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 In the very early hours of dawn, April 29, 1849, the ship, Hannah, en route from Warrenpoint and Newry, Ireland, to Quebec City, Canada, carrying perhaps 180 Irish immigrants and a crew of 12, struck a frozen reef in the strait near Cape Ray off the coast of Newfoundland during an ice storm.

The Hannah’s 23-year-old captain, Curry Shaw, son of one of the owners of the ship, prepared to abandon the vessel. But before he did so, he ordered the ship’s carpenter to nail down the Hannah’s after hatch: his Irish passengers would be sealed below decks. Then he and some members of the crew climbed into the life boat and rowed away into the darkness. 

Another crewman, however, wrenched the hatches back open and those passengers still able climbed out on to the heaving deck. 

Among those who staggered on to the Atlantic ice April 29, 1849, were Owen McCourt and his wife, Jane McKnight.

Now, over 162 years later, Owen and Jane’s great grandson, Pat McCourt, of Williamsburg, has traced the story of his family back to Ireland, and to the circumstances that led them to the deck of the Hannah.

“The Hannah was called,  even in the day, a ‘coffin ship’, as were many of the ships which carried Ireland’s poor to the New World,” Pat McCourt told The Leader

McCourt, a retired principal, can remember, from a very young age, being fascinated by the stories told in his family about his Irish ancestors.

His desire to know more only increased when CBC National – Doc Zone – ran a documentary called “Famine and Shipwreck: an Irish Odyssey”, a film by Brian McKenna, on March 17, 2011. As a descendent of survivors of the wreck, McCourt was invited to be part of the documentary.  

The Irish McCourts hailed from the lowlands of Poyntzpass, on the boundary between Counties Down and Armagh, about 15 miles from the town of Newry. 

In the late 1700s, Pat McCourt’s great-great-grandfather had been moderately successful in setting up a small flax selling business.  

Eldest son Patrick was educated as a doctor while Owen, the youngest son and Pat’s great grandfather, was a farmer, whose two acre holding was opposite his widowed mother’s six acres,.

He had been living with Jane McKnight, daughter of Scottish-Irish Protestants. “I suspect that both Owen’s and Jane’s families were very upset at their union,” McCourt said. “However, two children, Daniel (my immediate ancestor) and Eliza were born to them.”

No Irish Catholic could actually own land; he could only lease it from (often absentee) English landlords. And if a family actually tried to make any improvements to the home or fields, the rent was promptly raised. 

For one third of the Irish, population, uneducated, faced with crushing rents and official English indifference (if not out and out dislike), life was a ceaseless grind of poverty.

Ironically, English papers regularly described the Irish as “lazy and indolent”, people who refused to work, to better themselves. In the 1800s, the stereotype was wide-spread in society and accepted.

The lowly potato was literally the sole  basis of survival for  many Irish families. 

In 1845, a deadly blight attacked. Soon Ireland’s potatoes were rotting in the fields. 

“The thing is,” Pat McCourt said, “there was enough food still being produced in Ireland, despite the blight, to feed the people. Landowners were exporting food all during the famine despite authorities knowing people were actually starving to death. But it appears that many English privately saw the famine as a convenient way to finally get rid of the troublesome Irish ‘problem’. 

“If you can’t call this genocide, it’s pretty damn close,” Pat McCourt commented. 

Prior to 1845, Owen McCourt agreed to stand as guarantor of a loan taken out by his McKnight brother-in-law. 

 “Then the famine came. His brother-in-law defaulted on the loan.”

Owen McCourt had to sell the lease to his eight acres for £80. When his brother-in-law’s debt was settled “we think he may have had £10 or so left. He and Jane decided to take the money and go to Canada to start over. Passage cost  £2-3 each.”  

They left Daniel and Eliza with relatives and boarded the ship at Newry. 

Jane and Owen left Ireland on April 3, 1849. Owen was wearing a warm overcoat his doctor brother had given him at the last minute. It may have saved his life.

On the bitter morning of April 29, with the other survivors of the Hannah, they stood on the heaving ice. 

