Before I begin today’s story I would like to explain something about the word, Concession. The roads that run north and south in Nottawasaga Township are called Concessions. You will see them labelled that way on the road signs. In the past we always referred to those roads as Lines, as in the Sixth Line, Eighth Line and Tenth Line.
But the word, Concession, also refers to the parcel of land on either side of the Lines. The Concession number and the lot, into which the Concessions are divided, are used for property identification. For example, I grew up on Lot 9, Concession 6. This explanation may not help but I hope it does.
In 1974 Hamilton Bros. of Glen Huron celebrated 100 years. In the newspaper-like souvenir handed out is an account of the early days on the Eighth Line and in Glen Huron. It was written by the late Marshall McLeod. From it I have taken excerpts.
“In the earlier days when the farmers took their grain to the grist mill, the farm dog was allowed to follow the team and the boys would be allowed to go along also. There were some wonderful dog fights in front of the grist mill. It may indicate a depraved nature but a good even dog fight is something to see and how proud we were if our dog won.
George Briggs was the shoemaker and made many of those long leather boots.
William Claridge was a cheese maker and had a factory down Station Street to which milk was hauled from the surrounding area.
Frank McLean was a cooper and a carpenter and also possessed a wonderful baritone voice. He was the leader of the celebrated brass band of Glen Huron which had a dozen pieces and performed at picnics and other functions. North of Glen Huron was John Shields. He had a wonderfully strong voice – if not musical – and the neighbours around always waited to hear John call the boys in from the field because no one then was the owner of a watch.”
Now I would like to explain about the name, Green Bush. I pioneer days hotels were positioned frequently beside the main roads. Teamsters and other travelers liked to stop by for refreshments, usually alcoholic, and in winter, for getting warm.
On the east side of the Eighth Line where today we find the big curve on Highway 124, there was located the Green Bush Hotel. The road that went westward was a narrow dirt road until the 1940s when it became a provincial highway. It was called the Green Bush Sideroad.
Marshall McLeod tells this story. “I recall my father telling me of a customer coming from the Green Bush Hotel with half a dozen glasses in his overcoat pocket. He said that five cents a glass whiskey was too dear and he had to take the glasses too.”
In reminiscing about Hamilton Bros. and a hundred years of progress Mr. McLeod mentioned some incidents.
“One was the capture of a wildcat in the gully above the pond. I believe it was John Hamilton who had it sent to a taxidermist and it was on display in the store and office for a great many years. Another one almost became a tragedy. This writer was down at the Hamilton barn with Mr. Joe Hamilton. He was showing his fine Shorthorn herd, of which he was justifiably proud, and when he came to the herd bull in a box stall he was telling me how quiet it was. The bull turned on him, badly crushing him and breaking his arm. Joe was pulled out and the door slammed shut.”
Fred Hamilton tells me that Marshall McLeod and Joe Hamilton were the best of friends. That is, until election time when they wouldn’t have anything to do with one another. One was Liberal and one was Conservative. I leave it up to you to decide which was which.
Helen Blackburn is a retired teacher, avid gardener and a long-time contributor to The Creemore Echo. She writes about local history.