Person Page - 853

Mr. J. F. Joyce is removing from the Soo to London, Ont., where he has secured a position with a wholesale grocery firm. Mrs. Mayhew, who has been with Mrs. Joyce, will visit Renfrew friends before rejoining the family at London.³¹

Renfrew In The Fifties Small Place
     Some Bright Recollections by Mrs. James Mayhew of Ottawa re Renfrew County
     Admaston Township was Wild Place Then
     The William Barry Murder of the Forties Recalled by Mrs. Mayhew.
     Mrs. James Mayhew, Pansy avenue, Ottawa South, has some very interesting recollections of Stewartville, Renfrew and Admaston Township in the long ago. Mrs. Mayhew remembers Renfrew when it was "a little bit of a place," when there was just a Main street and a few scattered houses, a couple of hotels and one store. That was back in the fifties.
     Mrs. Mayhew, now 80 years of age, and for eight years a resident of Ottawa, is a daughter of Arch. Ferguson, who settled in McNab township somewhere about 1848 -- coming from Scotland. Mrs. Mayhew was Marion Ferguson.
     The Fergusons settled at a point on the Madawaska about seven miles from Arnprior. The place later became known as Stewartville. There were four children in the Ferguson family, three boys and Marion. One of these boys, John, later became prominent in the affairs of Renfrew county. He became a member for the county back in the sixties and was a leading associate of Sir John Macdonald in the old parliament of Upper and Lower Canada. He also became well known as a lumberman. A son of John Ferguson lives in Ottawa, Mr. J. B. Ferguson of MacLaren street.
     Pioneer Died Early
     Archibald Ferguson, the pioneer, had only been in Canada about four years when, unfortunately, he took fever and died. A couple of years after Mr. Ferguson's death Mrs. Ferguson married Robert Barry of Admaston township and moved there.
     Robert Barry was a brother of the William Barry who was murdered about 1846 by his hired man and his wife.
     The Barry Murder
     This Barry murder, it may be remembered, was told of in detail about a year ago by Mr. John Derby aged 99, of Hintonburg, and who was the man who discovered the body and gave the alarm.
     And now the sequel of the murder is told by Mrs. Mayhew.
     It appears that William Barry had willed his property to his brother Robert (they were bachelors) and lived together.
     A few years after the murder Robert met and married Mrs. Ferguson and took her and the family to live in his old home.
     The Barry House
     Mrs. Mayhew (Marion Ferguson) has a distinct recollection of the house where the murder took place. It was a comfortable farm house of the primitive type about six or seven miles southeast of Renfrew. Mrs. Mayhew says that though she lived there till she married James Mayhew in 1866 she neither say nor heard anything to remind her of the ghastly murder. In other words there were no "spooks" or noises to be seen or heard. The murder of William Barry had been most brutal. His skull had been beaten in with an axe while he slept.
     Mrs. Mayhew tells how when a little girl and living in the Barry house she frequently used to walk to Renfrew (for seven miles) for supplies. The road was rough and lonesome.
     At that time (in the early fifties) there was just one store in Renfrew. Mrs. Mayhew does not remember who kept it. But she knows that it was constructed of rough boards and stood where the O'Brien Theater now stands.
     The British Hotel
     There was only one street and two hotels. One of these hotels was kept by a Mr. Coombes, and still stands (the British Hotel.) The other hotel was kept by a man named Groves. She thinks it was burned. Anyhow, it is not there now. There were not any doctors in Renfrew then. Itinerate doctors (who also pulled teeth) visited the village for a couple of weeks at a time and made trips into the country to attend special cases.
     The now great Renfrew exhibition had not even been thought of then.
     Helpful Old-Timers
     Mrs. Mayhew says doctors were not as necessary in the fifties and sixties as they are today, as many of the old people knew a lot about caring for the sick and were very generous in travelling around the country in times of sickness and rendering aid.
     Wolves Plentiful
     In 1866 Mrs. Mayhew got married and went to live back in Admaston on her husband's farm. Her first recollection of the Admaston farm was the lonesomeness of it. Wolves howled at night and were very bold in killing sheep. One night 12 sheep were killed by the wolves in their neighbourhood.
     Primitive
    [:NB:]SchoolThe schools of Admaston were very primitive and inadequate. She remembers 75 children were crowded in a one-room building. The teachers were fairly competent, but some of them used to drink. She remembers one teacher who when under the influence of liquor used to be very jovial and play with the children, instead of teaching them. The next day, however, he would be sullen and cross and ready to use the strap on the slightest provocation.
     The school was a shanty with a "Scoop" roof.
     Other recollections by Mrs. Mayhew will be found elsewhere on this page.
     Mr. Stewart Joyce of 9 Imperial avenue is a grandson of Mrs. Mayhew. Mr. Mayhew died about 39 years ago.¹⁴

DEATH OF JOSEY E MAYHEW
A few years ago, there was no healthier-looking, more active boy in Admaston than Josey Mayhew, the third son of the late Joseph Mayhew. He was an enthusiastic ball-player, and through lying down on the damp grass when over-heated from his play, he contracted a cold two summers ago that settled on his lungs, and since then his strength has steadily declined. Last spring he thought that a trip to the west would be of benefit to him, and as his brothers-in-law, the Messrs Joyce, were established at Fernie, he went to that point in July last. But the disease had taken too firm a hold of his system to be thrown off. Though his frame was steadily growing weaker, his spirit was strong, and he worked till the day he left the west to return to his home, the 4th of April. Even after he reached home, he was hopeful of recovery, though if it were God's will, he said, he was prepared to die. The end came steadily, almost swiftly, and on Monday afternoon of this week his spirit passed away. The funeral is taking place this (Thursday) afternoon from the residence of Mr. J. Joyce. The relatives have the sincere sympathy of a large list of friends, with whom the deceased was a general favorite.^6,13

Survivor(s): Kenneth Mayhew. Predeceased: Mary Berthea Mayhew.¹³

Orange Blossoms
Mayhew - Richards
"Earthlier happy is the rose distilled
Than that, which withering on the virgin thorn
Grows, lives and dies in a single blessedness."
[Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1. 1 ]
The residence of Mr Wm. Richards, Balaclava, was the scene of a very pretty and interesting event on Wednesday evening, June 18th, when Rev. A. Mackenzie, of Douglas, united in the bonds or matrimony Mr James F Mayhew, of Sault Ste. Marie, and Miss Bertie, eldest daughter of Mr Wm. Richards. The bride, charmingly attired in a gown of white silk, was tastily assisted yb her sister, Miss Eva, and also by Miss J. Box, who were similarly attired, and the groom by G. A. Brown of Admaston. The bride and bridesmaids carried beautiful bouquets of roses and maiden hair fern. After the ceremony was performed, a large number of invited guests sat down to tables laden with delicacies arranged in such a manner as made a beautiful display. The happy couple were the recipients of many handsome and costly presents, showing the esteem in which they are held. As they leave us to take up residence at the Soo they are followed by the best wishes of all for a prolonged, happy and prosperous life.

"He is the half part of a blessed man waiting to be completed by such as she
And she a fair divided Excellence whose fullness of perfection lies in him"
[Shakespeare - "King John" (2.1.456-9) ].¹⁸