A Manitoulin tale of triumph and tragedy
To the Expositor:
A memorial to George Raymond White
Born 1897, died April 1975
On a wintry morning in February the 9th, in the year 1897 to pioneering parents, in that remote part of the Manitoulin Island, Ten Mile Point, a young man was born destined for life far beyond local imagination. A man of integrity, destiny, ambition and responsibility. Local imagination could not see his future with neighbouring economies, nor his part in world conflict. Nor to a great extent would they!
This young man at a very early age saw the opportunity for homesteading in the farther northern regions of Ontario and there applied himself. For so many acres at a price, if the new homesteader cleared a given amount of land and built a home, he was given a clear title within a given amount of time. The properties at the time were all virgin land. A great amount would be old growth forests. Within a short period of time he with neighbouring homesteader friends developed a sawmill to meet their need. After a period of production, the mill was sold, and I believe the owners all enlisted in the army that was now being formed, one dollar and thirty cents, plus all requirements was a pretty handsome daily reward for the many who had little in 1915.
He enlisted in an infantry regiment and was sent for training. He rapidly became a drill sergeant and was posted back to train recruits on the Manitoulin Island. They were gathered at the time in the old arena where they gained their basic training. That training was up to sixteen weeks and they were then shipped overseas. Further battle ready training was limited and they were sent to the battlefront. As a fighting unit they saw action at Hill 70, Passchendaele and Vimy Ridge with great losses. This young man was seriously wounded at Vimy Ridge and carried off the field. He was sent back to England and hospitalized for recovery. Meanwhile, the message was sent back to his parents that he was in fact killed in action.
The family meanwhile contemplating a possible move to Green Bay from Ten Mile Point, now with the settlement of his Military Estate were able to conclude that transaction. Strangely enough, the soldier lived, but was now confined to hospital caught up in that Spanish Flu epidemic that killed more than all the losses during the war which was now ended. Sometime later he was heard to boast, out of that huge ward of sickness, only he and one other survived.
Returning home again, he found some radicle changes and a less than welcome. A memorial service had been held when he was reported killed in action, and people were content with that conclusion. The military people were less than gentle about recovering his estate, regardless. of hardship. A returning battle scarred hero was less than welcome in his own home.
After a lengthy, although mostly by overseas mail romance, he married his bride of similar age and local background soon after his return from the hostile part of his life. Collin’s Inlet opened a door of opportunity for both and they entered that opportunity as man and wife as they had become. His earlier experience with sawmills in the north gained him favor in this new situation. With the passage of time, however, nature takes its course and a move back to Little Current seemed a better move for medical services, as their firstborn was shortly introduced. A position at the Red Mill within the village opened for him, and a new home was purchased. Both the labour at the mill and the family prospered until the mill was totally destroyed by fire leaving the town in shock. Almost immediately he was hired by W.D. Richie and Son of the town to transport needed materials to the saw mill again at Collin’s Inlet. He was heard to boast of being the first man to travel by car over the ice to Collin’s Inlet. He had also mentioned going through the ice with a team of horses on his travels and coming back up through the same hole.
On April Fool’s Day in the year 1930 a new venture was undertaken with the move to their newly purchased farm in Carnarvon Township. The pride and joy of each. The family settled in, and the livestock eventually filled the barn. Everything was labor intensive. The kitchen stove would fill the house with smoke at times of easterly winds. The wolves attacked the sheep. and the rooster attacked the kids. The depression was only surpassed by the dryness of the seasons and nothing seemed to have any value. Frequent unfortunate people arrived at the door and were not sent away hungry. One year the sheep were sheared and the fleeces washed by hand and sent away including some money and other things to a company in Owen Sound to be in exchange for knitting wool and a set of horse blankets so he could work with the horses in the bush in the wintertime. After much inquiry and waiting, the word came back, the company had gone bankrupt. The prices that were required to pay for anything far exceeded any income available. The years 1936 to 1940 had a slow climb to recovery, but the romance of anticipating effort had faded dramatically. 1939 was a sad year with the war again in Europe. It was heard to say by man and wife as they met midway between house and barn, “do you suppose our son will have to go?” That son, and many others in the neighbourhood, soon became clad in military colours. The attraction for many was the $1.30 per day and all found. Soon the prisoners of war required guarding and the call went out to the veterans with the same benefits packages. The earlier depression and unemployment provided a ready reserve for the ready need and the comfort of the benefits. On the farm, it was a chance to rise above the continual heavy lifting and low return. So, this man downsized his operation and followed the need like fresh air. He was posted periodically to different stations across Ontario and prospered. However, the situation back home needed care. With his discharge his wife soon became gravely ill and was committed to the sanatorium in Gravenhurst where she soon died on VJ day. The family home soon became a visiting place for members now dispersed. Eventually. the younger family member became the farmer while he bought a house in Providence Bay and retired. He died in April of 1975.
His name was George Raymond White. He was my father.
I am
Raymond R. White
London, Ontario
EDITOR’S NOTE: George White was a volunteer in the First World War, serving overseas and fighting at Passchendaele and the Somme battles. He survived a mustard gas attack and returned home to Manitoulin. During the Second World War, he again volunteered and served as a guard at the Espanola prisoner of war camp. He farmed at the southwest corner of Monument Road and Highway 542 and when the original cenotaph monument, which had been set in the centre of that intersection, was damaged by a vehicle collusion in the late 1950s, Mr. White donated the adjacent corner of his farm as a safer refuge for the monument, the same spot that now showcases the Manitoulin District Cenotaph.
