George Spiers THE HUNTSVILLE FORESTER
April 1919
George Spiers, Sr., one of our oldest pioneers, passed away at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Samuel Bradley, Mary Street, on April 23rd, in his 87th year. He had enjoyed remarkable health for one of his years, until within a short time of his death. The funeral was held on Friday, April 25th, burial taking place in Madills cemetery, Stephenson Township.
The late Mr. Spiers was a native of England, but came to Canada when but a lad, and settled near Ottawa. These were days of primitive lumbering methods on the Ottawa river and Mr. Spiers, from very early in life, became associated with the great Canadian industry. He traversed the chain of waters tributary to the Ottawa river, and in the days of less convenient methods of transport, often drove square timber down the Ottawa and St. Lawrence rivers to Quebec City. When still a young man, he married Miss Jane Sheffield, the union being blessed with a family of sixteen children - not unusual in the days of our forefathers, but a rarity in this age of "intellectual" enlightenment. When he moved to Muskoka in 1871, there were 12 children to feed, and the most primitive type of pioneer hardships to contend with. It required weeks of tiresome toil to reach his location (in Stisted Township), after the railway was left, 60 miles south. When he reached his farm he had $12.00 in his pocket to meet the needs ahead of him. Nothing but the firmest resolution and determined industry, could meet such conditions, but the father, mother and such members of the family as were able to help, battled bravely on and were ultimately rewarded with a good home, a well cleared farm, and a grown-up family which has been a great credit to the parents, and to the neighbourhood in which they have so generally settled.
MADILL CHURCH
It was in 1872 that a dozen or so families in a settlement just south of Huntsville, Ontario decided to build a church. During the year 1873, each family donated a "round" of logs to be hewn into square timber, and the Madill Wesleyan Methodist Church was raised on an acre of land donated by Mr. John Madill. The formal opening of the church took place in 1875. The church still stands, carefully preserved as one of the few square-timbered churches remaining in Ontario.
According to legend, the logs for the church were hewn by George Spiers, John Madill, and Charles Hogaboam. After the logs were hewn into square timbers with dovetails at both ends, the men assembled the timbers in rounds with a man standing at each corner to fit the dove-tail. Helping in this task were Edward Bray, Robert Scott, Sr., Robert Scott, Jr., the Bradleys, Proudfoots, Mawhinneys, Hanes and the MacDonald brothers. Once the walls were up, the roof and floor were put in place. Other materials needed to build the church, such as the windows and doors, were made in Bracebridge and carted by wagons and oxen through the woods by W.L. Hanes, Hiram Fetterly and Ira Fetterly.
Burial plots at the site were purchased for $1 or a load of wood. The Spiers pioneers, and many of their descendants, are buried in the Madill Church Cemetery.
