Clark, Mary Ann (1858-1941)

Pennsylvania maintained an active state militia, and many immigrants, especially German settlers in Lehigh County, were involved in local militia groups. These units functioned as community-based defense forces and were often social as much as they were military. Given Lehigh County’s large Pennsylvania Dutch (German) population, many German immigrants joined or formed militia groups, partially out of tradition and partially to defend their communities from external threats.

During the rise of the Know-Nothing movement, Irish Catholic immigrants sometimes found themselves in violent conflicts with nativist groups, occasionally leading to organized self-defense efforts. The Know-Nothing movement was a powerful nativist political movement in the 1840s and 1850s, built on anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments. It was officially known as the American Party, but it earned the nickname “Know-Nothing” because its members, when questioned about their activities, would respond, “I know nothing.” Pennsylvania, with its large immigrant population, was a key battleground for the movement. Lehigh County had a strong German-American community, many of its German immigrants were Protestant, making the area somewhat divided in its support for the movement. No doubt this movement worried the protestant Clark family.

With the growth of the iron industry and railroads, labor unrest occasionally flared. Immigrants working in these industries might be recruited into private security forces or even state militias to help suppress worker strikes or riots. The 1850s saw increasing tension between different political factions, particularly regarding slavery and immigration. Militia forces, sometimes including immigrants, were called upon to maintain order during heated elections. While Pennsylvania was a free state, the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 meant that federal authorities were actively enforcing the capture of runaway enslaved people. Some immigrants, particularly those sympathetic to abolitionism, were involved in skirmishes against slave catchers.

Immigrants Once Again

In the early 1850s, Mary Ann’s dry goods store burned. This may have represented the loss of all their resources and triggered the need to make a fresh start. Whatever the situation, the family felt unsafe in the local community and decided to move once again, this time to Canada. In the 1911 census her sister’s report that they moved to Canada in 1855, before May Ann’s birth. Mary Ann was born in Brockville, Ontario in 1858. In 1861 the family lived in the west ward of Brockville where her father worked as a laborer. The family belonged to the Free Church (Presbyterian).

It is not known what route they may have travelled from Pennsylvania to Canada but they could have travelled by railroad and steamboat. This trip could be made in 3-5 days, although the easiest was possibly most expensive. The most probable route would include a stagecoach or rail line from Allentown to Easton, PA, where they could connect to the Central Railroad of New Jersey or Delaware & Raritan Canal to reach New York City. They would then transfer to a Hudson River steamboat and travel up the Hudson River to Albany, New York. In Albany they could take a train on the New York Central Railroad to Syracuse and connect to Oswego on Lake Ontario where they would board a steamboat to Kingston or Brockville Ontario. Other less expensive variations of this option included using a route through the Lehigh and Erie canals, again using steamboats and railroads for part of the journey. It is probable that they used one of the less expensive options which might cost from $5-20 per person with additional costs if transporting household goods. Travel by canal and river was seasonal and long journeys came with health risks such as cholera, dysentery and malnutrition.

Arrival in Brockville, Ontario

Brockville was a busy port town on the St. Lawrence river. The harbor was crowded with steamboats, schooners, and barges, moving goods like timber, wheat, and iron between Montreal and Toronto. Warehouses, shipyards, and mills lined the waterfront, where immigrant laborers hauled cargo, stacked lumber, and repaired ships. The air smelled of wood smoke, tar, and river water, and the streets were filled with dockworkers, traders, and farmers bringing goods to market.

Mary Ann’s family settled in the West Ward, a working-class neighborhood where many Scottish, Irish, and German immigrants lived.  Housing ranged from small wooden cottages to crowded boarding houses, often shared with other laborers. Many families grew vegetables, raised chickens, or kept a pig to help supplement their food supply. Rent was cheap but wages were low, and the struggle to make ends meet was constant. They may have lived in a boarding house for a short time until family housing could be found but this was expensive. Rental accomodation was sought and found as quickly as possible.

Mary Ann’s father, like many immigrants, likely worked long hours for low pay, taking any job he could find. He might have worked cutting and stacking timber for export in a lumber mill; repairing boats or loading cargo onto steamboats in the shipyards; helping build new houses, roads, and public buildings  or working for a local landowner during harvest. Most laborers earned 50 cents to $1 per day, just enough to survive. Work was seasonal, so winter meant unemployment and hardship.

Mary Ann’s mother and older sisters would have taken on household work, sewing, laundry, or domestic service to bring in extra money. Some women worked in textile workshops or helped bake bread for sale. Children helped with chores, gathered firewood, or even found small jobs.

The family attended the Free Church (Presbyterian), a breakaway from the Church of Scotland that emphasized independent worship and strict moral values. The church provided a sense of belonging, social support, and charity for struggling families. Sunday was a day of rest, with families dressing in their best clothes to attend church and share a meal afterward. The church also played a role in education, as many Presbyterians valued literacy. Mary Ann and her sisters may have attended school for a short time. Publicly funded school were being established but attendance was not mandatory. As children of new immigrants, their ability to earn money for the family may have taken precedence over schooling.

By 1871 the family moved to Kitley Twp, near Frankville, ON, and Mary Ann and two younger sisters, Martha and Maria, lived with their parents. Her father, James, was again described as a laborer. In poor health for many years, he died the following year at the age of 49 years.

