wonderfully consecrated and utilized in the

iill

■i

! I!!

ZORRA BOYS

Master's service ; James Sutherland, now a
minister of the Canadian Cabinet, whose tena-
c ity of purpose I have good reason to remember ;
last, but not least, my brother William, now in
heaven, between whom and myself existed, yea,
and still exists, the strongest bond of affection.
His was a promising career, but it was cut short
His last letter to me is my most cherished pos-
session. In it he expresses much concern for
the salvation of those about him."

Among his early pastors he mentions the
Revs. D. Mackenzie, D. Allen and John Fraser.
The preaching of the latter he greatly enjoyed.
Of them all he says : " They aroused me, but as
yet I had no peace. My father wisely allowed
me to go to Woodstock and hear Dr. McMullen
as often as I liked, when the rest of the family
drove to Embro. I walked by myself to Knox
church. I remember distinctly when coming
home from church, I used to cut corners by
walking through the fields and woods, and would
sit down and rest under a tree, the while think-
ing of what the preacher had said, and refreshing
my memory from notes I had taken. I would

DR. JAMES FRASER

then kneel down and pray for help. What a
precious time this was to me ! It was God's
light coming gently into the darkness of a
human soul. Dr. McMullen helped me very
much, and I am grateful to him to this day."

To each of my young readers I would say,
take a note of this part of James Fraser's ex-
perience. Think of him on bended knee in the
woods, a<^ the root of that tree, pouring out his
heart to God. This kept him pure, and made
him strong, courageous, persevering. To-day
many young people are always in a hurry and
bustle, rushing from church to church, and from
service to service, and seldom sit down to com-
mune with their own hearts, and quietly to
digest and take stock of their spiritual condition.
The result is their religion is dwarfish, weak, un-
satisfying. Spiritual prosperity largely depends
on private communion with God. What the
hidden root is to the leaf, fruit and flower, that
private devotion is to the public man. He who
knew what was in man said : " Enter into thy
closet and shut the door."

When about twenty years of age, James Fraser

ZORRA BOYS

chose the veterinary profession as his calling.
The Montreal Veterinary School, which was
affiliated to McGill College, had just then begun
its career. Mr. Fraser attended there for two
sessions, taking physiology, chemistry, zoology,
botany and geology with the medical students.
The late Sir William Dawson was then in the
zenith of his power. Mr. Fraser attended not
only his scientific addresses during the week,
but his Bible-class lectures every Sabbath after-
noon ; thus his head and heart were simultan-
eously trained.

His experience after leaving Montreal I will
give in his own graphic language :

" I found that to obtain a thorough knowledge
of my profession I must go either to London or
Edinburgh. I chose the latter, which was then
under the guidance of Principal Williams and
an able staff of professors. With my father's
consent I sailed from New York for Scotland
on October 15th, 1868. I joined the senior class
and found them far ahead of me, so I put my
shoulder to the wheel with a vengeance, and
worked day and night, for I could not afford to

DR. JAMES FRASER

be plucked. At the end of the session came the
much dreaded exams. Much to my surprise I
came out one of the top three. The three were
a Scotchman, an Irishman and a Canadian. We
were recalled to be examined for the college
prize. In that final struggle I was beaten. We
stood as follows : First, the Scotchman ; second,
the Canadian ; third, the Iri.shman. The winner
and the third man both had one session longer
at college than I. When I left the board
room that day defeated, I confess I would have
liked a cheer from Zorra. I took it for granted
though, for I was sure if the Zorra lads had been
there they would have thrown their bonnets in
the air for their old comrade.

" However, I was through, and that was
enough for me. A word or two about Edin-
burgh. I had little or no time when attending
the classes for sight-seeing, except on Sabbath,
and I felt tired with the week's work, and
devoted that day to the purpose for which God
appointed it. I usually attended the ministry
of Dr. Thompson, but I heard also many other
men of note, such as Dr. Candlish, Dr. Guthrie,

ZORRA BOYS

Dr. Norman McLeod and Dean Ramsay. Here
I often saw and once heard Prof. John Stuart
Blackie speak. It was grand to see that fine
old Scot walking along Princess Street. He
seemed part of the city. Tall, lithe, erect, buoy-
ant, with snow-white hair, his plaid about his
shoulder in the old Scotch fashion, all made up
a unique personality.

*' 1 would advise all Zorra boys to get his book
on ' The Language and Literature of the Scot-
tish Highlands.* After the exams I went to see
many places of interest — Arthur's Seat, the
Calton Hill, the Castle, Holyrood, Assembly
Hall, John Knox's house, etc. I have seen
many cities since, but none equals Edinburgh for
beauty. In addition to its fine streets and
buildings, it is highly favored by Nature ; the
site is romantic.

" The day after I received my diploma. Prin-
cipal Williams offered me an appointment as
assistant to a practitioner in England, and I
thought it wise to accept. I confess I was not
much use, for I had seen so little practice. How-
ever, by keeping my eyes and ears open and my

DR. JAMES FRASER

mouth shut, I managed to get along fairly well,
although sorely pressed at times. My experi-
ence with animals on my father's farm was a
great help to me.

" I crept along step by step, until after four
years' time, a very lucrative practice was placed
at my disposal. There was, however, one big
difficulty — I had not sufficient capital to pay for
it or to conduct it after it was paid for. To get
over this difficulty, I agreed with the vendor
that I should serve him three months as assist-
ant, intending to await the developments of the
situation. At the expiration of the time I had
so far gained his confidence that he consented
to leave the larger part of the purchase money
at interest, to be paid off in instalments. The
way was now clear, and nothing remained but
steady application to duty.

" Horses of great value, some worth $100,000
each, were placed under my care, and I had many
a restless night, owing to serious illness among
them. My clients included the Prince of Wales,
the late Duke of Westminster, Lord Allington,
Sir F. Johnston, Sir Richard Sutton, and many
7

ZORRA BOYS

other wealthy and distinguished men. The
work was all new to me, and I had to be very
careful to avoid mistakes. Practitioners in the
other branch of medicine bury their mistakes
with their patients. Not so with us. Post-
mortems have to be made there and then on
our dead patients, and errors of judgment declare
themselves with painful accuracy. To err is
human, and no man should be blamed if he does
his best and displays ordinary skill. The man
of the world does not, however, take that view
of it, and many a poor fellow who does his best
suffers loss of reputation.

" I was at this time working hard for the
higher degree of my college. I got the fellow-
ship in 1879.

" All this time I was reading English litera-
ture, and great was the pleasure it afforded me.
My favorite authors were Ruskin, Carlyle,
Froude, Green, Darwin, Huxley, Bain, Mill, John
Morrow, George Eliot, George Macdonald, and
kindred writers. My favorite poets were Whit-
tier, Browning and Pollok. I was fortunate in
having access to good libraries.

DR. JAMES FRASER 99

" In 1 891 I was elected member of the Council
of the R.C.V.S., and in 1899 president, by the
unanimous vote of the Council. This is the
greatest honor of my life, and one that I highly
appreciate. Last Christmas I presided over the
examinations in Edinburgh, in the very room
where I had the struggle for the college prize
thirty years ago."

I may mention that Dr. Fraser is also vice-
president of the " Royal Institute of Public
Health," England, and also vice-president of the
British Institute of Preventive Medicine, of which
the famous Lord Lister is president.

Notwithstanding the many and heavy re-
sponsibilities of his calling. Dr. Fraser has done
much successful work of a religious character,
especially as a teacher of a very large Bible-
class.

To the question, " To what do you attribute
your success in life ? " Dr. Fraser replies :

"To God and the exercise of the ordinary
gifts with which He has endowed me. I gave
Him my heart, and He graciously fulfilled in me
every promise made to those who put their trust

lOO

ZORRA BOYS

in Him. Money is of little value when troubles
cx)me, as come they must to all. I found Him
to be always near, and oh! so gracious and
kind. Friends are of great value, but God is
best of all.

" Some years ago I felt what I regarded as the
foundation of belief slipping away from me. My
mind was disturbed, restless, unsatisfied. I
went to hear our best preachers and thinkers.
Thomas Binney, known as the Bishop of Non-
conformity ; Alex. Raleigh, a charming poet
preacher ; R. W. Dale, who grasped his subject
like a giant ; Alex. Maclaren, whose persuasive
eloquence still moves multitudes ; Oswald Dykes,
quiet, logical, convincing ; C. H. Spurgeon,
original, practical and honest — all these helped
me greatly, each in his own way ; still I lacked
something which I cannot define.

" Relief came in a way and from a source I
did not expect. George Macdonald's books
accidentally (was it accidentally ?) fell in my way,
and I devoured them as a hungry man eats
food. I saw things in a different light, and I
felt the ground solid again under me. Oh, the

DR. JAMES ERASER

loi

joy, after being tossed on the stormy sea of un-
certainty, to feel that I was once more standing
on the solid rock ! He preached occasionally
in the suburbs of London, and I went whenever
I could to hear him. I never heard the like be-
fore or since. He conducts the service not on a
fixed plan, but just as the circumstances dictate.
His prayer — no, it was not prayer in the ordin-
ary sense, it was a man talking to God — was a
revelation to me, an opening of the door of
heaven. He took those who wished into the
divine presence. His preaching — no, it was not
preaching, it was a man talking to men — threw
a flood of light on whatever subject he had
selected. I never knew how great and good
God is till George Macdonald told me.

" A few years after that he came to our house
one evening, and took tea with my family. How
delighted my wife and I were ! He was to
deliver a lecture on 'King Lear' in a large church,
of which I was at that time honorary secretary,
and that was how it came about that I had the
pleasure and honor of being his host.

" If it would not be presumptuous to offer

X02

ZORRA BOYS

advice to any young lad who may read these
words, I would say, ' Trust in God and do the
right.' Remember, we are not sent here to
make money, or even to be happy ; we are sent
here, if I understand it, for the development of
our character. Look at the incidents and cir-
cumstances of your life, however untoward they
may appear at times, as ministers sent to aid
you in the accomplishment of this object. Look
upon your fellowmen as those who need your
support and, in some cases, your direction.
Never forget that God is kind, and always feels
kindly towards you. When you do wrong God
is grieved, yet feels kindly, and desires you to do
better. You will often be defeated, and perhaps
fail in things you undertake, but don't lose
heart. God never fails, nor will He fail you.
Canon Kingsley said in his last hours, * How
beautiful God is !' Try and catch a glimpse of
Him every day of your life, and then you will
be getting like Him.
" That will he success."

i -■

o
o

'Si

Sketch IX
PAUL MURRAY,

THE PIONEER HUNTER.

In the early winter of 1855 a sensation oc-
curred in Zorra which some of my readers will
remember. On the 20th lot, loth line, East
Zorra, lived Paul Murray with his wife and
family, at that time consisting of three sons and
two daughters. Their house was one of the
most commodious in the district, and apparently
well adapted for a large gathering. So it was
arranged to have the " catechizing " there, and
on the Sabbath Rev. Mr. Mackenzie duly inti-
mated the fact from the pulpit. The day ar-
rived, and the Highlanders, men and women, old
and young, from far and near, crowded into the
place of meeting. The services began. The
minister was engaged in prayer, when suddenly

103

I04

ZORRA BOYS

a loud crack was heard, and in another instant
the floor gave way, going down in the centre,
forming a concave, the shape of a mill-hopper.
Those sitting on the outer row of seats escaped,
as the floor broke ofif at their feet ; but the
others, with the stove and pots of boiling water,
went down. There was, as usual in those days,
a large stone hearth, and on this, fortunately for
themselves, Mr. Mackenzie and his elders were
seated, and, of course, did not go down. Some
were burned, some were scalded, but, wonderful
to say, none seriously hurt. The rest of the
catechizing took place in the house of James
Sutherland. A number of the young men at once
went to work, and before night new " sleepers "
took the place of the old ones, and the damage
was repaired.

In 1829 Paul Murray settled in Zorra, being
then in the eighteenth year of his age, and newly
out from Sutherlandshire. Here he lived till
1874, having as neighbors James Mackay, John
Gilchrist, Benjamin Mcintosh, Sandy Suther-
land, James Sutherland, William Ross, and
Hugh Ross. He was a man of happy, hopeful

PAUL MURRAY

105

disposition, of active habit and tireless perse-
verance.

His career emphatically teaches what patient
industry and intelligence can effect in over-
coming obstacles that discourage and turn away
the indolent and faint-hearted. With his own
hand he cleared his bush farm, built his own
house and barn, and planted what turned out to
be a large and first-class orchard. He erected
frame barns for not a few of his neighbors. He
was also an expert in the use of the gun — the
Nimrod of the district. Deer, wild pigeons and
foxes were the principal game, and fish were
abundant. He is now in his ninetieth year, and
still the proud possessor of the old Kentucky
rifle with which he brought down many a stag
in the early days, and which, as he delights to
tell, he carried during his service to the Queen in
'37. It is not too much to say that his equal
with the gun has never been found in Zorra.
His mantle has fallen on his son John, as the
engraving which precedes this article indicates.

In May, 1874, he and his family left Zorra
and journeyed by New York, Panama, San

! 'i

io6

ZORRA BOYS

Francisco, Victoria, New Westminster, and
finally settled in Langley Prairie, B.C., where
they have ever since resided. His farm in
British Columbia was timber or bush land. On
it grew some of the largest fir and cedar giants
which are found anywhere in the Fraser valley
— a valley remarkable for the great size of its
timber. As an instance of the immense size of
some of those trees, it may be stated that Mr.
Murray lived for several months in the hollow
stump of a large cedar while he was building a
house. But however acceptable the hollow
stump was as a makeshift, and however suitable
to the tastes and habits of ubiquitous and vora-
cious mosquitoes, it was ill-adapted to protect a
Christian man and his family from summer's
heat and winter's cold.

At this time Mr. Murray, though past the
threescore line, was in the very vigor of man-
hood. The nearest saw-mill was at New West-
minster, sixteen miles distant. The road was of
the most primitive kind. Horses and wagons
were few and far between. Hauling of lumber,
therefore, sufficient to build a house of such

PAUL MURRAY

107

dimensions as Mr. Murray and his family re-
quired, would have been a very costly and
laborious undertaking. But here and now he
reaped the benefit of his experience and training
in Zorra. The new situation did not daunt him
in the least. At the age of sixty-three he felled
the big trees growing on his own land, hewed
them into shapely logs, cut shingles and pre-
pared rafters. In a short time a large, substan-
tial, comfortable log-house stood on a rising
ground, overlooking Langley Prairie, and near
which was a perennial abundant spring of purest
water. The house was worthy of the builder
and of the material. "In it," writes a Presby-
terian minister, " many a tired traveller from
Sumas and Chilliwack, in the early days, found
a cosy shelter, a clean bed, and a well-cooked
meal."

Mr. Murray's third son, Alexander, was
drowned in the Fraser River, in the twenty-
sixth year of his age, when seeking to save
a companion. He and two others were in a boat,
when it capsized. Mr. Murray, being an expert
swimmer, succeeded in saving one, and returned
to the rescue of the other, when both sank.

wamm

1 08

ZORRA BOYS

During all his varied experiences and long
travels, Paul Murray has seldom ever used saddle
or buggy, preferring to do all his journeys on
foot. In his ninetieth year he is hale and hearty,
and any fine day you can see him walking
through his orchard or doing small chores about
the farm. The greater part of his time, how-
ever, he spends in reading, without the aid of
spectacles, his Gaelic Bible. He is truly a liv-
ing epistle of Christ.

In 1876 the members of the Presbyterian
Church at Langley Prairie were asked to elec
one of their number to act as elder. Paul
Murray was their unanimous choice, and he was
duly ordained to the sacred office. " He is,"
writes one, " a man of sterling integrity and rare
worth ; a grand example of Scotch industry,
perseverance and genuine piety."

