CRADDOCK FAMILY HISTORY

I STOOD ONE DAY SURVEYING , FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE RUINS OF THE OLD FORT ST. JOSEPH, ON THAT BEAUTIFUL PENINSULA, WHICH GUARDS, LIKE A CROUCHING LION, THE ENTRANCE TO ST. MARY'S RIVER.

THERE WAS THE OLD ROAD, THE CRUMBLING WALLS, THE GUN EMPLACEMENTS, AND THE MOST IMPRESSIVE OF ALL, SOME GENTLE GARDEN FLOWERS, WHICH HAVE WASTED THEIR FRAGRANCE ON THE DESERT AIR OF OVER A HUNDRED YEARS; A GENTLE BUT SURE REMINDER OF THE PLACE WHERE HUMAN BEINGS LIVED. THERE MALE SYMBOLS OF THE PAST DREW ME INTO A REVERIE OF RETROSPECTION AND I SAW IN FANCY THE OLD FORT OF 1812; I SAW MEN IN THE SCARLET AND BLUE OF THE BRITISH ARMY, MEN IN BLANKETS AND LEATHER STOCKINGS, MEN ROUGH AND UNKEPT CALLED VOYAGEURS,AND I SAW WOMEN AND CHILDREN. I HEARD THE BLAST OF THE BUGLE, THE TRAMP OF MEN AND THE JUMBLED SOUNDS OF A HUMAN COMMUNITY.

BUT THEN, WHAT'S THE USE OF DAYDREAMING? FANCY MAY BE FAR FROM FACT, I LEFT THE FORT THAT NIGHT RESOLVED THAT I WOULD SEARCH HERE AND THERE TILL I KNEW THE FACTS ABOUT SOME OF THE INDIVIDUALS WHO LIVED THERE DURING THE STIRRING DAYS OF 1812. THANK FORTUNE, I HAVE NOT SEARCHED IN VAIN, AND I AM NOW ABLE TO TELL THE STORY OF SOME OF THE STURDY SOULS WHO LIVED AND WROUGHT THERE.

THERE IS ONE WHOSE LIFE STORY CLAIMS SINGULAR ATTENTION TO THE CITIZENS OF ST. JOE, BECAUSE HE WAS BORN AT THE OLD FORT. HE WAS THE CHILD OF LIEUT. JOHN CRADDOCK, OF THE 42ND REGIMENT, WHO SERVED FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS ON THE FRONTIER DEFENSES OF CANADA. THE LONELY, ROUGH LIFE OF THE BACKWOODS HAD ITS EFFECTS ON JOHN'S SPIRITS AND ASPIRATIONS AND HE WAS "JOLLYWELL BORED AND BEASTLY OMESICK" WHEN HE CHANCED TO MEET AND FINALLY MARRY A WINSOME HALFBREED DAUGHTER OF LOWER CANADA. THERE WAS A FLUTTER OF EXCITEMENT AT FORT ST. JOSEPH WHEN THIS SOLDIER , WITH HIS WIFE AND LITTLE KATRINE ARRIVED ONE DAY IN THE FALL OF 1811. THE SOLDIERS HAD THEIR GOSSIP ON THE SIDE ABOUT THIS "ANDSOME HOFFICER AND 'IS BLOOMIN' AWF AND AWF, BUT THEY AGREED 'SHE LOOKED LIKE A GOOD FUN AND THERE WAS NOUGHT BETTER TO BE 'AD OR OPED' FOR IN THIS BLOOMIN WILDERNESS.

ONE MORNING IN THE SPRING OF 1812, THE DOUGHTY OFFICER WAS OFFERED THE CONVENTIONAL CONGRATULATIONS ON THE ARRIVAL OF A WEE, DARK-SKINNED BABY BOY. THE ANSWER TO THE QUERY, "WHAT YER GOING TO CALL IM?'; HE ANSWERED, I EXPECT WE'LL CALL IM JOSEPH, IN HONOR OF THIS BLOOMIN FORT, AND HE WAS CHRISTENED JOSEPH CRADDOCK, THE FORT BABY, THE PET AND MASCOT OF THE GARRISON.

