BONA VISTA A HISTORY

Compiled by Karl Jaffray BONA VISTA A HISTORY

Compiled by Karl Jaffray Bona Vista This booklet has been prepared on the basis of a number of sources, but chief among them a loose-leaf book entitled “Bona Vista , , 1905 (more or less) – 1983.” The moving spirits were Agnes Arnup, Del Clarke and Helen Nelson, with Ms Arnup contacting former residents and editing the individual accounts written by different families. That book had a number of photographs, but as the booklet copies were produced by Xerox the quality of the pictures isn’t good. It runs to some 85 letter-sized pages, and further Xerox copies of it could be produced at cost for anyone wanting one. This booklet will try to follow the same format – a general section on the history of the community, followed by material directly relating to different families and cottages. Those descriptions will again be based on the material in the 1983 book augmented by the responses received from an appeal to members of the Bona Vista Association in January of 2010. My own recol- lections of life at Bona Vista start in 1941, when my parents first rented the J.A. Brown cottage, so the written records will be supplemented from time to time with personal memories.

THE LAKE OF BAYS HERITAGE FOUNDATION IS PROUD TO PRESENT HERITAGE AWARDS FOR 2010 TO THE FOLLOWING FOUR COTTAGES ON BONA VISTA: CONNLLEY- GORDON COTTAGE; SCARFE COTTAGE; HADWEN-BROWN COTTAGE; JAFFRAY COTTAGE

Establishment of the Community: Bona Vista is a small community on the west side of Lake of Bays, about half way between Clovelly Point and Britannia, and across the lake from Point Ideal. Lake of Bays is one of the group of northern . It was settled somewhat later than the lower lakes that adjoin , and Lake of Bays really never had the strong inflow of wealthy summer vacationers that marked the lower lakes in the early years of the 20th century. Lake of Bays has an elevation considerably higher than Lake Muskoka, giving rise to cooler evening temperatures. The Lake is fed by two rivers, the Oxtongue, rising in the heights of Algonquin Park, and the Hollow River, draining parts of the Haliburton Highlands. Neither watershed has ever had any source of industrial pollution. The water quality in Lake of Bays has always been very good. The community of Bona Vista was established by a number of ministers, generally Presbyterian, under the leadership of the Rev. J. A. Brown. Mr. Brown’s wife had relatives named Black who had a cottage at Norway Point. Legend has it that Mr. Brown found the summer life at Norway Point becoming too “worldly” for his taste. Mr. Brown and his wife travelled around the Lake seeking a bucolic cottage location. The DVD showing the history of Norway Point shows pictures of people playing cards and drinking at the , which was built in 1908. It is said that some of the ministers who made up a group of early cottagers at Norway Point left because of that! Many of the early cottagers at Bona Vista were ministers and friends of Mr. Brown. There is a sense in which the founding of Bona Vista was probably compared to the Israelites escaping from the slavery and fleshpots of Egypt! The WaWa Hotel burned to the ground on August 20th, 1923. We don’t know whether the ministers at Bona Vista saw that as divine punishment for the devil’s work, but some of them might have. Mr and Mrs Brown were particularly taken by the point where the Murphy cottage now stands. Mr. Brown and his friend the Rev. Dr. J. A. Turnbull decided to establish summer cottages next door to each other. The earlier book has this taking place in 1904 or 1905, and construction of the Turnbull and J. A. Brown cottages starting at that time. Construction may have taken some time. It is likely that Messrs Brown and Turnbull acquired some right to occupy the land before they acquired formal title to it. Turnbull family history says that their cottage was completed in 1910. The first cottage to the north of the Turnbull land was said to have been built about 1908, while the first cottage to the south was built in 1911 or 12, by Miss Marjorie Black, a school teacher and a relative of the Norway Point Blacks. Mr. Brown’s cottage at Norway Point was owned by him until 1908. 1909 is the first date on which Mr. Brown’s ownership of Bona Vista land can be con- firmed, and the land on which the Brown and Turnbull cottages were built was not formally acquired until 1911.

Settlement of Land in Muskoka and Bona Vista Land Acquisition: It is worth discussing the general development of Muskoka. In 1818 by Treaty Number 20 aboriginal people surrendered a huge tract of land which included the parts of Muskoka and Haliburton lying south of the 45th parallel. Today we all know about the 45th parallel, because Santa’s Village in Bracebridge is said to be at latitude 45 degrees north, half way to the North Pole! The government began to show an interest in Muskoka after 1847, when a surveyor named Robert Bell ran a line from the Madawaska River to the point where Bracebridge is now located, along a line that forms the southern boundary of Macaulay, McLean and Ridout townships. Mr. Bell advised the government that the “country is uneven and hilly throughout, but quite fit for settlement...the greatest objection in respect of the whole territory is the great abundance of rocks.” Truer words were never spoken. Much of what is now Muskoka had been used by native peoples as a hunting ground, and there were a few aboriginal settlements, such as the one at the junction of Lakes Rosseau and Muskoka, now . One principal band was under a man known by government agents as Yellowhead, - Mesqua Ukie or Mesquakie in native dialect, from which the name Muskoka is derived. They were Ojibwa, “people whose moccasins have puckered seams” of Algonkian stock, and were later sometimes know as Chippewas. In the late 19th century many of them settled on Lake Couchiching, eventually in Rama Township, but Muskoka was a favourite hunting ground. Families had traditional trapping limits. There were several families or bands, Yellowhead in the district between Lake Muskoka and Lake of Bays, and Chief John Bigwin’s family around Lake of Bays. Bigwin hunted and traded near Norway Point, on the shores of Lake of Bays, and the Lake was sometimes referred to as Trading Lake. In 1850 William B. Robinson arranged a treaty for a large tract of land, interpreted to include land hitherto unceded in Muskoka and Haliburton. Neither Yellowhead nor Bigwin were included in the treaty. Finally, in 1923 after an official inquiry the governments of and Ontario drew up the Williams Treaty and paid compensation to the native people who had not been parties to the 1850 treaty. In 1852, after the Robinson Treaty, the government ordered a survey of the land south of the French River between the Ottawa and . It appears that a pattern of about 9 mile square townships was laid out, prob- ably well in advance of actual boundary lines being surveyed. Townships were separated by a road allowance one chain – 66 feet -wide, and ultimately concessions were laid out, generally 14 to a township sometimes separated by a 66 foot road allowance, with each concession being divided into lots. The townships seem to have been given names well in advance of actual survey work being done. The search for appropriate names included those of illustrious politicians and, in the Huntsville area, famous engineers. Besides Franklin, where Bona Vista is situated, there is Brunel immediately to the west, and further west Stephenson and Watt. As townships became prospects for settlement the interior lines for lots and concessions were laid out by surveyors. The Severn River, draining Lake Couchiching into was essentially the southern boundary of Muskoka, the name Severn perhaps echoing the boundary between bucolic England and rocky Wales. Morrison Township, lying just north of the Severn River was one of the first to be surveyed, in 1860. Thomas McMurray’s book “The Free Land Grants of Canada, from Practical Experi- ence of Bush Farming” states that the little community of Severn Bridge was the first settlement in Muskoka, in about 1858. He says that the next year five or six families came “including a few families of Prussians”. That would include my maternal great grandfather, Adalbert Lehmann, who emigrated from Oldenburg and bought 113 acres in Morrison Township on the shore of Sparrow Lake, notwithstanding that the township survey had not yet taken place. In 1859 settlers could buy land or, if they settled and improved the land fronting on a road, they could obtain a free land grant. Adalbert actually bought his land, and was unhappy when a few years later, in 1868, the policy changed and free grants were more widely available. Adalbert and his wife Kathinka and their children lived in Muskoka until 1871. My namesake Karl was born on that land. Their early family history is an illus- tration of the horror of trying to farm on rock. Rev. J. A. Brown seems to have had an entrepreneurial spirit. Many of the new cottages were built by Mr. Brown himself, and had similar plans. Many of the original cottagers owned rowboats of identical design, and there were common dining room tables and chairs, which Mr. Brown seems to have bought wholesale. A booklet entitled “Norway Point Church” by the Rev. Dr. V. C. Lockhart said that the Rev. J.A, Brown also bought Crown land near Norway Point and sold cottage lots there to his friends. Mr. Brown is said to have believed that in order for the new community to be successful, there needed to be a golf course. At some stage he acquired land south of the Needler property on which he hoped to create a course, and for many years the land was known as the “golf links”. It is said to have been acquired by a Crown Patent, but it had been largely cleared at some point. Perhaps a prospective settler had started to clear it before being dis- couraged by the terrain. There was a lot of bracken on the land. Bona Vista cottagers liked to go there to pick berries, and often saw Mr. Brown attack- ing the bracken with a scythe. At one point Mr. Brown tried to have sheep graze on the property, to control the grass. A man named Fisher had a small log cabin somewhere near by, and he kept a cow that provided milk to Bona Vista cottagers in the early days. Mr. Fisher did some work for Mr. Brown, but eventually the attempt to create a golf course was abandoned. No game of golf appears ever to have been played there, but perhaps the sheep and the scything were to be counted as improvements to a homestead. Eventually the shore line adjoining the golf links was bought by cottagers, some of whom came to Bona Vista by boat to collect their mail. I remember watching a couple who had a disappearing propeller boat, returning home with their mail. Perhaps these were the Forests or the Rattles. A dispro is slow, almost stately, and its outboard rudder is steered by a lever at one side of the main thwart. The couple would sit beside each other, reading their letters while keeping a casual eye out for swimmers and other boats. It seemed to me an elegant way to deal with travel by water. For many years I wanted to own a dispro, until I realized what a trial its engine could be.

Supplies: There was no road access to any of this land in 1910. In later years some improvements were made to a bush road that generally followed the road allowance between Franklin and Brunell, but even in the 1930’s this road was so bad that people tried to avoid driving on it more than absolutely necessary, and water access was the order of the day, for both people and all sorts of supplies. It was part of the charm of the lakes. Shortly after the Bona Vista community was established it got supplies from a boat operated by Mr. Langmaid, owner of the Baysville grocery store. Bona Vista was the most northerly point on the route. There was a good supply of fresh things, and he would take orders for meat. He operated the boat until at least 1931. In very early days, Mrs Lupton with her children Art, Bob and sister Annie would come through the woods by horse and wagon on Satur- days, with lamb, vegetables and cream. Raising sheep is a great deal of work for a farming family, but in the first half of last century Muskoka lamb was known as a delicacy. The Luptons would stay over, spending the night with the Herons. There was later a supply of milk, from 1920, delivered by steamer in a big can from a farmer at South Portage. People would take turns ladling milk into each family’s pail and then washing out the milk can and collecting money.