“The ice broke apart,” Pat McCourt said, “forcing survivors into two groups. People slipped and fell into the arctic water.  Hands and feet froze. Bodies were abandoned on the ice.

My great-grandmother said that when she was trying to get on board the rescue ship, she had to use her elbows and teeth to climb. Her hands were frozen. Later, horribly, a hatch cover was accidentally dropped on her damaged hands.”

About 10 hours after the Hannah struck, a second ship, also carrying Irish immigrants, came on the horizon. She was the Nicaragua, captained by William Marshall, whom McCourt calls the “hero of this story.” 

Captain Marshall, described as a God-fearing Protestant who never expressed a word of anti-Irish sentiment, immediately turned to the rescue. His crew nearly mutinied, terrified at being lost on the ice themselves. 

“Then,” Pat McCourt said, “they heard the people crying and begging from the ice and they relented. As Captain Marshall put it, ‘what has to be done, must be done.’”

When the survivors could not fasten bow lines or ropes with their frozen hands, he and his crew lassoed them, dragging men, women and children from the ice and on to the Nicaragua any way they could. 

“He pulled 129 survivors off the ice that day, including Jane and Owen.” McCourt said. “He could not carry them all on his own already loaded ship, but other vessels had come on the scene, and he transferred the Irish survivors to them. 

William Marshall will always be a true hero to me.”

Nothing was ever done to punish captain Curry Shaw for his actions April 29, 1849.  

Owen and Jane ultimately decided to get off a second ship in Cornwall.

Daniel and Eliza McCourt eventually joined their parents in Canada in 1851. By then, 16 year-old-Daniel was ready to strike out on his own. 

He apprenticed with a Cornwall shoemaker,  then worked on the canal and down the Mississippi River, narrowly avoiding being pressed into the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. 

“Why does this story of the Hannah matter so much to me?” Pat McCourt commented. 

“This is who I am. These people are part of my identity. Their stories and the heritage of these incredibly strong, determined Irish people are my background.”  

But,” he added smiling, “even  family stories can get changed. We were told Owen went back to the Hannah just before she sank to bring off blankets and, supposedly, meal. 

Well, in reality, he brought off blankets and strong spirits. But that part of the story was apparently cleaned up in the telling.” 

[…]

 

“English country dancing is lively, it’s very sociable and the music is wonderful,” explained Sara Lawson, who will be offering classes in English country dance beginning February 5. “This is exercise for the mind and body that people will really enjoy.”

And classes are starting up just in time for participants to join in the festivities surrounding the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 in Ontario. 

“One of our goals is to take part in the Regency Ball which will be held on Canada Day, July 1, this summer,” Lawson said. 

English country dancing originated as far back as the 1700s. By 1812, the slower and more elegant styles were performed in the drawing rooms of the gentry, while the livelier dances of the country people took place in barns and fairgrounds. Accordions, flutes, fiddles and violins still form the music. 

British officers were regular participants at the dances in the communities where regiments were stationed. “Military re-enactors are today among those eagerly taking up English country dance for the Regency Balls all over Ontario.” 

There has been a tremendous revival of interest in this type of dance in the last 10 years in North America.

Lawson, who has been teaching English country dance for 15 years in Ottawa, Montreal and Ogdensburg, will be starting classes at Allen Hall in Morrisburg for adults over 18. She expects famed caller, Nigel Kilby, known as “Mr. English Country Dance” to come to Morrisburg to ‘call’ for local dancers later in the summer. 

“These are walking dances rather than dances needing special steps. Everyone can do them,” Lawson said, “and they will have a wonderful time.”

For information about classes call 613-652-4010 or contact skgl@sympatico.ca

[…]

 

Was Prowind Canada able to ease the concerns of the South Branch Wind Opposition Group (SBWOG)? Simply put, the answer is no.

January 10th, 2012 marked Prowind Canada’s final public meeting at Matilda Hall in Dixon’s Corners with respect to the proposed South Branch Wind Farm near Brinston.  