Such men may live in quietness and obscurity,
but their influence is felt ; they belong to the
Lord's nobility, and on the great day they shall
be owned by the King.

I
I ■

Sketch X

i:l

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER;

OR, THE EXPERIENCES OF TWO ZORRA BROTHERS.

1 I

The Fletcher family consisted of father,
mother, four sons, and two daughters. They
moved from St. Catharines into Zorra in 1841,
and constituted the only family not Highland in
the district. This peculiarity made them the
object of much interest, and perhaps also commis-
eration. In some respects, it must be confessed,
they were considerably in advance of their Celtic
neighbors — they owned a lumber- wagon and a
grindstone. The latter became a sort of com-
mon property in the neighborhood, and was
regarded as a great convenience by all except
Jimmy Fletcher, the lad who was expected to
turn it whenever a neighbor came to sharpen

109

ZORRA BOYS

his knife, axe, or scythe. " I got," says he,
"into the habit of disappearing very myster-
iously on such occasions."

The circumstances of this family were for
some years straitened enough. While the
father and two elder sons, Aaron and Israel,
worked hard from dawn till dark, clearing the
farm, Mrs. F., assisted by her two little girls, not
only attended to the indoor work, but on her
loom wove clothing for the neighbors till late
every night, and thus greatly helped to support
the family. " She wove so much for the neigh-
bors," writes her son, " that she found little time
to weave for us boys. My mother had a great
faculty for making garments out of all sorts of
materials. Joseph's coat of many colors was
far outstripped by some of the coats we flour-
ished in those days."

By-and-by their condition became more com-
fortable. A considerable part of the farm was
cleared, and the crops were good. Cattle, sheep
and hogs were abundant, and, finally, horses
gladdened the eyes of the boys Never were
boys more passionately fond of horses than the

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER iii

boys of the Fletcher family. " Riding on horse-
back," says James, " was the delight of my young
life, and for years I took a colt each winter to
break in for some of our neighbors, and in this
way provided myself with the means of con-
veyance, while I taught singing-school in a num-
ber of places throughout the township."

A striking characteristic of the whole Fletcher
family was their never-failing good humor ; they
were brimful of fun. Joking, laughing, merry-
making — this is the picture I have of them after
the lapse of nearly fifty years. Let no one under-
estimate the value of a sunny, even merry,
disposition. It may easily be overdone, but
kept within moderate restraint it serves a most
useful pu*- 'ose in life. It certainly made the
Fletchers very popular with their Highland
neighbors. " They are always happy, and there
is nothin' they'll no do for a body," was the
opinion frequently expressed.

"It is easy to smile and be pleasant
When life flows by like a song ;
But the man worth while
Is the man who can smile
When everything goes dead wrong."

\ i

112

ZORRA BOYS

In this paper we will speak of only the two
younger boys of this family, James and John,
both of whom are still living.

In his eighteenth year, Jimmy Fletcher, as he
was familiarly called, began to teach. He
taught school on the i6th line for one year.

" I was full of ambition," he writes, " and de-
termined to push myself to the front. I saved
enough money the first year to enable me to
take a course in grammar and mathematics, as
far as required to obtain a first-class certificate."

After this he taught the school on the 9th
line, where he himself had, a few years before,
attended as a scholar, some of his old school-
mates now becoming his pupils. The writer
was one of these ; and I am free to say that a
more clever, tactful teacher I never had. To a
large extent he discarded the use of the taws
and the many other foolish and cruel methods
of punishment in vogue up to his time. He
gave us his confidence, and we gave him ours,
and never did teacher and scholars get along
more harmoniously. The school-house was no
longer a place of punishment, but the brightest

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER 113

spot in the district. Jimmy Fletcher was a
good fiddler, and during the noon hour he would
take down his fiddle and play, while the boys
and girls would dance and whirl and whoop
after the most approved Highland fashion.
Hec. Ross, Hugh Anderson, John Sutherland
and some more of the older boys helped the
teacher supply the music. Thus the education
of the heels and head went on concurrently for a
time, until J. C, a trustee of ultra-Puritanical
views, thought it was " na richt for young people
to be sae thochtless," and as the spring was
coming on, the bigger boys and girls left school,
and so the dancing ceased.

In 1864 James Fletcher went to the United
States. His experience has been varied, and he
has wrought at a variety of things, with more or
less temporary success. "Pegging away," without
thought of resting until the end is accomplished,
is a quality in which James Fletcher does not
excel. His achievements have been worthy, in
some instances brilliant ; but he has accomplished
far less than he otherwise would because of this

lack of untiring, persistent effort in one direction.
8

114

ZORRA BOYS

He is the author of a number of ingenious in-
ventions, some of which have brought him con-
siderable revenue, but only for a season. He
still fondly remembers his old neighbors, chums
and school-mates. Of Donald MacLeod, his
nearest neighbor, he says : " To this day I can-
not recall a man in all my varied experience
that I think fully his equal in honesty of pur-
pose and faithful loyalty to duty." Of James,
the eldest son of Donald MacLeod, he writes :
" So pure in heart, so lofty in aim, he was called
to the better land while yet his sun had scarcely
reached its zenith. I do not expect to ever see
his like again." Angus MacLeod he also men-
tions in terms of admiration. John Bruce, Alex.
M. Sutherland, and the writer are still in his
heart as well as in his memory. He closes his
letter with the following words : " I have been
over the world a great deal since the days of
' Auld Lang Syne,' but I have nowhere met in
one place such a number of strong, brainy and
successful boys as were fashioned in my own
little neighborhood on the 8th line of Zorra."

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER 115

JOHN A. FLETCHER.

John A. Fletcher, brother of James, was the
wag of the district, always making fun or per-
petrating some practical joke. I will not say
that his humor was of the most cultured kind,
but it was the natural product of his time and
surroundings, and it did not a little to lighten
the burdens and brighten the lives of the weary
Zorra pioneers of fifty years ago. He saw only
the sunny side of life, and if ever there was one
who could extract sunbeams out of cucumbers,
it was he.

He is now a well-to-do farmer in Wexford,
Mich., and seems still to retain some of his old-
time humor. In a recent letter to the writer, he
says : " The Fletcher family was, I think, the
only non-Highland family in the school. Our
ignorance of the Gaelic was regarded by our
neighbors as a great misfortune, but something
we * couldna help,' so we were forgiven and very
kindly treated. I look back with pride upon
the Scotch laddies of that day, who in spite of
early difificulties have pushed their way and

ii6

ZORRA BOYS

climbed to eminence. The Fletcher boys did
most of their climbing into apple trees, or in the
woods after chipmunks.

" As to myself," he modestly continues, " I
was never afflicted with push, pluck, or perse-
verance. My teachers tried hard to find in me
the spring of learning in the same way that the
pioneers used to try to locate a spring of water,
viz., with a blue-beech rod; but in vain. Fun
was more to me than college life, and fun I had."

"John Fletcher," shouted his teacher, "what
are you doing — reading ?" " Na." " Writing ? "
"Na." "Ciphering?" " Na." "What then are
you doing ? " " Just waiting till school gets out."

John was not so strict an observer of the
Sabbath as his Scotch neighbors, and tradition
has it that one Sabbath afternoon he and two
companions went out to the woods and killed
no less than twenty-two chipmunks. There was
in the neighborhood a stream of water over
which there was a narrow foot-bridge. Over
this bridge the people coming from church had
to pass, and John Fletcher put the twenty-two
jlaughtered innocents on the centre of the little

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER 117

•;

foot-bridge, and then from his concealment a
little way off saw the antics and listened to the
screams of the terrified women trying to pass.

A friend who, along with three or four others,
once accompanied John Fletcher for a whole
day, in a wagon along a toll-road, relates how at
each toll-gate, as the woman put out her hand
to take the money, John would clasp it tenderly,
and, with the most affectionate look on his face,
inquire into the welfare of herself and family
and friends. The thing was done so naturally
that in no case was any offence taken, but in
most cases he was thought to be some real
though forgotten friend of the family.

Some little distance from John Fletcher's
home there lived a tombstone agent, more noted
for his zeal in pushing his business than for
tender regard for the feelings of recently be-
reaved ones. South of Embro, about six or
seven miles, there was a man who had just
lost his wife — not, however, by death, but by
elopement. She had run away with a young
neighbor. So John Fletcher thought of a practi-
cal joke. He hied off to the residence of the

ii8

ZORRA BOYS

tombstone man, and in the course of conversation

asked him if he had heard that Mr. had lost

his wife. *' Has he ? I must go and see if I can-
not sell him a tombstone." So off he went next
morning. He found the bereaved husband plow-
ing with his oxen in the field. To win confi-
dence the agent did the plowing for some time,
and then the following conversation ensued :

Agent : " You've lost your wife, I understand?"

Farmer : " Oh, yes, she's gone."

Agent : " You'll want to erect a memorial
stone for her ? "

Farmer : " What ! Let the scoundrel who
ran away with her put up a stone for her."

It is needless to say that the tombstone man
soon disappeared. John Fletcher did not call
on him for a long, long time after this.

Another illustration of John's practical jokes
may here be given. A Methodist minister, by
the name of Brown, was announced to give an
address on *' Missions " in the 9th line school-
house. As the Fletchers were the only Meth-
odists in the neighborhood, the preacher, of
course, stayed there. A missionary meeting was

JAMES AND JOHN FLETCHER 119

no ordinary affair in those days, and all, old and
young, were sure to attend. The hope was ex-
pressed that the collection would be a liberal
one. James and John Fletcher became inter-
ested in the missionary meeting, and a spirit of
mischief prompted them to a very doubtful
method of preparing themselves and others for
the collection. They made a number of disks,
about the size and appearance of the old English
six-penny piece. A large quantity of these
they distributed to the other boys of the neigh-
borhood.

The evening for the missionary meeting came.
The school house was but dimly lighted with
a couple of candles. Rev. Mr. Brown spoke
pathetically of the ignorance and degradation of
the heathen, and made an eloquent plea for a
liberal contribution. Then the hat was passed
round by J. C, an aged Highlander, whose eye-
sight was not too good. Soon the hat was liter-
ally filled with a good silver (?) collection.
Never before was such a large collection taken
up in Zorra.

That evening or next morning the preacher

I20

ZORRA BOYS

said nothing about the collection. Mrs. Fletcher,
who was a devoted Methodist, was somewhat
surprised at this, and at the breakfast table she
ventured to congratulate the preacher on the
good collection of the previous evening. She
had seen the hat emptied two or three times,
and was overjoyed.

" Good collection, I'm sure," said Mrs. F. " Oh,
no," was the reply, " poor collection ; just a few
coppers and a lot of tin pieces which some boys
put in." The truth at once dawned upon Mrs.
Fletcher. She had noticed her boys the day be-
fore fashioning the tin disks. " I am afraid,"
said she, " my boys did this. There they arei
and talk to them."

The preacher laid down his knife and fork
and in a kindly way remonstrated with the boys
for their conduct, but John Fletcher was, as
usual, equal to the emergency. " Oh, pshaw,"
said he, " those pieces will pass among the
heathen as well as any other." The mission-' y
was so much amused at the answer that e
laughed heartily. Mrs. Fletcher joined in the
laugh, and this let the boys down easily.

1 I

< i

HON. JOHN R. SUTHERI-AND

Sketch XI
HON. J. R. SUTHERLAND;

OR, A ZORRA BOY IN THE WILD WEST

In 1883 the Zorra boys abroad held a grand
re-union in Embro. There were present pro-
fessional men from all over the Dominion, and
some from the United States. Many good
stories were told and many thrilling experi-
ences related. But I here venture the state-
ment that had Hon. J. R. Sutherland, editor of
the Burt County Herald, Nebraska, been there,
the story of his life would have been at least
equal in interest to anything heard on that oc-
casion. It reads like a romance.

I see him as, in August, 1865, he bids good-
bye to father and mother, home and friends,
and with grip in hand, and a few dollars in
his pocket, strikes out for the wild West. He

lai

122

ZORRA BOYS

has heard of the demand for engineers and
mechanics in that part of the world, and having
taken a course in mechanical drawing in the
Woodstock Grammar School, under the late
Principal Strauchan, sets his face for Omaha.
At that time Nebraska had few white settlers ;
Indians predominated everywhere, and a mili-
tary escort was necessary for the safety of the
engineers. Buffalo, elk, antelope and deer
abounded ; it was, indeed, a hunter's paradise.

Mr. Sutherland has witnessed many blood-
curdling scenes of riots, mobs, hanging by vigi-
lant committees, etc. During the construction
of the Union Pacific Railway, the crowds con-
gregated along the works were perhaps as wild
and lawless as any ever assembled on this con-
tinent. But Mr. Sutherland's Zorra training was
his safeguard. He was God-fearing, temperate,
cautious, and attended to his own business. He
says : " I never saw the place yet where, if a man
would behave himself and abstain from drink,
he would not get along all right, and even be
thought more of by those who engaged in
revelry. From my own experience, courteous

HON. J. R. SUTHERLAND

123

conduct and a civil tongue are the best weap-
ons a man ever carried."

Senator Sutherland's success has been of the
highest kind. While by energy, temperance
and perseverance he has amassed a very com-
fortable fortune, he has also done what is far
better — built up a Christian character that is
respected and admired far and wide in that
section of the country.

In 1 87 1 he was married at Tekarnah, Neb., to
Miss Mary Stuart Conger, a cousin to Conger,
the United States Minister at Pekin, China.
They lived for a time in a block-house, built by
the Government to protect white settlers from
the Indians. Miss Conger was a lady of culture
and Christian training, and both she and her
family were devoted Presbyterians. A Presby-
terian congregation was started in Tekamah,
consisting of eight members, seven of whom
were Mr. Sutherland, his wife, with her father,
mother and three sisters. Mrs. Sutherland was
organist, Mr. Sutherland one of the trustees, and
the congregation has gone on, till to-day it is
the finest church organization, and has the best
church building in the city.

Kr^^

124

ZORRA BOYS

Mr. Sutherland has been to the front in every-
thing that went to build up and develop Church
or State. For twenty years he has served as a
member of the city government. For the same
length of time he has been a member of the
School Board, and delights to tell how he has
seen the school increase from one teacher with
twenty pupils to ten teachers with five hundred
scholars. He is a practical and skilful agricul-
turist, and at the World's Fair, Chicago, won
more awards for farm produce than all the rest
of the State of Nebraska.

In 1888, without solicitation on his part, he
was nominated as the Republican candidate
for State Senator ; and without any canvass
was elected by over 1,000 majority. In this
high position he made for himself an enviable
record, in standing up for popular rights. He
has occupied many positions of great responsi-
bility, one of these being that of State Railroad
Commissioner, at a salarv of $2,000 per year.
For some years he has ueen connected with
newspaper work, and is at present editor of one
of the leading weeklies of the West. His family
consists of wife, two daughters, and one son.

HON. J. R. SUTHERLAND 135

Senator Sutherland is greatly interested in
Zorra affairs, and makes niany inquiries about
the old boys. His numerous Zorra friends are
proud of their representative in Nebraska, and
hope he may long be spared to show the good
results of his early training as a youthful
member of Chalmers Church, Woodstock, and
his home training on porridge and the Shorter
Catechism.

Sketch XII

MERVIN CODY

IN THE EIGHTY-FIFTH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

Among the very few early pioneers of Zorra
still living is Mervin Cody, the subject of the
present sketch. In his eighty-fifth year he
is hale and hearty, enjoying the perfect use of all
his faculties. He writes in a strong, bold hand,
and expresses his thoughts in a clear, orderly
manner, and with almost classical correctness.
To no person does the writer owe so much for
information regarding the earlier settlers, their
trials and triumphs, as to Mervin Cody, concern-
ing whose Christian character it may safely be
asserted that no man stands higher in the esteem
of the people of Zorra to-day.