OLD DOCK AT BONA VISTA

The Bona Vista big dock was built so that steamers could land to bring passengers, mail and supplies. From the first establishment of the commu- nity, the transportation life line had been the steamer service from Huntsville to North Portage, the portage railway and the steamers on Lake of Bays. COTTAGER LEAVING FROM THE BONA VISTA DOCK, 1955 In early days it was usual for cottagers at the beginning of the season to place a large order for canned food and other supplies with Eaton’s. This would be delivered by the steamer to the main dock, generally wrapped up in card- board boxes. With luck the food order arrived before the cottagers, and could then be picked up by boat and used throughout the summer. By the 30’s people summering at Bona Vista opened charge accounts with Huntsville merchants - the Dairy, Butcher, Baker and Grocer. Then orders would be transmitted in to Huntsville and the food packed up and sent out on the steamer “Iroquois.” Bill Roberts would come around and take food orders and then distribute the food after it arrived. Eventually that job was taken on by Peter Farris, then by Peter Ahara and later by Anne Purdue. The morning arrival of the Iroquois at the big dock was the highlight of the day. Most of the cottagers would come down to the dock, some on foot and some by boat. Besides the Bona Vista people, there were cottagers a mile or so away at Garnet Beach, and they came over to greet the steamer as well. Two maiden ladies from Garnet Beach, the Misses Knechtel, had a small boat propelled by a very small outboard. It was always a question as to whether the Misses Knechtel would manage to beat the Iroquois to the dock. To do so they would have to pass in front of the steamer’s path, so there was a good deal of watching and preparing for a marine disaster. There was mail every day, milk twice a week and other food once a week. The two little open pagodas at the shore end of the dock were used for the distribution of mail and food. For many years Miss Grace Calder acted as postmistress. The mail bag from the steamer would be given to her, she would open it and find bundles of letters addressed to people at “Bona Vista via Huntsville” and hand them out to the addressees gathered around. The food was distributed from the other pagoda, by whomever was in charge of ordering and distribution. They had the list of what was supposed to arrive, and tried to find the various items in the large boxes that arrived. Baked goods were not always exactly what had been ordered. Sometimes someone who had ordered a pie would end up taking a cake, because that is what seemed to be provided. A particularly exciting moment took place in the early afternoon, as the Iroquois steamed north. A fresh mail sack for Point Ideal would have been picked up, and Point Ideal guests would have outgoing mail. Rather than stopping at Point Ideal, the Iroquois would signal with whistle blasts, and Don Boothby, son of the proprietors Bert and Elsie Boothby, would drive out to the Iroquois in what seemed at the time to be a very fast outboard boat. At the last minute the boat would turn suddenly, skid up to the open hatch on the Iroquois’ main deck and mail bags would be thrown on and off. It was very exciting! Children of Point Ideal guests and even some from Bona Vista would be given a chance to ride out with the mail run. Passen- gers on the upper deck of the Iroquois liked to watch, to the extent of some- times causing a serious list to starboard! After the Iroquois stopped running Bona Vista mail would go to Point Ideal. Dalton Boothby would bring it to the big dock. For a time he took food orders, later orders were taken by Heather Roberts and then by Anne Purdue. Food was taken to Point Ideal by truck from Roy Boothby’s store at Port Cunnington and delivered by Anne Purdue. None of this was necessary after the South Portage Road was built.

The Path: There was a path between most of the cottages and the lake frontage, which was used as the main link between families and as the route to the centre of the community at the big dock. The path diverted from the lake front and passed behind the J. A. Brown cottage on the point. The path really did not reach the most southerly lot, number 21, until the Little family acquired that property in 1922. The terrain in that area meant that much communal work was done moving rocks to build the path, apparently led by Mr. Hanna, the owner of lots16 and 17. Various crews of owners worked away at improve- ments to the path, and at one time owners may even have been able to count work on the path as “statute labour”, entitling them to a small reduction in taxes. The path in front of the Jaffary property was particularly rough, and at a much lower elevation than was the flatter area where we tented and even- tually built. We could overhear people walking on the path, unaware that other people were nearby. My father Stuart Jaffary quite enjoyed working on path improvements after his land purchase in1945. He gave himself the title “Pathmaster” and organized volunteers to help in maintaining various parts of the main path.

BONA VISTA SHORE FROM LAKE

At the north end of Bona Vista, to the north of Lot 1, the path crossed a small stream where it reached the community well and a hand pump in- stalled sometime before 1940. The path then accessed the Clarke property, up the bank of the stream. Some parts of the path have been essentially closed by the growth of vegeta- tion. Many of the cottagers have now purchased the shore road allowance from the Township, over which the path lay. I used to try to walk the length of it each year, really to show myself that it is still a kind of public pathway. I don’t think doing that bothers anyone. We really are a pretty friendly group.

The Road Once automobiles became a favoured method of transportation, efforts were made to get a road in to Bona Vista. Baysville and Huntsville were connected by a tolerable gravel road called the Brunell Road. A somewhat less tolerable dirt road ran east from the Brunell Road to the Kingsway post office, later called the Britannia road. The road allowance between Franklin and Brunell townships intersected the Britannia road about 2 and a halef miles north of Bona Vista, and this road allowance was the route eventually known as the old Bona Vista road. It had probably been cut out for teams of horses as part of the original logging operations, but it seemed never to have seen any improvement from that time. Agnes Arnup recalls that her father bought his first car in 1928, drove it as far as Clarke’s and worried all summer about the return trip. One of the Turnbull/Roberts family members recalls getting stuck in the mud at least once a year, and having to get a farmer with a team to pull the car out.

The old Bona Vista road was barely passable, and it helped to have a car with a high clearance. My father taught us that it was better to drive gingerly and put one wheel on the high rocks rather than straddle them and endanger the oil pan. Originally car travel stopped after fording a shallow stream in the field behind Clarke’s, and people carried their goods the rest of the way by row boat. In 1934-35 the cottagers agreed to extend the road south to a parking area to the west of the J. A. Brown cottage. This involved building a bridge over a second creek, with construction by means of two big logs, a corduroy deck of smaller logs and a pair of planks for the wheels of the car. The Sword family first visited Bona Vista in 1938, and Adelaide insisted on getting out of the car before it attempted the bridge. While my parents were renting the J.A. Brown cottage in the early 1940’s my father put some work into a driveway from the parking area to the rear of that cottage, but that was effectively the end of the road. The 1935 extension of the road required a careful skirting of the Brown’s Rock ridge, in some places requiring the road to actually cross part of the registered lots owned by cottagers. In some years this led to disputes, with people erecting a temporary closure so as, they hoped, to preserve their title to the land. There seemed no way to extend the road to the south, beyond the parking lot, since the rocky ridge swung east at that point, really blocking off any feasible route for road access. When the Jaffarys came to build their cottage in 1950 Godlip Stone found a steep pass up Brown’s rock behind the George Brown cottage. He cut it out, and had the building supplies for the cottage delivered in the fall. Then in the winter all was loaded on a sleigh and pulled up by a team of horses owned by a local farmer, Mr. Beswick. The supplies then waited for construction to start in the spring. I remember driving the old road in my 1927 Model T Ford coupe, in about 1952. The model T had a lot of clearance, so that worked pretty well. About 1953 I drove in for a fall weekend with my friend Doug Bennett, who was driving a little Hillman Minx. On the way home one of the hills was so covered in wet leaves that we couldn’t get up it. Mr. Beswick and the team pulled us out. All of this changed when the South Portage Road was built in 1954-55. People on lots 14 to 21 were able to get direct access from the new road. The old road, from the rear of lot 1 was pushed on out to the new road, aban- doning the need to use the corduroy bridge. Most of the land between the rear of the cottages and the South Portage Road, over which the Bona Vista Road travels, was eventually bought by the Cottagers’ Association. That road continues to be used as a private road by cottages on lots 1 to 13, and those using it contribute to its upkeep by levies arranged by the cottagers’ associa- tion. The issue of loss of title to the land crossed by the road has been largely forgotten. Indeed, it may have been somewhat solved by the Road Access Act, which essentially prohibits the closure of any road needed for access without first making an application to a court. Lawyers for people buying one of the cottages generally want to know whether there is a legal access, and the best that can be told them is that the access runs (more or less) over the land owned by the Association. In recent years the old road has been a good trail for cross country skiing, or even for a walk in the woods. Generally someone with a snow machine has broken the trail. You can get onto the old road from the South Portage Road, across from the Garnet Beach turn off.

