55. Winsor JOHNSTONE
Windsor Johnstone was born at Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. On the 18 Feb 1897
He was the fourth child born to David Johnstone and Carrie Johnstone nee
McCammon.Windsor's Mother died in Childbirth at the time of the birth of his
brother William who was born in the year 1899 at Portage La Prairie.Some time
shortly after the death of Carrie, Windsor's Grandmother Jane Johnstone (Dunn)
went to Manitoba and returned with the family to Vittoria, Ont. Where she and
Windsor's Grandfather had settled on a farm near Fishers Glen, which is just
outside of Vittoria,His Grandfather was already deceased having passed away the
9th of dec 1896. Davids brother William Charles was running the family farm now
so David bought a farm on the West road from Vittoria to what is now 24
Highway. In 1907 about 8 years after the death of Windsor's mother his father
remarried to a lady by the name of Rosa Cratt. We believe possibly Rosa had
been Davids House Keeper who had been looking after the children.
Windsor lived in and grew up in the vicinity of Vittoria doing we
understand all the things a young boy and then young man did at that time, Going
to school, Escorting young ladies around in a Horse and buggy, as stories were
passed down of some of the races he had had with other young men of the same
age likely showing off to the girls. One of which was a nieghbours daughter by
the name of Mildred Oakes. Mildred married Windsor's cousin Elmer Johnstone
from Summerland BC during the first world war. Elmer used to spend a good deal
of time in the vicinity of Vittoria where there were many of his relations
living. Winsor joined the Army during the first world war when he was about
18 years old and went overseas to france, While in france he was in a fox hole
between the lines with another man sitting back to back, their job that night
was to listen for the enemy. Part way through the night a machine gun burst by
the enemy killed the man who was sitting there with Windsor,no one came to
relieve them until day light some hours later ,by this time Windsor's nerves
had given out to such an extent that he was what they called shell shocked,We
understand that he was in a catatonic state where he knew nothing and was
unable to even move for some months after he was returned to England and
Hospitalized.Windsor finally recovered enough that he was able to be sent home to Canada
where he went to stay with his sister, Her name was Lila and she was married to
Arthur Esser. I don't know exactly how long he stayed there but the next story
he told, was of working at Paris, Ont. on the Railroad, He was the tower man on
one shift who looked after switching the trains from the Main line, to the Spur
lines and sidings.From this job Windsor decided he would like to go to Western Canada and
obtain some land and equipment to farm under the Veterans settlement act, He
got to Winnipeg where he decided to apply and for some reason, Im not sure what
he seems to have had to go through a board, where it was necessary to have a
medical. He told me that just at that time he had a Carbuncal on his neck, and
the Doctor reached for it to squeaze it, Windsor with his nerves in the state
they were never faultered he just decked the doctor. the Doctor was so upset
that he told Dad he would see that he would never get anything in the way of a
pension or land or anything. Windsor was a very stubborn man and he walked out
of there and never tried to get anything from the Veterans act again until
after he was in his late fifties, had a heart attack and couldn't work any
more.
From the incident with the Doctor Windsor went about trying to find a
job and somehow he managed to get on with a farmer named Herb Gray and his wife
who I believe,was named Elsie. Windsor worked there until the end of the
harvest,when they didn't need help any more, then went to Kenora, Ont. Where he
worked as a cook in a lumber camp, He told a story about, having been to town
with a team of horses and a box sled to pick up a load of meat for camp, He was
on his way home when as he went under the branches of a tree a Lynx screamed
and jumped down into the load of meat. The scream of the Lynx frightened the
horses and undoubtedly also Winsor, the team began to run away and you can
imagine, the time he had trying to get the team under control and make that
wildcat get out of the sled. He also told a story about hauling large loads of
logs on sleighs across the ice of The Lake of the Woods, the drivers had to be
very cautious as there were what are called air holes in the ice, they would
have these holes all marked and then during the night one would freeze up and
another one open some place else. One morning early the drivers started out
to haul the logs, one drivers team ran right into one of these air holes, with
a heavy load behind them and the ice being slippery they couldn't stop and
horses and sleigh ended up on the bottom of the lake.
