| Notes |
- Martha is the daughter of Lydia Williams, b. Ontario & James Leslie, born Ireland.
. 1914 Oct 8, Presentation at Siloam, Mrs Robt. Johnston & Miss Johnston
About 70 members of Siloma Church met at the home of Basil Johnson, first line Erin, on Wed. of last week tp pay in pairing tribute to Mrs Robt. Johnston & Miss Johnston, prior to their leaving to take up residences in Action.
For over 50 years, Mrs Johnston, who was one of the pioneers of the district, has been a member of Silom Church & a loyal support in all its enterprises, & Miss Johnston has been actively associated with all endeavors among younger people. Up the assembling of the guests the following address was read by Mrs Bert McKeowan & the presentation subsequently mad by Mrs Edward Cleave & Mrs Murray:
To Mrs X & Miss Johnston, We your friends of Siloam leave appreciated the value you have been t our church & community here. Very reluctantly do we say farewell to you as you move away from the old house, the old church & the hold homestead.
You, Mrs Johnston, have been a member of our church those 1 years that the brick church has been existent. During all those years you have earnestly interested in her welfare. You have rendered the enthusiastic, devoted & constant service that has been a splendid example & inspiration to all. The church owes you more than we can tell.
As a neighbor you have been kind, considerate neighborly at all times & to all. In our sickness & bereavements you gave splendid & emotional aid for the which you are remembered today to everybody. You shall not soon be forgotten. May the years of your retirement be quiet, pleasant, eventide years. May our Blessed Master, whom you leave worshiped & served so long make joy & comfort to be aboundingly yours.
You, Miss Johnson, have been a most useful & devoted member of our church & neighborhood. We assure you that we appreciate it all & are sorry to have you sever your present intimate relationship with us.
While we now say goodby we do so having no little satisfaction from the fact that you are not going far away & that we will see you frequently & have you with us often.
As tangible token of our feelings we ask you Mrs Johnston to kindly accept this clock at our hand. Miss Johnson, will you be so good as to take this centre table from loving friends.
We hope that many & pleasant years may be yours in which to enjoy them & that their value to you may largely be in their calling to your mind that love & esteem in which you are held by your many feeds around Siloma, Signed (as above).
A short programme followed the prevention, Rev T R Clark, pastor, deliver a short address.
Mrs Johnston replied fro Miss Johnson & herself, feelingly exposing sorrow at severing old time friendships & intimacies, but optimistic in the hop of frequent opportunities to renew old friendships. Many were the expressions of sorrow at the departure of this esteemed couple from the community, but the fact was emphasized that it was not a removal of great distances & frequent intercourse would be possible.
. 1926 Aug 26 Leslie Family Re-Unions [Extracted version]
300 Members Enrolled at a picnic at Blur springs Pard, on Wed. Aug 18th 1826. It was the occasion of the first Leslie reunion. From far distant pints the came, Oho, Penn, Florida, Muskoka, & Toronto,Hamilton, Guelph, Stratford ,Ingersoll to add to the large crowd which belonged to Acton, Georgetown, Rockwood & adjacent communities.
Four generations, descents of John Lie Born in County Tyrone, Ireland, & died in Esquesing 1842, aged 76y. He settled on Lot 22, 10th Lie, Esquesing Twp., in 1821.
Full justice was done to tables bountifully speed with delicacies user the left trees of the park, ice cream, lemonade. . A short speeches was made by Robert Leslie, Norval. Mr Robert F Leslie of Norval & Mrs Robert Johnston of Acton, had the distinction of being the oldest persons present. Many of the families will have a souvenir of the event in the possession of a photograph of the entire group.
. 1929 Sep 12, Homes Entered by Burglar, Last Thus. night several homes were broken into in town by a young burglar. The homes of Hannah Wallace & Mrs Robert Johnston, on Knox Ave. were entered, & at the former a considerable amount of money was taken. At the home of Mrs Johnston a smaller amount was pilfered & entrance was gained through a window. The home of Jas. Smith was also entered & small change taken. chief McPherson investigated & a stranger who obtained Board in town & suddenly ref the following day is suspected.
Ref: Acton Free Press.
. 1930 Oct 9 - Died Johnston, at the family residence, Knox Ave, Action, on Thur. Oct 2, 1930, Lydia Martha leslie, widow of the late Robert Johnston, in her 88th year.
Obituary1: Mrs Robt P Johnston passed to her eternal rears inst. Thursday when Mrs Robert Johnston, Knox Ave, Fell asleep, after a prolonged term of feebleness & fatality. Though she never complained, she longed, for the call to come up higher & eagerly awaited meeting her Savior & the reunion with her beloved husband & loved ones the had preceded her to the Better land.