Steam Boats In 1878 the first known steamboat arrived at Baysville, the Dean, dragged overland from Bracebridge. In 1884 two new steamers were launched, the Excelsior in Baysville and the Mary Louise on the Oxtongue River. By 1886 Captain George Marsh owned both, and provided both log towing and some passenger service. There was not much population on Lake of Bays, al- though Baysville had high hopes, never realized, of obtaining a railroad connection from Bracebridge. By 1896 the Mary Louise was sailing daily from Baysville to the South Portage. The railway at the Portage was con- structed in 1905, linking transportation on Lake of Bays to Huntsville and, apart from logging, establishing the economy of Lake of Bays as an outpost of Huntsville. While there had been steamers on Lake of Bays and the Huntsville lakes from as far back as 1878, the situation changed dramatically in 1905, with the death of Captain George Francis Marsh, the completion of the portage railway and the purchase of the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Company by Charles Orlando Shaw, the owner of the Anglo-American Tannery in Huntsville. The tannery required vast quantities of tan bark for its operation. The bark, produced by the forests of Muskoka, was towed or transported by scow on the various lakes that are connected to Huntsville by rivers and canals, creating a demand for steamboats on the lakes. Mr. Shaw, a strange man sometimes compared to the robber-baron entrepre- neurs of American Industry, brought the steamboat era on Lake of Bays into full flower. He built the Algonquin, and in 1907 winched it across the portage to become the flagship on the Huntsville Lakes. He also winched the steamers Joe (built by Cpt. Marsh and named after his daughter) and Flor- ence Main (rebuilt and later named Mohawk Belle) from North Portage to South. Construction of the Iroquois began at South Portage in 1906. By 1907 steamers on Lake of Bays were becoming very important. Cottagers sometimes chartered the Joe or the Nishka for trips to Baysville or for a picnic. Nishka went out of service in the early 1920’s, and Joe sank at South Portage dock. The Iroquois was constructed at South Portage and launched in 1907. The Florence Main had been built on Lake Muskoka in 1901. In 1904 she was sold to C. O. Shaw of Huntsville, and by 1907 had been transferred to Lake of Bays. She was rebuilt several times, first to increase here beam, later in 1913 to totally rebuild her hull. Mr. Shaw began calling her the Mohawk in 1909, latterly changed to Mohawk Belle. From 1907 until the early 1930’s the Iroquois and Mohawk Belle both provided service on Lake of Bays, with Bona Vista primarily served by the Mohawk Belle. From 1933 until she was laid up in the fall of 1948 the Iroquois alone served the various ports of call on Lake of Bays. A pattern that emerged was one where the Iroquois was based in Dorset and made a morning run up the lake to South Portage, serving landings in the eastern part of the Lake and Glenmount on route. Mohawk Belle was based at Bigwin. She too would plan to meet the mid-morning Portage train, servic- ing landings such as Bona Vista on her route. Many of the stops were de- pendent on freight or passengers being destined for that stop, or by the steamer being asked to stop by means of hoisting a white flag. At South Portage passengers would transfer to the train, and thereafter to the Algonquin or the Algonquin II for the trip to Huntsville. Mail and supplies from Huntsville would be loaded onto the Iroquois, which would proceed down the Lake to various stops. Some people might board at Bona Vista, for an excursion to Dorset and a return in the later part of the afternoon. The final run of the day, back to Dorset, would bring home the Bona Vista people who had gone into Huntsville. Business fell off during the great depression of the 1930’s, with the Mohawk Belle retired and boarded up at South Portage in 1933. Bona Vista old-timers re- membered the Mohawk Belle as the vessel that served Bona ARRIVING AT BONA VISTA Vista, but the Iroquois be- came the main contact after 1934. The Skipper of the Mohawk Belle was Captain Tinkus. Children in the Turnbull/Roberts cottage remember him as a friend. He marked their heights in the wall of the wheelhouse each year, and noted who had grown the most! After 1948 the Iroquois was replaced for several years by a large cabin cruiser, the Iroquois 11, but ultimately regular service on the lake ceased, perhaps due to the loss of the mail contract. While naval specialist might have described the Iroquois as merely a steam boat, as far as we were concerned, the Iroquois was a big ship. My mother’s family lived in Orillia, the model for Stephen Leacock’s Mariposa, and his description of the Mariposa Belle fit our thoughts about the Iroquois: “I don’t know – I have never known –where the steamers like the Mariposa Belle come from. Whether they are built by Harland and Wolff of Belfast, or whether on the other hand, they are not built by Harland and Wolff of Belfast is more than one would like to say offhand.....in the summer time, especially if you’ve been in Mariposa for a month of two, and have paddled alongside of her in a canoe, she gets larger and taller, with a great sweep of black sides, till you see no difference between the Mariposa Belle and the Lusitania. Each one is a big steamer and that’s all you can say.” The steamboat era ended as roads were built, highways improved and people gained access to stores and to the city. In Bona Vista, the construction of the South Portage Road in 1954 -55 was the turning-point. The same thing happened on the lower Muskoka Lakes, although Segwun was kept afloat as a museum and has now happily returned to service with one new steamer now added. In a sense the same transformation took place in the popularity and use of small boats, since cottagers no longer needed boats as a primary mode of transportation. The building of beautiful mahogany motor launches, developed on the lower Muskoka lakes to a level unequalled anywhere in the world, was based on a market of well-to-do people owning water access property. While some of the classic boats remain, and some builders have kept the skills, most cottagers now use fibreglass boats for water skiing or excursions. The real exception to the end of an era in boating has been the canoe. David Thompson’s exploration of Lake of Bays in 1837 was done by canoe, and the canoe has remained a favourite of cottagers all over Lake of Bays, and cer- tainly at Bona Vista. While some are now made of fibreglass and aluminium, the basic design has remained unchanged.

Recreation: Some things don’t change. Swimming, walking rural trails to admire wildlife and nature, and using the summer as a good time to catch up on reading are probably as popular as ever. Swimming across the Lake to Point Ideal has become an annual challenge for some people. Berry picking goes on. Fa- voured walks were to Little Lake, to Needlers, by one of two paths, or to Britannia. Fishing is still popular, al- though it is said to have been much better in the past. People used to visit Bigwin Inn or Britannia by boat. Some other things have changed with the times. Water skiing became popular as people got more powerful boats. Ricky Wheeler travelled to Bigwin’s front dock BONA VISTA COTTAGERS, DICK SAUNDRS AND on water skis, fully GREER ROBERTS FISHING dressed for a dance, and prided himself on being able to land on the dock in dry clothes. Golf became much more popular as road improvements meant transportation to courses became easier. While sailing has always been something pursued by some residents, there has been increased involvement with the Lake of Bays Sailing Club at Glenmount. It is still difficult to watch television without a particularly powerful aerial or satellite dish, but many people have been watching films on tapes or DVDs, and reasonable high-speed internet access has been available since about 2005. Bona Vista was, understandably, more involved in communal recreational pursuits before the modern era of roads and electricity. There was some cleared land behind the Smith cottage on Lot 1, and games of tennis and softball took place there. A badminton court was established. Baseball games were later organized in the field behind Clarke’s cottage. There are memora- ble family stories of Arthur Carson, John Clarke’s brother-in-law clowning as umpire before his death in 1941, and stories of great hits made by children who were thrown easy pitches by considerate adults. There was also com- munal use of the big dock. With both a diving board and a tower on the big dock there was a certain amount of clowning around and displaying of prowess. The biggest annual event was the regatta. Communal bon fires were sometimes held on the beach in front of the Smith cottage, with Miss Annie Calder entertaining by reciting B’rer Rabbit stories.

GETTING WATER AT THE END OF THE DOCK AT THE DYER COTTAGE, NOW THE SCARFE COTTAGE 1952 Dr Turnbull organized a small regatta in 1920 or 21. Later, the first annual Bona Vista regatta was held on Civic holiday week-end, in 1948. It was organized by Bill Roberts, Mac Heron and Hal Arnup, and in subsequent years virtually everyone helped. People from Point Ideal were invited to participate. Pop and ice cream were sold in one of the pagodas. Originally there were prizes, donated by Huntsville merchants, and starting in 1950 there were ribbons given to winners. The prize giving took place at an evening bonfire and sing song held on the Greer Roberts’ point. Often an old boat was burned, giving the whole thing a sort of Norse warrior touch.

PRACTISING FOR THE CANOE RACES, 1953 Competitive events were organized by age. The “Kiddies Swimming Race” was open to anyone who looked under 7, competitors were allowed to swim, wade or run along the beach, and everyone got a prize. There are many mostly family recollections of great regatta moments. One regular race was the mixed fours canoe race. At least one canoe generally sank, and the Brown family remembered Vera gradually sinking until her straw hat floated away. There was a parent and child canoe race, with many complaints of one canoe that cut off others. There were outboard motor races for various categories, such as “under 5 hp” and “unlimited”. Georgina (Prentice) Greenhough recalls that. Don Boothby always seemed to win the fastest boar category in his Peterborough cedar strip with a 25 horsepower outboard or his ‘sea flea’. People remember the memorable occasion when Adelaide Sword’s boat rounded a buoy so tightly that she fell out of the boat! In 1954 Point Ideal had a regatta, and from 1960 to 1968 regattas were held in alternate years in each location. WATCHING THE REGATTA FROM THE GAZEBO AT THE END OF THE BONA VISTA DOCK. 1955

Electricity: Life was without electricity until about 1950. Candles, flash lights, coal oil lamps and stoves, wood stoves, ice houses, hand pumps, and outdoor privies were the order of the day, and people were perfectly happy. My mother always believed that she did better baking in the oven of a wood stove than she was ever able to do with electricity. Kerosene stoves were very smelly, so most cooking was done on a wood stove. We are talking about summer cottages, so daylight went on for a long time. Most cottages illuminated with a supply of coal oil lamps, and some had one particularly brilliant Aladdin Lamp. The Aladdin would be placed in the centre of a dining room table, making reading a kind of family activity. That also encouraged group playing of cards or other games. Cleaning smoked-up lamp chimneys with news- print was a daily activity. A supply of flashlights was needed to light paths or to lend to visiting neighbours. Most cottages had an ice house, or an arrangement to share one with a neighbour. An ice house was a small building, generally built with smooth sheathing on the inside of the studs, containing sawdust for insulation and once a year filled with blocks of ice cut from the lake. The cottagers associa- tion would make arrangements for Bert Boothby, from Point Ideal, to cut the ice and fill the various ice houses each winter. There would be one door, often several feet above grade, and a sheet metal box would be arranged to sit on and be surrounded by ice. Using the ice house meant sweeping the sawdust away from the box, opening it to deal with the contents and then restoring the lid and insulation. As the summer wore on it might be neces- sary to shovel much of the insulation off to one side, re-position the ice blocks and then restore the insulation. Besides the shovel the necessary tools were an ice pick and tongs. Most people tried to plan ahead so that one trip to the ice house in advance of each meal would suffice. When electricity did become available cottages were gradually wired more or less thoroughly to take advantage of it, but some of the conveniences now available took some time to install. The initial electrical service installed was often of a lower capacity than, as time went on, cottagers needed. Present electrical standards dictating the proper number and location of duplex outlets were not in effect, so that the original wiring often had to be aug- mented in later years. Electricity meant that pressurized water systems, bringing lake water to the cottage, were now possible, but full indoor plumbing was a major step, particularly if hot water was wanted.

OUTHOUSES WERE NECESSARY BEFORE ELECTRICITY Wood stoves were not immediately removed. As refrigerators were installed ice houses were abandoned or occasionally converted to other uses. The George Brown family turned their ice house into a guest cabin and called it the igloo. Following the coming of elec- tricity came the coming of the telephone. Initially service to Bona Vista involved a party line, with a coded ring for each user and the ability, intended or not, to overhear conversations from other cottages. The number of “Parties” on the lines was gradu- ally reduced, with complete indi- HAL SWORD SHOWING MOVIES AT HIS vidual service COTTAGE coming in the 1990’s. The building of the South Portage Road meant another change in communi- cation service, as rural mail service was soon established. It also meant that the time taken to drive to neighbouring stores was reduced, although that depended, as well, on the level to which various roads were improved. Improvements to Highway 60, between Huntsville and Dwight meant that in the early 1960’s some people preferred that route to the Brunel/Britannia Road route. As well, the South Portage Road itself has undergone several significant upgrades, with the slope of major hills being reduced and the acceptable road speed being increased. All of these changes have, together, made Bona Vista much less a self- contained community. It is now possible to drive to Muskoka, shop, enjoy one’s cottage and see no more of one’s neighbours than one wishes.