Winsor being a young man who didn't feel like settling down left the lumber
camp and headed west, the next place he desided to stop and work was at the
mines in Kindersley, B.C. where I am under the impression he also worked as a
cook, as I never heard Dad talk about working in the mines. I doubt that he
stayed long there as it seems he never stayed long in any place at that time in
his life, the next place he talked about working was at Revelstoke, B.C. where
he also worked at a lumber operation. At Revelstoke the logs were dumped into
the Columbia river and floated to wherever the saw mill was. There was no
bridge across the river at that time and anyone crossing had to do it by
ferry, the logs were hauled by horse and sleigh in the winter time, the road
down to the landing at the river was on a very steep part of the mountain, when
the teamsters started down with a load of logs there was no way to stop the
sleighs so the drivers carried chalks which were wedge shaped pieces of wood
fastened to the sleigh with lengths of chain, these were dropped by the diver
when he was almost at the dock to slow the sleigh down, they had to be able to
drop one on each side at the same time to maintain the proper forward motion of
the load, these wedges had to land under the front bobs of the sleigh.
I do not know all the places dad spent time at, out there but He did tell
me he knew he had three Uncles in the West, He went to visit his Uncle Benjamin
who was at Armstrong B.C. in the Okanagon Valley. He told me he didn't know
where the others were, but we have found that His Uncle Robert was just a few
miles south of Armstrong at a Place named Summerland. He had another Uncle in
the west who went to Manitoba when he left Ontario and for all we Know never
returned to the East. He lived the remainder of his life in Western Manitoba
and from what we were able to find out no-one had any idea where he lived,since
the Family Genealogy has been started we have found where he lived.
After Winsor had had enough of traveling around B.C. He returned East as
far as Saskatchewan there he stopped to work in the Harvest again. He was
working for a family by the name of Morrison and met Bernice Waugh there, She
was also working for Morrisons while the Harvest was on. They fell in love and
shortly after were married. Winsor and Bernice lived in Saskatchewan while the
first four of their children were born. The names of these four children were
Lila, Ralph, Roy and Kenneth. The second child was born dead.
They farmed in the Neighbourhood of Glenavon Sask. about 70 miles south east of
Regina. The place of Birth of Roy and Ken the third and fourth children born
was said to be Fillmore, which would be a place near where we were living as
all the children born out west were born on either a neighbors farm or at home.Windsor and Bernice lived at various places renting land to grow crops
on after they were married in 1923 until June of 1931 when after having planted
three crops and all of them lost in dust storms they gave up and moved back
down to Vittoria where Winsors family lived.
Winsor, Bernice and their three children Lila, Roy and Kenneth who were
seven, four and two years of age lived for the first few months at Winsors
Father's home, until he was able to obtain work and thereby afford a house for
him and his family. The first job that Winsor was able to get was harvesting
tobacco this was called Burly toabacco and was used for Pipe tobacco. Instead
of picking the leaves off and cureing them in a Kiln as they do with most of
the tobacco to-day, it was harvested by cutting the whole plant and hanging it
to cure in a barn, in the air. After that tobacco season was over David
Johnstone, who was Winsors father and Davids brother, Charles conspired to set
Winsor and Charles's son Arthur up in partnership, on a farm just outside of
Vittoria, this farm had a large orchard on it plus a small amount of general
farming. While living at Vittoria, Windsor and Bernice had an addition to the
family a Daughter Myrtle. To supplement the income from the farm Winsor, went to
work in the fall after the apples were all picked, at Simcoe for Jacksons Cold
storage, packing and sorting apples and other fruit, for shipment around the
world.
