Chapter 15: Eila Ross and Francis Lawson

In 1993 Eila Ross Lawson started writing down her recollections of growing up in Park Head. Over a period of about 5 years she added more material, and in 1998 her son Gordon Lawson published the collection in a booklet called ‘Reminiscences of Eila Lawson, nee: Ross’. Slightly edited selections from this booklet begin her story.

‘A recent visit to the Bruce Peninsula inspired the reading of “The Bruce Beckons” by William Sherwood Fox, written in 1952. This in turn is inspiring me to set down some recollections of my parents and grandparents. It is now August 16th, 1993, and I am making a start. I do not know where we will go, or if we will even arrive.

‘Park Head school was officially known as S.S. #16 Amabel. It was situated a few hundred feet beyond Granny Longmire’s house, which in turn was about a hundred feet beyond the railroad track and White’s General Store. This was about 1 1/4 miles from the Sauble, and the only means of transportation was on foot. This was no problem in good weather - just a hop, skip and a jump. We made it into a 2-mile walk by kicking through the leaves in fall and the snow in winter, going from fence line to fence line in a zigzag path. Come stormy days in winter it was another story. If we were lucky a neighbour would pick us up in his sleigh. Failing that Dad would walk the distance with us and make tracks for us to follow and ensure that we did not wander off in the snow.

The building was red brick and there was a boy’s and a girl’s entrance and a boy’s and girl’s cloak room. In the winter we were so thoroughly bundled up that we could barely waddle so the first thing we would do was to divest ourselves of the extra clothes, caps, scarf, coat, black bulky bloomers and black wool hip high stockings. When the hand bell rang we took our seats; small desks at the front for the little children and bigger desks toward the back, each complete with inkwells. The teacher had a desk at the front on a raised platform, and each class was called up to stand in a row for the lessons. There was no effort made to make learning fun, but flash cards, memorization, and repetition worked. In seven (not eight) years I graduated at the top of the class. I had been kept home until I was eight, at which time Bruce was also ready for school.

In those days we brought our lunches to school. The usual fare would be sandwiches, but once in a while we would be given a dime to buy a can of sardines at White’s General Store, to be divided between us. Everything went well until we had each had one sardine, at which point Bruce would say “Eila, you know that the guts are still in these sardines” - end of lunch for Eila and Bruce enjoyed the rest of the can.

We got home from school at about 4:45PM. On bread baking days we were just in time for a “heel” of fresh bread dripping with butter. Supper was about 6 o’clock. Whatever kind of meat we had Mum was able to concoct gravy, which I particularly enjoyed on bread after my main course. Vegetables from our own garden were always plentiful. I particularly remember the baked potatoes and the delicious turnips. In the summer a bunch of freshly pulled green onions with bread and butter was considered a delicious and ample lunch. In season leaf lettuce with sour cream dressing was a favourite. Nothing has ever tasted better then corn on the cob that was not picked until the pot was boiling. Favourite desserts were apple pie, apple crisp, bran muffins with real maple syrup, snow pudding, baked apples, and for company, lemon meringue pie.

Now that we had a sumptuous meal out of the way, how did we spend the evening without radio or television? I expect we had homework but I don’t actually remember doing any in elementary school. I was a voracious reader so always had a book on the go. I was raised on the Anne books and had read all of them by the time I was 12. Then I moved on to more adventure type books - Zane Grey for instance. Mother was very adept at hand work, and I copied her activities. I was crocheting and knitting by the time I was six. Once in a while we played board games such as crokinole, tiddily winks, checkers, or snakes and ladders.

We were not on Hydro service, so having the waterpower Dad decided to put in his own generator. We were the first family in the neighbourhood to have electricity. The only problem was that it was direct current, so we had electricity in the house at Dad’s convenience. He went to bed fairly early so those of us who stayed up were back to kerosene lamps.

