Footsteps Across The Bridge 209

raise Standardbred horses. Layton and Edith have two children, David Layton (Nov. 16, 1968) and Karla Margo (Oct. 1, 1973).

The Huestis farm is the most easterly farm in Wilmot Valley on the Blueshank. However the home of Douglas Webster which lies just inside the western boundary of Kelvin Grove was for many years included in the Wilmot Valley School District. The first settler on this property was William Ching.

CHING

William Ching (1807-Jan. 3, 1887) emigrated from Devonshire, England, in 1842. He settled on the land where Douglas Webster lives (1979), and was joined later by his three daughters.

Descendants tell of the arduous life of the Chings in their pioneer days. A trip to town for groceries can be wearying to busy parents today. Imagine if you will. though, a jaunt to town in 1842. The Blueshank of today did not exist. For the Chings, a visit to town meant a horseback-ride via a rough trail through the woods, to St. Eleanor’s, nearly ten miles distant. On reaching the destination one had, compared with the niceties of Devonshire shopping, probably a very limited choice of goods. After necessities were purchased the return trip added another ten miles to the day’s travels, with mosquitoes, mud or sn0w-laden branch being equally as plentiful on this leg of the journey as they were at its beginning. In spite of these difficulties the Chings stayed in the Valley, as pioneers had before them and have since. In 1881 the census-taker finds William living alone on his homestead, at the age of seventy—four years. Despite isolation, his daughters had married and moved to other parts.

Details on William’s wife are unknown but some information exists regarding his daughters:

Maria married a Captain Wallace.

Mary married Ernest Palmer and had one son.

Harriet married a Mr. Peters, of German descent, who was captain of a schooner. They had a son, Captain Fred Peters, and three daughters who lived in Summerside.

It is believed that George Barwise, of Wilmot Valley, was the next person to live on this farm. George purchased one hundred acres of land in Lot 25 from Harriet Peters, as recorded in a deed dated October 28, 1892.