Be had attained the ripe age of 86 less 4 days.during her declining years Mr Johnston enjoyed the faithful affection & loving care of her family. Her eldest daughter Miss Melissa, was over by her side & constantly bestowed tender daughterly attention & solicitude. Lydia Martha was the dau. of the late James Leslie & Lydia Williams of Genwilliams, pioneer resident son this county, who came from Tyronne, Ireland when part of Canada was first being settled. 54 years ago Robert P Johnston, son the the late Dr. Johnston, took as his brad the elect lady who presided as matron of his home for 45 years. In 1911 he was called up higher. Theirs was a happy home. It was a Godly home, where the name of the Lord was revered, where the children were early taught the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It was a home where the minister had a cordial welcome & where friend & neighbors were always assured a happy timer. The Brick Church, just a lot away, was to this home a real House of God & it had their regular attendance & generous support. the passing of the husband & father of the home, 19 year ago, left a blank for the devoted wife. Shortly thereafter she came to reside in the comfortable brick residence prepared for her on Knox Ave, & companion dau. Melisa. The family comprised 5 ins & 6 Dau. all of who survived except Charles, who dies 23 years ago, on his far, Lot 32 con 3 Esquesing, 2 lots from the homestead. Living are Miss Melissa, Acton; Richard & Mrs James H Reed, Acton, Mrs Wm. Gamble & Mrs Smith Nells, Eramosa; Robt, rockford; Friend & Basil, Erin & Mrs Ernest H Near, Toronto; Mrs Alice Bridges, Canbrook, BC, One brother Joel Leslie, Erin, survives. 26 granchldren & 4 greatgrandcildre recall the happy times spent at Grandma Johnston's. Funeral Sat. Funeral was very largely attended. Committed to Fairview Cemetery beside husband.
. 1930 Oct 16 - Obituary2, THE JOHNSTONS & THE LESLIES
the removal by death of Mrs. Robert Johnston at the first of the month left this community the poor, for Mrs. Johnston was for a lifetime an esteemed member of the pioneer folk & a warm friend to all who had the good fortune to known her.
The passing of Mrs J. took me back over the generations of Johnstons & Leslies who have been residents of Erin & Esquesing, Glen Williams & Acton. Those of us who have passed the allotted span of life, can readily recall personalities of note & events of interest in which members of these 2 families were active participants. The coming to the community of these industrious pioneers soon widened the relationships to the Snyders, the Swnackhamers, the Staffords & the later generation to still further families who are around & happy to be numbered with them as members of the expanding circle.
The Leslies settled in this community upwards of 70 years ago. The men became successful farmers & the women married good husbands. The Leslie farms cleared & workday George & Joel Leslie, were always regarded as model places. They had good houses & well built barns, & fruitful fields, splendid orchards, pure bred & well fed stock & the air of prosperity prevailed.
Leslie's School has always been a familiar place. The children of the Leslie homes & homes of the neighborhood attended there. Good teachers were engaged.Some of the early ones were Mr. McPherson, father of the late Hugh A McPherson, for a dozen years the minister of our own Know]x church, Action, was one of the early ones. They there were Bella Gordon? & James Moore & Miss McDonald & others of merit.
Robert Johnston & Lydia Martha Leslie attended this school together & I know that the boy & girl affections formed there, ripened into the later love which brought them eventually into the holy bonds of wedlock & a happy married life together for well on to half a century. The family they raised - 5 sons & 6 daughters - all of them a credit to their generation of the Leslie & Johnston were associated with the Swackhamer & the Snyder families of the Hill. What start characters these early settlers were. They stood for right living; hey appreciated education advantages. They were all interested in either or both the Brick Church on the 2nd line & the Congregational church on the 3rd line, just 7/8 of a mile part. Could any of your old folks who read this think of the Hill church without a Swackhamer or the Brick Methodist church without a Leslie or a Johnston in those early days. Their descendants still talk of Uncle Hiram Denny & Rev Jos Unsworth as revered ministers of the one & Rev Geo Abb? Father Lynch & others. What an influence these early preachers had on their congregations & on the community.
Then we recall the social functions of these 2 churches, the annual worries. What events they were, the only social events of the year. Everybody & their aunts & uncles attended.The big wholesome supper & humorous speeches afterward by the preachers of the neighborhood & special anthems by the church choir. Those were the times, especially when they were held on frosty nights with good sleighing & merry sleigh bells. Acton always sent a large quota of citizens to these tea meetings & the town folks always seem to be hungry - hungry for the good things the Hill folks & the folks at the Brick ways provided.