Exciting moments: Things that were particularly remembered were the time Mr. Hanna and later Mr. French were lost in the woods. Mr. and Mrs. Hanna were the first owners of lots 16 and 17, and in 1936 Mr. Hanna became lost while berry picking. The search for him over the course of a day and night was a major community activity, involving people coming from Point Ideal to help. He was eventually found safe and well. The second search was for Mr. French. He lived in the cottage on Lot 5. Old Mr. French had gone for a walk and didn’t return one day in about 1941. His family became worried about him, and soon many from the community were out looking for him. Sometime after dinner some of the men from Bona Vista went to Point Ideal, to ask Bert Boothby to put together a group of men to search for a man who had become lost in the woods. Mr. Boothby was reported to have said that of course they would be glad to help, but as it was almost dark he said they would start in the morning. Then he asked who it was. When he was told that it was Mr. French he said “Oh.” Then he said: “We’ll come now”. That illustrates the relationship between the Boothbys and the old time residents at Bona Vista. A number of men from Point Ideal came over, and together with the men from Bona Vista they went into the woods at about Needlers, each with a flashlight, and leaving a space of 15 or 20 feet between them they combed the woods for four or five miles, but did not find him that night. The search began again in the morning, and Mr. French was eventually found in mid-morning. He heard the searchers, called to them, but then moved further away. He was cold and hungry, but well. The news that he had been found passed around the community instantly. For many years my father gave a stylistic note to an old pair of work clothes he had worn that night, referring to them as his “French hunting pants”. The Boothby family at Point Ideal were wonderful neighbours, and were the people to whom Bona Vista turned when help was needed. Their establish- ment consisted of a main lodge, a number of cottages located around the point, a kind of recreation hall, clay tennis courts and a number of boat houses and rental boats. As noted elsewhere, the Boothbys filled the ice houses in the winter and were called upon for help in emergencies. Some- times they would have room to take visitors for dinner on a Sunday. Mr. Boothby ran a small sort of tuck shop, where chocolate bars and pop could be bought, out of his office. They had a fine vegetable garden and a large ice house of their own, and we sometimes bought ice and other supplies. Some of the regular guests, like Moffat and Eleanor Woodside and their sons were friends of the Boothbys as well as some of the Bona Vista people. The Jaffary family rented a canoe from Point Ideal in about 1942. Their most exciting evening was when along with the George Browns they took canoes to Cockshut’s bay and across the little portage to Haystack Bay and the Lumina summer resort. All were badly drenched in a rainstorm return- ing home, and when they got out into the main part of the lake they found themselves dealing with a strong north wind and waves. The Jaffarys were not very good canoeists, but managed to get into shore and were preparing to camp out for the night. They were rescued by Bert Boothby, who came in a motor boat with a spot light on it. The Browns had been blown down the Lake as far as Point Ideal, and got Mr. Boothby to take them over to Bona Vista and then go and look for any sign of the Jaffarys. Mary Jaffary, some- what ungenerously, remarked later that Bert Boothby may have been par- ticularly concerned because it was his canoe. When they finally got home the Browns had made soup and sandwiches, proper fare for emergencies. The cleared farm land to the North of Clarkes was a farm owned by a family named Parmenter. Bill Parmenter was a plumber. He did some farming, kept one cow and a team of oxen used to plough the vegetable garden at Point Ideal and scoop up lake clay for the tennis courts. The oxen crossed the lake by swimming! Remains of the old farm house were there, sur- rounded by wild roses. in the early 1940’s . At some point the land was acquired by a Mrs Bergen, who called it Dream Haven. She arranged for a very handsome log house to be built on the property by Godlip Stone. Many from Bona Vista walked down to observe the construction, met Mr. Stone and became very impressed with his abilities as a builder. Whether he was using an axe or an adze on logs or later doing finish carpentry cottage with a Stanley 74 plane, we felt that he was a master. There had originally been some sort of agreement between Bill Monro and Godlip Stone, whereby Mr. Munro did the work at Bona Vista and Mr. Stone worked on land further north. The contretemps between Mr. Munro and Adelaide Sword in 1947 (described below under Lot 4), put an end to that exclusivity, and Mr Stone began working for various Bona Vista people. The closest neighbouring cottages to Bona Vista were on Garnet Beach, a lovely south-facing sand beach, with much of the sand the pink colour of garnet. Some of the early cottagers there were families named Judge and Fine and two sisters named Knechtel. The Garnet Beach people came to the Bona Vista dock for mail and supplies.

Excursions: Bona Vista people were so dependent on the steamers that most of them took at least one steamer excursion each summer. In the early days the Niska was primarily running charters, and Bona Vista people remember taking her to visit Baysville. Another possibility was to board the Iroquois as it steamed south, noticing the various stops along the way to Dorset, and then returning on the afternoon run north. Bigwin Inn, inhabited by wealthy and beauti- fully dressed guests, was not particularly hospitable to the less elegant of the Bona Vista residents, but everyone climbed the Bigwin water tower at one time or other, and some did have lunch in the round dining room. People could spend a few hours at Bigwin, or stay on board for the full trip to Dorset, and return home for the afternoon swim. Most cottagers swam at least once a day, a practice encouraged by the absence of bath tubs or show- ers. The more time consuming steamer excursion was to hail the Iroquois on the north-bound run, take the exciting train trip across the portage, proceed to Huntsville on the Algonquin or its successor Algonquin II, and return in the late afternoon. The vessel stopped at both the railroad station and the town dock, near the swing bridge, in Huntsville, so there was enough time to do some shopping. Until the 1950’s the saw mills in Huntsville were working, so you could see logs being pulled up by a logging chain, and watch them being turned into lumber by huge saws. There were also many trips taken by canoe and rowboat. The beautiful rocky point south of Point Ideal was much used for picnics and watching the sunset, all with the consent of the Boothby family owners. That land was purchased from the estate of the late Egbert Ross Boothby in 2004, with funds provided by cottagers and a generous contribution from the Boothby family, ensuring perpetual public use .The Lake of Bays Heritage Founda- tion, under an agreement with the Ontario Heritage Foundation, manages the property. Trips up the lake to picnic on a point near Britannia were another frequent trip. Mr. Thompson of South Portage had a large motor launch that was used by Britannia guests, and on Sunday mornings he would take guests to the Norway Point Catholic church. Bona Vista had of course been estab- lished by Presbyterians, but Catholics visited from time to time, and Mr. Thompson would stop and pick them up. Don Boothby also had a beautiful mahogany motor launch, and he would be sometimes engaged to take people for a ride on some special occasion quite often up the Oxtongue River. Another outing involved paddling or rowing to the back of . From there people might walk across to the Bigwin swimming docks. By supper time they would return to the canoes and have a picnic on the Bigwin golf course. The owner of Bigwin was a music lover, and he often hired promising young people with musical abilities for jobs around the hotel. One night a week he would arrange for a concert in the Bigwin rotunda, and people from various parts of the lake would attend that, often sitting in the gallery. James Milligan, a baritone who came from Huntsville and eventually had a career that included singing with the Metropolitan Opera, operated the Bigwin supply boat for several years. In Bona Vista we would hear him, chugging up the lake while he practiced singing And the Trumpet Shall Sound, from The Messiah. As time went on some Bona Vista cottagers acquired motor launches or faster outboards. Greer Roberts had a beautiful Sea Bird boat, and would sometimes take friends for a ride, or water skiing. Gradually people became more used to acquiring their own boats, and these were used to get to things like the dances at Bigwin. Boats and Docks: The whole idea of summering on Lake of Bays was based on the use of the water. Each cottage had some sort of dock or boat house. As time went WHEELER COTTAGE BOATHOUSE on, the boat NO LONGER EXISTS houses became more elaborate, often with living quarters above. Mr. J. A. Brown’s boat house had such facilities from an early day, as they were rented by the Little family in 1921. The Sword family built a particularly impressive boat house, and were so fond of it that they often used it as their main dwelling, renting the cottage.

SWORD BOATHOUSE STILL MUCH USED The George Brown family built a large boat house with living quarters above shortly after they acquired more shore-line in 1945. The Evans and the Farris families both built boathouses.

BROWN BOATHOUSE STILL IN USE TODAY One of the more interesting docks was that owned by the Misses Calder, at lot 8. Their dock had a slip, with a roof over the slip, and a device for hoist- ing their boat out of the water by the use of ropes and a hand crank. The boat was a long, narrow cedar strip hull with an elderly outboard. There were four Calder sisters, and about once a summer, on the calmest possible day, they would lower the boat and go for a ride. Miss Grace sat in the stern and operated the outboard. This was in the days before outboard motors had built in systems for cranking the motor, so getting started involved wrapping the knotted rope around the top of the motor and giving it a strong pull, to crank over the engine. This often had to be repeated a number of times. Everyone took an interest in everyone else’s boats. Adelaide Sword was very proud of hers. Her family had owned the Ross Boat Works in Orillia, and the boat built for the Swords had interesting contrasting woods. The Evans boys acquired a series of interesting boats. One was powered by an aircraft engine and propeller, and was driven by the wind it created. Another was a mahogany launch, originally designed to tow a number of water skiers. Both of those boats were very loud. All of the Evans were interested in motors, and they generally had a powerful outboard of some sort. Best known was the motor that jumped off the back of the boat just off-shore from the Cottage on the Point, which had to be recovered by diving. The Farris family also liked interesting boats. At one point Peter had a sort of sea flea, almost a double hulled design, which I think he called Miss Spitfire. It, too had an accidental loss of the engine in Point Ideal Bay. The engine had been recently rebuilt, and when it was recovered it had to be taken apart, and the parts were hung on a line over the kitchen stove to dry. Various people had sail boats. Mr. MacKenzie, on lot 19, had a sailboat for many years, and would occasionally take people out for a sail in the early 1940’s. Harold Arnup had a sailboat. Jane Sword had a small pram. When I owned a snipe, in the later 1940’s, my friends and I would pretend to be pirates and would try to “capture” Jane’s pram. My snipe was eventually sold to Evan Austin, who I think later had a second snipe. Ed Murphy has owned a day-sailing sloop for a number of years, and is a keen supporter of the Lake of Bays Sailing Club. At one point the Jaffary and Brown families together purchased a very heavy, home-made sloop from someone. It was not a good sailor. It was called the Jaberwalk, making something of the names Jaffary, Brown and the fact that walking was a better means of transportation. It eventually went to Valhalla on a regatta bonfire.

