Longwoods

Spools -  were used for spinning, weaving, sewing, and needlework. The spinning wheel never stopped. Everyone in the household learned to spin, but the unmarried women, called ‘spinsters’, spent their entire days spinning.  A good spinner easily walked the equivalent...

Fire and Smoke - Andrew Westbrook was a muscular red-haired Delaware settler – a “giant of a man.” An American sympathizer, his capture by General Brock at Detroit in 1812 intensified his actions as a traitor and spy. On January...

Dogwood - The Dogwood tree signifies the dense deciduous forest which greeted the settlers in the late 1700s. The woods were a blessing and a curse. The Longwoods forest made travel extremely difficult and the huge trees were a challenge...

RETIRED Mill Wheel - The water-driven wheel powered the mill.  Grain became flour. Forests became lumber. The mill wheel was the economic driver of new communities and the new nation (already called Canada).  Ghosts of the Delaware mill are still here...

Next Door Neighbour - The sparsely settled Thames River valley had few roads, villages or towns. Many women were isolated and lonely. Visiting one's neighbour was a rare treat, given the difficulty of travelling through the forest, the distance between...

Tall Pine Tree - Magnificent stands of Eastern White Pine gave the area around Delaware its early name, The Pinery.  This tall conifer yielded soft pale wood of great value to the local economy, the developing United States, and the...

Drunkard's Path - June 4, King George III’s birthday: the local militia mustered and drilled with their pitchforks and assorted weaponry in the King’s honour. They gathered on the river flats and the women braced for the inevitable ribald behavior...

  Broken Heart - The state of heartbreak was constant. With their husbands gone with the militia, those left behind lived in constant fear and worry. Women accompanying their husbands to war endured backbreaking labour and social isolation. The new widow...

If not for the kindness of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, I know not what would become of me or my poor twin infants. Instead, we have been given money and a wagon to take us home to our family in...

  Oil - The Fairfield Moravian diary first notes the presence of an oil spring on a steep river bank in April 29, 1792. The First Nations people used it as medicine for rheumatism, toothaches, headaches and burns. August 23,...

Old Rail Fence - Building a split rail fence was an incredible amount of work. One mile of fence required 8,000 rails. Cold soldiers burned them to keep warm as they advanced and retreated along the Longwoods. Imagine looking out...

  Old Indian Trail - Present day Longwoods Road bears no similarity to the wilderness it was 200 years earlier. Thick growth did not allow sun to penetrate. Travelers frequently lost their way or encountered animals, soldiers or warriors. Swamp, snow,...

Peace and Plenty - The Loyalists were a combination of British and European immigrants and American-born citizens who settled in theThirteen Colonies. Loyalty to Britain forced them to leave property and possessions and move to the wilderness of Upper Canada...

Baby Blocks -   The large brick house on the south side owned by Jack and Adeline Quarrier RN  at 7221 Longwoods Road Melbourne  was the Lucky Lodge Maternity Hospital from 1948 to 1957. During the summer Mrs. Quarrier operated tourist cabins....

Farmer's Breeches -  are those of Alletta Rapelje's brother. In September, 1814, American soldiers with traitor, Andrew Westbrook, raided her family’s farm, burning and stealing what they could. One soldier confiscated her brother's best trousers and asked how they looked....

Rosebud - It has been said that the women of early settlements treated their sick with “home remedies and prayer.” In times of famine, the First Nations women strung dried rose hips into necklaces. The leaves and petals of the...

Delaware - Location.  Location.  Location. Delaware was The Pinery in 1812.  It was strategically located where the Longwoods Road (also called the Detroit Road), the Commissioners Road, and the Thames River joined.  There was a village of settlers, sawyers, and...

Butterfly - Sensing the warmth of spring, sometimes a butterfly emerged during the dead of winter from a pupa brought in unknowingly with the firewood. The First Nations believed it was a sign of the souls of relatives returning from...

Basket Weave  - Before there were big box stores, pharmacies and druggists, there was an incredible variety of local plants and trees. The First Nations used the surrounding forest and tall grass prairies for enrichment and even survival. The black...

Memory -  Word has reached our farm that the Americans are coming this way. I hide in a thicket a distance from the house in hopes that I am invisible to their keen, hungry eyes. It gives me time to...

  Broken Dishes - Written by Frances Kilbourne In the summer of 1812 my husband Timothy and his brother Aaron were in the militia serving under Captain Daniel Springer near Detroit. My sister Hannah and I were alone with our...

Coffin Star - After a long 1 ½ hour skimish, the British came out the losers and the Americans wasted no time returning to Detroit, cold and tired. The bodies were gathered up in the spring and burned.   Farmer's...

Fireside Visitor -  conjures images of warmth and friendship but fire was used as a weapon against the defenceless settlers after the Battle of the Thames.  The British retreated and the Americans burned mills and fields so there would be...

Moravian Star - Long used as a Christmas decoration by the Moravian Church, the Star of Bethlehem is a reminder of God's promise to bring light to a dark world. For over two centuries Moravian missionaries have served the daily and...

Grandmother's Flower Garden - The hexagon is one of our best-loved and well-known quilt patterns. Brought here by early settlers, Grandmother’s Flower Garden reminded them of the beauty of their homeland and the gardens they left behind. The honeycomb mosaic,...

  Geese In Flight - The autumn arrival of southbound geese has long been a harbinger of winter. October 1813 brought the Battle of the Thames and with it thousands of hungry British and American soldiers, First Nations warriors and their families...

Maple Leaf  - is universally recognized as the symbol of Canada. Wherever our Canadian flag flies, there is our maple leaf. The maple leaf is a fitting symbol of our country. Its roots, like those of our people, go deep into...

  Thames River - Glaciers. Glacial lakes. Giant whales. Musk ox. Caribou herds. Mammoths. Mastodons. Paleo Indians, 11,000 BCE. From these beginnings came Askunesippi, Antler River, La Tranche, and finally the Thames, designated August 14, 2000 as a Canadian Heritage...

Long Cabin -  is a  familiar quilt block pattern that represents the home of the early settlers. Notice the welcoming yellow light shining from the window. The dense Long Woods allowed for the construction of solid shelters. Ends were notched...

Elm's Strength - The Traitor Tree and the Crooked Elm: could the tree used for torture in 1814 be the same tree that died of old age in the 1940s? Many tales abound about the Crooked Elm, a Longwoods Road...