The two cousins didn't see eye to eye about the way things should be
run, so Winsor found a farm for rent, East of Simcoe, just off the road from
Port Dover to Renton which is on number three Highway. Winsor had dairy
cattle, He separated the cream from the milk and sold the cream. The remainder
he used to feed pigs.He also grew corn which he sold to the canning factory
in Port Dover. The corn was shipped to the factory by team and wagon which was
a very time consuming Operation as the factory was about four miles from the
farm and had to be done after working in the fields all day and the
chores still had to be done after returning home. After farming at this
location for two years , Winsor it would seem got itchy feet as he moved to a
farm which was north of Norwich, Ont. Where he lived and raised his family
which by then had grown to four children. While living at the farm North of
Norwich, Winsor and Bernice had an addition to the family consisting of Twin
boys they were named Linn and Lloyd.
The Twins were about four years old when Winsor decided to get a larger
farm, he had been living on and working a fifty acre farm, which he sold and
bought a seventy five acre farm. He lived there for about two years, the times
were not very good for anyone raising a family and trying to pay for a farm,
especially one which was as poor as the farm he were on. Shortly after we lost
the farm and moved on it was turned into a dump. Winsor decided he must not be
cut-out to be a farmer, as he had never been able to make a go of it, no matter
how hard nor how long he worked. He had again worked at an apple packing
factory, this one was was in Burgessville, Ont. about six miles from the farm,
which he had hoped would allow him to save the farm, but it didn't work out.
The second world war had started about two years before this and Winsor
obtained a job in Ingersoll at the Morrow Screw and Nut Co. He rented a house
on a farm near Salford, Ont. which was about four miles from Ingersoll, where he
lived for the better part of a year. as the job seemed to be going alright he
decided to move to Ingersoll. He moved to an apartment in a large house on Mill
st. This wasn't very satisfactory as he had a family of five children to supply
a place to live for, and the apartment was very crowded and unhandy so Winsor
bought a house on Ann, St. about 1945 Winsor had to give up his job at the
Morrow Co. due to ill health, He had had to have an operation and was off of
work for some time, in those times your job was not protected and the company
wouldn't hold a place for you if you got sick. When Winsor recovered enough to
be able to work again, he obtained a job with the Board of Education as a
Janitorial helper at the Victory Memorial Public School. This was not a very
good paying job so he went to work in construction, this being just after the
war, there was a demand for carpenters and Winsor was able to do that kind of
work well enough to get by until he could learn the trade. When his son Roy who
had taken a course in Cabinet Making with the D.V.A. and went to work as a
carpenter because the job of cabinet maker was a very poor paying job decided
he would like to start a Building Co. Winsor and Bernices brother Fred went
into Partnership with him and they began their own Construction Co. After
several years Fred decided he would like to go West to B.C. as his brother Jim
still lived out there, Fred and Jim had moved to B.C., in the thirty's when
things were so bad on the prairies. The Company had to be broken up to pay Fred
his share of the assets of the Co. At the brake up of the Co. Winsor sold the
place on Ann, St. and bought a house on Victoria, St. This was a very old
solid brick house and he remodeled the inside so it was much more
comfortable to live in, this place had about one eighth of an acre and Winsor
grew a very large garden. About this time Winsor went to work for the Ontario
Government Dept. of Public Works, first remodeling Government building to fire
proof them. When that job was completed in the London District, Winsor was made
a foreman and built the Comfort Equipment at Rondeou Park. which consisted of
septic systems and toilet and shower buildings for the camp grounds. when that
job was complete he was sent to Woodstock Ont. Where they were building a new
Ontario hospital Building, this was across the highway from the existing
hospital buildings and the steam pipes for the heating system had to be run
under ground from the Power Plant, under the road to the new hospital. Shortly
before this Job was finished, Winsor suffered a heart attack which made it
impossible for him to return to work. The Doctor in Ingersoll sent him to
London to Westminster Hospital, which was at that time a Department of Veterans
Affairs Hospital. His Doctor in Westminster refused to allow him to try to
work, because he couldn't work any more and he was only fifty nine years
old,the Doctor and Legion representative worked for and got the burnt out
pension for him. Winsor lived on at the place on Victoria St. Growing and
selling flowers and Raspberries and other things which he could manage until,
this got to be much more than he could handle. He sold the house on Victoria
St. and bought a small cottage on Charles St. which had a very small lot. There
he and Bernice lived very comfortably until the ninth of March ninteen
seventy. Winsor had a Doctors appointment on King street in Ingersoll and was
on his way back home, about four o'clock in the afternoon and as he was
crossing Oxford St. a truck driver who was blinded by the late afternoon sun
turned the corner off of King St. hitting Winsor, and he died of injuries from
the accident a few hours later. Winsor is buried in Harris street Cemetery just
south of Ingersoll on ninteen highway, where we also buried the one Lady he
always loved and cherished his dear wife Bernice. He was buried on a hill away
from the noise of traffic where he could see the sun come up, that was the
wish he had years before he died.