Church: There was a church service in Bona Vista from the very beginning. The church consisted of a few planks resting on stones, and the young people sat on the ground or on logs. Mac Heron recalled the adults sitting on the benches in the Pagodas, When it rained the service was held in a neighbour- ing cottage. The church was located on the north side of Dr. Turnbull’s lot, just south of the big dock. In 1936 Mr. Hanna, showing his gratitude for the community’s search for him, donated $25.00 so that permanent pews could be built. Those lasted, with much patching, until 1979, when they were rebuilt. In 1957 what had been the Turnbull and then Vic. Roberts’ cottage was sold to the O’Rourkes, and they were surprised to find a community gathering in what was actually their side yard. The pews were moved a few yards north, and re-located on the road allowance. In the early years there were six Presbyterian (later United Church) minis- ters in the community, so preachers for the services were at hand. Sermons went 40 to 45 minutes. Everyone wore good clothes. By the early 30’s services were taken over by members of each cottage in turn. A collection of hymn books, and some plates for offerings were acquired, stored at the Calder cottage, and distributed by a young person from the cottage taking the service. In later years the length of the service was reduced. Members of the congregation with a good voice, notably Vera, Shirley and Sylvia Brown and Hal Sword would start off the singing of hymns. Unto the Hills, a paraphrase of Psalm 121, was a favourite. A decision about the use of the collection was taken at each annual cottagers’ association meeting. For many years it went to a mission in Baysville, and later was directed to other good causes. By 1983 the church services sometimes used tapes of hymns played by John Clarke on an organ. Interest in the church serv- ices at Bona Vista, as else- where, declined over the years. By the late 90’s the large, extended Brown family would often arrange one church service during the course of the summer, and would invite any others who were interested to join in. Bona Vista people inter- ested in attending a Sunday service are now more likely to attend at one of the churches in the neighbour- ing hamlets. LECTERN FROM THE CHURCH SERVICES REMAINS

Community Organization: There was an informal, but very important cottagers association from the beginning. They assumed responsibility for making arrangements for the supply of milk and bread, seeing that the community pump was in good repair, and making arrangements for the Boothby family to cut ice and supply the ice houses. They also organized work crews to make repairs to the pagodas and the big dock. There was a major re-planking of the dock in about 1950, with many able-bodied men and boys coating the new planks with creosote and spiking them down. An annual meeting was held to elect officers, set dues and discuss new work to be done. Vic Roberts was elected mayor in 1934, and it was the following spring that the road was put through from Clarke’s to a parking area at the back of the J. A. Brown property. In 1943-44 the community decided to buy 17 acres of land from Anna Brown. Much of the road crosses that land, as does the path to Little Lake. At first the land was held by several cottagers who acted as trustees, but it was then decided that the best way to hold the land would be by the incor- poration of a corporation without share capital. There was a requirement for three directors, and the Bona Vista Cottagers’ Association was created. The objects of the Association were to “promote the welfare of the summer community on Lake of Bays known as Bona Vista”. Each of the owners of property at Bona Vista was entitled to be a member. The three first directors were Harold Arnup, John Clarke and Stuart Jaffary, and the Association continued the practice of calling one of those people “mayor” and another “treasurer”. The memorandum of association that was the basis for the incorporation operated as a general by-law. As it is really quite out-of-date a small committee of Margi (Arnup) Young and Nora Jaffary have been asked to prepare a revision, to be looked at during the summer of 2010.

The Cottages, their Owners and their Memories: There are many good stories about the various cottage owners, and I hope to recount some of them as this chronicle moves along. I will also identify the different lots and their ownership history.

Clarke, MacGregor Cottage The most northerly of the cottages normally thought of as being part of Bona Vista is not shown on the Plan of Subdivision. To the north of the lands shown on the subdivision plan are two creeks which flow into the Lake. Between the creeks was a cottage built by, or for, Mr. William Rumsey about 1909. He is said to have tried some farming or gardening, accounting for the large cleared area. About 1911 the land was purchased by two broth- ers named Walker and Will Kearns, from Orangeville, and their brothers- in-law, Bob Robinson, Dr. Arthur Carson and Frederick Clarke. Mr Clarke became the sole owner around 1914, and as he was a high school teacher he was able to spend much of the summer at Bona Vista. Many members of the extended family spent holidays with the Clarkes. A foot bridge was built over the more southerly creek, connecting the Clarkes to the main path and providing access to the community pump. Peggy (Clarke) MacGregor writes: “Many used the foot path to make the trek to the Bona Vista dock to meet the steamer, Iroquois, bringing groceries twice a week.” Even before the advent of electricity the Clarkes had indoor running water from a storage tank and a gasoline-driven pump. “The tank was situated in the attic of the cottage and operated by virtue of gravity – through a pipe in the kitchen. An overflow pipe out of the side of the building indicated when the tank was full. As time went on, the foot bridge formed an important link to the neighbouring cottages, and was bolstered and crow-barred back into place on more than one occasion by Del Clarke’s brother and brother-in-law and their young families.” In the old days, the cleared land behind the Clarke cottage was the site of community soft-ball games. The length of the base running was adjusted to the age of the batter. Dr. Carson often acted as umpire, and entertained everyone with outrageous calls. All cottages needed to be closed and secured for the winter. It was the Clarkes who introduced many others to the practice of piling mattresses on the dining room table, with the table legs set in stove pipes. This was thought to discourage mice, although mice were capable of dropping from the ceiling. George W. Brown eventually invented what he called a mouse- proof bed, where the mattress would be stored for the winter in a wooden frame protected by its close-spun bed spring. Perhaps it worked some of the time. In the mid-1950s the Clarkes built a smaller cottage beside the original building, which enabled them to have friends and relatives nearby virtually all summer. In time the original building was dismantled, but the original kitchen was retained and is used today as a storage shed. The flat, open space where the original building stood facilitates the continuance of outdoor games, such as badminton, croquet and frisbee, all more contained than the baseball matches of yore. The cottage is now owned by Peggy (Clarke) MacGregor, of Ottawa.

Lot 1. Smith, Wieler, Austin, Brown The cottage on Lot 1 had much the same basic plan as is seen in the older cottages. It was built by the Rev. Fraser Smith, M.D. Dr. Smith was a medi- cal missionary who had been in China at the time of the Boxer Rebellion. Dr. Smith had earlier owned a cottage at Norway Point. On Dr. Smith’s death the cottage was left to his two sons, but as neither wanted to take responsibility for it, the land was eventually acquired by the Township of Franklin.

In the 1940’s there was a logging opera- tion by Scotts, who had a camp on Little (Dream Haven) Lake. The logs were brought down to the beach in front of lot 1, and on one occasion the team of horses and their load of logs went through the ice and drowned. The cottage was bought from the Township in 1938 by Arnold and Grace Wieler of Huntsville. The family travelled out from Huntsville over the Britannia Road, and later to the South Portage Road from Highway 60 after it was improved. After Arnold Wieler’s death in 1978 the property passed to the Wielers’ two daughters and their husbands, Marion and Evan Austin and Diane and Derry Brown. As the roads became accessible year round there has been more activity, with improvements to the buildings and four generations of the Weiler family have enjoyed it,

Lot 2 Randall, Hutcheson, Oben Post The cottage on Lot 2 was built by Mr. Brown as an invest- ment for his daughter Anna. Between the 1920’s and 1957 it was rented and then owned by two sisters, the Misses Gertrude and Minnie Randall. In 1957 it was purchased by Mr. And Mrs R. A. Hutcheson, of Huntsville. The original building followed the J.A. Brown basic plan, with a number of small bedrooms and a sleeping porch. At some point after 1983 it was purchased by Kathy and Ken Oben and by Ann and Peter Post. Lot 3 Ward, Ahara, Laface Lot 3 was the site of the cottage built by Agnes and William Ward in 1911 after they had rented the cottage on lot 8 from J. A. Brown’s wife in 1910. After Mrs. Ward’s death in 1940 it was owned by her son Clay and her two daughters Mary Ward and Edith Ahara. Several families sharing a cottage is a situation often requiring resolution over time. Here Clay Ward solved the problem by purchasing the point at the east end of Garnet Beach, where he built a cottage and boathouse. One problem with an enclosed boathouse with a slip is that beavers see it as a beaver lodge. One spring the Ward boathouse was found to be totally filled with the sorts of branches beavers like to eat. Edith and Roy Ahara eventually became the sole owners of lot 3, and in due course the cottage passed to their daughter Ann. It was sold to the present owners, Joe and Beth Laface, in about 2007.

Lot 4 Sword, Rose and Worrall: Lot 4 was rocky, and on a steep hill, and was not built upon until 1946. Hal and Adelaide Sword were introduced to Bona Vista as friends of George and Vera Brown, whom they visited in 1938. That summer the Swords rented the Cottage on the Point with friends of the George Brown’s, Anne and Dick Saunders. They rented the Hanna cottage on lot 18 for several sum- mers, and in 1946 bought lot 4 from Anna Brown. The cottage they built was of a much more modern design than the traditional plan, and was actually constructed by Bill Monro. The Swords lived in the Little’s cottage on Lot 21 until July 21st, after which they moved in to the unfinished building. Building supplies were scarce in the years after World War II. Hal. Sword somehow obtained six kegs of nails, and traded two of them to Bert Boothby for maple syrup. Lumber came from various sources. They found some good pine in Orillia, and got rafters from the Boyce Cunnington mill on Haystack Bay. Siding came from the Huntsville Planing Mill. In 1947 they built a small cabin, initially to be used as an ice house and eventually con- verted to a guest cabin. The dispute over the building of the Sword’s fireplace resulted in Bill Munro walking off the job and Godlip Stone beginning to work around Bona Vista. Adelaide Sword had firm ideas on how a fire- place should be built, and tried to insist that Mr. Munro build it her way. She also disliked the amount of mortar spilling out from the new stonework of the chimney, and she climbed the ladder, attempting to clean some of it off. “She come at me with a knife” Mr. Munro was reported to have said, “so I got out of there!”. He was building the Evans boathouse at the time, so he got on with that job. Mr. Munro built many fireplaces over the years, and they all drew very well, but as the Evans boys found one winter when they tried to sleep in front of the fireplace at their cottage, Munro’s design threw almost no heat. The Evans boys’ case of beer froze, and at about three in the morning they gave up and headed back to their car. In 1960 the Swords build a boat house with living quarters above. In a number of years the Swords summered in the boathouse and rented the cottage to families who became close friends of many of their neighbours. The Swords owned the land until 1996. It was then sold to Barbara and Larry Rose and Barbara’s brother Robert Worrall. After three generations of cottaging at Lake Erie the Rose family headed north to quieter waters and smaller lakes where water skiing and wakeboarding were better, ducks and loons out numbered gulls and long traffic jams tried the nerves. Cottages have always been about family so when their Uncle Bob came along for the adventure the fun was doubled. They fell in love with the quaint Muskoka cabin and its charming boat- house. With a few minor updates they maintained the rustic feel of a traditional Muskoka cottage. Barbara notes: “All four of the Rose children have worked their teenaged summers in Muskoka. Port Cunnington Lodge, Bigwin Inn Golf Course, and Muskoka Woods Resort have provided wonderful memories and experiences for the Rose children and many of their city friends. Sharing the cottage experience with so many family members and friends has created wonderful memories and a great collection of photos that grace the walls of the cottage. The most memorable times might be the bear at the back door during dinner, the mallard that would waddle up the hill to the front door for bread crumbs, the seven pound pike Greg caught off the dock, Bob and Dave’s swim to Seagull Island, fireworks on Dwight Bay, Dave and Karen’s wedding, and Larry’s inevitable, annual, unintentional, swim during opening and closing. It isn’t just one event that makes Bona Vista so much a part of who we are but the summer cottage life that happens around the fire, on the dock, or out on the lake that brings us back year after year with the excite- ment of Christmas morning.”

