Essex District High School - Argus Yearbook (Essex, Ontario Canada)

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THE ARGUS ANNUAL EARLY DAYS When I was asked to write a few lines about the early days of E ssex High School, I could not possibly re¬ fuse. All my associations with the school have been of such a friendly and kindly character, that it is a pleas¬ ure to do everything within my power that I am asked to do. Methodist Churches had been united into one body, a small room at the back serving for a second classroom. But what we were to speak of for some time as the New High School”—the building which was destroyed by fire some years ago—was nearly completed and we were soon able to move in. and to have a third teacher. My direct knowledge though does not go back to the beginning: the school had been in operation for three years before I became Principal in Oc¬ tober. 1888. The first Principal was Mr. Weir, but he is dead and for the inside story of those three years one would need to go to some of the sur¬ viving students of that time, such as Dr. Margaret Wallace, Mrs. J. J. Tullv of Windsor. J. L. Naylor of Essex, W. Tilden of Point Pelee, Dr. McCormick of Windsor, Prof. A. T. Laing of To¬ ronto, Dr. J. W. and Dr. W. W. Mc¬ Queen of South Dakota. W. B. Clifford of Ruthven, and others. It was the great good fortune of Essex High ' School to begin with such a fine band of young men and women who started it with a tone, an esprit de corps, and the beginning of a tradition that lasted till long after my day—and which. I hope, endures still. The school building to which I came was far from being attractive or con¬ venient; it was an old frame church just behind the station which had been used for worship by the Methodist Episcopal Church before the various The Village of Essex Centre, as we knew it then, was very different from the Town of Essex as we know it now -sidewalks of wooden planks, mostly laid lengthwise—streets of mud with no vestige of paving—no public water supply—no natural gas—no electric- lights; the only light at night on Tal¬ bot street outside the business centre, was an oil lamp in front of Dr. Browse’s office—hitching rails in front of all the stores, and so in the school —no water but what was carried in. no lights for evening meetings—stoves in the classrooms were the only source of heat, but these burning good body hickory, no heat in the halls—no la¬ boratory, a cupboard and table in one of the classrooms serving for all pur¬ poses of Chemistry and Physics. One of the most noticeable changes in re¬ cent years, is the much larger number of students attending the High School. Until the opening of Leamington High School in—I think—1895. Essex had the only High Sc hool in South Essex, and the population of the town itself was greater than now, yet I do not think that we ever had much over

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One of the greatest weakness of our modern society and one of the most fruitful causes of discontent and unrest is the prevailing tendency to try to get something for nothing. Every day one meets people who expect to receive fabulous remuneration for their services and those same services, alas, are for the most part trivial or entirely non-existent. Rest assured that the world is a sharp trader, ever ready to get the better of the dreamer, the dishonest men and the lazy men, but with equal readiness ever quick to reward the thinker and the doer and the man or woman who gives his best. It is time that your awards will not be stated in terms of a king’s ransom but will be rather stated in terms of contentment. H. W. HALL Principal

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THE ARGUS ANNUAL ninety in attendance. I should like to write something about the greatly increased promin¬ ence now given in all schools to ath¬ letics and recreation—too great a pro¬ minence perhaps—and to pay some tri¬ bute to the outstanding and public spirited men who sat on the High School Board—to the able, hardwork¬ ing. conscientious men and women who were my associates on the staff, and to the students who brought so much cre¬ dit to the school during their years of attendance, and by their lives and car¬ eers since they left, but I am overrun¬ ning my space and will conclude by ex tending to the Staff and students my best wishes for success in their ardu¬ ous tasks. -C. I,. Crassweller The staff of the Argus Annual wish to thank Mr. Crassweller. Prin¬ cipal of the E. H. S. from 1888-1902. for this very interesting review. HISTORICAL ESSEX COUNTY Although Essex is not the oldest part of our Dominion, it has no small claim to an interesting history. Recause of the older and more glamourous history of Quebec, we are apt to overlook the work of the brave pioneers who laid the foundations for the prosperous county in which we live. The first knowledge we have of ex¬ ploration in this district is in the time of Champlain. He sent the courage¬ ous bushranger, Etienne Brule, on a series of voyages of discovery around the Huron District and down to Ohio, he explored what is now Essex Coun¬ ty. The purpose of these trips was to Collect Indian Allies, and Essex was then inhabited by Indians, loyal to neither French nor British In 1640 two Jesuit priests. Father Jean de Brebeuf and Father Gabriel Lalemont, spent the winter in this country When Brebeuf returned to France, he described the county to a map maker named Sanson who pre¬ pared a map—the first of this part of the country that has been found. These two men named many familiar land¬ marks in this county, such as Point Pelee (Bare Point), now Point Pelee. and Bois Blanc (White Wood), which has been changed to our Bob-lo. They passed the little Indian village of Khi- oetoa at what is now Walkerville and named it Petite Cote (Little Shore). They called Belle Isle Isle aux Co¬ chons”, or Hog Island. When they camped for the night near a little river on the north shore of the county, they were so infested with fleas that they named the river Riviere aux Puces. They also named the Canard River (Duck River), Belle River and Stony Point. About this time Jesuit priests, pro¬ bably going to the missions in the Huron District, travelled along the shores of the county. These men had with them a species of pear tree which bore very sweet, though small, fruit. They planted them wherever they camped for the night and there are still a few left along the shores of the county . They are outstanding because of the size and flavour of the fruit The first farmer in this county set¬ tled at L’Assomption, which is now Sandwich, in 1735. Shortly afterward a mission church was established and soon there was a fair-sized colony of French soldiers at L’Assomption with a few at Bois Blanc. Another survey was made, and the maps are very ac¬ curate, even showing the site of Wind- sor. The survey was made by a French spy who was sent to discover the strength of the English forts. The first survey under British rule was made under David William Smith, who later became surveyor general. John Wilkinson was the surveyor of Windsor and he set the line for Dougall street. Detroit was destroyed bv fire in 1806 and Smith was appointed to design the new community. The hub arrangement of the streets branching out from a central square is still ac¬ cording to his plan, although the out¬ side section has been changed. The British started the fort at Am- herstburg and called it Fort Malden in 1796. Amherstburg is named for Gen¬ eral Amherst, one of Wolfe ' s generals in the Seven Years ' War. There were block houses built on Bois Blanc (Bob- lo) for further protection against the Indians. There are many interesting relics of this period in Amherstburg. The trenches used at the time of the