Pierpoint
Dear Editor:
I would very much like to correct some misinformation which is circulating about the founding of Fergus.
Ex-slave Captain Richard Pierpoint did not found Fergus. After unsuccessfully trying to get monies from the British government representative in Upper Canada, which would enable him to return to Africa to die, he and four ex-slaves who fought during the war of 1812 to 1814 were given land in what is today West Garafraxa. Their lands were just to the east of present day Gartshore Street.
Pierpoint and a young man by the name of “Deaf Moses” arrived on their land in the autumn of 1824 and over the next two years managed to clear the required five acres, build the required cabin and cleared the required road allowance. He and “Deaf Moses” then spent their time travelling to the Flesherton and Queens Bush areas of Upper Canada – and back to Niagara. Pierpoint was the Griot – the verbal history keeper for his people – so he had to travel to chat with a large number of ex-slaves who were “spread” throughout the area mentioned above.
When Adam Fergusson and James Webster arrived in October of 1833 they bought 7,400 acres of land from Robert Nichol, who was not an ex-slave! This land was just south – downriver from Pierpoint’s homestead, which by the way was called “High Falls”.
This 7,400 acres at no time was owned by Pierpoint or any ex slaves. This 7,400 acres was never called “High Falls”. James Webster and the other Scottish settlers had a good relationship with Pierpoint and “Deaf Moses”, to the point where after Richard Pierpoint died in 1838, “Deaf Moses” became a member of the Webster household, not as a servant but as a friend who needed a place to live. Webster’s children adored “Deaf Moses”.
It has been written that Richard Pierpoint was buried under a large elm or oak tree on his property in West Garafraxa. But, there is also information on file that he was in Niagara when he died and is buried in a cemetery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.
So to be absolutely on point and clear, regardless of what one might read and hear, Pierpoint never owned land and certainly did not own a log cabin in the new settlement of Fergus. The above information is backed up by documents and writings that date back to 1790 to 1840.
Pat Mattaini Mestern,
Fergus
Shining a light
Dear Editor:
I’d like to thank Kyra Nankivell for her piece Being black in Wellington means regularly confronting racism (June 11).
It’s tempting to dismiss racism as a big city problem. It’s not.
I commend Kyra for shining a light in our own backyard.
Deb Stark,
Ariss
Change can happen
Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to Kyra’s article in last week’s Wellington Advertiser about racism in our community (Being black in Wellington means regularly confronting racism, June 11).
First, I would like to thank her for sharing her thoughts to us to help us as a society begin to see, if some of us were unaware or choose not to be aware of racism in our society. Without her reaching out, I wouldn’t have been moved to respond.
I will admit that racism can be hard to see in a society that has been perhaps unaware of a problem until it has been brought to our attention through the Black Lives Matter movement.
Change can and has happened in our community. Those of us, who have been in our community for a very long time, may remember a time when religion of different churches never interacted with one another. Even during weekdays, children of various religions were told not to interact with one another. I view this as racism within our community that excluded any other race but white folks.
I can’t honestly say when it happened, but today our various religious groups have been able to come together in times of need. In my opinion, if religious groups have been able to come together, while respecting each other’s religious beliefs, I can’t see a reason why people of various colours and race can’t speak up to help us understand your concerns and express your experiences with us to help us as a community to be more inclusive to other races in order for you to become more actively engaged in our community in multiple ways and to help you feel more included in our community.
Please note, I feel racism is in all races and it may take more than the Black Lives Matter movement to eradicate racism from around the world.
However, making a change to start eradicating racism, I feel starts with the Black Lives Matter movement that has spread across various countries around the world.
I also feel bullying and racism are interconnected, even though they are two different things entirely. For this reason, eradicating racism may take several years or maybe never if there are people who are unwilling to change their views of another race(s).
Susan Longe,
Fergus
Effluent will kill fish
Dear Editor:
Building a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) for the town of Erin is not something I’m against. What I am against is dumping effluent from the WWTP into the pristine, cold spring fed waters of the West Credit River that runs from Erin to Belfountain, Caledon.