FOR A FEW WEEKS JOHN CRADDOCK EXPERIENCED THE JOYS AND COMFORTS OF A HAPPY LITTLE HOME, EVEN IF IT WERE IMPROVISED AND ON THE EDGE OF THE GREAT WILDERNESS AND THEN THE CRUEL GOD OF WAR TORE HIS FAMILY ASUNDER, FOR THE GOD OF WAR MOCKS DOMESTIC FELICITY AND SHOWS HIS TEETH AT ALL TENDER FEELINGS OF MEN. ONE BEAUTIFUL MORNING, IN JULY OF THAT FATEFUL YEAR, JOHN BADE HIS LITTLE FAMILY A SOLDIERS HASTY FAREWELL AND HURRIED ON BOARD THE SCHOONER CALEDONIA, TO TAKE PART IN THE EXPEDITION THAT WAS TO CAPTURE THE FORTRESS OF MACKINAW; FOR WAR HAD BEEN DECLARED.

"YOU'LL LIKELY EAR FROM ME WITHIN THE FORENIGHT, 'WERE AMONG HIS LAST ASSURANCES, AND I'LL COME GET YOU WHEN WE'RE SETTLED. BUT THE FORTUNES OF WAR REELED OTHERWISE AND JOHN WAS NEVER AGAIN TO SEE HIS DUSKY LOVED ONES AT THE OLD ST. JOE. FROM MACKINAW, HE WAS SENT AS A DISPATCH RUNNER TO MONTREAL AND FROM THERE WAS ORDERED BACK TO ENGLAND AND THE LAST WE HERE ABOUT HIM, HE WAS NUMBERED AMONG THE SLAIN AT WATERLOO.

WHAT BECAME OF LITTLE JOE? DO WE KNOW? YES,WE KNOW. FOR SIXTEEN YEARS HE LIVED WITH HIS MOTHER AND LITTLE KATRINE IN THE SHADOW OF THE FORTS AT MACKINAW AND DRUMMOND ISLAND AND THEN IN 1828, THEY MOVED WITH THE GARRISON TO THE NEW BASE AT PENETANGUISHENE, WHERE JOE GREW TO MANHOOD.

WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS HE, THIS SON OF THE OLD FORT? WAS HE WORTHLESS OR WORTHWHILE? GOOD OR GOOD FOR NOTHING? IS HIS NAME WORTHY OF REMEMBERANCE OR HAD HE BETTER BE FORGOTTEN? THESE ARE THE VERY QUESTIONS BY WHICH HISTORY WILL SEARCH ALL OUR LIVES IN THE GREAT FUTURE AND THE FIRE SHALL PROVE EVERY MAN'S WORK , OF WHAT SORT IT IS. AND THERE IS THE FIRE OF HSTORY AND IT HAS NO RESPECT FOR PERSONS.

JOSEPH CRADDOCK LIVED WELL PAST THE ALLOTED TIME, DYING IN COLDWATER IN 1900, FULL OF YEARS AND ADORNED WITH CREDITABLE RECORD, FOR IT IS WRITTEN OF HIM THAT "HE WAS SCRUPULOUSLEY HONEST AND UPRIGHT IN ALL HIS DEALINGS, HIGHLY RESPECTED AND A PATTERN TO THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH HE LIVED."

A SPLENDID EPITAPH ONE WHICH MIGHT BE THE PRIDE AND THE ENVY OF US ALL. GREAT OPPORTUNITIES AND FAVOURED CIRCUMSTANCES WERE NOT HIS: THE FORT,THE WILDERNESS AND THE SHORE WAS HIS WORLD; THE INDIAN, THE SOLDIER AND THE AWF AND AWF, HIS COMPANIONS, YET HE LEAVES THE RECORD: SCRUPULOUSLEY HONEST AND UPRIGHT IN ALL HIS DEALINGS, HIGHLY RESPECTED AND A PATTERN TO THE COMMUNITY IN WHICH HE LIVED.