The different seasons brought different activities. Winter seems most vivid to me. As soon as the ground was covered we were out making angels in the snow and as soon as it was just above freezing we were making snow men or just seeing how big a ball we could roll. We had sleds and since there was a riverbank a good place for that sport was right at our door. However there were very rigid rules about how far we could go and a wire fence marked the boundary. One day Bruce and I slid under the fence. We ran as fast as we could to the mill to tell dad that we had gone out of bounds, but we hadn’t meant to. We had anticipated some kind of punishment but our confession was accepted. We learned early that confession was a good way to avoid punishment.

We also had skates but the closest rink was 3 3/4 miles away in Hepworth so we didn’t go often as pre teens, but I haunted the rink while boarding in Hepworth to go to Continuation school. The millpond was not often good for skating because conditions had to be ideal when it froze. If it was windy the ice would be rippled, and if there was snow mixed with the ice it was crusty and grainy. There were probably only two occasions in all those years when one could skate for a mile up the river.

One winter was quite memorable. We had had a lot of snow, perhaps 3 or 4 feet, followed by a rainstorm. The whole countryside was covered with a thick crust of ice, and everyone got out their skates to go to school or wherever. It was quite treacherous and a neighbour girl broke through the crust and broke her leg. During the 20’s and 30’s we had a great deal more snow at Park Head than we have now in the Niagara area. There was a 12’ high woodshed on the back of the house and many times the snow came up halfway. We made use of this by climbing up on the roof by means of a ladder and jumping into the snow bank.

In the summer we enjoyed the vacation from school. Fishing, swimming, and catching frogs, crayfish and clams occupied a great deal of time. I also spent several weeks at Grandpa Shannon’s farm. In about 1920 Dad bought a piano so I could take lessons, which I did from the age of about 8 until I was 15 or 16. I think I enjoyed the box that the piano came in more than the piano. Dad reinforced it and added a shelf, and that was my playhouse for years and years. My favourite occupation was making mud pies, which I made by the dozen and placed on the shelf to dry.

Once a year the Circus came to town (Owen Sound), and Grandpa Shannon was the biggest fan of all. Great preparations were necessary for the 15-mile trip in the 1913 Model T Ford. We had to start out early because at 15 miles an hour it took over an hour to get there and we must be in time for the parade which started at 10 in the morning. Excitement ran high as we positioned ourselves on the route. When the distinctive notes of the Calliope reached our ears we knew that the parade was underway and we craned our necks to get our first glimpse of the massive elephants ridden by beautiful girls in gossamer costumes. This was around 1920 and legs were taboo. Then the cages containing exotic animals rolled by, and capering clowns performed as they progressed. By the time all the stars and animals had paraded before the enthralled audience, it was time for lunch. Grandma Lou had prepared a fabulous picnic lunch, potato salad, cold whole chicken and all kinds of condiments, pie and cookies and raspberry vinegar. There were no paper products in those days so china plates and real knives and forks and cloth napkins were provided.

This bountiful repast was enjoyed in a park on the banks of the Sydenham River, which ran parallel to Main Street right through the middle of town. Then we moved on to the big tent for the two o’clock performance. Grandpa led his little flock consisting of Grandma Lou, Clara, Bruce and me.

The Flying Trapeze acts were particularly thrilling to me. I sat in spell bound ecstasy, and horror, with palms wet as these gorgeous girls flew though the air. All the other acts were fascinating to children and grown-ups alike; this was the real thing. All too soon this fairy-tale day came to an end and after the 15 mile return trip we were delivered back to the arms of our mother at the house on the river, already looking forward to a similar outing one year hence.

I doubt if children of this generation ever experience the thrill that we did over even simple things. From babes in arms they are familiarized through TV with entertainment that we would see first hand, with a completely open mind. It filled us with wonder.

Before 1925, children had to go to 15 miles to Owen Sound for secondary education. Dad was among the parents who worked toward having a Continuation School in Hepworth, which was 3 3/4 miles distant. For a Public School graduation gift I received a shiny new bicycle that served as my mode of transportation when the weather was suitable. I also drove with Bertha Matches in a horse and buggy for a few seasons. During the winter I boarded at the Doubts, and a year later Bruce boarded at the Rev. Beans. On Monday mornings we would walk to Park Head Station, often in deep snow, where we took the morning train to Hepworth. When we arrived it was still dark, so we sat in the station until daylight when we went to our boarding houses in time for breakfast.

