On
Monday night, Mr. and Mrs. MacKenzie Procunier, residents of Belmont for
over 30 years, were tendered a family dinner at their home, Main Street,
the occasion being their 61st wedding anniversary.
The
couple were married by Rev. Wm. Henry Treadwell, pastor of the Port
Rowan Baptist Church, at the home of the bride's parents, Abraham and
Elizabeth Brown, on November 12, 1873.
Both
Mr. and Mrs. Procunier were born in Walsingham Township, near Port
Royal, and Mr. Procunier, at the age of 83, vividly recalls how his
father became a hunter and at the time of his death in 1878 had
exterminated all the bears in Walsingham district.
When
a boy, corn was crushed with an axe on a hardwood stump and the crushed
grain was soaked with milk and then eaten.
The
ancestors of Mr. Procunier's grandparents were natives of Amsterdam,
Holland, and settled near
St. Williams, known then as Cope's Landing.
The medium of exchange at that time was rat skins, one of which was
equal almost to the value of the English shilling.
Charlotteville
Pioneers
The
Browns, Mrs. Procunier's ancestors, were pioneers of Charlotteville
district, and were of U. E. Loyalist stock and the history compiled
shows that her ancestors served in the commissariat department of some
loyal troops during the war of the revolution. Many of the Browns later
settled in Dereham Township, Brownsville district, and many near New
Sarum and St. Thomas.
MacKenzie
Procunier is one of Western Ontario's pioneer wagon-makers and has
served in this capacity for many years at Harrietsville, where he
learned his trade, later at Crampton and Nilestown, from where he moved
to Belmont. For a number of years he worked for the St. Louis Orange
Steel Company of Carbondale, Ill.
Son's
Birthday as Well
The
celebration also marked the birthday of their son, Elgin. Other members
of the family attending included their daughter, Mrs. Emery Cole and Mr.
Cole, also their grandchildren, Elmer Procunier and his wife, Clarence
Cole and his wife, Milton, and Gloin Cole, and three greatgrandchildren,
Charlie and Billie Cole and Gordon Procunier.
Another
grandson is Dr. C. W. Procunier of Essex, who has one daughter, Beverly.
Those attending represented four generations.
The
couple are enjoying good health and are extremely active. Mrs. Procunier
being 79 years of age, and both are affiliated with Belmont United
Church, where Mr. Procunier was a Sabbath school teacher for a number of
years.