By 1881, several family members had returned to the family household led by Mary Ann’s mother or, as I suspect, she may have chosen to record the family as a unit although they worked elsewhere. She may have been concerned that they would not be recorded in their ‘servant’ capacity. Margret and Rachel, older sisters, Martha a younger sister and Mary Ann are all listed as ‘servants’ and are believed to have been employed by local families in domestic service. Robert, a brother, was a blacksmith in Fallbrook, a village in Bathurst Twp, Lanark County, Ontario. John, who identified as a laborer, was living in the family home.

Marriage to John Ashby

McKerracher’s Store Fallbrook were John and Mary Ann met

On July 11, 1883, Mary Ann and John Ashby exchanged vows in a quiet ceremony at the Presbyterian Church manse in Lanark Village, Lanark County, Ontario. Officiated by Rev. James Wilson, their marriage was a new chapter in a story that had likely been unfolding for some time.

How did Mary Ann and John find each other? Family lore offers a charming possibility. With her brother Robert living in Fallbrook, it’s likely that Mary Ann moved there to help with his growing family. It’s said that she worked as a clerk in the McKerracher store, where John was a frequent visitor—perhaps more interested in the warm smile behind the counter than the goods on the shelves!

In 1881, the Belden Atlas painted a vivid picture of Fallbrook, a bustling village brimming with industry. At its heart stood a hotel, a general store, a gristmill, a sawmill, a shingle mill, and two carding mills, all humming with activity. According to the Tay Valley Township website, Fallbrook’s legacy lives on through the stories of its remarkable residents. Among the pioneering families that shaped this industrious community were the Ashbys, Bains, Blairs, Buffans, Ennises, Donaldsons, Foleys, Keays, Playfairs, McKerrachers, Smiths, and Wallaces. Three men, in particular, left an indelible mark on Fallbrook’s history:

• Robert Anderson, an innovative orchardist, introduced the Lanark Greening Apple, a hardy, oversized variety that thrived across Lanark County.
• William Lees Jr. wore many hats—Head of Council, Justice of the Peace, Warden of Lanark County, MPP for South Lanark, and a founder of multiple mills, helping drive the region’s economic growth.
• Walter Cameron, a blacksmith by trade, was also a gifted woodcarver and storyteller, his tales and craftsmanship making him a legend in his own time.

Through their contributions, Fallbrook flourished, carving out a distinct place in Ontario’s rich history.

Life was Not Easy for Mary Ann

After their marriage, John and Mary Ann Ashby settled on the 10th Line of Bathurst, near the mouth of Bennett Lake, just two and a half miles from Fallbrook. Their land, part of the Ashby family holdings, lay south of the lake and river, where they lived in a simple one-room log cabin built by an earlier generation of the Ashby family. It was sturdy but modest, nestled in the rugged beauty of the Ontario wilderness.

Mary Ann’s granddaughter later described her as “a very strong woman, both physically and mentally. A true pioneer, she stood shoulder to shoulder with her husband, helping my Great Grandpa build the one-and-a-half-story log house that still stands today”. But her contributions went far beyond her own home. She was a midwife and nurse to neighbors, a skilled gardener who grew an abundant supply of food, and a passionate reader who always had a book close at hand. Her hands were rarely idle—she could knit, crochet, and sew with expert precision, crafting items both practical and beautiful.

Their family grew quickly. In 1884, Mary Ann and John Ashby welcomed twins, Robert and Elizabeth, followed closely by William in 1885. John arrived in 1888, and Harriet in 1889. By 1891, when Isobella was born, the family was still living in their small, one-room cabin, with little space but plenty of love. Archie, the youngest, joined the family in 1893, adding to the lively household. Despite the challenges they faced, Mary Ann and John were building a home and family.

Life on the 10th Line of Bathurst was never easy, but, for John and Mary Ann Ashby, the years 1893 and 1900 brought sorrow beyond measure.

One of three stones found in the cemetery commemorating the children who died in 1893

Deaths of John, Harriet and Elizabeth Ashby

On February 12, 1893, Mary Ann gave birth to Archie, her youngest child at that time. Barely a month later, on March 10, her world was shattered when four-year-old Harriet fell ill suddenly and died within hours. Six days later, on March 16, the disease struck again. Ruth, aged nine, and John, aged five, were both lost in rapid succession, their young lives stolen by the ruthless grip of diphtheria. Diphtheria, spread through tiny droplets in the air, was merciless, attacking the throat and forming a thick, gray-black membrane that could choke the breath from a child in minutes. The odds were cruel. Desperate to protect her surviving children, Mary Ann strung a patchwork quilt soaked in carbolic acid across the cabin, a makeshift barrier against the invisible killer.Years later, in The Blacksmith of Fallbrook (1979), Walter Cameron recalled the heartbreak:

“John Ashby on the Tenth Line—I think he buried three children with scarlet fever or diphtheria, one of those contagious fevers, anyway. And nobody’d go near them, the fever spread so fast. So he’d make a box and take it down and bury a child in the graveyard, and then when he’d get back there’d be another one ready to go. Imagine that! And then one day his wife was carrying water up from the lake, putting it into a tub to wash, and while she was down getting a couple of pailfuls, a little boy (sic) drowned in the tub. Oh, they were the hard times!”

Tragedy struck again in 1900