Lot 5 Heron, French, Wheeler, Connolly/Gordon Lot 5 was bought by Archie Heron in 1913, after spending several summers at Glenmount. He was not a minister, but his son Mac reported that Archie qualified for Bona Vista because he was an elder of the Kirk. Archie was a builder, and he did the construction himself with a gang of men. Many relatives visited, with Sadie Heron and Margaret Heron French cooking for large house- holds. When Archie died he left the cottage to his sister Sadie. On her death it passed to her niece Eleanor Wheeler and to Mac Heron. Mac subsequently sold his share to Eleanor and established a new cottage at MacDonald’s Bay, but he continued to be involved in Bona Vista activities. Bill and Eleanor Wheeler were always in the thick of community activity. Bill was often involved with the regatta. Eleanor was very proud of the fact that the Wheeler kids almost all learned to swim before they could walk. Connolly-Gordon cottage in summer

The Wheeler family transferred the cottage to Yves Robert in 1975. At some point the boathouse was demolished as being unsafe. In 2003 Mr. Robert sold the cottage to Stuart Connolly and Elaine Gordon, who are the present owners.

Connolly-Gordon cottage in winter Lt 6 Ralph, MacGrigor, Neichenbauers. Lot 6. was, in my memory, owned by people named MacGrigor. I have a note suggesting that someone named Ralph preceded the MacGrigor owner- ship. A picture of it looks very like the other cottages built by J. A. Brown. My recollection is that Mr. MacGrigor came from St. Mary Ontario, and for many years the cottage was occupied by an elderly lady named Miss MacGrigor. There was a nephew named Billy who was often at the cottage, and was interested in boats. MACGRIGOR COTTAGE In May of 1997 the cottage was purchased by the Neichenbauers. I am not clear on when the old cottage was demolished and a new, year-round home built. During the first few years of their ownership the Neichenbauers enjoyed the place mainly on weekends, and Donna reports that her younger son and daughter embraced Bona Vista as a retreat to indulge with their university friends. She fears that in those years nights on Lake of Bays were given a little extra “spirit” compli- ments of her twenty-something son and daughter. The Neichenbauers are now grandparents to seven, and nights on the Lake are now quiet and tranquil. The children work at getting the grandchildren to sleep. Donna admits to looking forward to a future of grandchildren making a little noise. The Neichenbauers now look at their home on Lake of Bays as their primary residence, although they do spend much of the winter in Burlington. Donna still insists on January and February visits, and feels at peace at her home on Lake of Bays.

Lot 7. Hamilton, Brown, Dyer, Purdue, Scarfe Lot 7 is a cottage built about 1912 or 13 by a Mr. Hamilton, for his daughter, but as she wasn’t interested it was not used for some years. Sometime in 1917 or 1918 it began being occupied by Mr. And Mrs Harry Brown and their six children. They used the cottage until the mid-1930’s. It was then rented for several years to Mr. George Dyer, a Toronto school teacher, and his wife. They bought the place and summered there until 1951. The Woodside Family rented the cottage in 1952 and 53. It was then bought by the Rev. Keith and Evelyn Purdue, who summered there with their chil- dren. In 1972 they bought a cottage at Clovelly. Mr and Mrs Neil Howard owned it between 1973 and 1978, when it was bought by Colin and Audry Scarfe. They have two daughters, Susan and Gillian. Gillian Scarfe wrote: “My parents, Colin and Audrey, bought the cottage in late 1977 following our exodus to Toronto from the sub- urbs of Montreal after the Parti Quebecois victory in Quebec. My ELEANOR, JOHN, MICHAEL AND father had been promoted to the ALEXANDER WOODSIDE WITH executive offices of 7UP Canada JUDGE BARTON AT THE SCARFE and wanted to celebrate by reward- COTTAGE, 1952 ing the family with a summer cottage. The family consisted of my parents, sister Susan and myself (Gillian) along with a family dog or two. The cottage remains very much like it was in 1977 – seasonal, heated by fireplace, cooled by airflow and fabulous. Over the past couple of years since my father’s death I have made some changes inside to relocate the kitchen on the east side facing the lake so that the chef du jour doesn’t have to feel left out of the action. And the bathroom has been moved from its traditional location in the middle of the kitchen off to a more private area! Other than adding some new windows on the first floor the cottage is remarkably unchanged on the exterior. Bona Vista has been a great place to spend summer weekends and the precious stolen week or two. Having now spent more than 30 years in this location I feel like mother nature herself – I can recall when trees were small, when roads were dirt and cottages had no such thing as air conditioning! As an avid runner I have made trail on the South Portage Road since I was 14. My father and I used to run a 5 mile route southbound from Bona Vista to around Clovelly and back; now I run this route solo and enjoy the scenery and memories. Of course there had to be a swim to Point Ideal ! I think both my father and I did the pass on separate occasions with my mother in the boat shouting encouragement and protecting us from ski boats and such. I enjoyed sailing a small dinghy that dad bought from Baysville Marine one year. He was an avid fisher even post stroke – he used to get up early and sneak out for the peace and quiet we thought since he hardly ever came back SCARFE COTTAGE TODAY with any fish! A trick he learned from our neighbour Bill McGrigor – out quietly before dawn .. Bill was an expert at that! The seasonal cottage is becoming a rarity on Lake of Bays and specifically in Bona Vista but I love the simplicity and the quiet. There is nothing like sleeping in a 100+ year old house warm and cozy with bedrooms ceilings open to the rafters and being coaxed to sleep by the rain on the roof. Nor is there anything like waking with the dawn in the morning and enjoying coffee on the dock while the sun comes up to warm the day. It is magical in its simplicity.”

Lot 8 – Calder Sisters, Nelsons, Laface. The cottage on Lot 8, was built by Mr. J. A. Brown to be owned by his wife Lizzie, as an investment. Among the earliest tenants was the Ward family, who lived in it in 1910 while their own cottage was being built. In about 1918 it was bought by the four Calder sisters, Misses Jessie, Grace, Anne and Margaret. Miss Jessie was a Toronto School teacher, with a keen interest in Canadian history. In later years the Calder Sisters would be driven up from the City by Don Boothby. The cottage, like many of those built in the J. A. Brown era, had a screened in “sleeping porch” facing the lake, permitting a sense of sleeping in the open air. Like many of the cottages, it had a large number of very small bedrooms, generally open above the level of the plate. It passed from the Calders to Stan Plumb, and was bought by Harold and Helen Nelson in 1963. The Nelsons were friends of the George and Vera Brown and had first visited them in 1951, and continued for a number of years, sometimes as tenants in their Boat House. Harold Nelson’s family had connection to Lake of Bays going back to the 1890’s. Two of his great uncles had logged on old farm sites between Beckett’s Bay - what we now call MacDonald’s Bay and Britannia. Harold’s grandmother brought her children to summer at an old farmhouse there. Later Harold’s mother summered in a building on MacDonald’s Bay owned by Connie Easton. It was purchased by Joe Laface. The cottage was torn down and a new one built in its place. Lots 9 and 10 – Turnbull, Vic Roberts, O’Rourke, Ross McKenzie, Sam and Marcia Havens The cottage on the Turnbull property, lots 9 and 10, was started sometime around 1904. It was completed in 1910. The furniture was also built by Mr. Turnbull. Not everyone used the Bona Vista Road. The Vic Roberts family remember motoring to Glenmount, and then being picked up and taken to Bona Vista by Bert Boothby. The property eventually passed to Dr. Turnbull’s daughter Elsie and her husband Victor Roberts. Elsie died in 1948 and Vic Roberts in 1963. Their son Bill Roberts was very actively involved in the Bona Vista commu- nity. In his early teens he began doing the ordering and distribution of supplies. He was responsible for installing a substantial diving board on the big dock. The diving tower was a project of Vic Roberts and the Little girls – Marnee and Bus Little, Marni and Bette Roberts – who put on a bazaar to raise money for it.

HAVENS’ COTTAGE In 1968 the property was sold to Ross McKenzie, who demolished the old building by burning it, and built a modern one-story cottage on the site. In 1978 it was sold to Sam and Marcia Havens, of Arizona, who were friends of the Murphys, the buyers of the Cottage on the Point. The Havens made extensive improvements, and continue as the owners.

Lots 11 & 12, The Cottage on the Point: Lots 11 and 12 were the J. A. Brown cottage. It originally had a boathouse, with living accommodation above it on the north side of the property. It was often rented for one month during the summer, and after Mr. Brown died his daughter Anna often rented it out for the whole summer. Dr. Roy and Minnie Coutts and their children summered there for many years. The Coutts were cousins of Vera Brown, and she introduced them to Bona Vista. The cottage was also rented on occasion to Dick and Anne Saunders, who went there one summer with the Swords. The George Browns had no icehouse until about 1946, and liked to have friends in the cottage on the point so that the icehouse could be shared. Stuart Jaffary was acquainted with George Brown because they had studied at the University of Chicago at the same time. The Browns helped arrange for the Jaffarys to rent the cottage from Miss Anna Brown during August, from 1941 to 1944. The cottage was blessed with two beaches. The one on the north side, nearest the big dock, was called the front beach while the lovely gentle beach on the north side, always sheltered from north winds, was known as the back beach. Many people in the Bona Vista community swam regularly from the back beach, with much communal standing in the water while discussing the state of the world. It was a fine place for little children, while the adoles- cents were more likely to be found at the big dock. By the summer of 1941 there was a road access, by way of a slightly im- proved township road to the Britannia hotel and a barely passable old log- ging road leading in to Bona Vista. There were several big hills on the Britannia Road, one at least that the Jaffarys’ 1936 Plymouth could not climb without taking a big run, with strong men standing by to push on the last leg. Stuart and his friend took up positions at the stall point, Mary Jaffary took the car way back for the run, gunned the engine and miraculously got to the top without being pushed! Ever after the Jaffarys have called that hill “Mary’s Hill”. POINT AND BOATHOUSE Cottages needed to be “opened” for the summer. There were shutters on all the windows. The cottage had a hand pump for lake water, but it had to be hooked up afresh each year. Like most cottages in the 1940’s cooking was done on a wood stove, for which kindling had to be split. During the 1941 to 1944 period the George Browns were particular friends of the Jaffarys, with much picnicking together. The boathouse that went with the cottage on the point was falling into disrepair, and it finally collapsed with a loud crash and much laughter on a windless night when the Vic Roberts were having a party. Stuart Jaffary spent some time dismantling the wreckage, and several years later was able to incorporate some of the used lumber into the tent floor he built on what became the Jaffary property on lots 14 and 15. In 1945 the cottage on the point was sold to the Greer and Helen (Torchy) Roberts. They made major improvements, including construction of a new boathouse. The Roberts were wonderful neighbours. Shortly after they acquired the land they transferred a parcel to the George Browns, giving them enough land to permit the building of an ice house. The Roberts continued to see the property as, in some ways, a community asset. Large numbers of people were welcomed to use the back beach, where a raft for swimming was installed. The point of land to the south of the cottage was often used for community bonfires. Greer Roberts acquired a handsome mahogany launch, and a small outboard from which he fished very success- fully. Greer’s brother Kelso was for a time the Minister of Lands and Forests in the Ontario government, and on one memorable occasion he had the pilot of a float plane touch down on the water adjacent to Greer’s boat. Greer had just caught a fine lake trout, which he gave Kelso. The only downside of all of this was that the amount of fish stocking in the lake seemed to diminish. The Minister now realized that there were lots of fish in the lake! Georgina (Prentice) Greenhough says that her family felt that Greer Roberts was the best fisherman. He went out trolling in a ‘secret” spot in the late afternoon, with a friendly wave as he retuned at dusk holding his catch. Greer use to deny that there was any secret spot. When I once asked him why he was so successful he told me that he spent most of one winter looking at a fishing lure and trying to imagine exactly what a fish would like to see. This led him to develop a special sort of twitch he would give to his line. That was the secret, and he never passed it on. Sometime in the 1960’s Torchy negotiated with the Needler family and another land owner to acquire the land between the South Portage Road and the western property line of the cottages in the southern part of Bona Vista. In 1966 she kindly transferred ownership of appropriate adjoining parcels to the owners of lots 14 to 20, all at no cost other than a share of surveying charges. Greer Roberts died in 1983, and shortly thereafter the cottage was sold to the present owners, the Murphy family. They have completely rebuilt the Cottage on the point, still on its original site. They have also done significant landscaping around the back beach and on the point. They, too, have been good neighbours, hosting BBQ’s at the back beach and otherwise taking a leading role in the community.

