Alice Whyte Ferrier 1888-1974

 

 

• Born: Alice Whyte Ferrier in North Burgess Township, Lanark County, Upper Canada to John Fisher Ferrier (1855-1935) and Alice Charlotte Margaret Poole (1864-1934)
• Married: Alice Ferrier married George HERBERT Miller (1886-1961) 17 Sep 1914, North Burgess Township, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
• Died: 15 March 1974 in Perth, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
• Buried: Elmwood Cemetery, Perth, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
• Family Tree: Alice Whyte Ferrier in Lanark County Origins
• Relationship to author: Paternal Grandmother
• Children: Alice IRENE Miller (1915-2002), John Robert ERNEST Miller (1917-1997), Irma Bernice Miller (1921-2017)

Alice Ferrier – Granny Miller – My Inspiration

Alice Whyte Ferrier, known to our family as Granny Miller, was the only daughter of John and Alice Ferrier. She grew up on the Scotch Line, near Perth Ontario, on the Burgess side of the road. The Ferrier farm was near the homestead of her Ferrier ancestors who arrived in Canada from Scotland and settled in 1816. She was a petite woman with a charming chuckle and was a significant influence in my life. I was the eldest of seven grandchildren and have the privilege of holding personal memories of her.

Who was Alice Whyte Ferrier?

Granny, Alice Whyte Ferrier, only daughter of John Fisher Ferrier and Alice Charlotte Margaret Poole. She was born in 1888 on the Scotch Line, not far from the junction with the Glen Tay sideroad. The home, purchased by her parents after their marriage, was a stately two story stone house.

Alice grew up in a household with six brothers, who it seems, doted on her! John Ferrier, a successful farmer in the area, found lots of jobs for his sons to do but cutting the grass around the house does not seem to have been one of them!

I remember one story she told of taking scissors out to the yard to trim the grass leading to the house before visitors arrived!

Other stories were of the pranks her brothers would play. One time, while she and Grandpa were courting, Grandpa’s horse escaped from the pasture and found its way to the Ferrier farm. Her brothers, recognizing the horse, secured it in their barn but didn’t tell Alice of the horse being there. It wasn’t until several days later that the prank was discovered, and the horse returned to Grandpa.

Alice Whyte Ferrier and George Herbert “Herb” Miller were married on September 17th 1914 by Rev. Dr. Currie of Perth. She was wore a gown of cream crepe de chene and carried a bouquet of lily white asters. Her maid of honour was Miss Hattie Burke and she was attended by her cousin Tena Drysdale. The groom was supported by his brother Mervyn Miller. After a wedding dinner and social evening, the couple left on the early morning train for Renfrew and northern points. On their return they resided at Tayside Farm at Glen Tay.

Alice Miller – Fall Fair Memories

A newspaper search revealed that shortly after her marriage Alice began exhibiting, and winning prizes for her baking, at the annual South Lanark or Perth Fair. She later became a Associate Director of the ladies’ division of the fair exhibits. Granny, an accomplished needlewoman, often vied for the top exhibitor status at the local fairs and the casserole, won at the Perth Fair one year, was one of her prize possessions. As a child, I remember it frequently appearing on the table when she prepared Sunday night ‘supper’ for relatives who had dropped by that afternoon.” It is now in the home of one of my younger cousins.

One of my earliest memories was of sitting on the back steps with Granny Miller. She would bring a chair out to the back ‘stoop’ as it was a warm spot, protected from spring breezes. During the late mornings one could enjoy the warmth of the early season sunshine. Later in the year, it was a refuge from summer heat, shaded from the afternoon sun, with gentle breezes drifting through the open doors of the back kitchen. Granny always had some handwork in her hands when sitting there.

I took my first embroidery stitches under Granny’s tutelage. I held my first crochet hook with her help. I played under a quilt-frame while Granny and friends stitched a quilt pieced the previous winter. I learned to treadle her sewing machine and watched closely as she made aprons, dresses and other items for the family.

Granny had a ‘fair trunk’- a magic trunk full of beautiful items. Embroidery and crochet trimmed pillowcases, hand knit sweaters, appliance covers, quilts, crocheted tablecloths and doilies, various pieces of clothing and a list of other items that was endless. Each year new things would be added, and some removed and gifted or put into use within the household. Granny didn’t just exhibit at one fair! That trunk was used to store items that were rotated through a series of fall fairs, especially fairs where livestock from Tayside Farms was also being exhibited. Inside the trunk was a list of items, recording where each item had been exhibited the previous year. They could not reappear at the same place a second year! Sometimes items were sold as a result of these fair competitions and that money provide materials for next years creations.