He was born in New York State in the year

1815. When four years of age he came with

126

i I

MERVIN CODY

127

his parents to West Oxford, and at the age of
nine — that is, in March, 1824 — he accompanied
them to West Zorra, and settled on what is now
well known as the " Cody homestead." Four
years after this his father died, the care of the
family and farm thus devolving largely on
Mervin, only twelve years of age. His mother's
maiden name was Phila Staples. She was a
devoted Christian woman, and bravely bore the
burdens of the pioneer widow. She died in 1878,
in the eighty-fourth year of her age.

The trials of those early times were neither
few nor of a trifling character. There were no
matches, and Mr. Cody writes : " One night the
fire went out, and as we had no flint or spunk to
strike a spark, I had to go nearly a mile, in a
drizzling rain, through the woods to the nearest
neighbor for fire, returning with a few coals
between two pieces of stiff" bark."

Shoes were exceedingly scarce among the
first pioneers. " I well remember," says Mr.
Cody, " how, in the early twenties, many of the
men and also women had to go barefoot during
the summer. The children nearly all did." Of

128

ZORRA BOYS

himself he says : *' My father couldn't get shoes
for all of us children sometimes till the winter
would be half over, and we never thought of
wearing shoes in warm weather. The lack of
shoes, however, didn't bother us very much.
Often we boys would run out and chase each
other in the snow just for the fun of it.

" One day a neighbor's pigs, about half a mile
away, came along, and, barefooted as I was, I
started after them. They ran home, and I chased
them every step of the way. The snow was
about a foot deep, and the day was cold, but I
enjoyed the fun of chasing the pigs. I went into
Mr. Dorman's to warm my feet, and Mrs. Dor-
man, a kind, motherly woman, hunted up a pair
of socks, and insisted on my wearing them
home.

" Late one fall a neighbor, Mr. William Land,
went to mill barefoot, with oxen and sled,
through the woods to where Ingersoll now stands,
a distance of about six miles from home. He had
to stay all night for his grist to be ready. In the
morning there were several inches of snow on
the ground. In this predicament what was a

MERVIN CODY

129

poor man to do ? Help came ; Charles Inger-
soll, Esq., met the barefooted man, and in the
kindness of his heart, gave him a pair of shoes
and enabled him to return home in comfort."

This custom of going barefoot, originating
perhaps in necessity, continued long after the
necessity passed away. As recently as the
sixties, the writer remembers seeing women go-
ing to church carrying their shoes on the arm till
within a few hundred yards of the place of wor-
ship. One dear old lady, while thus saving her
shoes, stubbed her great toe against a stone so
that it bled profusely, but the only complaint
uttered was, " Oh, what a blessing that I hadna
my new shoons on."

PIONEER FISHING.

A kind Providence, as if to compensate for
the lack of other things to the early settlers,
furnished them plentifully with fish. Before
any dam was built across the Thames, fish
(suckers and mullets) came up in the early
spring in great numbers from Lake St. Clair, in

all the branches of that river. During this time
9

13©

ZOr.RA BOYS

they afforded the settlers quite a supply of excel-
lent food. The time of fishing was largely at
night with a spear. The plan was somewhat
unique. First, a torch was made of dry cedar
split fine. A large handful of these splints, two
or more feet long, bound together and set on
fire, furnished a good supply of light. One car-
rying the torch would enter the water and wade
up stream. The light would attract the fish.
The men with spears would follow, and many
suckers would be caught. Then all would go
back to the fire on the bank of the stream, and
have a good social chat. Thus they waited
a while till more fish would come up, and then
repeat the game as before, time and again, till
after midnight. In deep water the net was the
best method of fishing. Fishing of this kind
lasted in Zorra till about the year 1 840.

CATCHING A WOLF.

There were many wolves in those days ; their
howling was very terrifying, and farmers not
infrequently suffered the loss of sheep, calves,
and even cows, through them. In order to

MERVIN CODY

131

encourage their extermination, the Government
allowed $6 for each scalp. I have before me as
I write a pouch used in the twenties by Captain
William Mackay for carrying wolf scalps. Captain
Mackay was the tax-collector, and some of the
farmers would pay their taxes with one or more
scalps. This pouch was used by him for carry-
ing the scalps from the farmer to the proper
Government oflficial. It is a rusty-looking relic
of "ye olden time," made like a modern school-
bag, and about the same size. The material is
calfskin, tanned and dyed, lined with buckskin,
and all waterproof

Catching a wolf was a great sensation. " My
father," writes Mr. Cody, " kept a steel trap set
for the purpose of catching wolves. This time
it wi-s just inside of a back field. Going down
ore morning I found the trap gone, and hastened
back to report. My father was away from home,
but two neighbors volunteered to help secure
the wolf. It was going to be rare sport, and
soon all the boys in the neighborhood were as-
sembled to see the fun. The wolf hadn't gone
far. The trap had got a good hold of one of his

132

ZORRA BOYS

forefeet, and the heavy clog, which was attached
to the trap, soon hitched him fast, so that he was
qui'te secure. We, of course, wished to take him
alive. For this purpose we secured a sapling
with two branches at the top, which we trimmed
and then twisted together in the form of a
loop. Having the length of the sapling for a
handle, we put the loop over the wolfs head and
around its neck, partially choking the savage
beast. With seme prepared basswood bark we
bound its jaws securely together, and also fas-
tened its four feet. Then we took a pole, and
putting it between the wolfs feet and its body,
shouldered it, and carried the animal home, trap
and all. It was a very large wolf, standing
about two and a half feet high." In a few years
the wolves seemed to have all disappeared.

In 1844 Mervin Cody was married to Miss
Mary Jane Vining, who for thirty-four years in
a Christian manner shared with him the joys
and sorrows of pion'^er life in Zorra. Eleven
children were born unto them, all of whom grew
into manhood or womanhood, and eight of
whom are still living.

MERVIN CODY

133

Mr. Cody's religious experience has ever been
clear, decided, evangelical. The Gospel is to
him no abstract theory, but the bread of life
upon which his soul feeds every day and hour,
making him happy as the bird that sings in the
tree-top. I will give his testimony in his own
words, and not one of his old neighbors or
acquaintances but will heartily endorse it.

He says : " When in my seventeenth year,
under a deep sense of my lost condition as a
sinner, I went out one evening into the fields by
the fence-side, and cried for mercy, and mercy
was given me. There and then I became a new
creature. The peace, the joy, ^he love which
followed made me very happy.

" Twice, however, after my conversion I was
in * Doubting Castle ' as one of Giant Despair's
prisoners. It happened in this wav : Soon
after my conversion I felt it my duty to confess
Christ publicly, and I did. Almost immediately
Satan began to taunt me, suggesting, ' What a
fool you have made of yourself ! You profess
to be converted when you haven't been ! ' For
some days I was in great distress till I renewed

134

ZORRA BOYS

my consecration, and *^hen it pleased the Lord
to give me precious evidence of His love and
salvation, restoring to me peace and joy.

" Some weeks after my conversion I was
guilty of wilfully neglecting what I knew to be
my duty, and my religious life at once began to
decline. For about six or seven months I was
in a backslidden condition, and deservedly very
unhappy. One day, while following the plow, a
sense of my wretched condition deeply im-
pressed me. I stopped the oxen, fell on my
knees behind the plow, and earnestly pled for
mercy, and to be restored again to God's favor.
Mercy was shown, pardon was granted, and
again I could rejoice in my Saviour's love. My
disobedience, which had been the cause of all
my troubles, was distinctly before my mind.
The neglected duty was no longer neglected,
and on its discharge all my doubts were gone,
and the enemy fled in confusion. Peace and
joy returned to my troubled soul.

" Whatever may have been my unfaithfulness
in my Christian life since then, from that day to

MERVIN CODY 135

this I have never doubted my conversion or my
being one of God's children.

" In my eighty-fifth year, and in near prospect
of th- great solemnities of eternity, I can testify
that not any good thing hath failed me of all
that the Lord hath spoken."

Sketch XIII

G. L. MACKAY, D.D.;

OR, zorra's famous missionary

So much has been said and written of this
most famous of all the sons of Zorra, that it
may be thought preposterous to attempt any-
thing new. And yet one who has known him
and his father's family intimately for half a cen-
tury, who has prayed and preached, worked and
worshipped, talked and travelled with him, may
be pardoned if he seeks to bring out of the
treasury of pleasant memories things new and
old.

The character of this leally wonderful man is
unique, and made up of apparently contradic-
tory qualities. So simple and yet so sublime;
so meditative, yet so active ; so tenacious of pur-
pose, yet so yielding in matters of detail; so

136

Sill

ki:\ . (i. I.. M \( KAN , D.li.

MISSli 1SAK\', SIM.I'' 107^, IN loKMnsA

•7^

: iTiiirii - n um

I 1

G. L. MACKAY, D.D.

137

humble before his Maker, yet so fearless before
his fellowmen — all this makes up a personality
that Christian people in many lands have
admired and even revered.

There are many interesting points of com-
parison between George Leslie Mackay and
Charles Gordon, the hero of the Soudan. In
both we see the same unfaltering faith in
divine sovereignty, the same unswerving loy-
alty to the Word of God and to prayer, the same
heroic conception of duty, the same complete
consecration to the cause espoused, the same
disregard for personal comforts or discomforts,
and the same intimate and uplifting fellowship
with the Divine. Mackay was not less a soldier
than Gordon, for, though he has fought with
spiritual weapons, he has been no less intrepid
and heroic as a soldier of Jesus Christ.

The parentage of G. L. Mackay, like that of
all Zorra boys, is of the plebeian order. He can
truly say :

" My boast is not that I can trace mv birth
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ;
But higher far my proud pretensions rise,
The son of parents passed into the skies."

138

ZORRA BOYS

His home, though humble, was Christian, and
its memories have ever been an inspiration to
him. In his book, " From Far Formosa," he
writes : " Many a time in those first friendless
days (in Formosa), when tongues were strange
and hearts were hard, and the mob howled
loudest in the street ; many a time among cruel
savages in the mountains, when their orgies rose
wildest in the night ; many a time, alone in the
awful silence of primeval forests, in solitudes
never before disturbed by a white man's tread —
many and many a time during these three and
twenty years have 1 looked back from far For-
mosa, and in fancy gazed on my Zorra home,
and joined in the morning or evening psalm.

" Children were taught the Bible and the
Shorter Catechism in the home ; and on the
Sabbath, in the church, the great doctrines of
grace were preached with faithfulness and
power."

The pioneer Highlanders of Zorra left their
children something far better than rank or wealth;
they bequeathed them healthy bodies, active

G. L. MACKAY, D.l).

139

!«:

minds, tenacity of purpose, disregard of diffi-
culties, and a profound reverence for things
sacred.

On the school playground, which was just the
public road, G. L. Mackay was always a promin-
ent figure. None could overmatch him in a foot-
race, or in a shinty game, and although it could
not be said of him, as of Thomas Guthrie, that
he was noted only for fun and fighting, yet, as
some of his old schoolmates will remember, he
sometimes showed that " the martial fires which
thrilled his sires " were alive within him.

In the schoolroom he was ambitious and
generally stood " dux." On one occasion, when
he was unfortunately obliged to relinquish this
position in favor of his brother, he begged his
brother not to report the fact at home.

He writes : " Before I reached the age of ten
the ever-blessed Name was sweet and sacred in
my ear." About this time the famous mission-
ary, W. C. Burns, visited Woodstock and Zorra,
proclaiming the gospel of " free grace and dying
love," and rousing the churches. His enthusiasm
was contagious, and fired the boyish heart of

■J!

140

ZORRA BOYS

G. L. Mackay, and from this time Mackay was
in heart consecrated to the foreign field.

In order to acquire means to pursue his educa-
tion he taught school for a few years, during part
of which time he required to walk four miles
each day to and from his boarding-house. He
early became an adept at handling the axe, and
this has served him a good purpose in his mis-
sionary work.

After this he entered Knox College, at the
same time taking classes in the University. He
completed his theological course in Princeton.

When about to leave home for the foreign
field, his father, with the natural feeling of a
parent's heart, said to him, " George, could you
not get work enough at home ? " " Father," was
the prompt reply, '* for years the words have
been ringing in my ears, ' Go ye into all the
world and preach the gospel to every creature.' "
Nothing more was said by the father. The
mother was seen trying to hide her tears. Being
remonstrated with, she replied, amid sobs: "A ta
an spioradgii dehnhin togarrach ach a ta an fheoil
anmkunn " (The spirit is willing, but the flesh is
weak).

G. L. MACK AY, 0.0.

141

In 1 87 1 he went forth as the missionary of the
Canada Presbyterian Church, scarcely know-
ing whither he went, as he received no more
specific instructions than to proceed to some
part of China.

After varied experiences on sea and land, he
in March, 1872, first saw Tamsui and the dark
green hills beyond, and there came to him a
calm, clear, prophetic assurance — this is the land.
He was not disobedient to the heavenly voice.
How he learned the language from the buffalo
herd-boys, so that in five months he was able to
preach a sermon ; his conflicts with the literati,
the bitter persecutions he endured, his hair-
breadth escapes, his many trials, his purpose of
evangelizing the people through native converts,
his method of educating his students and his
converts, the wonderful success that ultimately
crowned his labors — into these we cannot here
enter. They are recorded in his book.

In 1899 Formosa was ceded by China to
Japan. The change of government was not
without its anxieties and dangers to our mis-
sionary. Then the wide-spread disturbances and

IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-S)

^^ -^:.v^.

1.0

I.I

1.25

2.5

t" -.

2.0

1.8

1.4 II 1.6

Photographic

Sciences
Corporation

rs WEST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580

(716) 872-4503

'^^

IT"

■s

142

ZORRA BOYS

the awful massacres in China, during the present
year, could not fail to affect for the worse the
minds of the Chinese and Japanese in Formosa ;
and many were the prayers offered throughout
the Christian world that our missionary and his
work might be protected. These prayers were
heard, and so far nothing of a really alarming
character has taken place. Dr. Mackay writes:
" The work is aggressive and progressive. The
God of battles is with us, and we can sing,

* Onward, Christian soldiers.

Looking unto Jesus.

Spiritual results cannot always be tabulated.
Still, as indicating somewhat the extent of Dr.
Mackay's work in Formosa, the following may
be given from one of his recent reports: Total
number of baptized Christians, 2,276; native
pastors, I ; elders, 49 ; deacons, 57 ; chapels, 50 ;
preachers, 42 ; students, 23 ; schools, 5 ; Bible-
women, 27; girls, 15; boys, 120; patients
treated in hospital in one year, 5,130.

G. L. MACK AY, D.D.

143

HIS POWER OF ENDURANCE.

This is something remarkable. Rather under
than over the average height, he is straight as a
needle, compactly built, with muscles of steel.
His neighbors tell many stories of his wonderful
muscular feats in the harvest-field, at the thresh-
ings, and at the logging-bees ; but I dwell not
upon these.

During his first visit home, in 1880, his friends
in Oxford County felt that it would be a becom-
ing thing for the missionary's native county to
raise a sum of money sufficient to enable him to
build a college in Tamsui. I was asked to take
charge of the work, and to accompa iy him in
visiting the congregations. We held one, two,
and sometimes three meetings daily, travelling
twenty or thirty miles each day, he speaking
about one hour each time, and I following him
with a brief explanation of what was proposed
to be done. At that time I had at least the
physical "trength of an ordinary man ; but
towards the close of the second week of our
campaign I succumbed. The missionary was,

144

ZORRA BOYS

however, as fresh as when he first set out, and
took my Sabbath work for me, apparently with-
out an effort. During the whole series of meet-
ings he never manifested any signs of weariness
or fatigue.

