(from Pioneer and Settlers)
William (1812–1887) and Eliza (Noble, 1818–1900) Harper came to Halton County, Ont. from Ireland. Family lore says Eliza was from English nobility but married beneath herself, so they came to Canada to make their way. They were likely married in Ireland but all their ten children were born in Ontario. In about 1856 or 1858 they moved to Warwick Twp. and settled on the east half 100 acres of Lot 11, Con. 4 NER. They had traveled by train to Mount Brydges, then by wagon on the Egremont Rd. to Warwick. Eight children traveled with them, and their entire household possessions were stowed away in two big boxes. They stopped overnight at the old hotel on the 4th Line at the end of Main St. in Watford.
Upon arriving at the farm the boys were sent out into the bush to chop logs to make a house. There were no horses on the farm for the first five years. William and Eliza’s son Samuel recalled that “Flour cost $5. a hundredweight. Mother used to bake a hundredweight of flour a week.” She also helped shear the sheep, pick and spin the wool and the resulting cloth was used to make suits.
Samuel also recalled that the railroad line only went as far as London in 1854, so wheat was transported with oxen to Watford. The mud was up to the wagon hubs. The depth and stickiness of the Main Street mud was imprinted on the minds of many a settler.
William and Eliza raised ten children: Samuel James (1844–1932), George (1846–), John (1848–1887), Mary Ann (1850–1931), Ellen Barbara (1852–1934), Thomas (1854–), Robert (1856–1939), Margaret (1858–1918), William (–1938) and Henry (1862–1874).
In 1882 Samuel Harper, the oldest son of William and Eliza, married Isabella Stuart. Another thirteen years were spent on the farm before moving into the village of Watford. At the age of 78, Mr. Harper grew bored with the village life and ventured “out west” to see three of his sons who were farming there. He liked what he saw and took up a section himself, plowed 320 acres and cut 150 acres of wheat each summer season and came home to Watford for the winter. This was his routine for four years.
William and Eliza’s second son, George (1846–1905) married Lovica Matilda Watt (–1935) in Arkona in 1872. Lovica was the daughter of Thompson Watt and Lovica Shepherd. George and Lovica farmed Lot 12, Con. 5 NER. It was said they bought and paid for their farm by selling pigs. All their children were born on the farm. George and his sons also did custom grinding, chopping and threshing. When George died of pneumonia, Lovica moved to Forest, then Arkona and Watford for her last twenty years. George and Lovica Harper had seven children, William Henry (1872–1960), Ellen, James, Alexander, George Lloyd, Ida and Anna.
Their son William Henry (Will) Harper married Elizabeth (Lizzie) Jane Crone (–1910). They had six children. When Lizzie died, William married Marion Louise Dennis. They farmed his father’s farm on Lot 12, Con. 5 NER, then sold it to William and Olive Haney.
In 1911, Will and his brother George Lloyd purchased the furniture and undertaking business of H. A. Cook in Watford. After George left the firm, Will’s son Carmen joined his father in the business. It became W. H. Harper and Son. In 1935 they purchased the Thom residence on Warwick and Erie Street in Watford and remodeled it into a funeral home. Later Harper Funeral Home was operated by Carmen’s widow and her son James Harper.
George and Lovica’s oldest daughter, Ellen Eliza (1874–1941), married Frederick Thomas Maxfield in 1895 in Warwick Twp. She died in Forest. The rest of George and Lovica’s family moved away from the township.
Chapter 24 of 25 - Harper, William and Eliza
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