Chapter Six: William of Tuckersmith

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

William Aberhart Jr. was born on December 30, 1878 (1), in Hibbert Township, Perth County, Ontario; the fourth child and third son of William Sr. and Louisa (Gourica) Pepper. His family owned a rather large and prosperous wheat farm, and were not terribly sociable, so Williams' early years would be spent there with siblings.

He first attended school at Hibbert #7, a one room schoolhouse, but at the age of eight, the family moved closer to town so that their eldest children would have an opportunity to attend high school. The remainder of William's elementary school days would be spent in Egmondville.

By this time, the town had a gunsmith, cobbler, weavers, blacksmiths, a woolen mill, tanneries, several general stores, a cider mill, at least five hotels, a brewery, ashery, pottery, sawmills, gristmills, a brick and tile yard, cabinet makers and an undertaker, a German Lutheran as well as Presbyterian Church, a schoolhouse of course and a post office.(3)

His paternal grandparents were both deceased, though their history was woven into the tapestry of that small town.

The Aberhart home (shown above)was a white, two-story farmhouse, covered with clapboard siding, standing on an open rise of land, with a picturesque view from all directions.

The house had a spiral staircase to the second floor, and the parlour boasted a piano and fine furniture. Out behind the house were farm buildings later shaded by the large deciduous trees that the boys planted. A stream flowing through the back of the property provided a ready supply of fish and a source of water for the livestock. A new piggery that William Sr. had constructed along the latest scientific principles, and which was described as a ''palatial mansion,'' was the talk of the community and earned him a reputation as a progressive farmer." (2)

A normal day for William would be up at 4 or 5 to milk the cows and then deliver the milk before going to school, then another delivery in the evening.

His father was stern, though it is said that his mother was the disciplinarian. She was not affectionate with the children, but pushed them to succeed, and stressed the importance of education.

William was only an average student though he excelled at mathematics and penmanship, and had an almost photographic memory, but few reasoning skills. He also enjoyed music and taught himself to play several musical instruments.

Children he went to school with claimed that he did not really get along well with other students, so had no real friends.

He later attended Seaforth high school, where he earned a reputation as a top athlete, and was nicknamed "Whitey" because of his light hair colour. From there he enrolled in a model* school and obtained a third class certificate allowing him to teach elementary classes.

He thought he had found his calling.

Chapter Six Continued: Classrooms and Battlegrounds

Footnotes:

*Model Schools were established to train young people how to teach. The quality of instruction was poor, but there was a great demand at the time for teachers, especially in rural areas, so it was really the best they could do. I think the focus was on discipline and maintaining control of a classroom.

Sources:

1. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1909. MS 929-40, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Archives of Ontario.

2. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 3

3. Egmondville and Van Egmond House, Heritage of Huron East, Virtual

Chapter Four Continued: William and Louisa

A CULTURE OF DEFIANCE: History of the Reform-Conservative Party of Canada

By the time of the 1861 census, William Aberhart Sr. was living on his own, working as a blacksmith's assistant.

Egmondville had continued to grow, with a large Presbyterian church that was described as “a plain but spacious edifice capable of accommodating an audience of 450-500 people." William still listed his faith as Lutheran-Evangelical, but he was living in a Presbyterian home, and with no Lutheran church built yet, it's difficult to say if he practiced any religion at that time.

Constant Van Egmond was the magistrate, and since there was no jail in the village, he had the cellar windows of his house barred and used part of the cellar to incarcerate his prisoners. (1)

After Egmond's father died, the bulk of his land was offered at a sheriff’s sale. Eventually, it came to be owned by Christopher Sparling, who persuaded the Buffalo, Brantford & Goderich Railway (later the Buffalo & Lake Huron) to buy their right-of-way through his property. Shortly after, three lawyers and land speculators from the east, Patton, Bernard and Le Froy, bought land from Sparling and immediately had the whole lot surveyed into a town plot they registered as Seaforth. They also cinched the deal for the location of a railway station in Seaforth, offering land and agreeing to build the station at their cost.(2)

As a result, businesses began moving from Egmondville into Seaforth, and soon the town had retail stores, a doctor, a blacksmith, a post office, several hotels, a wagonmaker, and a number of firms engaged in the building trades and in the buying and selling of grain. (3)

In 1868 salt was discovered, giving a further boost to the area, and William went to work in the salt mines. He would also drive stagecoach, trading off with his brother Charles. His half-brother Henry, who was just a baby when they left Prussia, then worked as a teamster for the brewery in Egmondville.

