Rev

Rev. William Bell Diaries

Perth , Ontario

Located in Queens Archive, Kingston Library Kingston , Ontario

Collected by: Glenn King , ON K7M 6A4 Canada

Transcribed by Laurie Curtis, Middlesex , VT 05602 USA

July 1832    page 41

My park lot, of 25 acres, had been till now in my own hands, but finding that it perplexed me I resolved to lot it.  I would not keep it without employing a man and when did so, his wages cost me more than his labour was worth.  An excellent tenant I found in Mr. A(lexander). Cuthbertson, …?…., lately from Scotland . To him I let it for three years at the yearly rent of £12, on condition of his building a house for himself, for which I would pay him at the end of his lease.

July 1832    page 42

Being resolved to have the church painted and repaired this summer, I engaged Mr. Cuthbertson for the purposes and in the mean time went round with a subscription paper, to get money to defray the expense.  In a few weeks it was accomplished, and presented a greatly improved appearance.  One Sabbath, while the repairs were going on, I preached in the court house.  That day one of our elders, who is a well meaning, but ignorant man, gave us some trouble with one of his whims about the collection, which he thought it not right to make in the courthouse!  That evening we drank tea at Johns when he ad his first child baptized, William James.

May 1834    page 83

A. Cuthbertson had just finished painting the floor, and railing in front of the house, when about midday we observed a smoke rising at the end of of (sic) William’s bark stove, and sent over George to see what was the matter.  He found the straw on the dung hill, and the boards of the building at the place on fire.  With the assistance of Ebenezer, and water, he got it extinguished.  It appeared that the servant girl had brought out hot ashes from the stove, and thrown them on the straw or the dung hill.  The weather had been for some days very hot, so that both straw and boards were the driest state possible. As might be expected, they caught fire  instantly and if we had not observed it just in the nick of time, the building would have been in a blaze; and nothing then would have saved the ….?... stove!  What dangers people are exposed to by careless servants!

August, 1834    page 125

The improvement of the young has always been with me a favorite object, and through the attempts I have made have generally been attended  with all the success I could reasonably expect, yet in every case opposition has been raised, not by the enemies of religion, but by its professed friends.   The bible class had been of late very prosperous and well attended.  But one of our elders, W. Nirvi(?) who had been an Antiburgher in Scotland, took great offense at some of the tunes we sung; particularly at Dismission; and raised a great rumpus about it, saying we were introducing innovations into religion, and using vain repetitions(?).  He even implored (?) A. Cuthbertson to absent himself from the class.  I …?...   ….?.... to reason with them both, but nothing is so stupid and unreasonable as prejudice, and therefore reasoning was of no use.  He, however, persisted till our precantor(?) left us, and then, from mere pity, we betook ourselves to our old tunes.

Vol. 10    Feb., 1835    page 10

On the 5th, Mr. Cuthbertson, our tenant on the park lot, was to be married to a farmer’s daughter six miles from town.  At noon , eight sleighs were filled, started for the bride’s residence.  I married the young couple there, after which we sat down to an excellent dinner, but the house was very crowded, being too small for so large a company.  Wine was handed round, in great profusion, all the time we remained, to which some of the guests seemed to do ample justice.  …?.... I did not think the abundant display of ….?.... quite consistent with the known circumstances of our host.  He must have contracted a considerable debt.  In our return, we drove fast that we were only half an hour on the way.  The road was in excellent condition.  When we arrived at Sweetbank, the bride was conveyed into the house by the south door, in conformity to established rule among the country people in Scotland , and on passing the threshold, the ceremony of breaking the ralan(?) cake over her head was performed in good style by Wm. Weir, her brother-in-law.  At 6 we sat down to tea, or rather, supper as the table was covered with all kinds of provisions; but the house of our host, like that of his father-in-law was too small for the company, now increased to about forty, young and old.  It was, however well warmed; no trifling advantage on a Canadian winter’s evening.  Wine and cakes were occasionally handed round afterwards, and the company engaged in such conversation as they liked best.  By and by several songs were sung, and in the mean time the boys were amusing themselves in the kitchen with a …?...  About ten we returned home, a place affording a happiness which no other can supply.

