Notations & Glossary
Family, Notations & Glossary
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The Family of John W. Simpson To better appreciate the entries in the diaries, the families of John W and his wife Maggie (Margaret Cook) are presented below. In the diary, if a person is referred to by first name only, the person is usually part of the immediate family (Maggie, his wife, or one of his children or his children's spouses). "Thomas" without a surname is almost always referring to his brother Thomas Ontario Simpson. There were a few nieces and nephews referred to by their first name. When John W's children were small, he had a full time hired man whom he referred to by his first name. The rest of John's relatives were usually referred to by first and last name as were various hired trades people and his closer friends and neighbours. Most people that did not fall into any of the above categories were usually addressed as Mr. or Mrs. or Miss.
John W. Simpson (1843-1916) m. (2nd marriage, Jan. 1875) Margaret (Maggie) E. Cook (1855-1936)
Children:
Siblings of John W. Simpson
Siblings of Maggie (Margaret Cook) Simpson
Notations & Glossary
The following may help to decipher some of John W. Simpson's notations, however, some of the suggestions are speculative based on some knowledge of the vicinity where John Simpson lived or other readings.
Some of John W's short hand notations and terms found in his diaries
% - symbol used by John W. Simpson to denote degrees Fahrenheit (-4°F is equivalent to -20°C; 32°F is equivalent to 0°C; 95°F is equivalent to 35°C and 104°F is equivalent to 40°C).
B - Baptist, black, brown or bought.
B shuggar - probably means brown sugar, but possibly means sugar made from sugar beets.
bedding a car - put straw on the floor of a railroad car in preparation for loading livestock.
binder - an implement that cuts grain stalks close to the ground and then bundles and ties the stalks into sheaths.
box social - a community social affair for which girls would prepare a lunch for two and place it in a box they decorated specifically for the occasion. The boys at the social would bid on the box they liked best, and would get to eat the lunch with the girl who had made it.
bush - bushel.
buzz saw - a large, open-bladed, circular saw used for cutting branches and small trees into firewood length pieces. The saw spinning in air created the characteristic buzz sound.
CMR - Central Michigan Railroad. Actually, the Michigan Central Railroad (MCR or MCRR) - the second set of railway tracks north of Ridgetown.
Cocking - after hay was cut and raked into windrows for drying, it was put into piles in a field prior to being loaded onto a wagon.
con. / conc - Concession. The township roads were laid out as a square grid with concessions running east and west and lines running north and south.
cornation day - date of coronation of King George V (June 22, 1911).
cultivator - an implement with a series of curved tines with arrowhead-shaped ends. Used to break up earth and to control weeds on row crops, e.g., corn or beans. Usually the tines were adjusted to run along each side of a row of young crop plants. The tines would rip weeds from between the rows and would push dirt onto the row to cover small weeds growing between and around the base of the crop plants.
cutting box - a machine to chop corn stalks into small pieces for ensilage.
cwt - hundred weight, i.e., 100 pounds or about 45 kg.
disk - an implement with a series of evenly-spaced, sharp-edged disks on an axle - used to slice clods of dirt into small pieces.
drill - an implement used to plant grain seeds. (Usually, the machine cut a slit of a trench and then dropped seeds, properly spaced, into the trench. The machine then collapsed the trench to cover the seeds. Often the later drills also delivered fertilizer as well as seed.
Eau - Often referred to as the "Eau", Rondeau Bay is a large shallow water bay on the north shore of Lake Erie southwest of Morpeth and Ridgetown. It was separated from Lake Ontario by a long, narrow peninsula and was a recreational area with swimming and picnic areas. It would have been less than 10 miles south west of John W Simpson's Talbot Street farm near Morpeth, Ontario.
Erieau - a small village on the north shore of the Eau.
Epworth League - a Methodist youth organization established to help the needy, encourage literary activities and to support the development of Methodist young people. It was named after Epworth, England the birthplace of Methodism founders.
F - from
flat iron - an iron, typically heated on a stove, used for ironing clothes.
forest meeting - presumably International Order of Foresters - a fraternal finance / insurance group.
G shuggar - probably means granulated sugar.
Geo - George.