Although the meeting began with Prowind’s typical open-house style, the meeting’s main event came an hour into the night with a question and answer period lasting over two hours. 

Upwards of 70 people showed up for the forum, looking for an opportunity to ask questions, express their fears, and share their uneasiness about the big change. There were also a few people in attendance to applaud the wind energy initiative and the Prowind group.

Several South Dundas council members and a few township employees also attended the event. When asked for his general impression of the meeting, Mayor Steven Byvelds said, “I do feel that the meeting went well.” 

Members of SBWOG did not share the Mayor’s opinion. In a January 11th email, Bruce Albers, a representative for SBWOG, stated: “Suffice it to say that many of us found the answers given by Prowind to be slanted and in many cases simply untrue, to the extent that we will submit a formal complaint to the MOE (Ministry of the Environment.)”

On his own behalf, he said, “there are many issues I have with the answers that were provided by Prowind as well as the format.” Albers, and many other residents affected by the wind farm, felt that there should have been room for public rebuttal during the forum.

Another issue raised with the forum was the absence of any representatives from either the Ontario Health Unit (OHU) or MOE. 

Prowind’s forum panel consisted of four people: project manager Juan Anderson; President Jeffrey Segal; Rochelle Rumney who is in charge of environmental assessments; and, Dr. Loren Knopper, co-author of Health effects and wind turbines: A review of the literature. It was pointed out that Dr. Knopper is an academic doctor, not a medical doctor.

According to Anderson, other agencies like OHU or MOE were not invited because “that’s really not their role.”

When asked about statistics in reference to wind turbines on health, Knopper said there were none. What is known, he said, is that reports put it around the “10 per cent mark for people who may find it annoying.”

The audience followed up by asking why Prowind hasn’t gone ahead and done some studies of their own. Segal replied, “we’re not in the business of doing health studies.”

When asked if Prowind has petitioned the government for a third-party epidemiological study, Anderson answered: “No, that’s really not our role. We go on the existing research.”

Knopper was then asked if he had written a paper suggesting that more studies need to be done on the effects of wind turbines on health. In short, his answer was “yes.”

In terms of recourse, should residents experience adverse health effects, the audience was told that MOE has a hotline available 24 hours per day, seven days per week. “It’s up to them (MOE) to investigate,” he said. 

In any case, Knopper claimed, “there won’t be any adverse health effects based on the 550 metres and 40 decibels.” 

The province requires that all turbines be a minimum of 550 metres away from  residences. According to Knopper, with that distance, sound will not rise above 40 decibels.

It was suggested by both Anderson and Knopper that most health-related issues that arise in a wind farm area, do so indirectly and, most often, due to annoyance. Knopper pointed out that a person’s attitude and visual cues predict whether or not they might be annoyed. 

It was also pointed out by a few panel members that most people who complain of health-related issues are those who are not profiting from it.

Knopper interjected, saying, “if you read negative things, hear negative things, then you’re going to be worried and annoyed.”  He further pointed out that annoyance leads to stress and, stress can lead to health issues. 

In addition to health-related worries, the residents in the audience were also concerned with property values.

According to Segal, “impirical evidence in both Ontario and elsewhere is demonstrating that there is no property value loss.” In terms of backing this up, Segal said he had documentation he could send to anyone interested. 

An audience member introduced names of wind farm areas where substantial property value loss was experienced.  Segal denied knowledge of any such findings, but agreed to look into it further.

He pointed out that there are many other factors, other than the presence of a wind farm, that could play a part in why an area’s property values decline.

Speaking of money issues, members of the audience wanted to know how much profit Prowind would make from the South Branch Wind Farm. They also wanted to know what the actual landowners (the “participating” residents who will have turbines on their land) would be receiving in terms of compensation.

In terms of Prowind’s gross revenue, Anderson said, “those are private financial details of the project. It’s not something we can really comment on.”

In response to how much the participating landowners were making from the deal, he said, “that is private between landowners and Prowind.”

