Properties and People

of Canada geese were a present from his brother Erl. Erl had captured the geese while working with the Canadian National Railways in northern Manitoba.

During the winter the ponds created for the geese and ducks became a community outdoor rink. Through much of the sixties, seventies and eighties 4-H, Scout and Church skates were held there as well as hundreds of pond hockey games.

In 1969, a lot fronting on the St. Peter’s Road, reserved by Lila Gibson when she sold Springbrook Farm in 1958, was purchased by Eddie and his wife Connie (Dennis). Together they raised three sons Graham, Grant and Greg.

Wayne and his wife Linda Daley purchased Springbrook Farm in 1994.7 Together with their two children Matthew and Amanda, Wayne and Linda continue to operate Springbrook Farm as a

dairy farm selling purebred Jerseys across North America and into South America.

Submitted by Peter Boswall

' The Descendants of Robert and Jane Gibson. D. Gibson et. a1. (Family History - self published).

2 Document No. 212, registered January 25, 1893, Liber l3, Folio 295.

3 Document No. 348, registered April 19, 1902, Liber 47, Folio 626.

4 Will No. 596 registered November 13, 1950, Liber 37, Folio 934.

5 Document No. 344, registered March 28, 1958, Liber 140, Folio 558.

6 Document No. 1453, registered August 29, 1961, Liber 146, Folio 603.

7 Document No. 583, registered February 2, 1994, Liber 714, Folio 90.

HILLSIDE FARM (N9)

Alexander Ferguson was born circa 1781 at Craggan, Blair Athol, Perthshire, Scotland. He emigrated with his father, John Ferguson (elder), sometime between 1804 and 1808. John the elder established himself at Craggan Farm in Marshfield, while his son Alexander situated himself on the 100 acres of land that became known as Hillside Farm.

Alexander married Janet MacLaughlan, who had been born in Tomnancean in 1783, on December 4, 1803 in Blair Athol, before emigrating to St. John’s Island. They had eleven children.

In his will,1 Alexander bequeathed to his spouse Jane, the east half of his 100 acres, and to his son Alexander Jr., the west half of the farm. Also bequeathed in his will, to his son James and daughters: Janet, Charlotte, Nancy, Margaret, Jane, Betsy, Isabella, and Christy, was one shilling each. Alexander signed his will on February 21, 1851. Two months later, on March 20, 1851, Alexander died at seventy years of age.2

A year before his father’s death, Alexander Ferguson Jr. had married Elizabeth MacLean of North River on October 8, 1850.3 The following year they had their first and only child, Alexander, born December 29, 1851. Alexander Jr. farmed until the 1860s, at which time the farm was taken over by his brother John, who became known as “John Hillside.”4 (Refer to Properties and People (N14).)

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John “Hillside” Ferguson (ca. 1804—1879) married Barbara Proudfoot, on July 24, 1828. Their children were David, Jane, Barbara (MacLaughlan), John, Elizabeth (Boyce) (McDonald), and Ellen (Hardy). On March 29, 1876, John Ferguson passed the farm to his son John, who was known as “Long Johnnie.”5

John “Long Johnnie” Ferguson Jr. (1833-1897) married Sarah Hardy (1835—1917), the daughter of George Hardy and Mary Saunders on December 29, 1857 in Little York. John was a merchant and owned two farms, Hillside and the adjacent farm6 to the east. John and Sarah had eight children: John Thomas, Mary Elizabeth (Stetson), George Alexander, Barbara Esther (Munn), Sarah (Prowse) (Newman), David, Alfred, and Ambrose. In August of 1889, John Ferguson Jr. passed on his 100-acre farm to his daughter Mary Elizabeth and her husband John Stetson.7

Mary Elizabeth (1860-1940) and John Stetson (1857-1948) were married by the Reverend A.W. Mahon on March 19, 1887.8 John was the son of Thomas Stetson and Isabelle MacGregor (see property S16), and he had two brothers, Archibald and Henry. John and Mary Elizabeth had four sons, Harry, Athol, Gordon, and Thomas. (Refer to Properties and People S16)

On March 19, 1906, John Stetson sold his farm