New Liskeard ~The Pioneer Years
by Bruce W. Taylor
There were no major historical events that shaped the early history of the town of New Liskeard. No battles were fought at, or near, the town. No prime ministers or other national or international celebrities have called the town home. No natural disasters occurred in the 112-year history of the town; the closest exception is the Great Fire of 1922, which affected only the periphery of the town, but devastated the rest of the district.
What makes the history interesting are the men and women who were attracted to the Lake Temiskaming area in the last decade of the 1800s and the first few years of the 1900s. Ordinary people for the most part, but people with the strength of character, determination, and reseverance to carve out a new home for themselves in the wilderness of Northern Ontario. There were some colourful and interesting characters who made their homes in the north.
It was definitely not easy homesteading in Temiskaming before the turn of the century, and the pioneers had to be strong-willed, stubborn, resourceful people to make a go of it. Some, faced with the back-breaking work, the numbing cold of winter, the encroaching wilderness and the relentless black flies and mosquitoes, gave up. Many others stuck with it, and made lives for themselves and their families here in what locals like to call "God's Country". This history is as much about these pioneers and builders as it is about the land itself and the events that shaped the history of Temiskaming.
In-depth research from as many original sources as possible has made this volume an important, as well as imminently readable, addition to the history of the area.
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ISBN: 0-88954-430-1 | WMPub#1173 | 8½" x 11;" approximately
240 pages; xx pictures, hard cover | $44.95
Table of Contents
240 pages; xx pictures, hard cover | $44.95
Preface vii
Acknowledgements ix
Chapter One
Setting The Scene
Chapter Two
The Wabie Family At New Liskeard
Chapter Three
The Pioneers, 1891-1892
Chapter Four
The Beginning Of Settlement, 1893-1894
Chapter Five
The Beginnings Of A Village, 1895-1896
Chapter Six
"Hard Work Plenty - And Few Luxuries
Chapter Seven
At The Turn Of The Century, 1898-1900
Chapter Eight
"A Tarpaper Town With A Tin Hotel", 1900-1903
Chapter Nine
Counting Noses, The Census Of 1901
Chapter Ten
Answered Prayers, 1902-1903
Bibliography
Appendix 1: List of Known Members of the Markham Excursion of 1897
Appendix 11: 1901 Census - District of Nipissing, New Liskeard Village