Vol. 10    Feb, 1835    page 20

On going out to Sweetbank one day, I found that Mr. Cuthbertson, our tenant, had cut a number of timber on my land for which he had no authority, and especially a very large oak tree, 4 feet in diameter, which had reserved for a particular purpose.  On remonstrating him, he made quite fight of it and said he thought he had a right to cut as much as he pleased!  This man seems to have no sense of justice, and, regardless of a written agreement, he does just what suits him.

March, 1835    page 24

The 8th of March was our communion Sabbath. The day, being fine, we had a large congregation and about 120 communicants were present.  The services were pleasant and refreshing, although the fatigue of performing the whole was rather too much for me.  The prayer meeting, in the evening was numerously attended, and at this meeting George Cuthbertson was unanimously chosen elder, for the town part of the congregation.

Vol. 10    April, 1835    page 33

On the 19th, I ordained George Cuthbertson to the office of an Elder, for the town part of the congregation.  We had now seven elders  in the session, besides myself.

Vol. 11    Nov, 1836

During this fall, George and I were employed all the time we could spare, getting forward our new house.  He fixed the partitions, lathed them, and the ceilings, put up the stairs, etc.  Mr. Cuthbertson had previously put on the roof, fixed the gutters and cornice, put in the widows, and  …?... doors and laid the floors.

Vol.11    Jan 1837    page 50

I had, soon after this, no little trouble with Alexander Cuthbertson, a member of our church though no credit to it.  He had rented my land at Sweetbank for three years past.  He had built a small house and back premises,  without consulting me, and now expected I should pay him what he thought proper to charge.  I offered to pay him what the buildings were worth to me as this was all he had a right to expect.  To settle the matter, we appointed arbitrators, but they could not agree. So an umpire was chosen, but he said he was a familiar (?) and no judge of the value of the buildings, and would not even go to look at them, but took as his guide Cuthbertson’s bill, which was extravagant, beyond all reasonable bounds.  After some delay, the determined that I should pay to Cuthbertson £120.  Against this I protested, as the buildings were not worth to me over half that sum.  Besides, C. had not in a single instance fulfilled his part of the engagement, -- had not paid his rent, - let the premises go to ruin, - and cut down the best of my timber, not only without leave, but contrary to express and written prohibition.

Vol. 11    Feb. 1837    page 68

The 16th of February. Was the day appointed for the marriage of Mr. Cuthbertson, one of my elders.  All the family were there.  James and George came up from Carleton Place in the morning, their horse very tired, having to break the road in the new snow, nearly all the way.  Mr. C. however acted very shabbily; for instead of providing a sleigh decently to bring home his wife, he went round among those he had invited, to see if he could get a chance ride for both her and himself.  Finding this would not answer, he tried to borrow a sleigh from Mr. Glass, and some others, but could not. At last he got one, and away we all went, though long after the appointed hour.  The bride was a widow’s daughter named Gray, whose residence was twelve miles from Perth .  The new snow being deep, it was heavy traveling, but though the wind was very cold we had it behind us going up.

After the marriage was over, we had a glass of wine all round, and then tea before we started our return.  At nine we were all ready, but our house being very cold, and quite outrageous at being detained so long, began to plunge and wheel round, so violently that our cutter was upset, and both Mrs. Bell and I were thrown headlong into the snow.  I  held on to the reins however, though he dragged me through the snow till I  brought him up.  The noise of voices, and the bells of about a dozen sleights, made him so mad that, with all the assistance we received, we had the greatest difficulty to hold him till we got the harness fixed.  But when this was done, and we seated, I let him run his fill.  We had now to face the storm.  The wind was cold, and very strong, driving sleet and hail as sharp as shot.  It was moon light but not clear, and track in the new snow was not easily kept. The driving snow froze over our faces, covering our eyes, and forming a complete coat of ice.  In this dreadful state we had to remain nearly three long hours.  I have perhaps been as cold in this severe climate, but I never had a more disagreeable and painful journey.  When we reached Perth I was chilled to the very heart so that I was scarcely able to step out of the sleigh.  The comfort around my neck had become a mass of snow and ice, so that it was anything but a comfort.  One side of my chin and nose had been frozen, and soon became very painful, and of a livid color.  I did not go to the bridegroom’s house with the wedding party, but came home and went to be d directly.  Upon the whole I shall long remember wedding.