PIONEER COLDWATER SETTLER, SON OF AN ENGLISH OFFICER

JOSEPH CRADDOCK , WAS THE SON OF LIEUT. JOHN CRADDOCK, OF THE 42ND REGIMENT, WHO MARRIED A CHIPPEWA WOMAN WHILE HE WAS STATIONED ON ST JOSEPH'S ISLAND. JOSEPH WAS BORN THERE IN 1812, AND WAS BAPTIZED IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITH. IN ADDITION TO WAR WITH THE UNITED STATES, ENGLAND WAS AT WAR WITH NAPOLEON BONAPARTE.

SHORTLY AFTER HIS BIRTH, JOSEPH'S FATHER WAS RECALLED BACK TO ENGLAND. HE USED THE OTTAWA-ST. LAWRENCE ROUTE AND EMBARKED ON THE FRIGATE AT QUEBEC. HIS REGIMENT FOUGHT AND HE HIMSELF WAS KILLED AT THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, JUNE 18, 1815.

DEPRIVED OF HIS FATHER'S CARE, YOUNG CRADDOCK GREW UP UNDER THE PROTECTION OF THE GARRISON OFFICER'S ON ST. JOSEPH'S ISLAND (1812-1815) AND DRUMMOND ISLAND (1815-1828). IN NOVEMBER, 1828, AT THE AGE OF SIXTEEN, HE ACCOMPANIED THE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS ON BOARD THE BRIG 'WELLINGTON' AND ARRIVED AT PENETANGUISHENE, WHERE HE LIVED FOR TWO YEARS NEAR THE BARRACKS.

ALTHOUGH HE WAS A HALFBREED, HIS ABORIGINAL DESCENT WAS SO VERY MARKED, AND THE INDIAN SO PREDOMINANT IN HIS CHARACTER, THAT HE RECEIVED A GOVERNMENT ANNUITY WITH THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE INDIAN BANDS. HE WAS SCRUPULOUSLEY HONEST AND UPRIGHT IN ALL HIS DEALINGS, HIGHLY RESPECTED AND A PATTERN TO THE COMMUNITY AT PENETANGUISHENE.

HOUSING PROJECT

BY 1832, THIS HOUSE-BUILDING PROJECT HAD BEEN COMPLETED. JOSEPH CRADDOCK THEREUPON AT THE AGE OF 20, RECEIVED A GRANT OF 50 ACRES OF LAND, IN COLDWATER, ON WHICH HE RESIDED FOR THE ENSUING 68 YEARS, UNTIL HIS DEATH APRIL 13, 1900, AT THE AGE OF 88. HIS DESCENDANTS ARE NUMEROUS. HE HAD AN OLDER SISTER, NAMED KATRINE, WHO BECAME THE SECOND WIFE OF WILLIAM SIMPSON, THE EARLY TRADER AT PENETANGUISHENE.

FOR A DISTANCE OF AT LEAST 8 MILES THEY FORSOOK THE FARM HOUSES BUILT FOR THEM, AND THE TIMBERED FARMS WHICH THEY FELT NO INCLINATION TO CLEAR, AND GATHERED AT COLDWATER, WHERE THEY BUILT AN INDIAN VILLAGE MORE TO THEIR LIKING.

THE GOVERNMENT HAD CONSTRUCTED A WATER POWERED GRIST MILL AND SAWMILL FOR THEIR USE. THE AGREEABLY BARTERED THE USE OF THOSE TO THE WHITE SETTLERS, AS WELL AS TO JOSEPH CRADDOCK. THEY WERE WELL FED.

IN THE SUMMER THEY FASHIONED BIRCH-BARK CANOES AND FISHED IN THE WELL STOCKED RIVER AS FAR AS FESSERTON. IN THE WINTER, WRAPPED IN BLANKETS THEY FISHED THROUGH THE ICE. AT NO TIME WERE THEY WITHOUT VENISON AND BEAR STEAK. EACH SPRING THEY MADE A QUANTITY OF MAPLE SUGAR.

THEY CLOTHED THEMSELVES IN LONG BUCKSKIN JACKETS,LEGGINGS AND MOCCASINS AND USUALLY A COONSKIN CAP. EACH YEAR A BLANKET WAS INCLUDED BY THE GOVERNMENT AMONG OTHER PRESENTS DEEMED NECESSARY. FROM THEIR OWN POINT OF VIEW THE INDIANS FARED BETTER THAN THE WHITE SETTLERS.