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The Beacon $0 were discovered under the sill of the southeast corner win- f0 A $175 HOUSE - Janet Scott, 2090 South Shore Road When William Coulson renovated the old farm house on Lot 13, Concession 4 Amherst Island in 1967, two boards dow. He was wise enough to preserve them and frame them so that later generations could read the writing. One says: "Jos. Gardner and Alfred Kent built this house for Charles Girvin in July in 1877 for the sum of one hundred and seventy five dollars." The other board states that: "A. Kent and J. Gardner built this house in July 1877. They lived in Napanee and Bath." What a wonderful treasure to come with a house. Al- ways keep your eyes open when renovating an old house as these little treasures may appear. These boards connect the present with a glimpse of the past. What was Canada like back in 1877? Prime Minister John A. Macdonald had left office in 1873 after The Pa- cific Scandal and Alexander Mackenzie, a Liberal and a Scot won the election. Canada was in a depression and times were hard. In I872 the North West Mounted Police were brought into existence and in the 1870's British Co- lumbia, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba became provinces. Canada was growing and John A. was back on the campaign trail in 1877. He would win the election of 1878. In July of 1877just at the same time that my house was being built the Baltimore and Ohio railroad cut wages and thus began "The Strike of 1877" in United States. The workers de- manded a minimum wage 0f$ l .50 a day. That kind ofputs the house cost in perspective. In 1880 Chi- nese railway workers made $1.00 a day and general workers made $150-$175 a day. You could travel from Toronto to Montreal on The Grand Trunk rail- way for $10.00 in First Class and $2.00 in Second Class. Just remember though that the trains run on Montreal time which is 8 1/2 minutes faster than Brockville Time and l2 minutes faster than King- ston. Belleville was faster by 14 '/2 minutes and To- ronto 23 minutes. We didn't have Standard Time. The deed for this Lot 13 South Shore was given to Samuel Girvin in November 1873 and signed by William Moutray as attorney for Robert Perceval Maxwell and He- lena Perceval Maxwell. I went on a hunt for the Girvin stones and found them in the Pentland Cemetery. I found Samuel Girvin 1810 - 1898 and also his wife Eliza who died in 1878. They had a son Charles 1848-1899 who re- ceived this house in November 1889 from Samuel. Charles was man'ied to Evangeline Weller 1854-1915. In our upstairs storeroom, there are no windows in the room and I presume it's what the Victorians called a boxroom. There is writing on the wall and 0n the back of the door. On the door it says, "I wonder how long this writing will remain. November 24th. I901, F.W. Girvin. The signature is written in a beautiful flowing script and appears several times on the plaster wall with the years 1897, I898, I899 and 1901 after them. Genevieve Fleming told me that Fred Girvin became a doctor and moved out to Alberta. You can see a photo of Fred at The Neilson Store Mu- seum and Cultural Centre.I-Ie was a member ofthe Stella Band. Fred Girvin had a daughter Evangeline Carter who sold this property to William and Evelyne Coulson in 1956 but retained a comer lot until she sold it in 1988 to Kath- leen Reed. Thus the Girvins had a connection to this land for one hundred and fifteen years. The Scotts were fortu- nate in 1984 to purchase the house and almost two acres from the Coulsons and we're still here. Drop in some time and I'll show you the writing on the wall. I would love to meet a Girvin connection so ifyou know one, please tell them to drop by and share a cup of tea and some memories. I've included a couple of pictures ofthe house. Peter Witteveen took the first one in 1951 and his great- granddaughter Whitney Fleming took the present one. Thank-you to all those people who helped me with re- search and shared their expertise: Karen Scott, Tom Syl- vester and Laurie Kilpatrick. PHOTOS PROVIDED BY PIIZT \iVlTTl-ZYlil-lN