while nightly, it was ;not uncomniou to hear the hideous howls of 

 pack of wolves. 



The difficulties of draining to the early settlers of much 

 the township remote from natural creeks did seem to many to 

 unsurmcuntable. The great bulk of the township was a prett 

 heavy clay subsoil covered by a few inches of decayed vegetabl 

 matter, principally rotten leaves. The fall was seldom sufficien 

 to cause a heavy rain to freely run off, and the nature of the sub 

 soil refused to permit the water free passage downward. The lOtl 

 Concession from the rear Oif the front lots to near its eastern limil 

 was the divide from north to south of natural flow. And the sur 

 face incline of a great part of the towmship of only three or foui 

 feet to the mile, and the absence of natural creeks, it is obvioiu 

 a heavy rain at any time of plant growth would be slow in getting 

 away. As long as the oak and cordwood lasted and potash manu- 

 factured, the loss of crops by flooded fields was not so severely felt 

 bout about 50 years ago, a serious change took place, and s-Tinerhing 

 had to be d:ne to make the land no longer timbered, fit for farming 

 Many of our roads were not cleared of timber and when cleared 

 were awful to travel from the low swampy nature of the soil, and 

 the only way by which the settlers to the south-east of the town- 

 ship could get out was sixth concession westward and northerly by 

 side line 12 and 13. It was years before we enjoyed postal facilit- 

 ies. A little store just south of what is now Mooretown kept 

 by Mr. James Baby afforded our only chance to get a stray letter 

 from abroad, and for newspapers, few indeed they were who got 

 one to read. Of churches, a red brick building erected on his farm 

 just north of the present Courtright by the late Mr. Sutherland 

 before referred to, was the solitary structure of its kind in the 

 township. As for schools, well, don't mention the two or three 

 where 30 or 40 pupils came together, to learn from a teacher who 

 collected a quarter of a dollar a month from each pupil to clothe him- 

 self, amd who boarded around with the pupils week about unless 

 they came over two miles in which case nearer accommodation in 

 some cases was provided for about a dollar a week. 



The foregoing indicates the dark period of our history. Then 

 if we realize a journey through brush wood and all kinds of obstruct- 

 ing timber, and over snow and ice in winter and water and mud in 

 spring, summer and autumn, often a long distance to so delectable 

 a school house, the reader of today may in some measure realize the 

 pursuit of learning under difficulties. At last the condition of the 

 settlers had reached a crisis iji many parts of the township, the 

 residents "were at the parting of the ways," The district councillor 

 gave way to a local council of five members in each township, one 

 of whom was to be Reeve which would correspond with the district 