The same power of endurance showed itself
when he was engaged in long-continued mental
effort. Rev. Dr. McTavish, of Deseronto, who
acted as Dr. Mackay's amanuensis while prepar-
ing his book, " From Far Formosa," says: " Dr.
Mackay frequently dictated to me from 9 a.m. till
6 p.m. with only one hour's intermission at noon.
This he continued, day after day, for several
weeks." Students and public speakers can ap-
preciate the amount of nervous energy that
could endure such a strain.

FERTILITY OF RESOURCE.

During the tour through Oxford on behalf
of his college, though he spoke substantially
every time on the same subject, yet he rarely
repeated himself; his addresses in and around
the county were twenty-five in number, and were
so varied that they might almost have formed a
series addressed to the same audience.

G. L. MACK AY, D.D.

'45

But his fertility of resource manifested itself
in other ways. When addressing children he
spoke with the simplicity of a child ; when deal-
ing with students he was emphatically a teacher,
not sii.iply imparting information but aiming to
draw out and develop their mental faculties ;
with inquirers he was tender and practical, seek-
ing to find some common ground upon which
they and he might stand ; when speaking to
large popular assemblies on the work so dear to
his heart, his soul was fired, his dark eyes
flashed, his countenance glowed, his whole frame
seemed electrified, his voice rang out clear and
true, until the audience seemed spell-bound,
responding to the varied emotions of the
speaker.

On the occasion of his last visit to this coun-
try, a missionary conference was held in Knox
Church, Toronto. It was a gathering of more
than ordinary interest, as a large number of the
leading missionary workers in Canada and the
United States were present. The church was
packed with a highly interested audience. After
Dr. Gordon of Boston and Dr. Pierson of Phil-
10

146

ZORRA BOYS

adelphia had spoken, Dr. Mackay was called
upon to give the closing address. It was a scene
never to be forgotten. He spoke with extraor-
dinary power, and every sentence burned deep
into the hearts of the hearers, as he pled the
cause of the heathen. At vhe close of his ad-
dress Dr. Pierson rose and asked if anyone pres-
ent had taken a report of Dr. I lackay's address,
adding, " I will gladly give $50 for a report of it,
for it is the grandest missionary appeal I have
ever listened to." No reporters were present,
and the address had not been written, but some
persons present reproduced as well as they
could, from memory, the substance of it ; and
it was published by Dr. Pierson, and tens of
thousands of copies distributed in the United
States and Canada.

And what shall I say of the missionary's
prayers ? None could hear them without feel-
ing that he was brought into the presence of the
Eternal. How simple his language ! How
humble his attitude ! How strong his faith !
How direct and specific his petitions !

G. L. MACKAY, D.D.

HIS LOFTY AIM.
During the tour referred to $7,cxx) was raised,
or an average of nearly $3CX) at each meeting,
yet Dr. Mackay himself never once asked for
money ; indeed, there was very little asking on
the part of anyone. In his addresses he gave
much information bearing on his field and work.
But by far the most memorable ■»ortions of
these addresses were his passionate appeals to
sinners to come to Christ, and his fervent plead-
ings with Christians to higher consecration. His
appeals were directed to the head and to the
heart, rather than to the pocket ; and yet, as the
result showed, the pocket was reached, and in
more than one place wedding rings and other
valuables were put on the collection plate ; and
in Ayr and Harrington the subscription book
received handsome contributions from those
outside the church, who, because of the crowd,
were not able to get inside. Moral : While it is
legitimate to speak to Christians in the plainest
and most direct terms about money, yet there is
another way, and in Dr. Mackay's case it proved
to be the better way.

148

ZORRA BOYS

Notwithstanding political disturbances the
present year has been one of progress in For-
mosa. In a letter dated September 17th, 1900,
Dr. Mackay tells of a grand meeting in Oxford
College, Tamsui, when thirteen native students,
who had completed their studies, and two jun-
iors, were sent forth to preach the everlasting
Gospel to their countrymen.

In the same letter he tells of a meeting in the
chapel at Tsui-tug Kha, when 212 converts
assembled, twenty-nine were baptized, and
sixty-two observed the Lord's Supper. At this
meeting a number of Christians, ranging from
fifteen to twenty-seven years* standing, "ex-
horted the new converts, and thanked God that
they had heard the Gospel, accepted it, and
followed Jesus through storm and sunshine."

The hearts of thousands throughout Christen-
dom are in Dr. Mackay 's work, and many
prayers go up for it. May it be blest more and
more ; and at last may our devoted missionary
lay down his work here, only to receive from his
blessed Lord the crown of him who hath turned
many to righteousness.

•

.m^^^^^^K^

PROF. DONALD MACKAY, I'H.D.

Sketch XIV

DONALD MACKAY, B.A., Ph.D. ;

OR, FROM THE PLOW TO THE PROFESSOR'S CHAIR.

Recent writers have observed that a very
large proportion of the great scholars and lead-
ers of thought in our day, as well as prominent
business men, were born in country districts,
and rose to distinction by the steady effort,
self-denial and devotion which their early sur-
roundings called forth. The career of Professor
Donald Mackay, B.A., Ph.D., strikingly illus-
trates the fact that difficulties, which are some-
times regarded as hindrances to success, are to
a strong, resolute mind only stepping-stones by
which to rise to greater heights. Donald Mac-
kay was born in West Zorra in 1859. He was
the second son of Mr. and Mrs. Angus Mackay.
His father was an esteemed elder of Knox

149

150

ZORRA BOYS

Church, Embro. His paternal grandfather,
John Mackay, was known far and wide as a
man of wonderful natural gifts, and possessed
of singular powers of oratory.

Reared upon the farm, and familiar with the
hardships pertaining to a country life in those
days, young Mackay showed an early predilec-
tion for study, and was prepared for public
school teaching some time before the statutory
age for entering that profession.

In his school days he was a remarkably
lively lad, fond of manly games and ambitious
to excel in healthful sports. While attending
the University, he was for three years a mem-
ber of the champion football team of the Prov-
ince. His amusements, however, were taken as
recreation — that is, subordinate to his work, and
designed to re-create or renew the energies lost
in the pursuit of his higher calling. His main
ambition was always to give the foremost place
to his studies, and to neglect nothing that
would conduce to the cultivation of his mind.

After three years of successful service as a
public school teacher, he took steps to prepare

DONALD MACK AY, B.A., Ph.D. 151

himself for a university course. This he did at
the Brantford Collegiate Institute, then under
the principalship of James Mills, M.A. (now Dr.
Mills, jf the Ontario Agricultural College,
Guelphj, and matriculated into Toronto Univer-
sity with first-class honors in the year 188 1.

For the next four years Mr. Mackay devoted
himself with great earnestness and success to
his chosen work. He proved himself a remark-
ably bright student, possessing originality of
conception, with uncommon powers of applica-
tion and concentration ; and in several depart-
ments he secured the highest honors of the
University. He was a thinker, a deep and in-
dependent thinker, with a strong love for
mathematical and metaphysical studies, and he
elected as his special honor subject, psychology,
under the stimulating teaching of the late illus-
trious Professor Young. It is only stating a
well-known, acknowledged fact, that he was Pro-
fessor Young's favorite student. The admira-
tion was mutual, for the famous professor had
no more enthusiastic disciple than Donald
Mackay. Under the inspiration of such a

i5«

ZORRA BOYS

teacher it is no wonder that young Mackay be-
came a most eager inquirer into the great prob-
lems of metaphysics, psychology and ethics,
winning during successive years the scholar-
ships in these branches of learning.

In 1885 he graduated with the highest hon-
ors. During his college career he was elected
president of the literary society.

Immediately after graduation he was ap-
pointed principal of Elora High School, and in
the three years he served in that position he
raised the school to a foremost place among the
High Schools of the Province. His memory is
fondly cherished by his old pupils, over whom
he had a marvellous influence, by precept and
example stimulating them to what was manly,
pure and noble in life. By personal and private
dealing with each pupil, he encouraged the
despondent, stimulated the indolent, and in-
spired all with lofty conceptions of duty to God
and man, as well as love for study. In Elora
he also taught the Bible-class of the church with
great acceptance and success.

On the death of Professor Young, in 1891,

DONALD MACK AY, B.A., Ph.D. 153

Mr. Mackay was invited to occupy for the re-
mainder of the session the position thus rendered
vacant. Youthful and inexperienced as he was,
he acquitted himself so well in his new and re-
sponsible position, that the students unanimously
petitioned for his permanent appointment as
Professor Young's successor.

Mr. Mackay strongly felt, however, his need of
additional study and experience before assuming
such a responsibility ; and so, for the next two
years, devoted himself to post-graduate work at
Hanover (Mass.) and Freiburg (Germany) Uni-
versities. In the latter he studied under a num-
ber of the most famous scholars, and at the close
of his work received the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy.

But, alas! so many years of close application
to study told only too manifestly upon his physi-
cal system. From Germany he returned home,
loaded with honors, but with shattered nerves
and a broken-down constitution. For many
years his mental faculties had been run at high
pressure, and now the naturally strong but
human tenement showed signs of giving way

154

ZORRA BOYS

under the severe and long-continued strain. In
order to recuperate, he spent the next year in
Colorado. But even during his leisure his am-
bition and thirst for knowledge would not allow
him to remain idle. His vacation simply shifted
the scene of his work. He contributed a num-
ber of literary and philosophical articles to
leading magazines and journals in the United
States, qualified himself for examination in
theology, and was licensed to preach the Gospel
by the Presbytery of Denver. The chair of
Psychology in Toronto University, having again
become vacant through the removal of Professor
Baldwin to another university, Dr. Mackay
received the appointment. But another place
awaited him. The Great Master said, " Come up
higher." On his way home from Colorado he
was seized with paralysis, and some months
afterwards his sun set while yet his life's great
work seemed only beginning.

He died February i ith, 1 894, in the thirty-fifth
year of his age. He was young, but he lived
long. Life is measured rather by thoughts and
deeds than by days and hours. Do they not

DONALD MACKAY, B.A., Ph.D. 155

sail long enough who win the harbor ? Do they
not contend long enough who obtain the victory ?
Do they not run long enough who reach the
goal ? And do they not live long enough on
earth who win heaven, be their days never so
few?

Dr. Mackay was well known to the writer as
an earnest, devout Christian, humble and unos-
tentatious, but none the less a sincere follower of
his Master. He took a deep interest in the
work and welfare of young people, and to them
his career should be at once an inspiration and
a warning — an inspiration to earnest work, a
warning to guard against overwork even in a
good cause.

I will here quote the words of Rev. G.
Munro, M.A., Ridgetown, Ont., for many years
pastor of Zorra church : " With mingled feel-
ings of deep sorrow and joy, I stood by
his bedside; sorrow, when I looked upon the
shattered body of a noble and promising young
man, joy at the simple faith of the scholar in
the Saviour, the calm contemplation of death,
and the self- forgetting inquiry for the welfare

■[

156

ZORRA BOYS

of old friends. To him at even-tide there was
light. He spoke words of cheer to the sorrow-
ing relatives and friends, and asked that the
thirty-fourth psalm be read."

The Master came, and the freed spirit of
Donald Mackay took its flight to where all
mysteries are solved and all aspirations gratified.

The funeral was one of the largest ever seen
in the district ; a number of clergymen were
present, and impressive services were conducted
by Rev. G. C. Patterson, M.A. All Zorra bowed
the head in sincere and sympathetic sorrow
because Donald Mackay was dead.

NELSON JANES

Sketch XV

NELSON JANES.

Nelson Janes was born in the State of New
York on January 3rd, 18 19, and came with his
father to Zorra when he was five years of age.
For fourteen years he worked on the farm and
attended school, after which he went to live with
his uncle at Geneseo, N.Y., and here he spent
the rest of his days.

Zorra's reputation as the nursery of honest
and energetic men has suffered none in the per-
son of Nelson Janes. Read the following which
appeared in the daily paper of Geneseo at the
time of Mr. Janes' death :

" From 1849 to 1855 he was clerk of the Board
of Supervisors, and from 1850 to 1855 was
manager of the estate of Wm. H. Spencer. In
1855 he was engaged by General James S.

«57

158

ZORRA BOYS

Wadsworth to superintend his affairs in Buffalo,
which he did until 1863, when the general in-
duced him to assume charge of the entire estate,
with headquarters at Geneseo. His new duties
required him not only to manage the Geneseo
and Buffalo affairs of the Wadsworth estates,
but also several outlying interests in the States
of Michigan, Ohio and elsewhere. This position
he held until January ist, 1889, when on ac-
count of failing health he was compelled, prac-
tically, to retire from active responsibility. It
was not easy, however, to lay aside the long
experience of forty-nine consecutive years,
which made his services of so much value.

"In 1842 he married Philena E. Baker,
daughter of Timothy Baker, of Livonia, who
died in April, 1874, leaving three children, who
still survive. Mary A. and Laura L. lived with
their father until his death, and William S.
is now in a manufacturing establishment at La
Porte, Ind., holding an important position.
During his long residence in this place Mr.
Janes has held many positions of public trust.
He has been a trustee and secretary of the

NELSON JANES

159

Cemetery Association for thirty years, and a
trustee of the Union School for twenty-eight
years. He was also a trustee of the village and
its president for several terms, besides being its
treasurer for numerous years. He was clerk of
the village two terms, and in 1869 was super-
visor of the town of Geneseo. After 1863 he
was a director of the Geneseo Valley National
Bank."

Mr. Janes was a devoted member of the
Presbyterian Church, and for twenty-five years
a trustee. Even in his advanced age he was
never absent from church or Bible-class, unless
through sickness or absence from home.

He was of a bright, cheerful disposition, and
had a great love for children. One who knew
him well says : *' He was never so happy as
when furnishing some poor little boy with a new
suit of clothes, or buying sleds, fire-crackers, etc.,
for the little ones who would otherwise have
lacked this enjoyment."

He died in the eightieth year of his age,
highly esteemed by all who knew him.

Sketch XVI

D. S. BURDICK;

OR, AN OCTOGENARIAN BICYCLIST.

Isaac Burdick, father of the subject of the
present sketch, was born in the State of New
York, on November 29th, 1782 ; was married to
Abigail Sage in August, 1803, and moved with
his wife to West Oxford, two miles east of
Ingersoll, where nine children were born to
them. Here they endured great hardships. In
18 14 the only grist-mill in the place was burnt
by the American soldiers, and many of the
horses taken away. After this the people had
to take their grist to Norwich on horseback ;
and as horses were very scarce, many were
compelled, as best they could, to pound the
wheat into flour at home.

In 1 82 1 Mr. Burdick, with his wife and family,

160

1). S. nUKDICK

D. S. BURDICK

i6i

came to Zorra. He took up four hundred acres
of land, being lots 9 and 10, on the third conces-
sion, thus becoming the third settler in the town-
ship. On this farm was erected the first frame
barn in Zorra, part of the framework of which
can still be seen.

Isaac Burdick was a man of energy, devotion
and intelligence ; he was the first conveyancer,
the first school-teacher, and the first class-leader
in Zorra.

D. S. Burdick, our present subject, was the
youngest member of the family. He was born
on July 3rd, 1 8 19, so that he was only two years
of age when he came to Zorra. In 1845 he was
married to Mary Ann Graves. Three children
were born to them, of whom only one is now
living, Mrs. A. Macaulay, of Ingersoll.