MURPHY COTTAGE Barbara Murphy wrote: “Barbara and Ed Murphy from Phoenix Arizona purchased the property in 1981 at the depths of the recession. Remember when interest rates were in the high teens! We had no idea what a wonderful property it would become and what joy it has granted our family. When we realized what we had we wanted to retain the tranquility and peacefulness while upgrading the cottage and retain the natural beauty. Ed was one of the early telecommuters and was able to continue his investment consulting and advisory business from the cottage. We have made great friends at the lake and feel great joy in becoming part time Canadians and “Sunbirds”. Our children and grandchildren love the cottage and the lake. It’s their favorite vacation spot. We love having friends over to play lawn games and play pool and ping pong in the garage/game room. At the time when we bought it was a very risky feeling decision. Ed agonized over it for a month and finally told the lawyer he couldn’t go through with it. Fine, said the lawyer but at this late date you will lose your $10,000 deposit. O.K. well then lets go through with it. One of the 3 or 4 best decisions we have ever made. Thank you Canada and thank you to the fabulous water called Lake of Bays.”

Lot 13, Black, G.W. Brown, Hadwen Lot 13, immediately to the south of the Cottage on the Point, was owned by a Miss Marjorie Black, a Toronto school teacher. The cottage was built in 1911 or 1912. The Blacks had summered at Norway Point, and Mrs J. A. Brown - Lizzie – was a great aunt of the Blacks. The Blacks rented the cottage on lot 8 while their own was being built. Marjorie, her sisters Iza,

BROWN-HADWEN COTTAGE FROM LAKE HADWEN COTTAGE Annie and a brother Jim would summer there. Another sister was married to the Rev. Mr. MacKeracher, and the MacKerachers and their two children would come for a month. After Iza died in 1928 the family did not come very often, and they began renting the cottage. For several years, from at least 1940, it was rented to George and Vera Brown. They had no ice house in those days, and were pleased when they had friends or relatives living in the Cottage on the Point, and sharing the ice house. George and Vera Brown purchased lot 13 in 1945, and they also added 50 ft to the frontage to the south, buying enough land for a boathouse, and bought about 50 feet to the north from the Greer Roberts, providing land for an ice house. The Boathouse is a “dry” two-storey affair, with the ability to provide living quarters on each floor. As the number of people using the space increased a separate bath-house, with access from any of the spaces was built. As time went on it was very much a family cottage, used by the Browns’ four children, their spouses, their large families and many grandchildren. Once electricity came, and the ice house was no longer needed it was converted into a guest cabin called the igloo. It was not unusual for there to be over 30 people all sharing the various accommodations. Indeed, the cottage had a reversible sign that hung over the porch. Sometimes it read “The Worn Doorstep” and at others “Grand Hotel”. Over the years two of the G. W. Brown children, Sylvia Brown Gwynn- Timothy and Roger Brown died, although close ties were maintained with their families. Roger’s widow Ruth, Shirley and her husband John Hadwen and the Kenneth Brown family all lived in Ottawa, a long drive from Bona Vista, and some of them had vacation places closer to Ottawa. After John Hadwen’s death it seemed desirable for some members of the family to take over the property to take responsibility for its upkeep and improvement. That has now been done by the Hadwen children, and significant improve- ments have been made.

Lots 14 & 15 Jaffary Lots 14 and 15 were bought from Anna Brown by Stuart and Mary Jaffary in 1945. They had been introduced to Bona Vista by the George Browns, and had rented the J.A. Brown cottage on the point during August in 1941 through 1944. In 1945, after the Cottage on the Point was sold, to the Greer Roberts, Mary and Stuart found that there were two unsold lots still avail- able in Bona Vista. The lots were thought to be unbuildable, as the rock ridge at this point turned to an east-west direction, leaving most of the land high above the Lake and with virtually no level places, but Stuart thought something could be done. At the time of the purchase from Anna Brown a 50 foot frontage from lot 14 was added to lot 13, aligning the southern boundary of lot 13 roughly with the line of the major rock ridge, and provid- ing a site for the George Brown dock and boathouse. The total purchase price for 280 feet of frontage was $200, with $60 paid by George Brown. Stuart Jaffary thought this made him a successful real estate speculator! For the years 1946 to 1948 they summered in tents. There was one “big” 10 feet x 12 feet tent that served as Mary and Stuart’s bedroom. Stuart got some used lumber from the wreck of the boathouse owned by the Cottage on the Point and built a floor and walls about 3 feet high, so that the tent could be erected on top of that. Toward the end of the first summer they built a sort of shed, entirely wrapped in roofing paper, with the front hinged and propped open with a pair of sticks. The shed was called the “box”, because Stuart’s first plan had been to build a large box into which the tent, beds and other equipment could be placed for the winter. When he was buying materials for it, the lumber yard man suggested that it might make sense to make it big enough so that you could actually stand up in it. The box was 7 feet square, and became Karl’s bedroom. There was no cottage, but there were other “improvements” on the site. A crude privy, with a seat made of smooth wood donated by Hal Sword was an early addition. One area called the kitchen was levelled out a bit and given a rough roof. There was a coal-oil stove, buckets of water (both lake and drinking), a dish pan, a small open-air fireplace and a heavy book-box mounted on a tree to serve as a cupboard. All of the cooking utensils hung on a tree. - obviously, the “pan tree”. They have a painting of it, done by the Jaffarys’ friend Claude Lewis. On another eventually levelled spot was a sort of picnic table and three chairs. That was the dining room. One of the very first professionally built structures was a crib dock, built by Bill Monro. In those days people wouldn’t have dreamed of buying squared timbers for dock work. Trees were felled and held into a crib by iron rods fabricated by someone local. Mary Jaffary particularly liked the informality and lack of house-cleaning that went with tenting summers. She said she liked the fact that when she found coffee grounds in her cup, or crumbs on a plate, she could just throw then over her shoulder. An acquaintance of my father’s named Arthur Brown had a place down the lake. He arrived at the Jaffary dock one day with his daughter, and came up for a cup of coffee. They sat around chatting for a while, and then Mr. Brown decided that all of this could be an educa- tional experience for his daughter. “Mary-Jane”, he said, gesturing at Stuart, “This is an educated man. A highly educated man, with a PhD. And this is his wife, a well educated woman. And this is how they live!” Mary Jaffary thought he probably meant it as a tribute to the simple life, but it came out more like an illustration of insanity. By the end of the summer in 1948 the Jaffarys had arranged for Godlip Stone to build a cottage. Material was to come from the Huntsville Planing Mill. There were problems, the first being transportation of the materials. The path up to the building site from the dock was too steep to make deliv- ery by water a good choice. Mr. Stone solved it by cutting a passage through the woods, in a place where the steep rise south of the Brown’s was not impassable. He then had the materials delivered, and loaded on to a sleigh owned by a farmer named Mr. Beswick. His team of horses pulled the load up to the Jaffary site during the winter. The materials then waited for spring. It was really a remarkably simple construction. No board in the place was bigger than a 2 inch x 6 inch plank. For the sills, and the one beam running down the centre, Godlip joined three planks together by “spiking the teetotal hell out of them!”. The floor joists were also 2 inch x 6 inch on 24 inch centres, with the result that the floor had a lively bounce reminiscent of a trampoline. There was no sheathing. The outside walls consisted of siding nailed directly on to the framing. The roof was 1 inch hemlock shiplap covered with asphalt shingles. As time went on knots popped out of the hemlock and Stuart Jaffary offered a prize of 25 cents to anyone who actually got hit by a knot! There was no electrical wiring, and no indoor plumbing. The few inside partitions only went as high as the plate. Its best feature was that the kitchen was separated from the living room by only a wide counter. This was not how most houses were laid out in those days, but Mary disliked working in the kitchen where she was cut off from what everyone else was doing or saying. Shortly after they first moved inside it started to rain, and the sound of rain on the roof was very noticeable. Mary Jaffary loved it! When they were in tents rain meant that everything became damp. Mary found the sound of rain on the roof very comforting during her whole life. A guest cabin was built by Stuart and Karl in 1964, and there were several additions to the main building. Karl and Ann Jaffary separated in 1982, but it was agreed that Ann would be able to use the cottage for four weeks a summer for “at least five years”. She has done so ever since. In 2000-2001 a garage with an apartment above was built. Since it was winterized for year round use, the family calls it the “Winter Palace.” Karl Jaffary’s second wife Sherrill Cheda died in 2008, and while Karl continues to use the Winter Palace, in 2009 title to the whole property was transferred to Eric and Nora Jaffary, who use it with their spouses and children.

Lots 16 and 17 Hanna, Evans, Stark Lots 16 and 17 were owned by a Mr. Hanna, with an old-fashioned cottage on lot 17 and lot 16 left vacant. Mr Hanna died in 1938 and Mrs. Hanna did not want to use the cottage. Fred and Myrtle Evans were friends of Mac and Dorothy Farris, and visited them in 1935, by which time the Farris’ owned the cottage on lot 18. The Evans enjoyed the visit, and in two subsequent years they rented the cottage on lot 19 from the owner, Mr. Mackenzie. In about 1940 they inquired about renting the Hanna cottage and found the owner wanted to sell it, so they stretched their budget and purchased. The Evans had four children and created room for expansion by having Bill Monro build a boat house with sleeping quarters above in 1947. By 1967 three of the four Evans children were married. As the years passed the boathouse deteriorated to the point where the Evans felt it might be unsafe, so they demolished it, leaving only the large old cottage for what had be- come a large family. In 1972 they erected a small Viceroy prefab cottage on lot 16, and Fred and Myrtle moved into it. One of the most exciting stories about the Evans use of the cottage is told by Ken Prentice. On a Victoria day weekend in 1963 or ’64 one of the Evans grandchildren was sitting in Fred’s boat when, somehow, the outboard engine started and the boat broke the mooring lines and took off from the dock with the child at the wheel. Jean Bruce screamed, while Fred and Doug gave chase in Doug’s mahogany Sheppard inboard. They pulled alongside, and Doug jumped into the runaway boat, saving the day. After Fred’s death there was less family interest in the cottage. Daughters Jean Bruce and Barbara Dimas were both widows, with Barbara living in the

PA PE DO BOATHOUSE

United States. Sons Bill and Doug had from time to time done a lot of work on the old cottage, but neither seemed fixated on keeping it, so the site was sold to Cindy and Alvin Stark in about 2005. The old cottage, and eventually the newer Viceroy building were demolished, and a very handsome new building was erected. In building the new cottage the Starks maintained the original shoreline and removed only trees set well-back from the lake. They built on the same footprint as the old cottage, with great views of the lake. Some parts of the old cottage were incorporated into the new. The old bedroom doors and latches still hang, and the bathroom mirrors are made from windows from the old cottage. Cedar from the Viceroy cottage was used throughout the screened porch. The Stark family – Alvin and Cindy and daughters Jill and Alison water ski, kayak, swim and hike. In the winter of 2009-10 they built a rink and skated three weekends in a row. It is the Stark’s dream to spend their retirement living year round at the cottage.