When asked about the cost of energy on the average Ontario tax-payer due to the FIT program, Anderson replied, “there’s a lot of political spin that gets put on that.”

As for long-term jobs produced by the farm? Anderson revealed that due to a “higher amount of maintenance in the beginning, (there will be) 10 permanent jobs.” However; “ongoing, long-term there will be two to three.” 

Nearing the end of the forum, the panel was asked the crucial question of whether any of them live within one kilometre of a wind farm. The answer for each of the panel members was ‘no’.

As stated earlier, one of the issues SBWOG had with the forum was the lack of any representation from governmental or environmental authorities. The Leader was able to contact the South Nation Conservation Authority (SNC) as well as the Ministry of the Environment (MOE).

On January 12th, Geoff Owens from the Planning and Engineering department of SNC spoke with The Leader. He revealed that under the Conservation Authority Act, “our rights are not superceded by the Green Energy Act.”

He said that Prowind’s project’s “natural hazards have to comply with our regulations before they get a permit from us.”

The SNC deals only with the environmental factors, however; everything else would fall under the jurisdiction of the MOE or the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

On January 13th, The Leader received an email from MOE. Kate Jordan from the Communications Branch of MOE reported that “the ministry has not received an application for a renewable energy approval for the Prowind Canada project.”

“It is our understanding,” she continued, “that the company is going through the needed public consultation work required under the renewable energy approval process.”

“Public involvement and participation is a significant part of the approval process. Developers are required to hold at least two public meetings and all comments received through public consultation must be documented and reported to the ministry as part of the application. We review all comments submitted carefully as part of our review of the application.”

Jordan also stated: “We also post complete applications on the environmental registry site for the public to review and comment on before we make any approval decisions.”

She went on to say that “our priority is that renewable energy is developed in a way that protects human health and the environment. The stringent Renewable Energy Approval process ensures that protection.”

“We have taken a cautious approach when setting standards for wind setbacks and noise limits to protect Ontarians. Ontario is a leader in establishing clear setbacks that are protective of human health and the environment.” 

“Developers must demonstrate that projects will meet the ministry’s 40 decibel noise guideline – the sound in a library – to protect the surrounding community. The World Health Organization says this level is protective of human health.”

“The Environmental Review Tribunal (ERT) and Ontario Superior Court have also ruled in favour of our protective renewable energy framework. The ERT upheld our approval and ruled that it is fully protective of human health and the surrounding community.”

While Prowind Canada moves slowly and steadily ahead with their project, the South Branch Wind Opposition Group is still working hard to have their demands addressed.

The SBWOG executive met on January 12th to discuss strategies and options moving forward. Next up is the South Dundas council meeting on January 17th. 

South Dundas council intends to discuss the requests made by the South Branch Wind Opposition group made earlier, in December. 

The January 17th South Dundas council meeting took place after The Leader’s Tuesday press deadline and news from the event will be covered in the January 25th edition. Check back then for more news on the subject.

[…]

 

Time-of-use rates for those who buy their electricity from Rideau St. Lawrence Distribution Inc. will not be going into effect this month, as was previously expected.

In fact, it appears quite possible that the change won’t take place until March 2012.

Originally, the local hydro utility expected to have their 2012 Electricity Distribution Rate Application filed by December 2011. 

However; according to Chief Financial Officer Allan Beckstead, Rideau St. Lawrence contacted the Ontario Energy Board on Monday to confirm that they “are not moving ahead” with the application. “It just does not make sense,” he said.

In explaining the reasoning behind the decision, Beckstead said, “it’s a deep subject. It’s tied in with the province’s Meter Data Management and Repository (MDM/R) and the standards.”

Rideau St. Lawrence has decided to wait until the MDM/R is finished testing and everything can be done properly and in compliance with all rules and regulations.

When asked about the reasoning behind the Time-of-use rates, Beckstead explained that the province’s intention is “to provide a more stabilized load for generation. It costs a lot to have it on stand-by.”

In terms of cost to customers, Beckstead couldn’t say anything for certain. He did, however; offer the following: “From the majority of articles that I’ve read, if you don’t change anything you might see a $2 increase per bill.”