Mr. Burdick and his wife are spending the
evening of life in circumstances of much comfort
in Ingersoll. The writer recently spent a very
pleasant hour with him, and learned many inter-
esting facts concerning the early settlement.
Although in the eighty-second year of his age,
he is almost as active as a boy ; and in good
11

;

l62

ZORRA BOYS

weather delights to ride his bicycle three or four
miles every morning before breakfast. This
good health he attributes to total abstinence
from alcoholic liquors, plain diet, and plenty of
outQoor exercise. His aged wife is equally
healthy and happy. Mr. Burdick likes to remem-
ber that his family was the first in Zorra to sign
the temperance pledge. This pledge was pre-
sented for signature by Mr. Geo. Clark, of Wood-
stock, who was working for a temperance soci-
ety in Montreal. " Temperance," says Mr. Bur-
dick, " not only helped to preserve my health,
but it also greatly conduced to my present com-
fortable position financially in life, as it enabled
me to lay aside something for the rainy day.

" My education," said Mr. Burdick, " was
acquired under difficulties that the youth of to-
day know nothing about. The school-house was
at Cody's Corners, that is, three miles from
our house. Thither I walked each morning,
and took my turn, with a number of other
boys, in kindling the school fire from green
wood.

" My school-teachers were my father, George

■*^s^*~.

D. S. BURDICK

163

Harris, Mervin Cody, J. Fraser, S. Luvis and
Wm. Kingston. The last named taught at
Piper's Corners, and now lives in Ottawa. He
was certainly my best teacher. The teacher
boarded round, getting so many days' board for
each scholar. The diet of those days, though
plain, was good and wholesome ; bread and
milk, potatoes, porridge made of Indian corn-
meal, pork and beans ; and at some seasons of
the year, venison and fish.

" The clothes were for the most part very
coarse, homespun woollen. Most of the farmers
kept a few sheep; that supplied the material for
the clothes. By means of a pair of hand cards,
a woman would convert the wool into large
rolls ; then the rolls were spun into thread, on a
little wheel which the woman turned with her
foot. The yarn thus made was taken to a
weaver (usually a woman) and woven into cloth.
The cloth was then fulled, by being pounded
with the end of a beetle, prepared for that pur-
pose, in a barrel containing hot soapsuds. It
was then usually colored with a dye produced
from butternut bark. The wearing quality of
such cloth was excellent.

164

ZORRA BOYS

" Most families cut and made their own clothes,
although, not infrequently, there would be the
owner of a farm who possessed some knowledge
of the tailoring business, and who was always
willing to make coats, pants and vests for his
neighbors in exchange for their work on his farm.
These pioneer tailors served a useful purpose,
though it is needless to say their knowledge of
'fitting' was exceedingly limited. *I spy a fault,'
said one of them ; * I have sewed the sleeve onto
the pocket-hole.* "

Mr. Burdick tells how, on one occasion, his
mother took two of the children with her on
horseback, with a roll of homespun linen, and
rode to Brantford, to exchange the linen for
groceries and household necessaries.

Snakes were very plentiful ; they would be
found running through the grain, and round the
stumps, and under the sheaves. At first they
were a terror to the pioneers, but after they were
found to be harmless, some at least of the terror
passed away. Still, when you found a snake
wriggling out of the sheaf you were bindi»'g, the
sensation was by no means pleasant.

t i

D. S. BURDICK

i6s

Bear-hunting and wolf-trapping in those days
were popular sports, and some of them sensa-
tional enough. The presence of these ferocious
beasts in the forests was the source of great
alarm to the settlers, especially when any man,
woman or child was lost in the woods.

In the spring of 1835 there was a memorable
sensation of this kind. Miles Cody lived on lot
16, concession 7, of Zorra. One Sunday he was
attending the Baptist Church on the 1 1 th line,
his wife and child being left at home. In the
afternoon Mrs. Cody, taking her babe, nearly a
year old, in her arms, went to see that the sheep
were safe for the night, for the dismal howl-
ing of the wolves had been dictinctly heard in
the neighborhood. The sheep could not be
found, and Mrs. Cody, concluding that they had
got over the fence into the woods, went in search
of them. Soon she discovered deer tracks, which
she supposed were the tracks of the missing
sheep, and so followed on and on, in a northerly
direction ; and thus farther and farther into the
unbroken wilderness and marshy land. She did
not discover her mistake, till the shades of night

jr^l^

i66

ZORRA BOYS

were fast falling upon her. What was she to do ?
She had lost her bearings ; she knew not east
from west, north from south. With her babe in
her arms she wandered about in the dark for a
while, but as is strangely the case with all per-
sons lost in the woods, she moved in a circle,
and by-and-by returned to the spot which she
had recently left. She called r few times, but
there was no response save the far-sounding
echo of her own voice. She thought of the wild-
cats, the bears and the wolves that abounded in
the forest, but she did not faint or become hys-
terical. She knew the better way.

Mr. Cody, getting home about dark, could find
neither wife nor child anywhere, and concluded
that they were at the nearest neighbor's, about
half a mile distant. So he went over to Sandy
MacKay's (Russell), but no wife or babe was
there. He then went on to John MacKay's
(Elder), but could find no trace of wife or child.

By this time it was getting dark, and the hus-
band and friends were becoming greatly alarmed,
and many blood-curdling tales of people de-
voured by wild beasts came to mind. The

D. S. BURDICK

167

whole vicinity was soon notified and thoroughly
aroused. The night was passed hunting for the
lost ones ; they shouted, they blew horns, they
fired guns, but no response came. Thus the
weary night was spent, but to no purpose. The
wanderer had gone too far to be within reach of
sound of voice, or horn, or gun. The next morn-
ing, with the first streaks of dawn, all the people
of the district were on the ground, ready for a
systematic search. They spread out so as to
take in a wide sweep, and proceeded in a north-
erly direction. About noon they found the lost
woman with her babe, safe, but greatly exhausted.
What a happy meeting !

She told them how, the night before, she had
become completely wearied with wandering, and
giving up hope of any human help for the
night, she began to think of the wildcats, and
the bears, and the wolves, and became alarmed ;
how she committed herself and her babe to
Him who sees in the dark as well as in the
light ; how her prayers were answered, for she
soon discovered a hollow tree, with an open-
ing near the ground, just large enough for her

m
.1]

ijii

i68

ZORRA BOYS

■^fli

to go in with her babe, and also the little dog
which had accompanied her. Here she stayed
until morning. Once or twice she thought she
heard the howling of the wolves, but no savage
beast was allowed to come near her. The
weather was not very cold, and the angel of the
Lord protected His handmaid and her babe in
the wilderness.

But we must not forget Mr. Burdick. It was
no easy matter in those early days to secure a
marriage license, and Mr. Burdick well remem-
bers his own trying experience at this impor-
tant period of his life. Having made sure of the
girl, and having got the parental consent, he
set out on foot for London, a distance of thirty
miles, to get the license. The first question put
to him by the dignified official was : " Where
are your bondsmen ? " Mr. Burdick had none,
and knew of no one in London who would
assume responsibility for him. In this despair-
ing state of mind he was walking the streets,
when he providentially met Mr. Angus Mac-
leod, a neighbor from Zorra, who happened to
be in London on business, and who readily

D. S. BURDICK.

169

agreed to become a bondsman. But another
was required. After some difficulty a stranger
was secured, who, being repeatedly assured that
all was right, consented to assume the office of
the other bondsman, and so the difficulty was
overcome.

Marriage, with some in Zorra in those early
days, was very much a matter-of-fact business.
A man took to himself a wife much on the same
principle as he bought a yoke of oxen — just be-
cause his circumstances imperatively demanded
it. " I knew a Zorra man," says Mr. Burdick,
" who decided to get married, and went to Lon-
don to get the license. The name of the lady
had, of course, to be inserted in the license.
This the man was not prepared for. He wanted
a blank form, which he could fill in afterwards,
as he couldn't just then decide which of two or
three neighboring girls he would have. He was
told that a blank form could not be given him ;
and after taking some time he finally made up
his mind which name he would insert."

Mr. Burdick well remembers the scenes
or '37, and relates how on that occasion

If:

170

ZORRA BOYS.

the volunteers marched to Woodstock, many ot
them for weapons having only sticks with
spikes in the end of them.

" My name," says Mr. Burdick, " was the first
on the petition asking the late Donald Mathe-
son to run for member of Parliament."

Mr. Burdick is a life-long, consistent member
of the Methodist Church, but his sympathies are
not confined to any one church ; and it is delight-
ful to hear him speak with such warm apprecia-
tion of the Christian character and work of the
late Rev. Donald Mackenzie. " After many
years of separation," he said, " I one day met
Mr. Mackenzie on the streets of Ingersoll. He
was accompanied by two other aged clergymen,
and did not at first r'ecognize me. But I went
up and spoke to him, and asked him and his
friends to dinner. ' Brethren,' said Mr. Macken-
zie to his companions, * let us go with this kind
friend, for Abraham once entertained three
angels unawares.'"

' • tl

JOHN GRIFFITHS

MASTER BUILDER, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

Sketch XVII

JOHN GRIFFITHS;

(

OR, ONE OF THE MASTER-BUILDERS OF CHICAGO

The career of John Griffiths is closely associ-
ated with one of the most important problems of
our time. The conflict to-day between labor
and capital extends almost over the whole
civilized world, and instead of showing any signs
of subsiding, it seems to be getting more acute
every year. Many, indeed, fear the chasm be-
tween the employer and employee will continue
to widen until He comes who will put all wrongs
right, and " Man to man the world o'er, shall
brother be for a' that." In the meantime ser-
vants must be reminded that unreasonable
demands, unjust dictation, violence, and defiance
of law will never bring about the reign of
righteousness. Masters also must be warned

171

17«

ZORRA BOYS

against injustice, harshness, oppression, and
reminded that servants have their rights ; that it
is the duty of the master to take a kindly
interest in their concerns, and to pay them not
the least possible, or what some other firm pays
for the same work, but the very most that the
business will allow. When masters become
millionaires, and their servants continue, year
after year, on the brink of starvation, , there is
something seriously wrong. They must bear in
mind, also, that their employees and those depen-
dent upon them have spiritual as well as temporal
wants. Put yourself in the servant's place, and
do as you would like to be done by. This is the
gospel rule.

John Griffiths had worked as a bricklayer
day by day for years, and now for a long time
he has been one of the leading master-builders
in the United States. For the inauguration of
an era of synjpathy between employer and
employed we must look to men like him, men
of clear heads and kind hearts, who know by
personal experience both the struggles of the
servants and the heavy responsibilities of the
master.

JOHN GRIFFITHS

173

He was bom near Braemar, in 1848, and
attended the school on the loth line, lot 11.
Among his schoolmates were not a few who
have since become prominent in the world, such
as James Wood & Brothers, now of Chicago,
G. L. Mackay, D.D., of Formosa ; the late Dr.
Hugh Mackay, of Woodstock ; and Rev. R. P.
Mackay, D.D., of Toronto. Afterwards young
Griffiths attended the school on the 8th line
taught by Rev. J. L. Murray, D.D., now of
Kincardine.

Many were the pitched battles fought in those
days. Sides were chosen, usually one conces-
sion against another, and the bullets were snow-
balls, which in mild or soft weather could be
made very hard. To-day John Griffiths stands
six feet two inches, and well proportioned. He
was a powerfully-built boy, always ready for fun
or fight, and few cared to tackle him. His old
schoolmates still laugh as they relate how on
one occasion he took hold of Sandy Bruce's
young bull by the tail, and swung him into a
brush heap.

In 1872 he left Zorra and went to Brantford,

174

ZORRA BOYS

I
I

to work at his trade as bricklayer, which he had
learned with his father. From Brantford he
went to Chicago, where he worked with a firm
of builders, and in a short time was promoted
over older and much more experienced men to
the position of foreman. His career has been an
unbroken serie« of successes, until to-day he can
point to a considerable number of the largest
public buildings in half a dozen States as erected
under his oversight. Among these are the
Masonic Temple, Chicago, standing twenty-three
stories high, and costing $3,000,000 ; the Rialto,
facing on the Board of Trade building, costing
$1,000,000; the great Northern Hotel, Chicago,
twenty stories high, and costing $1,500,000 ; the
Oriental Hotel, Dallas, Texas, costing $1,000,000 ;
the Great Northern Depot, Chicago, costing
$1,250,000 ; all the depots and round-houses on
the Rock Island R. R., from Topeka, Kansas, to
Colorado Springs, Col.

The drainage canal of Chicago, designed to
convey the sewage of the city a distance of
thirty miles, to the Mississippi River, is known
as a work of great engineering skill. John

JOHN GRIFFITHS

175

Griffiths had a contract for a part of this
immense work ; his tender was $1,500,000 and
he made well out of it, though every other con-
tractor lost heavily.

The completion of this work was celebrated
by a great gathering of leading public men,
and many of the expert engineers of the
United States. John Griffiths was selected to
give the address on the engineering feats of the
undertaking, a striking testimony to his skill
and the part he took in the construction of the
work. The total cost of this canal was over
$30,000,000. He has also erected large works
in St. Louis and Kansas City.

The only permanent building erected on the
World's Fair grounds was the Arts Building, and
this was erected by John Griffiths. There are
twelve million bricks in it.

At present he is engaged in erecting a State
building of immense proportions in Atlanta,
Georgia.

To temperance, tact, and a strict attention to
business may be ascribed the success of this
Zorra boy.

' ii

\ M

176

ZORRA BOYS

His life is a living illustration of the words ot
a homely poet :

" Never you mind the crowd, lad,
Nor fancy your life won't tell ;
The work is the work for all that,
To him that doeth it well.

" Just fancy the world a hill, lad ;
Look where the millions stop ;
You will find the crowd at the base, lad, '

There's always room at the top."

He married a Chicago lady, and has an
interesting family of two boys and three girls.
His house, built at a cost of $80,000, is situated
on Michigan Avenue. He gives largely to
religious and benevolent purposes. He still likes
to visit the scenes of boyhood days, and when he
comes to Woodstock his aged mother is not the
only one who is glad to see her boy.

I 1

;«

B;. ^■-

ttl

■i)- J

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P.

Sketch XVIII

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P.

The late Thomas Oliver was born in the
parish of Kildonan, Sutherland, Scotland, in the
year 1820. The family consisted of five, three
sons and two daughters. Of these Thomas was
the eldest, and after the good old custom was
named after his father. Adam Oliver, of
Woodstock, is the only member of the family
still surviving.

While very young the Oliver family moved
from Kildonan to the parish of Farr. Here
there was no school within twelve miles, but Mr.
Oliver, sen., with two other neighbors, built a
school-house of turf, and hired a teacher, and in
this humble abode of learning Thomas Oliver
got his primary education. Old Mr. Oliver,
being a shepherd, moved from place to place,

until finally he settled for some years in the
iz 177

178

ZORRA BOYS

parish of Lairg, Sutherlandsliire. By dint of
close application and perseverance, Thomas by
this time had picked up education enough to
enable him to teach school, which he did for
two years. Then in October, 1840, the whole
family crossed the Atlantic, and after en-
during the usual hardships and privations of
<»m',r^rants in those early days, settled down
on ioi ? o, concession 8, West Zorra. Thomas,
n;A' tv.\ years of age, taught for two or

three yc.^.is \hc little log school-house, north
of Braemar, on John Calder's farm.

Mr. Oliver's ambition, however, was in the
direction of commercial pursuits, and having
determined to relinquish the schoolroom, he
entered the large dry -goods establishment of the
late W. C. McLeod, Woodstock. His success
as a salesman, together with the confidence in-
spired in his employer by strict integrity and a
faithful discharge of his duties, brought their
reward. He was sent on several occasions
across the Atlantic to make the foreign pur-
chases, and after several years of faithful service
he secured a partnership in this prosperous busi-

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P.