Coming bak to the Johnston family, which was rich in sons & daughters, I recall that one of the Doctor's sons - Daniel - became a Methodist preacher, for years has been regarded as an eminent divine in several churches he has been minister in the Western States. Milly, one of the daughters, married a Methodist preacher - the late Dr. Scanlon? She has always been proficient in music & has occupied the position of soloist in Toronto churches.
Leslie, Johnston, Snyder & Swackhamer families had been leaders in their respective communities for well on to an hundred years & they & their descents have been useful members of society.
Eli Snyder built the Brick Church which stood for between 60 & 70 years at the cent of the 2nd line & the Erin-Esquesing town line. I know he did for I saw him at work on the anchored edifice in 1864. It has been a pleasure to me always to have a close acquaintanceship, yes a close friendship with these families & we still continue to be friends.
Signed, the Old Man of the Big Clocktower.*
Ref: Acton Free Press.
Note: G A Dills, publisher of the Acton Free Press newspaper, published Acton's Early Days, Old Man of the Clocktower 1893-1963.
Lydia Martha Leslie, b. 1844 died 1930. 12 children.
The Leslie Farm
. Lot 6, Con. 1, was taken up by James Leslie in 1833, before it was surveyed. His wife was Lydia Williams from Glen Williams, where he had first settled. There they remained for a few years so the children could attend school. About 1835, he settled on lots 5 & 6; & about 1869, he bought Lot W 1/2 Lot 6, Con 2 from Peter Torrie. At one time, James Leslie owned 850 acres in Erin Township. He had 9 children:
John, Elizabeth, Mary, Benajah, George, Margaret, Martha, Joel & Sarah. James Leslie died in 1873, leaving Lot 6, Con 1 to his son, George. Having previously bought Lot 6, Con. 2, he was an established breeder of Registered Shorthorn cattle, & a lover of fine carriage & draught horses. The large brick house was built in 1882; the barn in 1887. George Leslie operated a potash manufacturing business on L6 C2. Two bars of soap were bartered for hardwood ashes which were leached & the liquid boiled down, cooled & packed in barrels to sell for the manufacture of soap, etc. George Leslie married Amanda Stafford. In 1909, 2 sons, Joel & Ira, took over the two farms, but due to Ira's ill health, Joel carried on. He showed Registered Percheron horses at the C.N.E. & Royal Winter Fair, [Toronto] winning many prizes. In 1913 he built the fine stone house on Lot 6, Con 2, where his father, brother Ira, & sister Amy, lived. Joel married Ina Seymour & lived in the brick house on lot 6, con. 1.
He died in 1957, & since then the farm has been operated by his son, Gordon Leslie & his wife, Annie Aitken. They have 2 sons & 3 daughters.
Ref: History of Erin Township.
. In Memory:
Johnston, Melissa - To a dear granddaughter who left us suddenly, April 24, 1985. Tho' her smile has gone forever, Her hands we cannot touch, We still have cherished memories, Of a dear granddaughter we loved so much. Sadly missed, always in our hearts, Nancy & Grandpa Johnston.
Acton Free Press, 26 Apr., 1995, Section Classified page 21, column 3.
. In Memory:
Johnston, Melissa - In loving memory of a dear daughter & sister, who passed away suddenly April 24, 1985. Beautiful memories are wonderful things, They last till the longest day, They never wear out, they never get lost & can never be given away, To some they may be forgotten, To others a part of the past, To us who have loved you & lost you, Your memories will always last. Sadly missed by Mom, Steven, Family & Friends.
Ref: Acton Free Press, 24 Apr., 1996, Section Classified page 18, column 2
& the same ad on 23 & 27 Ap., 1997, Georgetown Independent.
. Biography of Lydia Martha Leslie's father:
LESLIE, James (d.), was a son of John Leslie, who was born & settled in the county of Tyrone, Ire., where the subject of this sketch was born in 1800. James Leslie & his brother George came first to New York State & there met the British Consul, who persuaded them to come to Canada. They procured from him location tickets for 300 acres of land, came to Canada & spent some time in Montreal & in about 1819 came on to Glen Williams, where his father, brother John & sister Margaret joined them. Each of the brothers took up 100 acres of land. George set. in Chinguacousy & James & John in Glen Williams. The farms taken by George & John are still owned by their sons, but James came to Erin in 1833 & took up land before the township was surveyed. He then returned to his farm in the Glen that his children might get to school & after about 10 years sold his farm in the Glen & returned to Erin, where he spent the remainder of his life. Mr. Leslie drew two loads of lumber from Glen William to Guelph, when he could get stable for only one yoke of oxen & the other yoke had to lie out in the snow chained to a stump on Wyndham Street. His wife, who was quiet & busy, had planted apple seed while in the Glen & raised trees for herself, that she brought with her to her new home & planted among the stumps. Thus they had the first orchard in this part of the country.