According to Beckstead, Time-of-use rates are expected to “probably” be implemented sometime in March. 

However, he also added: “We don’t really see it as an advantage to our customers so we’re not in a hurry to get there.”

Rideau St. Lawrence Distribution Inc. services South Dundas, Prescott, Cardinal, and Westport.

[…]

 

On January 12th, a winter storm hit the area with freezing temperatures, freezing rain and, of course, snow.

Students woke up to good news on the 12th: a snow day! Schools remained open, but buses were cancelled.

Unfortunately, Friday the 13th proved to be unlucky for those hoping for another snow day. Despite the freezing rain, snow, and poor driving conditions, buses were not cancelled. 

According to the Upper Canada District School Board’s (UCDSB) website: “the UCDSB strives to ensure the safe transportation of children. Ultimately, each parent has the right and legal obligation to protect their child. You may decide to keep your child at home at any time if you feel that it is too risky to have him/her transported to school.”

By mid-morning on the 13th the storm was still going strong and, according to police reports, “SD&G OPP officers responded to a total of 37 traffic/weather related calls for service. The incidents ranged from vehicles in ditches to property damage collisions. Fortunately, no injuries resulted.”

Flashbacks of 1997’s Ice Storm were front and centre in the minds of many local residents, especially when, at 11:54 a.m. on the 13th, the power went out in Morrisburg, Williamsburg, and areas farther north. Iroquois was not affected.

According to John Walsh, a representative for Rideau St. Lawrence Distribution Inc., “the storm caused trees to come down on the main line that feeds Morrisburg.”

The main line belongs to Hydro One and “they repaired the problem.” Hydro power was up and running by 1:31 p.m.

And, on January 17th, children were gifted with another snow day. As of 9:20 a.m., there was still a freezing rain warning in effect for all parts of South Dundas.

[…]

 

According to a press release, Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) students were safely transported to and from school on Friday, January 13 after the board made the decision to allow buses to run during the morning’s slushy weather.

Based on a favourable forecast, and positive reports from bus contractors who checked the conditions on area roads between 4 a.m. and 5:30 a.m., the decision was made to allow buses to run, said Superintendent David Coombs. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse.

 Coombs also conceded that board officials were caught off-guard by Friday morning’s wet and slushy conditions, and said they would have cancelled had they known how the weather would turn.

“Hindsight is 20/20,” said Coombs. “But in hindsight, with today’s conditions, we should have cancelled.”

“Unfortunately, this is not an exact science and we make our decisions based on the best information we have at the time. We apologize for any concerns we might have caused for our students and their families.”

“At the same time, it’s also important to remember here that our students got to school and back safely.”

Coombs explained that the GM/CAO of Student Transportation of Eastern Ontario works closely with Pelmorex/The Weather Network, and bus contractors, in order to receive the most up-to-date information about local weather and road conditions. 

Decisions concerning the cancellation of school bus and special vehicle transportation must be made cooperatively based upon this information by no later than 5:30 a.m.

Friday, the information conveyed was that although there would be some light patchy freezing rain in some areas, it was not significant enough to warrant cancelling buses.

There are 18 distinct zones within the UCDSB. Every zone has a captain that goes out to check roads in their area, who then provides their input. All captains gave the go-ahead to run the buses, said Coombs.

Coombs added that parents may decide to keep their child at home at any time if they feel that it is too risky to have him or her transported to school.

[…]

 

It has been my great pleasure to produce professional theatre in the Seaway Valley. With this show, I will recognize and represent all things Cow Patti stands for.”

Those are the words of AnnaMarie Lea as she prepares to stage the final Cow Patti Theatre production  in the Seaway Valley at the Ramada Inn in Cornwall, this February.

For the final production, Lea has selected Marc Camoletti’s Boeing-Boeing for the last laughs of a hugely successful 11-year run that has produced 17 plays, 340 performances, 42 benefit performances, 106 actors and countless crew…and most impressively, attracted 34,000 guests.