179

ness. In 1857 he opened an establishment of
his own, near the corner of Dundas and Vansit-
tart Streets, and this he conducted successfully
until 1868, when it was bought by Messrs,
Schell and Clarke, Mr. Oliver having determined
to give up business, owing to the public respon-
sibilities which he had in the meantime assumed.
For many years he was an extensive and popu-
lar wool merchant on the market in Woodstock,
when wool was selling at forty cents a pound.

Although engrossed in the duties and cares
of a large business, Mr. Oliver found time to
give considerable attention to public matters, for
which he evinced a strong liking and a remark-
able aptitude.

His first municipal office was attained in
1859, when he entered the Town Council, from
which he passed as Reeve to the County
Council, and then to the Warden's chair, a
position which he reached in 1866. He was at
intervals a member of the Public and High
School Boards of the town, and in all of these
positions proved himself able and efficient.

In 1857 he was married to Marilla, daughter
of John Clark, East Oxford.

i8o

ZORRA BOYS

Mr. Oliver had not been long in Woodstock
before he began to take an interest in politics,
his sympathies being strongly with the Reform
party, like those of so large a majority of his
fellow-Scotchmen in Canada. At that time
party lines were very tightly drawn, and the
issues of the hour were discussed more fre-
quently and with much greater warmth than at
the present time. Nor were there, perhaps, in
all Oxford at that day so many political dis-
cussions as among the groups of intelligent and
decidedly pronounced politicians who were wont
to gather about Eden's corner, adjacent to the
Oliver store, and who sometimes held public de-
bates in the old court house. In these Mr. Oliver
was always prominent, and thereby doubtless
developed some of that political ability and those
aspirations which subsequently led to his can-
didature and election in the North Riding of
Oxford.

It was in the political contest between Mr.
Alexander, of Woodstock, and Mr. Cowan, of
Waterloo, as candidates for the Legislative
Assembly of Canada, in 1858, that Mr. Oliver

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P.

i8i

appeared prominently for the first time. The
contest was, to a certain extent, one between
the two divisions of the then great Gore electoral
district of Oxford and Waterloo ; and it was
perhaps on this account that Mr. Oliver warmly
espoused the cause of his neighbor, Mr. Alex-
ander, for whom, along with many other Re-
formers, he labored with energy and very effect-
ively throughout the campaign. From this time
forward he was generally regarded as a probable
candidate for Parliament ; and when a vacancy
occurred in 1866, by the death of the late Hope
F. Mackenzie, in the representation of the riding
for the Canadian Assembly, Mr. Oliver opposed
the nominee of the Reform convention, Dr. D.
Clarke, of Princeton, being dissatisfied with the
Association's constitution and action. He was
elected by a decisive majority (as he always was
at every subsequent election) to the House of
Commons, when opposition was offered him.
On two occasions, ^^y and '72, Mr. Oliver was
returned by acclamation. Throughout the
whole of his parliamentary career, which was
creditable to himself and satisfactory to his

'Jf

' fl

i' !

'■:

l83

ZORRA BOYS

constituents, he remained a staunch Liberal, and
his attachment to the party and the party's
principles grew more pronounced with each year.
In the stirring events and trying conflicts which
preceded the fall of the Conservative Govern-
ment in '73, Mr. Oliver took a keen and active
interest ; and on Mr. Mackenzie's assumption of
office he extended to the new government a
cordial and enthusiastic support. A man of the
people himself, his sympathies and influences
were naturally always accorded to such measures
of legislation as were calculated to enlarge their
liberties and to maintain their rights. His
ability in debate, and his invariable courtesy
alike to friend and opponent, secured for him
always the respectful attention of the House,
and few of its members, during the fourteen
years which Mr. Oliver represented the riding,
have been more popular. In his later political
campaigns Mr. Oliver gave his services freely
on behalf of his friends in many constituencies
of Western Ontario. He possessed a thorough
knowledge of public affairs, was a ready speaker,
moderate in the expression of his views and

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P.

183

their qualifications, and these along with his fine,
manly appearance and winning presence made
him a welcome and popular campaigner where-
ever he went.

As Mr. Oliver's pastor for some years, the
author has the most pleasant remembrance of
him. Kind-hearted, genial, hopeful, no minister
could wish a better friend. At midnight, on
Tuesday, November 9th, 1880, the end came
with terrific suddenness, and I do not know that
I can close this article better than with a few
sentences quoted from the sermon I preached
on the occasion of his funeral :

" In the words we have just read (Luke 12 :
34-40) death is spoken of as a thief coming in
the night — suddenly and unexpectedly. Seldom
has this truth been more strikingly and mourn-
fully illustrated than in the unforeseen, sudden
and painful loss which, along with multitudes
throughout the Dominion, we to-day deplore.

" We are stunned, bewildered, and we find it
almost impossible to realize that he with whom
we so lately associated is now with us no more.
One day we saw him active, vigorous, genial

1 84

^ ZORRA BOYS

and cheerful, but at midnight the cry came, and
next day we beheld him cold in death. Last
Sabbath evening, as I observed him listening so
attentively to the truth while I was showing
from Providence, and from the Word of God,
the shortness and uncertainty of human life, the
vanity of earthly treasures and the wisdom of
laying up treasures in heaven, little did I think
that my dear friend, Thomas Oliver, would
within a few hours illustrate these truths.

"In presence of the honored dead before us,
how vividly do we realize that health is but an
empty name, life a troubled dream, and worldlj
position a fleeting meteor. High and low,
learned and unlearned, rich and poor, all are
hastening to a common goal ; some go a little
before and the rest are sure to follow after ;
John outruns Peter to the sepulchre, but Peter
is not far behind him.

• ••• • • ••••

" We are not here to-day to praise the dead ;
it is not necessary. When the future historian
writes the history of this country and chronicles
the political events of the last thirteen years, the

li :\3

THOMAS OLIVER, MP.

i8s

name of Thomas Oliver will not be forgotten.
Large in his views, thoroughly sincere in his
desire to advance the interests of his constit-
uency, and the welfare of his country, honest in
his convictions, and fearless in the maintenance
of them, he occupied a prominent and influential
position in the parliament of our Dominion.
Since the sad intelligence of his death flew
with lightning speed throughout the length and
breadth of our land, public men on both sides of
politics have vied with each other in bearing
the most unqualified testimony to his many ex-
cellent qualities of head and heart. No legisla-
tor in the country .tood higher in the esteem of
his constituents. This has been time and again
demonstrated. And although for well-nigh forty
years he lived and labored in this town and
county as a public man, daily coming in contact
with persons of all classes and of all shades of
opinion, it is safe to say that he died leaving
not a personal enemy behind him, and never has
the tongue of slander found anything to whisper
against his private or public moral character.
There are few in the county with whom he was

III

i86

ZORRA BOYS

not personally acquainted and who did not
esteem him a friend.

" Diffident and retiring in his disposition, he
was not in religious matters so demonstrative
as some could have wished, but a good cause
always found in him a sympathizing friend. His
place in the house of God was seldom, if ever,
vacant on the Sabbath, morning or evening, ex-
cept when he was absent from home.

" He has been taken from us in the midst of
his years and usefulness. This congregation
where he worshipped for so many years will
miss him ; the whole Dominion will miss him ;
but most of all his own family will miss, sorely
miss him. Wise, beneficent, generous as he was
in public life, it was yet in the bosom of his
family that the many kind, amiable qualities of
his heart chiefly displayed themselves. But we
must not lacerate anew hearts that are already
bursting with sorrow by dwelling upon the
virtues of the husband and parent. The sorrow
of this desolate home to-day is too sacred for us
to intrude into, further than to assure the sor-
rowing ones of the profound sympathy of the

THOMAS OLIVER, M.P. 187

community at large, and to commend them to
Him who is the husband of the widow and the
father of the fatherless.

" Sorrowing ones, have faith in God. He doeth
all things well. Clouds and darkness are round
about His throne, but righteousness and truth
go before His face. What He doeth thou
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
Be ye therefore ready also, for the Son of man
Cometh at an hour when ye think not."

It may be added that Mr. Oliver left behind
him a widow, a son and two daughters. The
widow and the son have now joined him where
parting is unknown, and only the two daughters
survive. These are Mrs. Chas. Clay, of Minne-
apolis, and Mrs. John McCoun, of Toronto.

Sketch XIX.

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND.

One of the charges not infrequently brought
against Scotchmen, and especially Highlanders,
is that they are not sufficiently cosmopolitan in
their views and sympathies. The political his-
tory of Zorra does not bear out this charge. As
a part of the County of Oxford, the district has
been represented in Parliament by such distin-
guished men from a distance as Sir Francis
Hincks, Hon. George Brown, Hon. William
McDougall and Sir Oliver Mowat But while
thus appreciating and appropriating outside
talent, the people of Zorra have not been remiss
in recognizing talent at home. From the stand-
point of business ability, it would be hard to find
three men superior to the late Donald Mathe-
son, the late Thomas Oliver, and Hon. James

i88

S
S

IIOX. lAMKS SUTIIKRI.AM), M.l'.

.11

!i:i

( \

Ik*

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND, M.P. 189

Sutherland, the county's three home representa-
tives, and each of them a Zorra man.

Like most men who have come to the front in
our day, James Sutherland was born and reared
in the country. On the farm he deveL .ed those
physical and mental qualities which have fitted
him for one position of trust after another, until
to-day he is an esteemed member of the Domin-
ion Cabinet.

James Sutherland comes of good Highland
Scotch stock, his father, Alexander Sutherland,
having removed to this country in 1841, from
Caithness-shire. He was himself born in what
is known as the " Scotch Block," Ancaster,
Ontario, in 1849. His mother, Allison Rentcn,
was a daughter of John Renton, one of the pio-
neers of Ancaster. She died before James
reached the age of three, and his father, after
moving to the lOth line. East Zorra, died in
1857, before the lad was eight years of age. It
is wonderful how many men of mark have lost
their fathers early ; not so many, however, their
mothers. The loss of the father, by throwing
great responsibility upon the boy, helps not

Its '

ilH:

190

ZORRA BOYS

infrequently to develop his manhood ; but alas
for the poor motherless boy.

James Sutherland received his primary educa-
tion in the country school, and among his teach-
ers was the now well-known Rev. Dr. Robertson,
Superintendent of Presbyterian Missions in
Manitoba and the North-West Territories. He
afterwards attended the Woodstock Grammar
School, at that time taught by the late George
Strauchan. While attending the Woodstock
school, he always walked to and from his home
in the country, and on Saturdays worked for
John Forrest & Co., in the store, and buying
grain on the market.

When fifteen years of age he left school, and
entered upon five years of service in a business
establishknent in Ingersoll.

In 1869, when only twenty years of age, he
bought the large general store of John Forrest,
in Woodstock, and set up in business for him-
self. Already we see in the young man more
than ordinary mental activity and business
energy.

In the twenty-fourth year of his age Mr.

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND, M.P. 191

Sutherland sold his store and bought the bank-
ing and exchange business of the late John
Mackay, of Woodstock. About this time, also,
he purchased the Ontario Vinegar Works at
Hamilton. Not long ago, when the modern
method of manufacturing acetylene gas was dis-
covered by a Woodstock scientist, Mr. T. L.
Willson, Mr. Sutherland quickly recognized the
possibilities involved in the discovery, and joined
with Mr. Willson in the manufacture of calcium
carbide, the article from which acetylene gas is
now obtained. Already a factory is in opera-
tion in Merritton, Ontario, and a much larger
one at the Chaudiere Falls, Ottawa. They are
at present engaged in developing an immense
water-power in the Province of Quebec, at the
confluence of the Shipshaw River and the
Saguenay, with the intention of erecting a
factory for export trade.

Mr. Sutherland's business career has been
characterized by energy, tact, caution and a
large measure of success.

Very early in life he began to take an inter-
est in the public affairs of his town and country.

■I? ;>:

■ il :

i 1

192

ZORRA BOYS.

When but twenty-seven years of age he placed
his foot on the lowest rung of the ladder, being
elected to represent St. George's Ward in the
Woodstock Town Council. Promotion came
quickly, for during the three following years he
was elected Reeve of the town and a member
of the County Council. He next (1880) occu-
pied the position of Mayor of the town, and in
the same year was appointed to the Board of
Trustees of the Woodstock Grammar School, a
position he has retained to the present time.
He has always shown much interest in the
progress of educational affairs.

Perhaps more than any other man, Mr.
Sutherland has been instrumental in making
Woodstock the splendid railway and business
centre it is to-day. He is a charter member of
the Woodstock Board of Trade, and was
elected a member of the first Board of Water
Commissioners of the town, and has been a
member of the Trustee Board of the Woodstock
Hospital since its inception. He has had the
somewhat remarkable record of never having
been defeated in a popular election for any
public office.

II ! '

r ■ ! ■ !

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND, M.P. 193

But Mr. Sutherland's attentions have not been
confined to municipal and educational affairs.
He has given considerable thought and time to
military, athletic and social matters. As a boy
he joined the 22nd Battalion, Oxford Rifles, and
has since held the positions of sergeant, captain,
quartermaster and paymaster, the last of which
he now holds with the rank of major.

A handsome trophy in the possession of Mr.
Sutherland, which he values highly, is a cup
won by the famous Zorra tug-of-war team, in a
contest in the city of Buffalo for the champion-
ship of America, Mr. Sutherland at that time
being their captain.

Mr. Sutherland is a Mason of long standing,
and has been Master of Oxford Lodge and
Grand Senior Warden of the Grand Lodge of
Ontario. He was also at one time Royal Chief
of the Order of Scottish Clans of America.

Mr. Sutherland's parliamentary career dates
from the year 1880, and to-day there are only
seven members in the House of Commons who
have sat continuously for so long a time. In
that year, on the sudden death of Mr. Thomas
13

194

ZORRA BOYS

If: V'
It.-

Pi'

Oliver, he was elected to represent North
Oxford. Since that time he has sat in Parlia-
ment without interruption, having been returned
in all six times, his majority having gradually
increased from 370 in his first election to 1602
in the election of the present year. In 1891 he
was chosen chief Liberal Whip, a position he
held for eight years, during which time by his
unfailing tact, broad sympathies and generous
good nature, he won the esteem alike of political
friends and opponents.

Probably no other man has been as closely
identified with the internal affairs of the Liberal
party during recent years. In 1893 he was
Chairman of the Committee of General Arrange-
ments at the great Liberal convention held in
Ottawa, when the seed was sown from which
resulted the abundant harvests of 1896 and
1900.

As Chairman of the Railway Committee,
which is the largest committee of the House,
Mr. Sutherland has shown a strength of purpose
and an ability to grapple with large questions
which place him in the front rank as a leader of
men.

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND, M.P. 195

ttee,
►use,

ose
ions

rof

Thus he rose, step by step on the ladder, till
on the 30th of September, 1899, he became a
member of the Privy Council and of the Domin-
ion Cabinet. His constituents seized upon this
important event in his career to again testify
their unbounded admiration for the talents
which had won for him such distinction in the
councils of the nation, and tendered him such a
demonstration as has seldom been witnessed in
Western Ontario.

I quote a sentence or two from one of the
daily papers : " Probably never before in the
history of Woodstock has the town been the
scene of such a demonstration as was witnessed
there last night at the reception of Hon. James
Sutherland, the newly-appointed Cabinet Min-
ister. Nearly every inhabitant of Woodstock
was on the street. Poor men were there ; and
wealthy men ; artisans jostled their employers ;
Conservatives were as enthusiastic as Liberals, a
crowd of various social stations and of opposite
political opinions, but on this occasion being
united in the common desire of doing honor
to the man, whose worth has been proven by

196

ZORRA BOYS

Ik '

k .

long years of municipal and national labors, and
has been recognized by the Government in his
elevation to the Privy Councillorship."