This beginning of their union seemed ominous of its end, for it did not long continue.  Ten months after marriage, Mrs. C died in childbirth, after some days of severe suffering departing however, with the lively hope of going to a better world, where the inhabitants shall not say they are sick, for all their sins are forgiven.

Vol. 11    March 1837    page 81

(on the death and burial of Rev. Bell’s daughter-in-law)  …. On Wednesday morning I went over to the burying ground and set the man do dig the grave.  The surface was frozen so hard, to the depth of a foot, that he had to cut it with an axe as if he had been digging in a sand stone.  It rained slightly all day and the snow was beginning to melt.  Twelve was the hour appointed for the funeral.  After the body was laid in the coffin, all the friends were permitted to come and take a parting look at it.  This …?.... a very interesting scene.  The female part (?) kissed the corpse, almost frantic with grief.  As no good could arise from this, I directed Mr. Cuthbertson to fix the lid on the coffin.  After which the procession moved on, the number increasing as we advanced, till, on reaching the grave yard, it was the largest I had ever seen in the place.  After the coffin was deposited in the grave, I made a suitable address to the people assembled, but not one half could get near enough….

Vol. 11    Oct, 1837    page 143

At this time old Mr. Cuthbertson and his wife left us, and George, through one of the elders, absented himself for some months, because I would not submit to the extortion of his brother’s demand, and pay him a large sum for which I was receiving no value.  The attention I paid to his wife on her death bed, a few weeks thereafter seemed to be the cause of his coming back.

May, 1838    page 37

No one can pass through the world without difficulties, and of these I have had my share, notwithstanding all my care to avoid them.  Solomon says, Trust not a Friend, put no confidence in a brother.  Had I followed this advice, at least in the case to which I am about to refer, I might have avoided much anxiety and loss.  Alex. Cuthbertson, carpenter came to Perth in the summer of 1833, well recommended as a good workman, and a pious young man.  As such I treated him, and showed him every attention and kindness in my powers.  In the course of time, he proposed to rent my 25 acre lot, close by the village, for the use of his father and mother, whom he proposed to bring out to this country next summer. He said they were now old, but being always accustomed to farming, upon a small scale, they could not do well without it.  I had no difficulty in letting him the land, but he wanted me to build a house.  This I declined to do, but gave him leave to build one (Not exceeding £50); and at the end of his lease, I said I would take it and pay him what it was worth to me. All this he agreed to, as well as to the site of the building, which I pointed out to him.  There was a written agreement between us, but it did not go into particulars, for such was the confidence I placed in him, that I trusted almost everything to his honesty and honour.  Never was I so grievously disappointed.  He did not fulfill his engagement in a single particular.  He built the house in a different place from that agreed upon, cut down the best of my timber (without leave), and used it for his own purposes, erected what buildings he pleases, and at the end of three years, presented me with a bill charging me £147,  for the buildings he ad erected.  I had, long before this found  him to be a worthless unprincipled vagabond, though he made a great profession of religion. All the buildings he had erected, being small and of the most flimsy description, were declared to be not worth more than from £60 to 80; yet by a series of tricking and underhand dealing I was subjected to the payment of £120, and though he had violated his engagement in every particular, I obtained no relief whatever.  His brother too, though one of our elders, raised much mischief in the congregation by the representations he mad eon the subject, among those who were ignorant of the merits of the case.  After trying various means to compel me to submit to his brothers extortion, he came to my house one night and threatened, that if I did not submit, and pay all of his brother’s demands, he would never enter my church again.  He was taken at his word, and never again entered my church, nor indeed any other church.  It was the last time he ever left his own house in life.  He at this time, exhibited symptoms of consumption, lingered out the summer, and die din the autumn.