Alice Miller Loved to Bake Treats

Recently while conducting a newspaper search for another ancestor, Alice Ferrier Miller, exhibited and won prizes for her baking from the early days of her marriage. Her parents also exhibited cattle and household goods so I imagine she participated in fair preparation, especially assisting in baking activities from an early age. I still treasure some of the recipes she passed on to me.

One that has special meaning for me was the recipe used for her wedding cake and which was also used to make the cake for our wedding. Cousins also report that the same recipe was used for their wedding cakes. It was a dark fruitcake, moist and laden with dried fruits. Not the type of cake in vogue today! We froze one layer of our cake and, after soaking in rum, served it on our 25th wedding anniversary. It was still delicious. The current desire for a much ‘lighter’ cake has broken this tradition of at least four generations and I suspect more!

When chatting with cousins, I discovered that we all remember her ‘kimono’ sandwiches and lemon squares! I spent many hours watching as she backed for “the weekend” visitors. There was always treats for the family during the next week!

Alice’s Quilts

Granny continued to construct items for family members until late in life. When Don and I were married we receive a quilt from her. I believe it was the last quilt she pieced, at age 79,  and it was quilted by the ladies of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian church in Perth. A cousin tells me that her mother used Alice’s quilt frame for some of the many quilts she completed. I remember it set up in the basement of the house in Scarborough. My gift from Granny was a love of quilts and quilting!

Alice Miler also made many of her clothes and I especially remember her wide selection of aprons that always covered her working or house dresses.

Alice Maintained Family Connections

Alice maintained a close relationship with relatives living in the community. Lloyd, Alex, and Mervyn, her brothers, farmed nearby. She would regularly correspond with Harold, Ernest and Leslie who moved away from the community. Many of the extended Miller fand Ferrier families were among the frequent Sunday visitors at her home. My grandparents shared our home, so I thank her for allowing me to join them on many occasions. Alice always had treats available for afternoon tea and supper for those who could stay into the evening. This gave me early and frequent exposure to an older generation of relatives and fostered my later interest in family history and genealogy.

After her mother’s sudden death in November 1934, John Ferrier, her father, came to live with Alice and Herb and their family and she cared for him prior to his death in April of 1935.

In 1948, the first annual Miller picnic was held at Silver Lake and Herb and Alice were active organizers of these events throughout the years. This picnics continued until it officially ended in 1998. In the 1950s she worked with members of the Miller family to assemble the first ‘Miller family tree’ documented for the family. I hold a copy of her handwritten notes and several letters received in response to her queries.

Through the years Alice and Herb made many trips to Scarborough and to St Catharines to visit Irma and Irene and their busy families. On several occasions we, as grandchildren, were invited to accompany them.

Granny Miller was always part of family celebrations during my childhood. Throughout the years, when her daughters return for visits and family celebrations, the meeting place was our home at Tayside Farms. In 1964 all grandchildren were present for Christmas.

Alice in Later Years

Alice was active in the women’s organizations of St. Andrews Presbyterian church in Perth, participated in the activities and work of the Women’s League and was a Life Member of the Women’s Missionary Society.

During her lifetime the family experienced the hardships of the Depression years, the impact of two World Wars, and illnesses experienced by herself and her husband. She did not have an easy life, helping on the farm, maintaining a large vegetable garden that always included flowers, and managing a busy household through years without electric power and a household supply of water. Alice cared for the flock of chickens that provided household money for the family. She worried about brothers who served in Europe during the years of World War I. She experienced the shortages of the World War II years. Alice experienced the loss of the purebred Holstein herd that she and Herb had struggled to establish.

As the years went by, Granny and Grandpa moved to Perth, first to an apartment on Mary Street in 1956, then to  the St. Andrew’s Church complex on Foster Street about 1960. As the only grandchildren living nearby, my siblings and I loved to spend time with them over a weekend. Later, while in high school, I worked part time at Shaw’s in Perth, and Granny, who was living alone at the time, provided me with a ‘home away from home’. I still remember the ‘kimono’ sandwiches with egg, pimento and cheese filling that she would make for me – and oh how I loved her lemon squares!

Granny remained active until well into her eighties, walking to the Perth post office daily to pick up her mail. Shortly before her death at age 86, she fell on one of those walks and broke her hip. Following surgery she suffered a stroke and the jolly lady with a twinkle in her eye disappeared. She passed away shortly after. Her memory lives on in her treasured casserole and other award trays that she earned through fair exhibitions. It is hoped that her great-great granddaughter will agree to be custodian of the quilt that she made for my wedding, the crystal cream and sugar that her brother Ernest brought from France after the war, and a few other remaining treasurers.