I took Grades 9, 10 and 11 at Hepworth and went on to Owen Sound Collegiate for 12 and 13. Bruce was 1 year behind me but caught up by using my Grade 12 Ancient History notes to cram for the departmental. He then came to Owen Sound where he skipped Grade 12 and was able to enter Grade 13 directly. He was a smart boy and graduated well up in his class at the age of 17.

At this point we were both ready for higher education. Bruce enrolled in Electrical Engineering at the University of Toronto, Class of 1935, and I attended Stratford Normal School (Teacher’s College), Class of 1932. I had wanted to go to Toronto Normal School but Park Head happened to be in the Stratford area and the powers that be could not be persuaded otherwise - first strike against Stratford. The second strike was that I wasn’t enthusiastic about being a teacher. The third strike - I found some of the instructors and most of the courses pretty stodgy. Anyway my fate was sealed - off to the Salt Mines.

When I graduated in 1932 teachers were a dime a dozen, so it was very difficult finding a job. I made several applications around Stratford and went home rather discouraged. Actually it was through Grandma Lou’s connections that I found a position. Her sister was married to one of the trustees of Cargill Public School where there was a vacancy. I applied along with dozens of others. I don’t know whether being a relative of a relative had anything to do with getting the job but it certainly didn’t hurt. Anyway, on July 1, 1932 I received a phone call that I had the job, and the following September I took up my position as school marm in a one-room school.’

In 1936 Eila visited her brother Bruce in Peterborough, where Bruce had just begun working for Canadian General Electric. When she arrived back home in Park Head, there was a new 1936 willow green Chevrolet car, draped in a Union Jack, sitting beside the spruce tree on the front lawn of the river house. Eila had won the car in a Lion’s Carnival Draw. She had purchased the winning ticket from her cousin Ulah Ross Walker in Wiarton.

To celebrate winning the new car, Eila took her mother Annie and two friends on a motor trip to visit the Blenkin relatives in Sintaluta, Saskatchewan. The first night on the road they stayed in Callandar, near North Bay, in one of the first motels in Canada. It was made of cedar and was all one unit, instead of the multiple small cabins that had been the standard until that time. While they were there they visited ‘Quintland’, the home of the Dionne quintuplets, who had been born in 1934 and were five of the most celebrated citizens of Ontario during the depression years.

Teaching in a one-room elementary school for 5 years during the depression convinced Eila that it was time to move on, so she enrolled in the Home Economics program at the Macdonald Institute in Guelph, Ontario in 1937. This was a 2-year program that qualified Eila for her long-term career as a secondary school Home Economics teacher. Not forgetting some of the things she had learned in Park Head, she won the silver spoon award for marksmanship in the rifle club, as well as a scholarship for achieving the highest marks in 20 years in Home Economics.

The following year Eila attended a friend’s wedding in Shallow Lake on August 3, 1940. Another guest at the wedding was a handsome young man named Fran Lawson.

Francis Gordon Lawson was born in Parry Sound Ontario on September 7, 1910. His parents were Lawrence Lawson and Cordelia Swartz. Fran was an only child. The family lived in Parry Sound for only a short time after he was born. Lawrence Lawson ran a tailor shop, and he thought business would be much better in Thorold, since the Welland Canal was being built in Thorold at that time and many workers were being attracted to the community.

Fran Lawson attended school in Thorold up to the tenth grade, at which time opportunity called his parents to move again, to Humberstone, Ontario. By this time construction of the Welland Canal had proceeded a little further south to Humberstone, where the Welland Canal meets Lake Erie.

