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Pioneer - HORSBURGH, Walter
Biographical Sketches of
Early Settlers of Wellington County
Information from: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario.
Toronto: Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906
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HORSBURGH, Walter
, b. Berwickshire, Scot., 1831. He is a descendant of the Horsburghs, of
Horsburgh Castle in Scot., whose history goes back to the time of the Norman
Conquest, and they have always lived on the banks of the Tweed. In the year
1838 Mr. Horsburgh's grandfather, William H., cut down the first tree on lot 2,
on the west side of the O.S.R., formerly in the township of Arthur, now in the
town of Mount Forest. He was the first and only settler then.
Mr. Horsburgh's grandmother kept the tavern in Mount Forest known as the "Blue Bonnet." Granny Horsburgh several times walked from Mount Forest to Brantford, a distance of 75 miles, to buy her goods, and carried twenty or twenty-five pounds home on her back. It is doubtful if any ladies of the present age could be found who would like to undertake such a feat. Mr. Horsburgh came to Canada with his wife and one child b. on the ocean in 1857. He came directly to Mount Forest to look for work but was unable to find any for some time. His first job was splitting rail at 50c per day. He then went to Michigan for three months, but returned and took up a farm in Minto Tp., where he put up a shanty and cleared and improved the land, leaving it worth $7,000. Times were hard in the early days, but all of the members of the family were industrious and they became successful. Mr. and Mrs. Horsburgh raised and educated their family and started them in life well fitted for life's battles, and are now retired in Mount Forest, where they have the respect of the entire community. Mr. Horsburgh is a Presbyterian and a Liberal. In 1855 he m. Margaret Anderson. Issue: Mrs. William Gibson, Wiarton; Mrs. John Anderson. (d. 30); Mrs. John Hiepe, Normanby Tp.; Mrs. James Horsburgh, Holstein; Mrs. Jas. Kerr, and Mrs. Frank Burrell, Mass.; Mrs. Robert Scott and Belle, Chicago; Mrs. Favero, Boston, Mass.; William, Egremont, and James, Duluth. From: Historical Atlas of the County of Wellington, Ontario. Toronto:Historical Atlas Publishing Co., 1906 |
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