The reception was worthy of the man. As
the 7.14 train pulled into the Canadian Pacific
railway station, cheers of welcome from thou-
sands of throats rent the air. The waving
motion of the sea of torches, and the shower of
rockets, told the expectant crowds farther up
the street that the Minister had arrived. From
the station the vast procession marched to the
skating rink, where enthusiastic speeches were
made by leading citizens. All were proud of
"the Zorra boy" who had lived among them, had
labored for them, and who had by his own
worth and perseverance raised himsef to one of
the highest positions in the gift of his country.

A recent writer, discussing Mr. Sutherland's
appointment to the Cabinet, says : " Possessed
of caution, keen perception, and rare exec'*
ability, Mr. Sutherland has now won for Y
an honorable place in the House. ^ gicc >t
enemy has never accused him of being a self-
seeker. Of a modest and retiring nature, he

HON. JAMES SUTHERLAND, M.P. 197

does not frequently speak at length in the
House, but whenever he rises the members
listen with attention to his utterances. The
business man who quietly can go along in an
unostentatious way, and achieve honor for him-
self and his country, by his foresight and execu-
tive ability, will make a much better Cabinet
Minister than those who have no stock-in-trade
but high-sounding oratory."

B 'i

1 '

r ;

if :

|{ i

1.1

, Sketch XX
REV. CHARLES W. GORDON, B.A.,

(''RALPH CONNOR'')
zorra's popular author

It has frequently been said of Canadians that
they have produced no literature worthy the
name, and that until they possess this, they cannot
hope to take rank among the foremost nations
of the world. The charge may be partially
true, but it is more true that during the past
half-dozen years a son of Zorra has given to
the world a high type of work, peculiarly Cana-
dian, and that could only be penned by one
whose heart beat full and strong for hir native
land.

It is not more than six years since the pen-
name of " Ralph Connor " first appeared in print.
To-day one of his books is standing fifth in the
list of sales in Philadelphia, and ninth in
London, England, the American sale having

198

lat
the
lot
)ns
lly
ast

to
ha-

ne
ive

:n-

nt.

REV. C. W. (JOKDON, li.A.

K.M.rH CONNOK

r
*

REV. CHARLES W. GORDON, B.A. 199

reached the " sixty-fifth thousand." His plunge
into fame has been phenomenal in the literary
world. But his career has only begun.

The author, ** Ralph Connor," is the man,
Rev. Charles W. Gordon, B.A., pastor of St.
Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Winnipeg. Mr.
Gordon is not the first of fame in his line of
ancestry. His mother, herself a woman remark-
able for her strength of character, lofty piety
and mental power, was a cousin of Rev. Andrew
Murray, the renowned leader of the Dutch Re-
formed South African Church, and of the late
Robertson Smith, Professor of Hebrew in Cam-
bridge College ; she was a sister of the famous
author of " Christie Refern's Troubles," Miss M.
M. Robertson. Mrs. Gordon was the daughter
of a Scotch Congregational minister, so that the
subject of our sketch comes naturally by his
love of divinity, through both lines of ancestry,
his father, Rev. Daniel Gordon, having been
pastor of Harrington Presbyterian Church,
Zorra, for many years. And a wonderful man
is his father. His descent on his maternal side
is traceable to the celebrated Stuarts of Fincastle,

I u

200

ZORRA BOYS

and through them to Mary, Queen of Scots.
When but sixteen years of age, he travelled with
the great Rev. W. C. Burns, during a mighty
revival, throughout Perthshire, Scotland. In
1849 he came to Canada under the auspices of
the Free Church of Scotland. After three years
of earnest labor as a missionary, in the Province
of Quebec, he received a call to Indian Lands,
Glengarry County, Ont, which he accepted. The
life of Rev. Mr. Gordon and his young family
during the succeeding years were full of hard-
ships and trial, all nobly endured and splendidly
overcome.

May it not be that the seed of that passion
for rough nature, as well as his great love for the
untutored pioneers of our civilization, which
have made "Ralph Connor" famous on two con-
tinents, was sown while his home was cast
among the forests of Glengarry and the hills of
Harrington ?

The senior Gordon is a man of great force
and originality over six feet tall, full-bearded,
and full to the finger-tips with Highland fire.
He is spending his latter years in London, Ont.,

REV. CHARLES W. GORDON, B.A. 201

re.
It.,

and here he will regale his Highland friends any
day with such strains as " Lochaber No More,"
or " Mackintosh's Lament," on a set of pipes
given his father by the late Duke of Gordon.

With such a parentage it can be little wonder
that Charles W. Gordon has forged to the front.
He has become possessed of a noble heritage of
deep intellectual and spiritual power — undoubt-
edly the secret of his subtle influence in reaching
the hearts of his readers.

Eleven years old when he came to Zorra with
his father's family, he went at once to work to
earn money to pay for his education, working in
the harvest field during the holidays, and doing
what chores he could during winter evenings, till
he was of an age to teach school. His course at
Toronto University was a promising one, many
honors and scholarships falling into his lap.
" He sailed through his university course as on
a summer's sea," says one who knows him well,
*' for though gifted with an alert and compre-
hensive mind, ' Ralph Connor ' never bothered
about studying."

The same deep, tender sympathy is as much

1 1;

i- 5'

202

ZORRA BOYS

with Mr. Gordon in private life as it is present
in every page of his literary work. He can
count his friends by the score in all parts of the
Dominion, and he has enjoyed the intimate
acquaintanceship of such well-known people as
Lord and Lady Aberdeen, and the late Dr.
Henry Drummond, whom he is singularly like
in his winsome, genial disposition.

If candor, simplicity, concreteness and sugges-
tiveness count for anything in literature, ** Ralph
Connor" has given us two valuable books,
"Black Rock," and "The Sky Pilot." His
characters are the people of the wild and free
West, where men soon learn to dispense with
the superfluous things of life in older lands; and
true to them, he has not burdened them with
tedious descriptions or abstract discussions,
which often spoil an otherwise interesting book.

He has embodied in " The Sky Pilot," Chris-
tianity ; and has proved in a beautiful series of
descriptive scenes its power to win, help and save
even the sensual and depraved, as represented
by Bruce, the intellectual and scholarly young
Scotchman, but at heart the coarsest of all that
terrible " Company of the Noble Seven."

REV. CHARLES W. GORDON, B.A. 203

Then he shows us what Christianity can do
for a spoiled child, like Gwen. Naturally high-
spirited and masterful, she was completely
ruined by indulgence ; and, when the day of
adversity overtakes her, her foolish friends stand
helpless before the task of making her life
tolei^ble by self-control. The Pilot, however,
steps in and fills her heart, not only with
patience, but makes the canyon — an unsightly
chasm — Providence had ripped up through her
life, to bloom with flowers of the rarest beauty
and fragrance — those flowers of the Spirit, love,
peace, meekness and self-control.

Gwen is equally successful with the beautiful
but haughty and rebellious Lady Charlotte, who,
too, had her canyon, with no flowers, nor seeds,
nor soil, till she looked at life through Gwen's
window.

In Robbie Muir, a penurious Christian is held
up as a fitting object for the world's scorn.

The " Opening of the Swan Creek Church,"
and "The Pilot's Last Port," are tender chapters.
The former lets us see what the Spirit of Christ
can do with an unlikely man in an emergency.

I'? %

IS'

■ «- «■

ll ^^

I'i. i I

Hi ii

i:i I

i;|,i.
!:(.!

204

ZORRA BOYS

There is pathos, as well as grim humor, in " dear
old Bill's " words : " 'Taint in my line. But the
Pilot says there's got to be a prayer, and I'm
going to stay with the game."

The last chapter of the book, entitled " The
Pilot's Last Port," leaves us with the Swan
Creek people offering their tribute of tears to
the memory of a good man, thus reaffirming the
conviction that held the Pilot steady, that first
Sunday evening in Swan Creek, when he ex-
claimed, " Men can't live without Him and be
men."

The New York Critic said recently, in com-
menting upon Mr. Gordon's work : " His
spiritual value as a writer of idylls cannot be
overestimated, and much could be said about
that spiritual touch all his own, so rare, subtle,
sure. His best book has yet to be written, and
those who know him well, know that he has a
tremendous literary power in reserve, not power
which is being occasionally withheld, but which
is lying latent. He has it in him to write a
book which could easily stand first in Canadian
classics."

lear
the
I'm

rhe
van
1 to
the
irst
ex-
be

>m-

H[is

3Ut

tie,
nd
i a
ver
ich
'■ a
an

REV. A. S. MACLEOD, M.A.

Sketch XXI
REV. ALEXANDER S. MACLEOD, M.A.

" Death loves a shining mark," said a New
York paper, when announcing the death of
Alexander S. Macleod, M.A., pastor of the
Camp Memorial Congregational Church of that
city. He was the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs
Angus Macleod, 8th lot. 3rd con., West Zorra.
and he died on March 25th, 1896, in the thirty'
eighth year of his life.

He was a born student, and his life was
characterized by great earnestness, a lofty ideal,
and a willingness to sacrifice himself for the good
of others, and to promote the glory of his blessed
Master. He received his primary education at
the district school near Embro, and his theo-
logical course at the Congregational College
Montreal. The degree of B.D. was conferred
upon him at Oberlin, Ohio ; that of B.A. and

205

|ii

206

ZORRA BOYS

!;!

M.A. at Columbia College, New York. He had
passed his examination for the degree of Ph.D.,
but death intervened, calling him to a still
higher honor.

In the twelfth year of his age, during the
Russell and Carroll series of evangelistic services
at Embro, he gave his heart to God. His new
nature was too earnest to be hidden. At once
he stood up for Jesus, and to this day many
remember the fervid appeals of the boy, and his
earnest pleadings with the unconverted to accept
Christ as their personal Saviour. Some indeed
there are still living, who point to the humble,
simple, but effective pleadings of ** little Alec
Macleod " at that time, as the beginning of a
happy change in their earthly career.

Through all his subsequent life this thirst of
spirit for the salvation of souls seemed to increase,
until his whole life and being were absorbed in
consecrated service.

But while thus earnest in pastoral and pulpit
work, he labored faithfully to attain, in point of
scholarship, the highest eminence which his time
and ability put within his reach. In this he was,

REV. A. S. MACLEOD, M.A.

207

Ipit
of
[me

as we have seen, very successful ; but in the
closing hours of his life his testimony to those
around him was, that all worldly attainments
were not to be compared with one look at his
crucified Saviour, and the sweet communion of
soul he enjoyed with Him.

Before his death, like John in Patmos, he was
permitted to catch a glimpse of the heavenly
city, and to triumph in the assurance of his
Saviour's love.

The earthly remains were brought to Embro,
and a service held in the Congregational church,
in which several clergymen took part. At the
deceased's request, Rev. Mr. Salmon preached
the funeral sermon, holding up Christ, and Christ
alone, as the sinner's Saviour.

There was a vast concourse of friends and
acquaintances, and each one seemed to feel the
sorrow and the solemnity of the occasion.

The remains were deposited in the family
plot at North Embro, and on the grave was de-
posited the gift of the New York City Mission,
which consisted of a " pillow of flowers," with the
inscription " Asleep in Jesus."

Sketch XXII
CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS ;

OR, A ZORRA BOY LEADING IN THE FIGHT FOR
OUEEN AND COUNTRY IN SOUTH AFRICA.

I AM no lover of war; with all my soul I hate
it. At the same time I am no!: an advocate of
peace at any price. There are doubtless occa-
sions when a nation has as good a right to de-
fend itself against invaders as the head of a
family has to defend his household against
midnight robbers and assassins. When Kruger
and Steyn issued their insulting ultimatum, in-
vaded British possessions, and shot dov/n Brit-
ish subjects in South Africa, would it not have
been criminal as well as cowardly in the mother
country not to defend her people? The justice
of the war appealed to British subjects every-
where, and soon the Colonies were represented

208

ited

i* I

I i

CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS

209

by 20,000 soldiers on the field of battle. Never
did Highlanders respond more promptly or
cheerfully to the call of the fiery cross, than
did the people of Canada, on this occasion, to
tho demands of British loyalty.

And Zorra was not last. In the person of
Capt. John Munro Ross she gave one of her
bravest and most patriotic boys to fight for
Queen and country in Africa. " Jack," as he is
familiarly known, is a typical Canadian boy —
bright, intelligent, self-reliant, resourceful, fond of
sport, and, although never posing as a saint was
always true to his convictions. While quite
young he was appointed Secretary of Knox
Church Sabbath School, Embro, the duties of
which he discharged with fidel**^" and efficiency.
Never was his place in the family pev un-
necessarily vacant, Sabbath morning or evenin-'j.
He was kind-hearted, gentle, and devotedly
attached to his mother. Do these qualities not
lie at the very basis of true bravery? History
tells us of the heroism of "Havelock's saints,"
and how Lord Clyde, on one occasion, asked
his oflficers to pick out the bravest men from
14

2IO

ZORRA BOYS

'it' 1

his small army before Delhi, to form the forlorn
hope in a desperate attack. It was on a Sun-
day evening. The reply was : ** There is a
prayer-meeting going on now in the camp. If
you go there you will find all the bravest men."
The following brief sketch of Ca;pt. Ross's
career will, I hope, be of interest to readers of
this book : He was born in West Zorra on
July 2nd, 1877. He comes of a good military
family, his father being Capt. D. R. Ross, and
two of his younger brothers at present hold-
ing comi.iissions in the Oxford Rifles. He is
closely related to the Gordons of military re-
nown, of whom Capt. Gordon, of Embro, is a
worthy representative. He received his early
education at the Embro Public School. His
teacher writes me : " He was an apt pupil,
quickly grasping anything which was before the
class. The mechanical part of his work was
always executed in a very short time, and it re-
quired no little ingenuity on the part of his
teacher to devise employment for him." From
1 89 1 to 1895 he attended Ihe Woodstock Col-
legiate Institute. Here he showed marked

CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS

211

litary
5, and
hold-
He is
^y re-
is a
early
His
upil,
: the
was
t re-
his
rom
Col-
rked

ability in composition, frequently writing essays
for boys of his form, to whom this part of col-
lege work was a burden. For some time he
was district correspondent of the Sentinel-
Review, and his humorous descriptions of local
matters, particularly municipal politics, attracted
considerable attention. This literary talent has
since been well developed, as the readers of
his graphic letters from South Africa know.
He was always fond of outdoor sports, and was
the champion player in the Collegiate Insti-
tute hockey team.

He is a lover also of horses, and his fearless-
ness and presence of mind in managing a
spirited team on more than one occasion saved
his life. Several times he was in a runaway,
when almost everything behind the horses was
smashed with the exception of himself This
same good luck followed him into South Africa.
Writing after the battle of Paardeberg, he says :
" The bullets came pretty close together. It
was my first time under fire, but I wasn't ner-
vous, though I could not help ducking my head
when something .vent ' ping ' right past my

•I'' I'

111

212

ZORRA BOYS

ear. Bullets make about a dozen different
sounds, and as we lay on the sand that morning
we had a great opportunity to enumerate them
all. I had about fifty narrow escapes ; in fact, it
was a close shave all day. I was behind a little
knoll with a couple of my men, and we put in a
bad half-hour. About three Boers evidently hnd
us marked. We dug holes in the sand, and
got head protection, but if we moved a muscle of
our bodies we got a volley,"

In the above quotation Capt. Ross speaks
of being under fire for the first tim.e, but a feliow-
student at the Collegiate recalls an occasion
when, on Halloween, Jack and a few of the boys
sallied forth to celebrate the night in the cus-
tomary way. A householder, who expected
some such visitors, was prepared, and when
the boys got well started, discharged a shot-
gun loaded with peas around their legs. Jack
and his companions beat a more hasty retreat
than we have ever heard of Canadian boys
doing before the fire of the Boers.

