Foodie Friday - Shortbread

From a Tyrconnell Heritage Society book called 
12 Days of Christmas

SHORTBREAD

Recipe given to Marion (Davy) Foreman grandmother of Angela (Foreman) Bobier by Marion Pearce, wife of John S. Pearce and mother of Joyce, Elaine, Grace, Leslie, and Bonnie.

1 lbs butter

2 tbsp Crisco (approx. size of egg)

1 cup brown sugar

5 cups of flour (velvet cake flour)

Knead in flour.  Cover cookie sheet with brown paper bag.  Bake 275 degrees for 1 hour.  

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You may not know that all our events, admission and programming income goes into maintaining our heritage buildings, daily operating expenses like utilities, and funding future events.  If you are able to contribute financially by purchasing a Tyrconnell Heritage Society Membership or making a donation in any amount your support would be greatly appreciated.  Memberships - Individual $30; Couple $35; Family $40; Organization $45; Business $75; Individual Lifetime $250  Here is the link to our page at CanadaHelps http://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/tyrconnell-heritage-society/

Toolsday-The Honey House

Hello readers! I’m Carlie, and I’m the Agricultural Exhibit Designer at the Backus-Page House Museum. Throughout the summer, I'll be sorting through various tools in the barn to get ready for the exhibit! Every Tuesday I’ll be sharing some of what I learned on our blog!

This week it was way too hot to be going through the barn, so I decided to talk about a 'tool' that doubles as one of my favourite buildings on the property-the Honey House! 

The honey house was originally built between 1828-1831 on William Pearce Farm, where it stayed until 1967 when it was willed to the Elgin County Pioneer Museum. A year later, it moved again to a new home in St Thomas. On April 1st, 1978, tragedy struck. A group of vandals burnt the Honey House to the ground! However, years later, a group of students from Parkside Collegiate Institute in St Thomas built an exact replica of the Honey House. We want to give a huge thank you to the teacher who led the project, Mr Thomas and Mr Hatherall!

It wasn't until December 2006 that the Honey House moved to it's current location at the Backus-Page House from the former Pioneer Museum.

Now that I've explained the history of the house, it might be worth mentioning how this would have been used as a tool. 

A descendant of the original owners of the house, Rebecca (Pearce) Waite (1909-1994) explained that Honey House would have been used to attract bees in the hope that they would make their honey inside the house. This would be a huge convenience, so settlers wouldn't have to look for hives. In the settler times, people would have put containers of honey around the house. If they were lucky, wild bees would come to the house, crawling through the holes in the side. Then, they would create honey inside the boxes stored within, which would later be collected. 

This wasn't exactly a safe procedure. In fact, children were often warned to stay away from the Honey House to lessen the chance of being stung. This was especially important because there wasn't the same information about allergies back then as we have today.

So there it is, a brief history of the Honey House! If you're interested in seeing it for yourself, then come to out our Civil War Reenactment on July 27th and 28th.  See you then!

Seeking Descendants of 1809 Dunwich Settlers

We will be celebrating the 210th anniversary of the 1809 Irish settlers arriving in Dunwich Township.  The adults were given land grants along Lakeview Line, south of Wallacetown.  If you are a descendant, we are hoping you will join us June 22-23 at Backus-Page House Museum for the event, plus we are looking for the loan of artefacts, photographs, genealogy research and help with the Irish settler table in the genealogy building at the event.  Please contact Angela Bobier info@backuspagehouse.ca  519-762-3072

Original Irish Families of Dunwich Township arriving in 1809

13 settlers

1 Mary (Patterson) Storey 1758 – 1842   widow

                2 Walter Storey 1783 - 1831 married Mary Currie – no children

                3 Anne Storey 1791 – 1857 married Stephen Backus

                4 Sarah Storey 1792 - 1838 married Captain Benjamin Willson               

5 Leslie Patterson 1751 - 1852 married 6 Lydia Backus 1782 - 1870

                7 Joseph Patterson 1807 - 1882

                8 Walter Patterson 1808 - 1890

9 John Pearce 1777 - 1850 married 10 Frances Patterson 1774 - 1850

                11 William Pearce 1805 – 1890 married Anne Moorhouse

                12 Leslie Pearce 1807 – 1871 married Jane Donaldson Barber

                13 Catherine Pearce 1809 – 1850 married William Moorhouse

Fun Fact Fridays #8 - Eva Pearce

      Did you know that Backus-Page House has Eva Pearce's bed that she scratched her name into almost 130 years ago?

      Eva Pearce was a young lady that was born in 1881 (d. 1965) and was a granddaughter to William Pearce, who settled on Lot 11, Concession 8, Dunwich in 1826. William was one of the first four settlers in that township. The area he chose to settle on is now known as Pearce Williams Christian Centre and is a summer camp for children who come from all over Canada.

      At Backus-Page House we have the exact bed that Eva Pearce slept on. It is a rope style bed (see Fun Fact Friday #3 - Sleep Tight... to learn more) with a head board that Eva, herself, carved her name into. It does not take long to figure out where her name is, but you can always come visit us to see for yourself!

Backus-Page Hosue Museum
29424 Lakeview Line, Wallacetown, ON
(519) 762-3072

Do You Recognize These Pictures?

These photos were in the care of Elaine Pearce Brown and family, but none of us know who or where these were taken.  We'd like any information that can be had and then we will either add them to the museum collection of re-home them to the appropriate people or archives.  Hopefully someone in the community can help us identify the people and places.  info@backuspagehouse.ca  

Back says "Allan's School Picture.  Allan in Scotch suit."

Back says "Liddy's House Chatham"

Back says "Ernest Brown - Aunt Jennie Family"