With this upcoming show, Lea and The Ramada Hotel and Conference Centre are hoping to top $180,000 raised for various local charities through a handful of benefit shows in each of the runs. 

In addition to her Cow Patti productions in Cornwall, Lea is well known for her acting skills which she has shared and entertained us with, on the Cow Patti stage and the Upper Canada Playhouse stage in Morrisburg.

Although she returned with her family to Alberta in the summer of 2010, she was back in Cornwall last February for Cow Patti’s 10th anniversary, for which she staged Norm Foster’s My Darling Judith.

Lea told The Leader in a recent interview that her decision to make this year the final show for Cow Patti, was made so that ‘she could spend more time with her family.’

Cow Patti has successfully relaunched in Alberta, and that she suspects will keep her busy.

“We are closing the barn doors on Cow Patti in Eastern Ontario after our production of Boeing-Boeing from February 2-19,” says Lea in a press release. “We have been privileged to have produced for you for the last 11 years and are so grateful to have received such support and kindness from all of you.”

Lea promises that “first up with this production (Boeing-Boeing) will be laughter and plenty of it! This is notably one of the wittiest farces of our time and it goes without saying, we will compliment all this laughter with the Ramada’s superb buffets, which, guaranteed, will set your tummy in the mood for some great big belly laughs.”

“For the past 11 years, Cow Patti has prided itself on creating opportunity for Canadian artists and Boeing-Boeing will be no exception.”

The cast for Boeing-Boeing, which is a prequel to Don’t Dress for Dinner staged by Cow Patti in 2010, includes well known actors Garfield Andrews and Susan Greenfield, who have graced the Cow Patti Stage numerous times in the past, and Lea herself.

Joining them are actors Kate Gordon, Katie Lawson and Jamie Williams. Richard Bauer, who directed Don’t Dress for Dinner, is returning to direct Cow Patti’s last act.

In Boeing-Boeing, it’s airline stewardesses, fiancées and a romantic air traffic controller/maid, (played by Lea), and best friends Bernard and Robert who got themselves into quite a mess in, Don’t Dress for Dinner. Seems this time around, Bernard has three fiancees, who all, unfortunately, experience changes to their flight plans.

Lea says tickets sales, which kicked off before Christmas for Boeing-Boeing are ‘quite good’. The annual Cow Patti productions have become  popular Valentine’s celebrations and with Valentine’s Day this year falling on Tuesday, the celebration is stretching through the weekend of February 10-12 as well as on the 14th.

Boeing-Boeing opens on Thursday, February 2 and runs through Sunday, February 19. There is no theatre on Mondays. Dinner and brunch theatre tickets are available in addition to afternoon and evening cabaret tickets. For information or to book tickets visit www.cowpatti.com or call the Ramada at 1-877-552-9166.

If you are planning to make Cow Patti and Boeing-Boeing part of your Valentine celebration, don’t delay.

[…]

 

The St. Lawrence Seaway closed for the season on December 30, 2011, with the westbound vessel Algoma Spirit reaching Lake Ontario at 7:54 a.m. after having transited the locks on the St. Lawrence River.  

The Seaway’s 53rd navigation season commenced on March 22nd, and the system remained open for a record 284 days, exceeding by one day the previous record set in 2006.

The tug / barge combination John Spence / Niagara Spirit was the last vessel to transit the Welland Canal, clearing Port Colborne December 30th at 8:26 p.m. on its way to Lake Erie.

The St. Lawrence Seaway’s positive momentum remained intact in 2011, with tonnage volumes rising by 2.5 per cent to reach an estimated 37.5 million tonnes.  

Trade patterns exhibited a number of changes, most notably with iron ore and coal becoming export commodities due to strong overseas demand. 

Grain volumes decreased overall by some 6.4 per cent due to a decrease in the amount of U.S. grain moving via the Seaway.  

Strong increases in the volume of bulk liquids, salt and scrap metal contributed to an overall cargo increase of 930,000 tonnes for the system’s 2011 season.