July, 1828   page 47

For some weeks about this time, I suffered sadly from depression of spirits, chiefly from the difficulty I had with that worthless fellow A. Cuthbertson, and the use my enemies were making of it; for he spared no pains to persuade the public that I was holding from him what was justly due, though I was only resisting extortion, or rather downright robbery.  As Mrs. Bell had been unwell, as well as myself for some weeks, I resolved to pay his demand, and have done with him.  What remains, amounting to  £32-14, I requested my son William to pay him, knowing it was my last transaction with the scoundrel.

August 1838   page 49

At this time George Cuthbertson, one of my elders, was suffering from a lingering consumption which it was evident would soon carry him off.  Yet Dr. Wilson still flattered him that he was getting better.  Whether he really believed this to be the case, or if he was making an expectiment(?), what effort it would have …?... I know not, but I considered it wrong to deceive the man, for the disease itself is too often of  a flattering nature.  He himself never gave a hint that he thought he was on his death bed, although I paid him a visit at least once a week, for more than six months and conversed with him on serious subjects. One day, however, after I had engaged in religious exercises with him, I advised him to be prepared for the worst.  I told him that nothing was impossible with God.  He could raise him up, even from the brink of the grave; but, from present appearances, I thought he was approaching his dismission from the body, and therefore it was best to be ready.  He thanked me for the hint, but he still avoided the subject at future visits.

Oct. 1838   page 68

The day before she returned, I called to see George Cuthbertson, who was evidently getting worse.  I talked with him on serious subjects for some time, and prayed with him’ but did not then suppose it was the last time I should see him in life.  On the following Sabbath morning,  between 8 and 9, he breathed his last.  Though he was one of my elders, his friends neither sent for me at the time, nor informed me of his death; yet having heard of it, I went in the afternoon to see and comfort them.  Some of them were absorbed in grief, especially his mother to whom he had been very dutiful and kind.  His funeral took place on the following day, for his brother, who expected to inherit his property, seemed anxious to have the body out of the way, that he might come into possession of what was to him of far more importance.  I intended to make a short address to the friends at the grave; but, the day being cold and stormy, it was thought best to have it in the house before we started.  The attendants were numerous, though the roads at the time were bad, and the mud deep.  He was buried beside his wife and child, who had gone to the grave only a few months before him.  She too was buried in less than a year after her marriage. Thus, after a joyous marriage and a prosperous beginning, the whole family was swept from the face of the earth in less than a year.  George had been our Presbytery elder for some years; and it was a remarkable coincidence, that Robert Affleck, Presbytery elder for the adjoining congregation of Lanark, should be buried on the same day.

Note:  find intervening material

Nov. 1838   page 74

I preached Mr. Cuthbertson’s funeral sermon from Job 30,23; I know thou wilt bring me unto death, and to the house appointed for all living.  After worship a meeting of Session was held, when it was agreed to have three more elders elected by the congregation.  At the prayer meeting in the evening, I read a part of A Visit to the House of Mourning.  All day I felt resigned to the will of God

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Nov. 1838

Mrs. Gray, a poor, but respectable widow, called on me in a state of great agitation, to ask my advise as to what she should do, in the following circumstances.  George Cuthbertson, her son in law had agreed to return all the property which his late wife brought him’ but now, since his death, his brother has seized upon the whole and would not give it up.  What a mean contemptible wretch, to rob a poor widow of her  cambed(?), blankets, and other property, upon which he, at least, could have no claim.  I told her, if she could not induce  him to give up the property by fair means, it was in vain to attempt it by any other, as she had no evidence but her own that  George had promised to give it up.  Before she returned home, she had a personal interview with the shark, but a fruitless one, for he wants to give up nothing.

Sept. 1839   page 58

Every time I called to see George Cuthbertson he thought he was rather better, though he was evidently dying, a strange effect of a fatal consumption.