Incidents of Early Settlement - The Vision of Joe Heron
Among the redoubtable characters who figured among the early pioneers of this section, the Hon. Joseph Heron occupied a conspicuous position. He was distinguished for his remarkable storage capacity, being a kind of portable whiskey warehouse. During the summer avocations when the sparkling fluid was supplied unstinted to the hard-working hay-makers and harvesters, as well as log-rollers, Joe got himself up to a high color, being about the same hue as a boiled blood beet. Two quarts a day was the lowest limit of his indulgence, and on special occasions the consumption ran up to three per diem. With him the supply might be said never exceed the demand, or that the market always ruled high.
A stolid ignorance of the laws of nature and physiology clouded the minds of the early settlers, who thought that even with the sun pouring down a temperature of eighty degrees of Fahrenheit, no hard work could be done without rum or whiskey. Moreover, it was a convenient doctrine and suited to their views and longings, that to fire their blood and brains with liquor was conducive to physical development.
On one occasion a citizen, not particularly noted for literacy or scientific attainments, known by the sobriquet of old Jimmy, had paid his dollar for a quart of rum, and having pocketed his bottled treasure was proceeding homeward through the forest aisles, astride his nag, his thoughts concentrated upon his bottle, and desiring to indulge his longing he pulled it out, when, lo! It slipped his grasp and falling, struck a pebble and the sparkling fluid mingled with the sands. Quick as thought he prostrated himself on terra-firma and sucked the treasured moisture from the earth. But his enjoyment in that equivocal position vanished with the fond dream he was indulging, and he went on his way pondering the evanescent joys and hopes of life.
After sojourning a period among the people on the front, our friend Joe went over to Rice Lake and engaged in the employ of Mr Anderson, who having occasion to despatch an agent to Fenelon Falls on business in connection with the fur trade, commissioned Mr Heron to that undertaking. He had succeeded in polling up the river and pegging across the portage to Mud Lake when an event happened that suspended his journey northward, for instead of Fenelon he paid a visit to the infernal regions. It appears that Joe had succeeded on his arrival at the lake in fixing a domicile for the night, with a good supply of old Bourbon under his vest, had lain down to sleep, when a visitation came upon him, the most awful to contemplate and perfectly appalling to encounter; how long it lasted no one ever knew; nor did Joe himself; not a good constitution carried him through it. As soon as his exhausted condition would permit he took his back track and by easy stages voyaged out to the front. He then told what he had seen; that the place was haunted; spooks, ghosts, hob-goblins and devils filled earth and air. The latter were represented in every variety, in the matter of claws and horns, with eyes of fire and manes of flame, and the colors of the rainbow, that figurative type of a peaceful firmament, failed to portray the tints that flashed in the awful drama. They were in force in red flanked with green and white, yellow and black, an a vast preponderance in blue. Besides, it was fearful to note the numberless pronged horns, the blood-shot eyes, the dreadful talons with which like vultures they swooped down upon him. Poor Joe, his eyes were glazed and his face contorted with the recital. He verily believed it a tangible reality, and the best of the joke was, he induced others to believe it too. They were sure that on the banks of that inky lake a fearful genii were located; that the dark waters were their abiding place; that the air, the marsh, the forest, was the arena of their fearful orgies. That poor Joe had been the first to make the dreadful discovery; had been the first to inhale the sulphurous exhalations from their dire presence. Mr Heron would not lie about it.
But there were others that had heard of that last melancholy act in the drama of drunkenness; had heard that delirium tremens was one of the inflictions that nature provided against the degrading abuse of her prerogatives. They felt satisfied that Heron had suffered an attack; under circumstances the most agonizing. No friend, no shelter, no remedy but exhausted nature. That he had lived through it was a wonder; but still he had lived through it and was there, although only the shadow of his former vermillion self, to tell of the theatrical drama he had witnessed on the banks of Black Water.
Antiquary
Search the Ontario Genealogy Website
Historical Visits to Ontario Villages and Towns Take a trip back in time to the late 19th century and explore the towns and villages where your ancestors lived, loved, laboured, laughed and played.
Ontario Images of the Past Thousands of Images of City, Town, Village and Country Life
Ontario Land Registry Records Research 
Thousands of your ancestors and where they lived in Ontario
Upper Canada (Ontario) Newspaper Notices Database
Ontario (Upper Canada) History and Pioneer Family Research
Queen's Own Rifles - Old Photos of Members
Upper Canada District Maps (Circa 1800)
Upper Canada (Ontario) History Books On-Line Index
Ontario County Directories Victoria, Haliburton, Hastings, Peterborough, Durham, Northumberland, Muskoka, and Old Ontario County
Central Upper Canada (Ontario) Marriage Database 22650 Marriage Records Indexed
Central Upper Canada Baptism Database 25000 Anglican, Methodist, Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland Marriages indexed
Upper Canada (Central Ontario) Burial Database 4500 Anglican, Roman Catholic, Methodist and Church of Scotland Burials indexed
Eastern Upper Canada Marriage Database 1200 Anglican, Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland Marriages indexed
Eastern Upper Canada Baptism Database 3000 Anglican, Roman Catholic and Church of Scotland Baptisms indexed
Eastern Upper Canada Burial Database
Upper Canada Land Petitions 51000 Records Indexed
Upper Canada Land Leases and Miscellaneous Petitions 10000 Records Indexed
Upper Canada (Ontario) Sundries Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Toronto Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Kingston Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) London Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Malden Insane Asylum Database
Upper Canada (Ontario) Hamilton Insane Asylum Database
Ontario Genealogy Historical Newspaper Collection Historical Newspaper Files from various regions of Ontario
NEWSPAPER Genealogical and Historical Records - Thousands of entries
Ontario (Upper Canada) Map Collection Great site for locating your ancestors in Ontario
Ontario Genealogy Postcard Site - Great old-time landscape views
Upper Canada and Ontario CRIMINAL Database
Ontario Genealogy Database Index Site 400 000 Genealogy Records Indexed
Join the Ontario Genealogy mail list now. Discussion group for genealogy and history of the Province of Ontario post 1867, or join the Upper Canada (Ontario) mail list now, discussion group for genealogy and history of Upper Canada prior to 1867.
Subscribe: Type subscribe in message subject and body.
Ontario Genealogy Mail List
Upper Canada Genealogy Mail List
Need HELP With Your Family Research?...
Northumberland County Genealogy and History
Victoria County Genealogy and History
Durham County Genealogy and History
Haliburton County Genealogy and History
Peterborough County History and Genealogy
Newcastle District (Upper Canada) History and Genealogy
Ontario County History and Genealogy
Upper Canada History and Genealogy
Echoes of the Past - Ontario Genealogy Home
Search the Ontario Genealogy Website
Email:
