Fair Dbq

The country life was not always just a quiet, hard working life, even for the staunchest of citizens. Some examples demonstrate this.
In October 1877 someone stole a heifer from Robinson. The culprit made the mistake of trying to sell the hide in Rosseau. Several people were able to identify the lost heifer by the hide. Furthermore a quantity of fresh meat, horns, the head, tail and feet were all found on a Mr. W. Harvey's property in Humphrey. A month later, he was found guilty at trial and given 2 years one month jail.
Then, on a less grievous situation, on Saturday, July 19, 1879, Robinson, now 61, his son-in-law, William 39 and Eliza Sponhouse 21 a neighbour across the road from the Mathewson’s were driving to Parry Sound by horse and buggy.

They were not quite half way on the trip when they started to descend a hill near Philip Smith’s farm and blacksmith shop. On the way down the horse suddenly sped up more and more until the pace was getting to be too much. Loss of control was imminent. William, who was the driver, caught the lines and turned the horse to cramp the wagon to do a rapid breaking. This abrupt stopping was too fast and the wagon was upset, throwing everyone out to a hard landing. Mrs. Sponhouse was bruised but otherwise in no serious harm. William escaped unhurt completely. However, Robinson got a ‘blow on the face’ and a few other minor bruises.
Later on in the year, October 10, there was the locally famous Parry Sound Fall Fair in which many farmers and their families could compete with the fruits of the labour.

For this year, 1879, the Fair was more rambunctious than normal. Tensions had been high as a lot of crops had been destroyed by an August hailstorm causing some genuine famine. The Fair ended with a gutter brawl and a fight without any law enforcement in sight. Some Jacklins were at the Fair but being good standing citizens were not involved. William Jacklin however had modestly entered the contest for field peas and won the $1 prize (a day’s wage) for the best 2

bushels.
Life continued to be typical for the region for the Jacklin’s.

The boys stayed away from the problems of the areas and were only teetotallers when it came to drinking. There were a lot of illegal stills in the area in 1879 and 'a beer agent every 3 miles' along the Parry Sound road. Part of this was due to the temperance (the Dunkin Act) of Parry Sound with William Beatty’s landlordship. However, their old man was known to be able to knock back quite a few and that he could handle it – the Fulstow in him!
By 1892 Robinson was aging and developing a kidney ailment. He was leaving the farming to his sons and his grandsons. However, he could still contribute to the community by becoming the Foley pound keeper, caring for any stray dogs, cows or other animals that were often escaping their masters. William Mathewson also served the community at the same time as a fence viewer, i.e. someone who would report on any mending required for the fences etc. in the neighbourhood.
From November 4 to November 8 of 1893, Robinson was in increasing pain as is kidneys were giving out. He passed away on November 9, very near his 76th birthday, leaving a legacy of stories, 18 grandchildren and hundreds of decedents to this

day.
Robinson’s Afterword
Foley School Section #3
This school in which William Mathewson had taught the longest also had for around a century Jacklins in constant attendance. The school enrollment varied between 40-60 in total with and average attendance of half the class. There were lots of missing students at any given time as many of the older boys had to work on the farm or sometimes due to a community infection. However, many times it was just simple truancy. The truancy officer was constantly busy and could pick up to a dozen students in a month to be dealt with. The first of Robinson’s grandchildren to go through this school were ‘Teenie’ (b 1867) Mathewson with her

siblings James (b 1869) and Margaret (b 1870). All three were among the first students as the school opened in 1877. The later two children would have had it hard as they were deaf mutes. The first Jacklin to enter the school was Eliza Ann in 1881, Andrew and Louisa’s oldest child.
Some of the more scholastic Jacklins made it to the honour roll for several years around the turn of the century: Joseph’s daughters Rose (b 1884) and Julia May (b 1888) and son Joseph Jr. (b 1886), Andrew’s son Andrew Joseph (b 1883) and daughter Jessie Jane (b 1888). A few years later, once this group had left school the honours sometimes fell to Willie (b 1891) and David (b 1893) both sons of Joseph.
Not that every Jacklin was fond of school however. Imagine the embarrassment, for that is what was intended, of having your name in the paper for having had irregular attendance! This happened to Kenneth Jacklin (b 1909) for the
1920-1921 school year. He was a grandson of Andrew and son
of George Jacklin.
War Veterans
In many ways the Jacklin’s contributed to both the World Wars, sometimes fund raising or knitting for the troops clothing. It was all part of the proper community spirit. However, the biggest contribution, by far, was sending their young men to fight. The Jacklin’s did more than their share.
The first Jacklin to head off for war was William George who was signed up in October 1917 when he was 26. Of average height, 5’ 71⁄2” with hazel eyes and dark hair his only distinguishing feature was acne. Evidently he had escaped the rigours of the deep woods and lumbering. Many Parry Sound veterans had rounded scars from being hit by the butt end of a tree or worse.
His younger brother, David, joined him by having his medical exam just 2 weeks after his 24 birthday and being officially signed up on January 1, 1918. He had married Pearl Amelia Irwin (b 1900) on March 17, 12 days after the bride's 17th birthday. The wedding was so recent that David initially put down his next of kin as his mother Hulda but had that crossed out and replaced by Pearl. He is described as being 5’ 6” with blue eyes and brown hair. He bore an angular scar over his right biceps. He was to be placed in the First Battalion of Central Ontario. Both Jacklin brothers made it back from the war without damage.
When the Second World War arrived there were more Jacklins than before and hence the contribution was more. Some of the younger ones stayed home but became part of the home guard such as Noble, Ray, Lloyd, Lee and Norman (who tried to join but was too young at the time).
One of the earliest to go was Carl Jacklin (b 1923 to Italy) son of William John who enlisted in December of 1942 along with brothers Emmerson (b 1917 to Holland), Daniel Francis (b 1913 to Holland), Percy (b 1919, instructed in Canada) and John Clifford (b 1921 to Britain). By January 1943, Carl was missing in action. In subsequent events, it was found that he had been wounded in the chest while fighting with the British Army in the invasion of Sicily, and captured by the Germans in Pescara on the Adriatic. He was treated poorly by the Germans even though bed ridden until he was transferred to a prisoner of war camp in Germany. He found there that the treatment from the non-commissioned German soldiers was acceptable but the higher command was abusive. There was a small library there from which to read but he got a thrill whenever the allied bombers flew over them on bombing raids. He, along with his fellow prisoners, was fed only black bread and thin soup. He stated that without the Red Cross parcels he received each week that he though they all “would have starved without them”. Carl was repatriated in February 1945 as the war ended. “It’s hard to believe”, he said, nicely summing up his sense of relief of being back with his family again in St. Thomas.
Stanley Austin Jacklin, son of Joseph Jr., and a second cousin of Carl, became a corporal in the war and sadly a casualty. He was killed in Italy on January 29, 1944 and the age of only 22. By the winter of 1943, the German armies in Italy were defending a line stretching from the Tyrrhenian Sea north of Naples, to the Adriatic Sea south of Ortona. The Allies prepared to break through this line to capture Rome. For its part, the 1st Canadian Infantry Division was to cross the Moro River and take Ortona. Stanley died in the battle for Ortona. As with the other casualties, he was buried nearby, to commemorate the brave. He left his wife Evelyn Crawford and his son Wayne a family that he had just started before entering the war.
The other World War II veterans were William John’s sons Andrew’s son Mervin, William Francis George’s son Howard and George’s son Elmer.