Terence Bowles, President and CEO of the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation, noted that the year brought about some significant progress on a number of fronts.  

“We recognize that while some of our core markets remain under pressure, work is progressing in terms of diversifying our market base, containing our costs, and increasing the system’s productivity,” said Bowles.  “Over the last four years, our market development efforts have generated $12.5 million in new business revenue.”

“In addition to advances in cargo volumes, we achieved a good deal of progress in 2011 on a number of other fronts. In October of 2011, a new three-year labour agreement was ratified, extending to March 31, 2014. We reached a fair settlement that controls our costs and ensures that our customers can continue to experience reliable service.”

“This is the second consecutive year of increases in Seaway traffic and tonnage, reflecting the resilience of the North American economy” said Collister Johnson, Jr., Administrator of the U.S. Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation.

A recently published economic impact study, commissioned by Marine Delivers, demonstrates the significant role that the Great Lakes / Seaway system plays in supporting the Canadian and U.S. economies.  

Some 227,000 jobs and $34 billion in economic activity are supported by the movement of goods within the Great Lakes / Seaway waterway. 

Since its inception in 1959, over 2.5 billion tonnes valued in excess of $375 billion has been transported via the Seaway. 

[…]

 

 The headline in the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder for October 14, 1892, made it brutally clear: 

James Slavin Was Found Guilty Today of the Murder of J. R. Davey. Sentenced to be Hanged on the 16th of December. 

On September 6, 1892, Slavin, an often drunken, unemployed brawler, shot and killed Special Constable John Robert Davey on the corner of Ninth Street. Slavin also wounded Louis Lafave, Davey’s friend.  Within minutes Slavin was seized by an enraged crowd. 

In what some might see as a supreme bit of irony,  John Davey had been on the job as a police officer exactly one day.

Constable Davey was buried in St. Columban’s new cemetery three days after his murder. His funeral was a large affair attended  by civic, police and military officials. He left behind a wife and three sons.

Slavin was duly hanged two months later in the walled courtyard of Cornwall Goal, his body unclaimed and buried in the Goal grounds. 

The years passed. Cornwall grew. Other events, other incidents, other issues occupied people’s minds. Eventually, there was no one left who recalled the death of Constable John Davey. 

In time, no one even remembered where Davey lay buried.

Until 2010, when Cornwall police sergeant Thom Racine found out about him.  

Thom Racine laughingly described himself, during an interview with The Morrisburg Leader as a “born and bred sports guy. Anything I’d ever done up until then had a sports angle to it.”   

An officer with the Cornwall police since 1981 (he was also born in Cornwall), Racine has spent much of his life devoted to sports and to encouraging people to stay active. 

He is a very well known figure in South Dundas. 

Currently, Racine is in his second year behind the bench of the Morrisburg Junior B Lions hockey team. 

How did this sports-minded man come to take on the role of historian, writing Constable Davey, A Future Lost, based on the events surrounding Davey’s tragedy?

“About six years ago, my son came home from school talking about World War II. He was deeply interested. In a kind of spontaneous reaction, I said, why don’t we go to Europe and see what it was all about? That vagabond journey, which took us to cemeteries and memorials honouring soldiers, seemed to put the history hook into me.”

That “hook” as Racine calls it, truly dug in. 

He soon began including historical anecdotes in his regular column in the Seaway News.

However, it was not until he was asked, in 2010, by Police Chief Dan Parkinson to write a history of the Cornwall Police, that he learned of the death of John Davey, and the execution of James Slavin. 

“Davey was a man who may have been recognized for two or three days after his tragedy then forgotten,” Racine explained. “He was a genuine kind of everyman. Davey was no “sitter”: he was a man who got out and got involved in his community. He had served with the militia, run a business, taken part in civic affairs, and he volunteered to be a Special Constable for a dollar a day, if you made an arrest. And Davey gave his life in the line of duty. I really felt that that should be recognized and acknowledged.” 

“Derailed”, as he called it, from the task of writing the history of the Cornwall police, Racine began to focus on the life and times of John Davey. 

