The settlement was now increasing so fast that the general voice was for a town, and my father was petitioned to lay one out at the mouth of Ryerse Creek, and was at last prevailed upon to do so, and called it Clarence.

The first applicant for a lot was a Mr. Corklin, a very good blacksmith, a mechanic that was very much wanted in the settlement.  He was a very intelligent young man for his class, and a great favourite with everyone, although he had one fault, that of indulging in strong drinks occasionally.  He bargained for a lot, and put up a frame for a house.

My father bought him a set of blacksmith’s tools to commence with, and built him a shop.  The next thing was a wife.  My mother soon saw that a tender feeling was growing up between the young blacksmith and her nurse, a pretty girl to whom she was much attached.  My mother’s advice was against the marriage, on account of his one bad habit; but of course she was not listened to, and they were married.

A few months after the marriage, Mr. Corklin went in a log canoe to the head of the bay, on business, and was to return the next day; but day after day passed, and no Mr. Corklin appeared.

At last the poor wife’s anxiety became so great that a messenger was sent in search of him.  He had been at Dr. Troyer’s but left the day he was expected home.  The alarm was given, and search commenced along the lake shore.

They found his canoe drifted on shore, laden with game, vegetables and a few apples, his hat, and an empty bottle that smelt of rum; but he was gone.  They supposed that he had fallen overboard without upsetting the canoe.

His body they could not find for days after, and his wife used to wander along the lake shore, from early dawn until dark, with the hope that she might find his body.

One day she saw a number of birds on a drift log that was half out of the water. By the side of this log lay the remains of her husband.  The eagles had picked his eyes out, but had only commenced their feast.  This was the first death in the settlement.

My father took back the lot, paid for the frame house, kept his smith’s tools, and so ended his town.

Upon more mature reflection, he decided that the neighbourhood of a small town would be the reverse of agreeable, as the first inhabitants would be those that were too idle to improve a farm for themselves, and bad habits are generally the attendants of idleness, and that he, in place of being the owner of all, would only be proprietor in common with all the idle and dissipated of a new country.

Continued...>

Copyright 1994-2014 John Cardiff and Port Ryerse Environmental and Historical Society

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