New Liskeard, The Pioneer Years

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.

Bruce Taylor

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.

Go Here for Table of Contents ||| Go Here for preview of the extensive Index.

ISBN: 0-88954-430-1 | WMPub#1173 | 8½" x 11;" approximately
240 pages; xx pictures, hard cover | $44.95


Table of Contents

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