Despite what has been said by the mayor of Erin and MPP Sylvia Jones and others, the effluent will definitely kill the natural brook trout that live in that section of the river.
No one said that the effluent will contain poop (although I wouldn’t bet against it) but the many other contaminants that it will contain, will certainly kill the fish and other wild life in and near the river.
Not to mention the temperature of the water will rise due to the WWTP, which is also a killer of brook trout who demand cold, clean water and are very susceptible to the slightest changes in their environment.
There is a petition about this at https://www.change.org/p/sylvia-jones-mpp-stop-dumping-waste-into-the-credit-river.
Leon Kushner,
Toronto
Jacket found
Dear Editor:
If you were cycling along Garafraxa Street East in Fergus the week of May 25 and lost a blue denim jacket with a leather collar, please call 519-843-6624.
Iain Whyte,
Fergus
We need the water
Dear Editor:
Like Amazon, Nestlé Waters is increasing sales during the pandemic. This accumulation of money is being centralized in large corporation coffers while small local companies struggle.
Nestlé Waters is still asking for permission to extract 1.6 million litres of water per day from the Middlebrook well.
They really do not need Wellington County water to stay viable. This water should be stewarded for local needs. Access to aquifer water for local needs will underwrite resilience as weather patterns shift and as more people move to this region.
Given that the provincial moratorium on new water permits for bottlers will only last until Oct. 1, it is important for our provincial government to step up and make this a permanent moratorium.
Nestlé Waters will take as much money and power from Wellington County as we allow. They don’t need our water. We do. Let’s not allow it.
Ralph Martin,
Guelph
Looking for relatives
Dear Editor:
In 1835 Alexander Dingwall-Fordyce emigrated from Aberdeenshire in Scotland to Nichol near Fergus and in 1856 became the local superintendent of Common schools for the Northern Division of the County of Wellington.
I am interested to know more about his descendants and whether they are still based in the Fergus area. His father – also Alexander – had joined him in Nichol and lived at a farm he called Lescraigie. He became a magistrate, and was the first warden of the County of Wellington, dying in 1852 at his property of Belsyde near Fergus.
I am interested to know if there are any living descendants of either of these gentlemen as I would be keen to get in touch.
I live in Aberdeenshire in the north of Scotland where the Dingwall–Fordyce family originate from. During our lockdown in the UK I have been doing some research into my family and it would be fascinating to learn about those who moved to Canada in the 19th century.
Andrew Dingwall-Fordyce,
Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Gun ban doubts
Dear Editor:
It is very strange to me where (or who) came up with the number of 1,500. The term “dangerous” is not defined to any great degree as well.
All guns are dangerous in the hands of people who use them for illegal purposes. The way the ban was implemented also should be cause for concern. No debate or vote.
Sure, it is a difficult time to gather, but excluding other political parties and their input was a bad move. Ironically, these banned 1,500 types of guns will remain with owners for two years at which time a buy back program is planned. The buy back cost is estimated at $200-250 million. Is the root problem guns or people? It appears to be guns.
The long gun registry of 1995 was implemented to reduce firearm related deaths and assist police in combating these crimes. The estimated cost was $2 million. By 2012 the cost of the registry was over a billion dollars and the registry was scrapped. Seventeen years should be long enough to see if a program will work. Apparently it did not.
So now we are going to buy back guns from legal gun owners who have committed no crimes, similar to having legal gun owners register long guns even though they had not committed any crimes.
In 2018 the Liberal government committed $83 million over a five-year period to stop illegal guns coming in from the U.S. Why not take the $200 million plus the $83 million plus the billion spent on the previous gun registry and use that total towards border security and increased RCMP officers?
If Trudeau could explain how you stop a person with no moral value for human life and who will do all things illegal to accomplish their plan to murder one or more people, then I might support his plan – that is if his plan wasn’t so similar to one that already failed.
I have my doubts about the effectiveness of this gun ban.
Michael Thorp,
Mount Forest