Hames and tugs - part of the harness for work horses. Hanes go in front of the horse collar and tugs (leather pulling straps) attach between the hanes and wagon/implement
Harrow - a grid of spikes that is pulled across a field as one of the last steps in preparing ground for planting.
Higate - Highgate - a community several miles east of Ridgetown.
Home boy (home children) Children, usually between the ages of 7 and 14, often destitute, orphaned, or abused, who were sent from Britain to be raised by Canadian families (Practice started during mid 1800s and continued until 1930s).
I.O.F - International Order of Foresters - a fraternal finance / insurance group.
Jas - James
Jos - Joseph
King Edward VII - successor to Queen Victoria. Died on May 6, 1910 and was succeeded by King George V.
lb, lbs - pound(s) - approximately 0.45 kg.
M - Methodist (church)
MCR. - Michigan Central Railroad - the second set of railroad tracks north of Ridgetown. Also locally referred to as CMR - Central Michigan Railroad.
Mosa - Mosa Township in Middlesex County, Ontario where John W. Simpson's parents farmed.
of - off
Odd Fellows - Independent Order of Odd Fellows - a benevolent fraternity of working class people to assist the needy. Motto 'Friendship, Love and Truth' Objective 'To Improve and Elevate the Character of Mankind'
Peck - 1/4 bushel or about 9 litres.
P - Presbyterian (church)
paris green - a green, copper arsenic compound, used as a pesticide, particularly on potatoes.
pike poles - poles with steel points on the end. Usually used for guiding logs floating in the water, but also used to raise, guide and steady timbers at barn raisings.
PMR, PMRR - Pere Marquete Railroad. First set of railway tracks north of Ridgetown. Later known as Chesapeake and Ohio or "Chessie".
pt - pint - 1/2 quart or about 1/2 litre.
R - Ridgetown, Ontario
R.C.I. - Ridgetown Collegiate Institute.
Rod - 5.5 yards or 16.5 feet or about 5 meters.
Ruston corners - Rushton's Corners - a community a few miles west of Ridgetown.
S - sold
S army, SA - Salvation Army
sheath (sheave, sheaf) - a bundle of stalks of cut grain bound with straw or twine.
sythe and snath - a snath is the curved, [wooden] handle which holds the scythe blade - usually used to cut grass, hay or small grain crops.
shoat - a young pig just after weaning.
shock - a group of 6-8 sheaves of grain, leaning upright against one another, in a field for drying before being loaded onto a wagon and taken to a barn or threshing machine. Usually, a sheaf was laid horizontally across the top to help shed rain.
sund, Sund - sundries
tedder - a machine that "fluffs" up hay that has been raked into windrows to dry faster.
threshing machine (also known as thrashing machine). A stationary machine that would separate the kernels of small grains and beans from their stalks and husks. During the time period covered by the diaries, the threshing machines were powered by steam engines using long drive belts. The grain would be pitched onto a conveyor belt at one end of the threshing machine. Inside the machine, the kernels of grain would be stripped from the stalks and separated from the husks. Straw and chaff were blown out a long, large pipe onto a straw stack or into the mow of a barn. The grain came out of another, smaller, pipe.
In some cases, the threshing machine was placed outside and the grain was brought directly from the field to the threshing machine. In other cases, the grain was brought and stored in the mow of the barn. In that case, the threshing machine was backed up the barn grade into the mow of the barn where the threshing took place, usually in an incredibly dusty atmosphere.
Long drive belts were stretched from the steam engine to the threshing machine to keep the sparks and ashes of the wood burning steam engines well away from the dust and chaff generated by the threshing machine. Since the steam engines consumed large quantities of water, it was quite common for a wooden water wagon accompany the steam engine. In some of John W. Simpson's diaries, he indicated that he provided the firewood for the steam engine. The threshing machine and steam engine together with their operators were generally hired by the farmers.
Thos - Thomas
TS - Talbot Street (usually in reference to John W. Simpson's farm on Talbot Street).
windrow - a long row of cut hay or grain , usually formed using a rake, to allow cut hay or grain to dry while awaiting to be put into heaps or cocks or loaded onto wagons.
E.D. (Tedd) Brien, Last revised 2003/07/27