In 1895 young Ross matriculated into Toronto
University, and attended one year as an Arts

CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS

213

student. Then for two years he engaged in the
milling business with his father. His mind was,
however, set on completing his university course ;
and with this purpose in view he studied during
the session of 1898-99 in McGill College, Mont-
real. Unselfish and obliging, he was extremely
popular with his fellow-students. The news-
papers have told us how, on the occasion of his
passing through Montreal as a member of the
first contingent to Africa, his old fellow-students,
recognizing him, shouted '* Here he comes !"
" Hurrah for Jack !" and forgetting all military
rules, rushed forward, seized him, and carried
him shoulder-high from place to place. " I
hope," said he, humorously, when let down, " the
Boers won't treat me as rough as that."

His military career may be thus summed up
Appointed 2nd lieutenant, provisionally, No. 2
Company, 22nd Regt., Oxford Rifles, under his
father, Capt. D. R. Ross, in 1896, Commanding
officer, Colonel Munro. Attended Wolseley
Barracks, London, and took a course of instruc-
tion under Colonel Smith ; obtained his coni-
mission and was gazetted lieutenant, in 1896-97

I! I

214

ZORRA BOYS

was lieutenant of Embro Company, under his
uncle, Capt. Jas.G. Ross. In 1899 he was gazetted
captain, and given command of No. 2 Company,
Embro. In 1 899, as already intimated, he was one
of the first to volunteer for active service in South
Africa, and was appointed lieutenant of " B "
Company, 2nd Batt., R. C. R., under Major Stuart,
of London, as captain. His after history is iden-
tified with that of our Royal Canadian Regiment,
whose daring and dash have won the admiration
of the whole world, and done more than any
other event of recent years to promote the unity
of the British Empire, and to make the name
Canadian known and honored everywhere.

Capt. Ross commanded "B" Company during
Lord Roberts' march across the Free State, and
also in the famous battle of Paardeberg, where
Gen. Cionje, with his 4,000 men, was surrounded
and crptured. The march to Paardeberg was
one of the hardest ever recorded in military
annals. The boys were reduced to half-rations,
while they had to travel through mud and rain
without cessation. Speaking of it, Capt. Ross
says : " I never put in such a night in my life.

CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS

215

It seemed physically impossible to keep awake.
Every little while I would get Marshall, of 'C
Company, to shake me until my teeth rattled.
That did some good. It was very dark, and we
had to stop frequently on account of the trans-
port. As soon as ' halt ' was given every man
dr ,pped in his tracks sound asleep." Speaking
of Paardeberg, Capt. Ross says: "An action
was on when we arrived, and as soon as we could
swallow a biscuit and some hot coffee, we were
pushed on." The crossing of the river by means
of ropes, and in water up to the waist, and the
fierce and long-continued fight afterwards, in
which the Canadians bore such an honorable
part, are now matters of history, which we need
not here wait to relate. Paardeberg is written
large in the diary of Zorra men.

Capt. Ross continues : "The Boers surrendered
next morning, and we were personally thanked
by Lord Roberts. I handled the first batch of
prisoners, and they looked fat and comfortable.
Cronje himself isn't much to see. We were the
first into the laager, and our chaps got flour and
rice, and all sorts of luxuries. I got an elegant

2l6

ZORRA BOYS

;. I

Mauser carbine, and shall try to take it home
with me."

On May ist, at Thaba N'Chu, Capt. Ross
was wounded. He says : *' I got a bullet in
the ribs and collapsed. Then I rolled behind
a stone and bled for about an hour, all the time
doing some tall thinking."

Riding forty miles over a rough road, stretched
in the bottom of an ox- wagon, to Bloemfontein
Hospital, was his next experience. After lying
there for some time he was invalided to Eng-
land, where, after resting a few weeks, he
received permission from the doctors, and at
once set off to join his regiment in Africa.
However, the war virtually came to a close, and
the Government ceased sending out more sol-
diers. Capt. Ross returned home, and his friends,
who watched with pride his career in South
Africa, trust he may long live to win even greater
honors in cultivating the arts of peace than he
and his fellow-patriots did as soldiers of the
Queen.

Zorra is justly proud of the presidents, pro-
fessors, clergymen, lawyers, doctors, school

CAPT. JOHN M. ROSS

217

teachers, and successful business men she has
given to the world, and she has no reason to feel
ashamed of her brave soldier boy, Capt. Jack
Ross.

Whatever the primary reference of the follow-
ing verses, they fit in so well that I here subjoin
them :

Oh ! we love our British Empire,

And we flaunt her colors free,
And we bless our hoy and send him

To the fighting o'er the sea.
He's no " absent-minded beggar"

With a knapsack on his back ;
He's his country's Morning Glory !

He's our own Canadian Jack !

No, he does not hate the foeman,

But he loves his country well.
And will do his sacred duty

In the face of heaven and hell.
He has had a praying mother,

And he knows the golden rule,
And he carries high opinions

Of the state and church and school.

With his bullets and his Bible

He is furnished for the fight,
And the prayers from home surround him

When he lays him down at night.
Oh ! the front rank in the battle !

That is where he longs to be.
He will boldly face the strongholds

Of his country's enemy.

""h

4V--'

IMAGE [^VALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

I.I

Uim |2.5

■^ U2 122
I? lit ■"

IL25 1 1.4

Hiotographic

Sciences

Corporation

{^/

/(
-%

4i.

u..

23 WEST MAIN STREiT

WEBSTER, NY. USSO

(716) 872-4503

O"^

i!i

; !; I

'I 1

hi I

Sketch XXIII.

DR. A. E. MATHESON.

A ZoRRA boy that is still fondly remembered
by many old associates is Dr. A. E. Matheson,
of Concordia, Kansas, U.S. He was born on
lot 24, 8th line, West Zorra, in 1859. This was
a distance of about eight miles from the Embro
church, which along with his parents he attended.
Here is his early church-going experience : *' We
boys, after we reached the age of seven or eight
years, were required to accompany our parents
to church on Sunday, walking a distance of
seven or eight miles there, and the same distance
returning home. Sometimes we fell behind our
parents a few hundred yards, and then occa-
sionally we were tempted to * brak the Sawbath *
by picking up beech-nuts, or berries, or worse
still, chasing the woodpecker, chipmunk or red

squirrel. But for this backsliding we were

218

DK. A. 1.. MAI Ills* )N

Ilrii

I'M

til

DR. A. E. MATHESON

319

quickly brought to time, and reminded of our
degeneracy, and 'hoo far behint our ancestors
we were in thocht, an* word, an' deed.'

" Still, the long journey to and from the kirk
was not such a terror to us as being required after
reaching home to give the 'heids'of the sermon.
This was the sword of Damocles over us, for
oh ! the ' heids ' were sometimes as confusing as
in the case of Ian Maclaren's preacher ; and the
sermon was vera lang, and contained much that
we couldna carry hame, and muckle mair that
we couldna carry oot. However, the long
journey developed muscle, and the long sermon
with the many ' heids ' developed memory, and
the whole gave us a keen sense of the fact that
life was real and earnest."

Dr. Matheson received his primary education
in the little school-house on the 8th line, 22nd
lot. He was physically a light-weight, but wiry
and vivacious, and was usually the leader in all
games and combats. On one occasion, after
receiving the due reward of his misdeeds, he,
with two or three others, formed a plot to thrash
the teacher just as the school would be dismissed

320

ZORRA BOYS

^'i|

that day. But, " fortunately for us," he writes,
" a visitor came to the school that afternoon and
spoiled our plot."

In 1875 he left Zorra and went to Goderich,
where he attended school, providing himself with
board and clothes by his earnings after school
hours. From Goderich he went to Detroit,
where he found employment with Dr. Cleland.
He writes : " At night I attended the Business
College, and learned telegraphy. I soon held a
good position as a telegraph operator and station
agent."

At this time there were good openings for
young men in Kansas, and young Matheson
took Horace Greeley's advice, and went west.
Here he attended a veterinary college, and in
due time graduated as a V.S., which honorable
calling he has pursued ever since, and in which
he has greatly prospered.

Decision, self-denial and self-control are the
most striking features in the character of this
son of Zorra. He is also endowed with a kind,
sympathetic disposition which soon wins con-
fidence. He has always been an active church

DR. A. E. MATHESON

221

worker, and in this way his acquaintances and
companions were men and women who were
always ready to help him in life's conflicts.

" The young man who would really succeed
in life," he writes, "must seek good company,
cultivate self-control, and practise self-denial ;
for bear in mind, success r \eans not wealth, but
character, not rank, but usefulness."

Dr. Matheson is the son of Wm. Matheson,
one of the earliest of the Zorra pioneers, who,
although now in the eighties, enjoys good health
and delights to relate reminiscences of early
days. To him I owe the following incidents,
which will be read with interest by lovers of
old folk-lore :

" Near Embro lived a Highlander whom we
shall designate as Mack, the first part of his
name. Better off than most of his countrymen.
Mack brought with him from the Old Country
about $200 in gold sovereigns. In those primi-
tive times a sovereign went a long way in Zorra,
and many a poor man and destitute widow re-
ceived help from Mack's little bag of gold. No
interest was ever charged, simply a verbal

233

ZORRA BOYS

request, ' when she get the money she pay me.'
Mack's debtors got to be quite numerous, and
soon it got to be rumored that Mack had some
uncanny way of making sovereigns. This re-
port coming to his ears, he enjoyed it, and he
made up his mind to encourage it. So one day a
neighbor came for a loan. ' She no have it noo,
but if she pe corne after dinner she will be get-
tin' what she wants '

" So after dinner Mack put a pot of water on
the fire. Then bringing out his little bag of gold,
he put it into the pot when he saw his neighbor
coming. Taking it out of the boiling water he
told his neighbor, 'She pe have it when the
money get cold.'

" Nothing more was wanted to convince the
neighbor that all was not right, and shocked be-
yond expression, he quickly rose from his chair,
and left the house saying, * It's the deevil's money,
she no have it — na, na; she pe poor, but honest.'"

"On another occasion a neighbor came to
Mack for a loan. The following dialogue en-
sued :

" Neighbor : * Mack, I have come to borrow a

DR. A. E. MATHESON

323

little money, as one of my oxen is dead, and I
must get another.*

" Mack : * And what much she pe wantin' to
porrow ? '

" Neighbor : * I would require four sovereigns.*

"Mack : ' And that much she'll pe gettin', and
she*ll pey it paack when she pe aaple.'

*' Neighbor : ' Thank you, and now will you
get me a pen and ink and a bit of paper ? *

"Mack : * For what will she pe want a pet of
paaper ? *

" Neighbor : ' I want to give you a note for
the money.*

" Mack : * Na, na * (putting the money back
into his wallet), * if she'll no trust her nainsel ' to
pay wi* oot a pet of paaper, I'll na trust her.
She*ll get na money from me.*

Nor did he.

Mr. Matheson has vivid recollections of the
scenes of *37 in Oxford. Only one of these can
I here give. He says : " On the old stage road,
about three miles from Ingersoll, there lived on
his farm a man by the name of Karn. He was
strongly suspected of being in collusion with

aa4

ZORRA BOYS

■

Mackenzie's rebels. So he was pursued by
McNab's soldiers, and his house surrounded.
Escape was impossible. Karn took to his bed
and feigned sickness. The soldiers entered the
house, and were about to remove him to Wood-
stock jail ; but the wife was equal to the occa-
sion. She cried, she sobbed, and loudly assured
them that her husband would be dead before
they reached Woodstock with him, and warned
them that they would suffer the consequences.
The soldiers were intimidated. A doctor was
sent for. One of the neighbors went to meet the
doctor, and let him into the secret. The doctor
came, looked at the man, examined him closely,
and ordered him not to be moved or he might
die at any moment. The doctor came every day
to see him, and reported him as steadily getting
weaker. Some neighbors sat up all night taking
care of him. There were ten men designated to
guard his house, five by day and five by night.
One guarded his bedroom door, two the outside
door, and one at each of the two windows in the
house. But he escaped. How ? There was a
woman in it. His wife got up every morning,

DR. A. E. MATHESON

22$

ht.
de
he
a

put a shawl over her shoulders, and an old hood
over her .lead ; then with a pail in each hand
went down the road quite a piece to where there
was a spring of water. After doing this for
several days, one morning the old man got up,
put the shawl over his shoulders, and the hood
over his head, took a pail in each hand, passed
the inside and outside guards, went for water,
and — well he was next heard of in the State of
New York."

Old Mr. Matheson distinctly remembers the
famine of '41. He says: "Flour was very
scarce. I got a barrel from the States and paid
$15 for it." When he opened it he found the
flour had got wet and was all in one s Aid cake.
*' With the axe," he says, " we cut it up into
lumps, then with a mallet we pounded it into
flour again, and sour as it was, we were glad
to have it. Many that spring lived on leeks,
molasses, sugar and potatoes."

■ t'

Sketch XXIV
JOHxX S. MACKAY,

THE MILLWRIGHT.

John S. MaCKAV was born July 25th, 1852,
on concession 9, lot 9, Kast Zorra. His father
and uncle are referred to on page 22 of " Pioneer
Life in Zorra," as among the very first settlers
of the district, and it may safely be asserted
that no two men in Zorra were ever more highly
respected by their neighbors.

No Zorra bo)' abroad is more deserving of a
place in these pages than J. S. Mackay, and yet
his life does not call for much speaking. It has
been the quiet, even, but persistent course of an
honest, industrious Christian man. Of him it
may truly be said :

"Toilinjj, rejoicing, sorrowing,
Onward through life he goes ;
Each morning finds some work begun,
Each evening sees its close."
226

lit

i8S2,
ather
oneer
ttlers
erted
ghly

of a

1 yet

has

hi it

Mi/-

ii_^B^^B^'^

JB^

^H^H^HBIi%r

%S^^W ^^^^^^^^^^^^■^^'''

*•'/

J. S. MACKAV, MILLWkKIIIT

tiif

JOHN S. MACKAY

227

The lesson for the young man to learn from
the career of J. S. Mackay is to put before him-
self a high purpose and then live for it. "Drift,"
writes one at the age of sixty, " has been the
ruin of my life. For threescore years 1 have
been on life's sea, going wherever the winds and
tides took me, like a mariner without chart or
compas.s." Many accomplish little or nothing
because they never have a wise and enduring
purpo.se in life. They aim at nothing and they
hit it. Not so the subject of this brief sketch.
He early learned an honorable trade, and he
stuck to it, and to-day he is reaping the benefit
in a comfortable home and a splendid character.
His advice to young men is, " Get on the right
track and .stick to it. You will get there in
time."

At the age of seventeen he left home to learn
the millwright trade, serving four years with
Robert Whitelaw, Beachville (now of Wood-
stock). For twenty years he worked at this
trade in Canada and the United States, and
helped to erect some of the finest mills in the
land.

Ill

228

ZORRA BOYS

In 1889 he started in the milling business for
himself in Boissevain, Man., and to-day he is
sole owner of the best 150-barrel mill in Mani-
toba, as well as of the quarter section of land
on which the mill is situated.

Mr. Mackay has great hope for the future of
Manitoba, and strongly advises any young man
seeking a home to come west and secure one.

To his early Christian training and persis-
tency of purpose may be attributed his success,
financial and moral.

Mrs. Mackay is a native ot Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, and remembers well Queen Victoria's
visit year after year to the ruins of old Kil-
drummie Castle.

i '-\

I O

* 'i

isiness for

Jay he is

in Mani-

11 of land

future of
>ung man
re one.
d persis-
s success,

eenshire,
Victoria's
old Kil-

' '.J