About 1870 William married Louisa Pepper, daughter of John and Elizabeth Pepper from England. (4) Louisa's mother had died when she was quite young, and her father remarried on February 1, 1858, providing a mother for Caroline, Thomas, Timothy and Louisa.

His new wife was Rebekah Dobson, daughter of John and Ruth Dobson from New Brunswick. She was just 24 at the time, and Louisa's father was 44.(5) The couple would add four more children to the roster: William, Roger, George and Lucy.

Louisa's father was a farmer and classed as a Yeoman, meaning a man who cultivated his own land, with political rights, and he was on the voters list as early as 1851. Since grain was a huge industry at the time, and Seaforth a hub for grain distribution, Louisa may have met William on one of her father's trips to market.

In 1874, the couple were able to purchase a 20-hectare wheat farm at the crossroads of Tuckersmith and Hibbert Townships, about 14 miles from Seaforth. He was very successful and was able to gradually increase his holdings, even buying out his brother Henry's adjoining acreage.

William was described as tall and powerful, his muscles hardened from the salt mines, and it was said that he could toss barrels of salt into his wagons with little effort. Local merchants knew him as a thrifty man who struck hard bargains .

He had penetrating blue eyes and a flowing blond beard, worn in the Mennonite fashion, which blew over his shoulders as he drove his high-spirited horses through the countryside. He took no part in the community life, only occasionally joining his friends for drinks at the local tavern. (6)

By now he stated on census reports that he was a member of the 'free church' and since Louisa's father had suggested that he belonged to no church, this was not part of their lifestyle.

Louisa Pepper Aberhart worked alongside her husband on the farm. She was short and, in later life became quite stout, but strong and strong willed. All but one of her children were born without medical assistance, and she even left her bed shortly after the most difficult birth, to milk an ornery cow. She was described as a solitary person, who believed that a woman's place was in the home. She never voted or became involved in the women's suffrage movement, stating that "if men did not know how to run the country, she did not see how women could be expected to do any better." (6)

A bit of anger over the government for something it would appear.

The couple would have eight children, all born in the two-story, buff-coloured brick farmhouse, that was home until 1886, when they moved into Seaforth. Their son Louis ran a mill and machinery business, John became a blacksmith; Charles went to Pharamcy School and his parents set him up in a business; Wilfred became a barber and Harry a crook. Daughter Augusta moved to the U.S. with her husband, where she ran a rooming house and Nettie married and became the proprietor of a restaurant.

And son William (the tall lad in the middle, back row) would choose two unlikely careers, given the family's position on religion and politicians: A preacher and the Premier of Alberta. But he would play an even more important role, by combining those two things, starting the movement toward a desired federal theocracy in Canada.

Chapter Five: Spiritual Awakenings

Sources:

1. Egmondville and Van Egmond House, Heritage of Huron East, Virtual Tour

2. Seaforth Beginnings, Dean Robinson, Erin: Boston Mills Press, 1987.

3. A Souvenir of Seaforth, Canada. Toronto: The Grip Printing and Publishing Co. for Henderson, Seaforth, c. 1900

4. 1851;Census Place: Fullarton, Perth County, Canada West (Ontario). Schedule: A. Roll: C_11747, Page 57, Line: 10.

5. Huron District Marriage Register, Original Book, R.G. 80-27-1, Vol. 13, Microfilm MS 248 Reel #2, Provincial Archives of Ontario, Toronto.

6. Bible Bill: A Biography of William Aberhart, By: David R. Elliot and Iris Miller, Edmonton: Reidmore Books, 1987, Pg. 3