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Archive Record
Metadata
Item ID# |
A2004.032.007 |
Title |
Saugeen History Hunters : interview with Charles Kelly and Isobel Bell |
Object Name |
Recording, Video |
Dates of Creation |
1998 |
Creator |
Saugeen History Hunters |
Description |
Video recording documenting an interview with Charles Kelly and Isobel Bell. 01:03- Kelly family came to Canada from Tyrone County Ireland in 1847 and settled near Cookstown. 01:25- William and Martha Kelly are buried in Cookstown and their six children moved to Saugeen Township and settled on Lot 30 Concession 3 in 1868. Bought property from $180 in gold coin. 02:20- Eliza Kelly, daughter of William and Martha Kelly lived 1837-1916 and she was a fabric weaver. Next daughter was Muriah Kelly who was a lady's maid on a ship, there was Margaret, Jane, Theopilas- Charles Kelly's grandfather, and Charles Kelly. 03:43- The six siblings built three houses on the 100 acres of Lot 30. Theopilas bought Lot 23 to raise sheep and use the wood. 08:29- Mary McPhee married Theopalis Kelly. She travelled to Bruce County from Mount Forest via an oxen and came down the river on rafts with her parents in 1858. 10:40- Early settlers to Bruce County would cut down ten to fifteen acres of trees. They would burn the brush and make timber logs of about ten feet in length. They would make fence rails from elm and basswood and would burn the maple. 11:48- Mary McPhee's mother would walk her butter to Port Elgin, which was eight miles away. They were taught how to make maple syrup by Pennsylvanian Dutch Immigrant. 13:15- No electricity so candles were made by hand, they were made from beef tallow. 13:52- Mary McPhee's father built the first butter churn in the area. It was made from white pine. 15:12- Mary aided with farm work and would rake, cradle, and bind the crops, as well as feed calves and help with milking. When Mary and Theopalis married, she would still help on farm and prepare meals. They raised lambs and cattle. 17:25- Charles and Isobel are listing the names, birth year, marriages, and occupations of the children of Theopalis and Mary. Some of the children move westward to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Occupations of the children included teaching, farming, dressmaking, carpentry, milliner, and bookkeeping. 24:07- Theopalis Kelly died in 1906 when youngest child was only nine. Because he did not have a will, the Estate could not be settled until the kids were all of age twenty-one. Charles and Isobel Kelly's father took possession of the farm in 1918. 25:02- Jewel Wright, a local framer, helped reconstruct and expand barn that was on property. 26:59- Charles discusses the price of reconstructing the house on the Kelly homestead in 1916. The total cost was $1700. Fifteen thousand bricks cost $220, most woodwork except trim was from the farm. The wood was sawn, tongue and grooved for the floor, and kiln dried. 31:26- Charles Kelly married Annie Kairns in 1919. They had two children, Isobel Kelly born in 1920 and Charles Kelly born in 1924. Annie Kelly (Kairns) was a teacher in Bruce County. 34:20- After Charles and Annie were married, Charles had to supply his mother-in-law with a home to live in. The house where they resided had running water supplied from a windmill, a bathroom, a water tank upstairs, and all water pumped through the tank and then removed down to the barn. There was a soft/rainwater system that had a pump and pressure system that would be pumped each day. 35:00- The farm had livestock-based economy- everything raised went into feeding of livestock but there were limited cash crops. Only had wheat or sometimes grass seed. 36:25- Annie homeschooled Isobel until Charles was old enough for them both to attend public school. She had permission from education inspector. There were four children in Isobel's grade and six children in Charles' class. 38:10- Charles took lessons in violin in school. During school days, the kids would play ball, fox and the goose, snowball fights, they would go skating. There was a stream behind school and bigger kids would skate down stream and into the forest. 40:32- Charles would trap groundhogs with a homemade trap. One time he trapped a skunk and got sprayed. He was sent home from school. 