Middleton
One by one the old settlers
continue to take their departure from amongst us -- now this one, now that
one. Soon all will be gone except the mournful memories of what they were
and what they did when life was bounding and buoyant in future hopes for
themselves and their families. But all things change, nothing is lost,
every influence but wings its way onward and upward.
The Herron and Cowan families came
early into this Township, and they have had few visitations by the seythe
of time in numbering off the grey heads of their respective homes. But the
edge has at last been laid and it will doubtless be continued until the
traditions of the past will be the only receptacle of what they thought
and did.
Thos. Herron,
senior, who has gone at the advanced age of eighty-four years, was the
pioneer of the Herron family to this country. He was an emigrant from the
Protestant portion of Ireland and soon surrounded himself by other
relatives who came imbued with deep convictions of conservative loyalty to
the religion of their forefathers and love to the institutions of the
mother country.
One of the
number yet living is an honored pensioneer of his Gracious Queen, having
seen twenty one years of service in different parts of that Dominion upon
which the sun never sets, and who thinks Canada the fairest daughter of
all. May this ever be so!
The
step by step of nature gently laid to rest this respected head of the
Herron home, but it is with painful regret that we are compelled to record
the rather untimely death of Mr. Alexander Cowan, who was quickly carried
away by the poisonous effects of Paris Green, having it transmitted into
his blood through some slight wound upon his hand, while using it upon
potatoe vines. It soon threw him into a state of delirium from which the
sparks of consciousness were emitted only at momentary times. This
unfortunate happening should furnish a warning to those handling this
dangerous drug.
Mr. Cowan
leaves behind him many friends and relatives to mourn his sudden death. He
was one of a number of brothers, descendants of an English officer, who
settled in this county when the sunlight had greater difficulty than at
present in penetrating its woods and dales. Strong
conservative instincts are the prominent trait in this family, and this
lamented member of it had the full courage of his convictions.
Canada
owes much to the seeds dropped for future unfolding by such sturdy and
loyalty and integrity, as old country breezes have in many ways and at
various times wafted to its shores. How much of life is made up of
memories! Our real world is the remembered one, and its impress flows
deeply into the influences to come. -- W. M.