Bernice was born in Bruce County Ontario in the year 1903, March 17. Bernice
was one of seven children born to Jacob Waugh and Myrtle Orton. Jacob and Mary
were ist cousins,because of this and since the family were very religiously
brought up, in the Methodist faith, this marriage was not very happily accepted
by the family. Bernice my Mother always said that her Grandmother never liked
the children and didn't hesitate to show it. Jacob's older brother William had
moved to Saskatchewan and Jacob and family followed him Homesteading in the
area of Filmore. We do not Know exactly the time the family moved out West, but
we have been told that Bernice was about three years of age. It would seem
about right as her younger brother Kenneth, was born in Saskatchewan at
Glenavon in 1905 May 22.
Bernices mother died the 2nd of September 1915 in child birth. It seems the
Baby must have died also, as there is no record of any more children, after
William James who was born, the 9th of July 1911/12. With the help of the
oldest Daughter Edna, Grandfather raised the family, Jacob never remarried and
the Remainder of his life was spent looking after, Edna and Kenneth who were
crippled, we now believe they had Multiple Sclerosis, in the days when their
problems began it was known as creeping paralysis.
Bernices oldest Brother Ralph was killed, when a rifle he had
been hunting rodents with discharged, He was riding on a grain wagon when a
bump must have jarred the firing mechanism and the rifle went off, Ralph was
shot up from his chin into his brain.
Bernice and all her brothers and sister, attended a one room country
school, which in Saskatchewan went to grade nine, she then was sent to
Regina, to attend Business college while there, she had an attack of
Appendicitis and had to have them removed. The Hospital and Doctor bills
cost enough, that the family couldn't afford to carry on with her education.
Bernice went home and helped with the chores around the farm and worked for
the neighbours where and when they needed a hired girl. It was at just such
a time as that, when she met Winsor, He was working for the same farmer in
the Harvest, They married and for ten years they stuggled to make a go of
farming on their own, and also raising a family. This was very a very difficult
time all over the country, as it was in the middle of the great depression.
Times were even worse in Saskatchewan if that was possible, as they were having
terrible dust storms as well. They stuck it out for about eight years, but gave
up when the crops in 1931 were blown away in dust storms for the third time.
Winsors father who had been sending food to help out, such as potatoes and
apples and other things which would keep for a period of time, persuaded them
to come to Ontario to live. With all hope of surviving out west gone, they
packed up what few belongings they could bring in a trunk and left that country
for good.
When Winsor and Bernice arrived in Ontario,they came home to Winsor's
father,and lived there in Vittoria, until they could gather up some furniture
and clothing for the family,and get a home for the family to live in. Bernice
and Winsor stuck together, through all the hardships of farming during those
difficult years, of raising a family of six, and trying to buy a farm and
stock it. Winsor who it seems was not cut out to be a farmer, finaly gave up
and moved off the farm. Bernice died 22 May 1985 at Woodstock General
Hospital after suffering a massive stoke, which had she lived would have made
her a vegetable. She had lived a full life the last few years of it living
with her daughter Lila near Norwich, Ont. Bernice had lost most of her will to
go on anyway, all her brothers and sister and cousins who were any where near
her age had passed on. She was ready and willing to go to be with her beloved
Winsor, her sister, and brothers and above all her Lord.
Ralph was a still born baby.