41:05- In the days of the 'party line' phone system, Charles' mother realized that Charles left his lunch on table when he left for school so she called ahead a number of houses and asked them to stop Charles and send him back home to get his lunch. 41:38- Charles Kelly Sr. broke his hip because he got knocked over by a cow in the stable. He hit the cement gutter. He was sent to Owen Sound Hospital, and they put him into a body cast in 1940. He remained in body cast for six months. He paid $4.00 per day to be in the hospital. Later in life, he fell off a load of hay and broke other hips. He had an incision and pin placed. He was healed within two weeks. 44:19- In winter of 1947 the highway into Port Elgin was open for 13 days of the month and the train track was open for 15 days. They had to bring a snow removal unit from Montreal. 45:06- The Kelly family attended St. Andrew's Church in Saugeen Township. 48:18- Charles was a Junior Farmer and started in program around 1944. He eventually became a judge and president of the program. 49:40- Charles attended short courses at the OAC. 50:03- Isobel was an active member of the Women's Institute. 51:12- Isobel discusses her wedding and marriage to James (Jim) Bell. They lived on Lot 28, Concession 2 Saugeen. This farm was previously owned by Isobel's Great Grandfather and then eventually sold to her father-in-law. 53:18- Their first son Murray lived 1942-1944. David Bell was born in 1945. Their daughter Sharon Bell was born in 1956. 55:27- Isobel enjoyed making maple syrup on their farm and various other farm activities. 56:07- In 1947, Charles married Florence. Florence was raised on Lot 8 Concession 3. Florence helped with the milk separator and milking and drove the tractor. She worked at IGA. 1:01:57- A silo was added to the barn on the homestead in the 1970s. 1:03:13- Before Ontario Hydro, the Saugeen area was serviced by a hydro company from the USA. They operated land at Sauble Beach, Southampton, and Walkerton and they connected the 3 services via line in 1929 and the Kelly farm was on the path that they ran the lines to so they had hydro on property by 1929. The barn was wired at that time too. They purchased an electric grain grinder, milking machine, and water pumping for the barn. An electric washing machine was purchased for the house. An electric radio was also acquired at that time. 1:06:04- In the mid-1950s Charles became owner of the Kelly homestead. In the mid-1940s Charles purchased a tractor and thrashing machine, and a few years later they purchased a combine. This freed up land for other ventures aside from horses. 1:08:13- They had mixed operation of livestock. They had hens, milked cattle- they would separate milk and sell cream, they then sold whole milk but as regulations got stricter on milk production, they switched to cow-calf farming and abandoned dairy farming. They grew corn and had a pit silo. 1:09:33- Charles worked for twenty-four years at the pasture crop improvement association. He was also on Saugeen area school board. 1:11:50- Saugeen and Port Elgin school area boards came together in 1965 and decided to build a new school because the Department of Education made a dictum stating that no money would be put forth for capital improvements to schools that were older than fifty years old. 1:13:35- In 1967 construction began on the new school and the opening was November 1968. Charles Kelly was Chairman of Board during this period. 1:14:03- Charles was director of Formosa Mutual Insurance Company for twenty-five years. 1964-1989. He was certified in adjustments for property losses. 1:16:05- Charles discusses the Fall Fair Board and his tenure as a bus driver. He would drive children from Bruce County to boarder school for the deaf in London and other charters. 1:18:46- Isobel discusses keepsakes from her grandparents. |
Level of Description |
Item |
Physical Description |
1 videocassette (1 hr., 19 min., 31 sec.) : colour, sound ; 12mm (VHS) |
Restrictions on Use |
Copyright is held by the Saugeen History Hunters. |
Places |
Bruce County Ireland Port Elgin Saugeen Township |
People |
Bell, David Bell, Isobel Bell, James Bell, Murray Bell, Sharon Kelly, Annie Kelly, Charles Kelly, Eliza Kelly, Florence Kelly, Jane Kelly, Margaret Kelly, Martha Anne Kelly, Muriah Kelly, Theophilus Kelly, William McPhee, Mary Wright, Jewel |
Search Terms & Subjects |
Dairy industry Education Farm life Farmers Farming Genealogy Teachers Textile industry Weather |