In Humberstone, Fran’s father ran a tailor shop, and his mother ran the local Post Office. Moving must have bothered Fran, as he only attended school there for a very short time. When his mother needed a person at the Post Office, Fran decided he wanted to work with her. It is hard to understand why he made this decision, because he had been at the top of his class in school every year. Fran handled all of the rural mail for that post office, which was a large job as the area was almost entirely rural

While he lived in Thorold, Fran had become fast friends with Don Smith, who was the son of his parent’s best friends. In the summer of 1940, he was in the wedding party of Don Smith and Vera Noble, who was from Shallow Lake, near Park Head. Eila Ross was in the same wedding party. The two of them fell in love and were married the following August at Park Head, in the United Church Eila attended.

Shortly after the wedding, Fran joined the Army. Because of his experience in the Post Office, Fran was not sent overseas. Instead, he was stationed in the main Post Office for the duration of the war. He spent basic training at Rockcliffe, near Ottawa, Ontario, and then the majority of the war at Camp Pettawawa on the Ottawa River. He spent many long days on his feet in this job with very little time off, and had a very bad case of pneumonia. He was discharged in the summer of 1946.

While Fran was in the service, Eila was teaching Home Economics in the high school in Port Colborne. Their first son, Lawrence Ross Lawson (Laurie) was born in Welland Ontario on March 21, 1943, while Fran was in the service. Eila’s mother Annie Shannon Ross came from Park Head to help with Laurie and to allow Eila to go back to teaching, since money was very tight.

The family lived in a two-story house at 265 Omer Avenue in Humberstone, and made a little extra money by renting the upstairs to another family. Their second son, Gordon Bruce Lawson was born there on January 10, 1947. Gordon’s middle name was in honor of Bruce Ross, Eila’s brother. Annie Ross came to help again. Two years later, Paul David Lawson was born. Sadly, Paul was a hemophiliac, and he died in 1951 at the age of almost three.

Eila taught in Port Colborne until 1948, when she decided that teaching in the school where her children would attend was not a great idea. She was offered a position in Ridgeway High School. For 12 years, until 1960, she commuted 17 miles each way to school, a tough commute especially in the winter months.

During this time Fran Lawson was working in the ‘stores’ office at the Canada Cement Company in Port Colborne. This was the supply location for all other departments at the plant. Fran also started a Credit Union in the plant, and was its president and treasurer.

In 1951 the family moved to a ranch bungalow, which Fran and Eila had designed and built, at 355 Clarence Street in Port Colborne. The house had radiant heat, and was very unique for its time. The family lived in that house until 1960, when Fran and Eila designed and had built another new house in Ridgeway Ontario. This was the town where Eila taught Home Economics from 1948 until her retirement in 1973. When the house in Ridgeway was completed in 1960, Fran did the commuting back to Port Colborne until 1964, when he had a very serious heart attack.

Even though he was weak after the heart attack, Fran Lawson worked in several Credit Unions until his death on January 10, 1973. He was very active in the Port Colborne community, and was the head elder and treasurer of Central United Church. He was also a member of the Port Colborne Gyro club, and its president in 1957 and 1958. For most of his life he had a boat, and he was a fantastic swimmer, having learned to swim when his father tied a rope around his waist and threw him into the canal when he was a young boy in Thorold.

Fran Lawson is buried in the Lawson family grave at Oakwood Cemetery, which is near Port Colborne in Welland County.

Eila Ross Lawson has made many contributions to this book, starting with her suggestion that her son Gordon visit Caroline Weber Nickason in the 1970s, to obtain the information used in Chapter 11. Her reminiscences, completed in 1998, have been quoted extensively in several chapters. She also provided most of the photographs of the Shannon family, which she had inherited from her Aunt Ida. This was particularly fortunate, because all of the photographs Annie Shannon Ross had saved were lost when the house in Park Head burned down in 1955.

Most remarkably, Aunt Eila continues to contribute to this book as it is being written. During a recent short stay in the hospital, at the age of 95, she amazed the staff by sitting up in bed, pencil in hand, to check draft chapters that had been brought in for her. She has been retired from teaching for 34 years, but old habits die hard.

Descendants of Eila Ross and Francis Lawson