His book, Constable Davy, A Future Lost, was the result. 

However, Racine did not stop with simply writing the book. 

“John Davey was a hero,” Racine said. “As the Ontario Police Memorial in Queen’s Park says, he was a hero in life, not death. He died trying to help someone else. There is a quote I like. ‘A hero is no different from an ordinary man, except for five minutes.’ John Davey deserved to be honoured.”

Racine set out to ensure that a man who had died over a century earlier would finally be recognized by his hometown, his province, his nation. 

He got the Cornwall Police on board with his efforts. He researched old files and newspapers. He talked to area historians, searched church records, looked through jail accounts. He traced members of Louis Lafave’s family. He blind e-mailed Davey descendents seeking to put together a picture of this husband, father, soldier, police officer and good citizen. 

Now scattered all over North America, many of the Daveys had no idea of their past and John’s heroism.

The week of September 23, 2011, his book just out, Racine saw Constable John Robert Davey receive the recognition of government and community that had been a hundred years in the coming.

Davey’s name was already on the Queen’s Park Memorial. But just days before special Cornwall ceremonies, Racine learned that petitions to the Ottawa Police Memorial had finally been approved. On September 25, Davey’s name would be engraved on the memorial and honoured in Ottawa.

Ceremonies in Cornwall were held around Davey’s refurbished grave: a street was re-named in his honour. The pipes of the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, and solemn lines of police officers in dress uniform gathered to give John Davey his due.

“It was a lump in your throat moment for me,” said Racine. “I think what hit me the most was the pride of the Davey family members who had come to Cornwall from all over North America to honour this hero in their family. I will always remember the face of seven-year-old Violet Davey, when police chief Dan Parkinson handed her the folded Canadian  Flag from her great-great-great grandfather’s grave, her look of stunned awe and deep pride.”

Also with Racine for the ceremony was 15-year-old Cornwall artist Dominic Cyr. 

“Dom’s brother Patrick played with the Lions and I’d see him sitting at games,” Racine said. “His dad told me he was a talented artist. I threw him the challenge of creating a drawing of Davey and later of his killer, Slavin, from descriptions and old photos. His work was wonderful. Dom’s sketches and drawings now illustrate my book and the Cornwall street sign. He has a gift that will work for him forever.” 

Racine’s book is a colourful, deeply researched history of a brave man, his time in history, his contribution to the world through his descendents. It is also the story of the efforts of a lot of people to see this man formally honoured by his town and nation. 

Thom Racine is at work on other books now (including that neglected history of the Cornwall police).

 “I will say that I miss spending time every day with John Davey,” he said quietly, at the end of the interview. “In some ways I didn’t know what to do when we at last went to print, and I finally had to leave him.”  

[…]

 

The response for the Kraft Food for Families initiative has been inspiring and for the Mountain House of Lazarus Food Bank a local success story.

Kraft Food for Families is a community-based program designed to help Canadian families get food on the table. 

The original goal was to donate up to $50,000 to 30 food banks across Canada and award a $10,000 bonus donation to the food bank with the most names in support.

According to the Kraft Food for Families website, “people from across Canada came together and added thousands of names in support of their local food banks, helping us to reach that goal.”

Leading the way were the people in the Owen Sound area. With each vote translating into a $1 donation, some 22,232 people there voted for the Salvation Army Food Bank which serves 600 people each month.

The Owen Sound total, in combination with other votes across the country, allowed the contest to quickly reach the 50,000 vote maximum set by Kraft Foods.

Also as a result of the voting, the Owen Sound Food Bank received over $30,000 ($1 per vote and the $10,000 bonus donation). 

Shortly after the Owen Sound victory, Kraft Food for Families announced a phase two initiative to support community banks, which was $1,000 weekly donations for 10 weeks, to the food bank collecting the most names in each of the weeks.

It began on December 2 and wraps up February 10.

In week five, thanks to a great response from the local public, the House of Lazarus Food Bank in Mountain, was the $1,000 winner.

[…]