The late James Leslie, Jr., m. Lydia Williams, 1828, dau. of Benjamin Williams, who built the first sawmill, grist & carding mill in Esquesing. He set. in Erin in 1833, on Lots 5 & 6, con. 1, 200 acres, for which he received Crown deeds soon after. This land is now owned by his sons, George & Joel W. To this he added adjoining farms & at his death he owned 750 acres & had previously given his sons, John & Benjamin 100 acres & 50 acres respectively. He was a very successful farmer & with the help of his sons, accumulated a large property. He was a moving spirit in the erection of the Siloam Methodist Church, of which he was a member & to which he was a generous giver. He was a man of strong personality. He sympathized with Mackenzie in the trouble of 1837-8. The Leslies have from their advent to Canada, composed the best citizenship in the localities where they have set.
Issue: John, Mrs. Isaac Snyder, Mary (d.), Benajah, George, Mrs. David Sibbald,
Mrs. Robert Johnston, Joel W. & Mrs. Ira Stewart. He d. in 1873, age 73, while his wife passed away in 1875, age 65.
John b. 1830., d. 1892, m. Mary J. Brown in 1854, set. in Eramosa. Issue: James B., George I., William G. & Mrs. Henry Patterson. The late John Leslie started farm life in Erin & in 1863 came to Eramosa & purchased 100 acres, lot 29, con. 5, on which there was a small clearing. He cleared the balance of the farm & later purchased 285 acres adjoining & later still, purchased an additional 100 acres. These farms he gave to his sons & also handsomely provided for his daughter. Mr. Leslie was a leading citizen in Eramosa, chief promoter of Bethel Methodist Church & its establishment in the neighborhood. His good wife was a worthy helpmate, not only in religion & home matters, but nursed the sick & was the good Samaritan of the section. She d. in 1904, age 67 years.
Of his issue: James m. Elizabeth Awrey & owns the old David Awrey homestead, Erin (162 acres), Issue: Annie M., John (d.), Elmer (d.), William, Gordon, Ella & Beatrice.
George I. m. Matilda Awrey & owns the old homestead, "Fairview Farm," in Eramosa (285 acres). He is a breeder of fine stock & is a Methodist. Issue: Leroy I., Leonard A. & Nettie M.
William G. m. Martha J. Awrey & owns 150 acres, Eramosa. Issue: Mary J., Margaret A., Herbert N., John S., Gideon D., Emerson J., Fannie M. & Cecil J.
George, son of the late James Leslie, was b. 1830. He m. Amanda Stafford.
Issue: Amy, James, Ira, Henry, Joel., Bertha & Harvey. He is s breeder of thoroughbred Shorthorns, standard roadsters & Percheron horses & owns 200 acres of land in Erin Tp., with fine improvements.
Joel W., b. 1848, m. Mary C. Kennedy; second wife Mary M. Swackhammer.
Issue: Mrs. Edward Pearen, who live on the homestead with her father.
Ref: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. 1906.
. Obituary of her brother:
THE LATE BENAJAH LESLIE
The death occurred on the 19th inst. of Benajah Leslie, an old and highly esteemed resident of North Oxford. He was in his usual health on the 15th and attended church on that day. On Monday he was taken ill with an obstruction of the bowels. On Wednesday he was taken to London hospital, where an operation took place. He seemed to have been relieved but on Thursday there was a change for the worse and he passed away at noon, in his 74th year.
He was born in Erin township near Acton, and removed to the farm now occupied by his son, Thomas J., 51 years ago. He was married to Miss Jennie Neely on the 12th April, 1859, who survives him. They celebrated their golden wedding last April. 9 children were born to them. 3 have died & the following survive: John D., of Thornloe; Thomas J., on the homestead; George of North Oxford; W. B. of Thamesford; Mrs. T. Pirie, of Banner; & Mrs. A. Capstick, of North Dorchester.
Deceased was a quiet man, a good neighbor always ready to lend a helping hand. He was a trustee of the Banner Methodist Church.
The funeral was one of the largest ever held in the vicinity. Rev. A. Thibadeau, officiated & preached an impressive sermon from the text "Watch & Pray."
Messrs. George & Joel Leslie are brothers & Mrs. Robt. Johnston, a sister. They were all present at the funeral.
Ref: Acton Free Press. 1909.9.30, p2 reprinted from Thamesford Star. - - -
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1844 - 1930 (85 years)