Lot 18 Weir, Faris, Hull Lot 18 and perhaps lot 19 were originally owned by a Mr. George Weir. Some years later lot 18 was acquired by Mac and Dorothy Faris. They and their children, Pat, Peter and Dorothy occupied it until 1969. The cottage was called Pa Pe Do. For some years Peter looked after the ordering of food for the cottagers in the community. Mrs. Faris was very proud of owning a washing machine, with a wooden tank and power provided by a small gas engine. However, a porcupine got in the habit of chewing away at the nicely-flavoured wood of the tank. Dorothy knew that you weren’t supposed to kill porcupines, but late one night she was so angry that she attacked the animal with an axe! Unfortunately, the animal turned out to be a skunk! All summer there was much buying and bathing in tomato juice. In 1969 the cottage was bought by Anne and Rodney Hull. They had five young children at that time. The cottage is small, but it can sleep 14 people, and has a boathouse with living quarters above and a “Bunkie” cabin. The second floor bedrooms have partitions that do not go to the ceiling, and curtains covering the door. Anne noted that there was not much privacy involved. In 1985 they incorporated the screen porch into the cottage, put on a new good-sized kitchen and bathroom, and put the cottage up on stilts as a start to winterizing. The Hull children have grown up, and some of the families live in different parts of Canada and the United States. Ian and Michael and their families visit from time to time. Anne and Rodney were devoted to the cottage. They explored the area on day trips, painting the beautiful landscape. Rodney has been producing great soapstone and wood carvings, and he liked to catch- and-release lake trout. Rodney Hull was a much loved and respected member of the community. Sadly, suddenly and unexpectedly he died in December, 2009. He will be much missed. Lot 19 Weir, MacKenzie, Prentice Lot 19 was first owned by Mr. Weir, and was sold to the Rev. Mr. MacKenzie, a United Church minister. Mr. MacKenzie owned what must have been the first sail boat at Bona Vista, a gaff rigged boat that was still stored in the rafters of the veranda when the Prentices took possession. According to the current owners the cottage and an ice house were built in 1914. At some point Mr. MacKenzie and the Rev. James Little, the owner of lot 21, realized that there was a vacant lot, number 20, between them. They decided to buy it and divide it between the two properties, so as to preserve their privacy, and that was done. Clarke Prentice shot a buck on Evans point in November, 1944, and re- marked to his brother-in-law Bill Timbers that this would be a great place for a summer cottage. Mr. Timbers saw a newspaper ad for the cottage, and they visited the site and Mr. And Mrs. MacKenzie in the spring of 1945. The asking price was $650, but Mr. Prentice negotiated a price of $625 including contents and a boat. The Prentices took title in the name of Annie Florence Prentice. In later years Mrs Prentice recalled her first visit, a six hour trip from Markham Township to a parking spot near the George Brown cottage. They had with them Georgina, aged five, and John 3 months old. Georgina re- members the arrival: “Arriving at dusk and parking behind the Brown’s cottage it was too dark to walk along the path to the new cottage. Father asked Mrs. Brown if she could take my mother, myself and the baby by boat to our dock. Mrs Brown and her daughter Shirley offered and off we went in their canoe. I remember my mother being quite worried and nervous in the canoe and holding Johnny very tightly. My father then went back to our car in a row boat to get our belongings. “These were the days of kerosene lamps and wood stoves before the hydro line was put through, and my sisters and I have often marvelled at ‘how did mother do it?’, with a small baby and all the diapers. There were no dispos- able diapers in those days! Drinking water was available from a small spring behind the Faris (now Hull) cottage next door, but down to the lake with pails was the order of the day for everything else. We wonder if time at the cottage was any sort of holiday for the mother.” As the years passed the Prentice family numbers increased to six children. The Evans family had at one time rented the MacKenzie cottage, so they knew how small it was, and Doug Evans sometimes asked where they all slept. A number of updates and improvements took place. 1954 saw the new sheet aluminium roof. 1957 brought a granite fireplace, built by Godlip Stone with rock from the blasting of the South Portage Road extension. Electricity was installed in the late 1950’s, and running water and indoor plumbing from a new well in 1983. A new addition for the kitchen and bathroom came at about the same time. The height chart, showing the height of each child once per summer remains, and some grandchildren and great grandchildren’s names now appear. Clarke and Anne Prentice died in 1988 and 2007. The cottage is now owned by all six children, with the youngest four, George, Catharine, Christina and Ken the actual user-owners, sharing most costs and available vacation weeks.

Lot 21, Little, Arnup, Diehl, Glasgow, Young, Bell The Rev. Dr. James Little, his wife Charlotte and daughters Marnee and Agnes first came to Lake of Bays in 1920. They spent two weeks at Norway Point, and made arrangements to rent the Rev. J. A. Brown’s boathouse for the summer of 1921. They then agreed to purchase the most southerly lot, number 21. To the south of lot 21 is a massive granite formation, effectively cutting the lot off from anything further south. The land slopes steeply up from the water, and with the additional half lot to the north, it is exceptionally private. In 1922 the Littles rented the J. A. Brown cottage in July, built a dock and a small cabin they moved into in August. That cabin was used as kitchen, dining room and living room and the family slept in two large tents. Agnes Arnup, writing in 1982 remembers a night when they were awakened by a bright light that lit up the whole tent. That was the fire that burned down the WaWa Hotel, at Norway Point on August 20th, 1923. Before they bought their first car in 1928 the journey to the cottage was by train to Huntsville, steamer to North Portage, the little train across the portage and finally by steamer to the Bona Vista dock. Supplies would be waiting for them on the dock, and they took their trunks and supplies by row boat to the cottage. Even after they got a car the road only went as far as the Clarke cottage. The cabin eventually became the kitchen of the cottage that was built in 1925 by Bert Boothby. Much of the original cottage is still there – the three original bedrooms, the living room and the veranda. Dr. Little died in 1935. At that time Marnee was married to Alan Diehl, and they had two children, Peter and Beverley. Agnes French married Harold Arnup in 1939. Electricity came in the 1950’s and in the beginning the Littles didn’t even have an ice house. They had a box and a large tin that they buried at the foot of the rock. After Al Diehl’s death in 1959, Marnee mar- ried Paul Glasgow. In 1973 the Arnups bought Marnee’s share of the cot- tage, and in 1977 they replaced the old kitchen and bathroom with new and added a master bedroom. The veranda and dining room were glassed in. Docks have been repaired or upgraded as needed. Five generations at the cottage have enjoyed long walks, badminton, croquet, bocce ball, card games and reading books. While the Greer Roberts owned the cottage on the point Arnup cottage people joined many others on the back beach while the older children swam at the big dock. During the last 85 years the cottage has had a wide variety of boats The Littles started with a row boat, then added a canoe and a 2 and a half horse- power outboard. Much later a few power boats came and went, but there were often sailboats. First was a sailfish, then a sunfish, and then a small boat with room for several people. Currently the cottage enjoys a CL 16. There was always a canoe, and more recently kayaks. As long as the latest genera- tion is very young, and isn’t aware that the cottage could have a boat that would go really fast, power boats will stay off the list. The cottage has been known as the “Arnup Cottage since 1973, although no one now using it carries the name Arnup. Harold and Agnes had two daugh- ters, Margaret (Margi) and Susan (Sue). Margi married Vince Young, and has two grown children and three grandchildren. Susan Bawden has three grown children and three grandchildren. Everyone shares the legacy, and now there are five generations. The family lives in Toronto, Barrie, Orillia, Ottawa and New York. The cottage is where it all comes together, as it has since the early 1920’s. APPENDIX RE TITLES: While searching for information about cottage land ownership in the Bracebridge Registry Office, Gloria Woodside found a number of sales of land in what became Bona Vista. We decided that we should somehow keep track of the information, although it does not seem to form part of a com- pelling narrative. It appears that much of the logging activity was probably conducted on the basis of licenses from the Provincial government. The early years of the twentieth century was also a time when Ontario had what was known as “Homestead” legislation. This permitted potential settlers to a license to occupy land on terms that permitted them to acquire ownership if, during a period of time, they “improved” the land, perhaps by clearing it, perhaps by building on it. There was probably no distinction drawn between settlement for purposes of a summer cottage and settlement for farming. The Brown/Turnbull cottage building was probably conduced on this basis, as the first registered titles appear some five or more years after building activity started. Here is the information we have. The northern parcel, Lot 29 in Concession V, has a bit of history. It comprised 56 acres, and a Crown Patent for the whole of it was granted to Henry Pellatt on February 11, 1890. Mr. Pellatt is described as a stock broker of Toronto, he paid fifty-six dollars for the land, and is the man who in 1905 became Sir Henry Pellatt. He built Casa Loma in Toronto between 1911 and 1914, a building once described as one that “surpassed any private home in North America”. I am particularly interested that Pellatt owned the land because my friend Harold Weiler, whose family owned the cottage on lot 1, visited us in To- ronto for a few days in about 1947, and we went to see Casa Loma. Later back in Bona Vista, as Harold and I looked at the big hill just south of Point Ideal, we thought it would be wonderful to somehow re-locate Casa Loma to the top of the hill! There it would catch the last rays of the setting sun, similar to what I much later learned was the look of a castle on the Rhine River. Recognizing that this was a “Castle in the Air” we nevertheless infor- mally pledged ourselves to rebuild the castle when we grew up. Sir Henry went bankrupt in the early 1920’s. Harold and I had no idea that Sir Henry had once owned the land the Weiler cottage was on. If Sir Henry had been a real romantic he would have built his castle on the hill, where Harold and I believed it ought to have been. Interestingly, the land was described in the Crown Patent as being “mining lands”. The patent draws attention to the General Mining Act, providing that land sold as mining land leaves in Crown ownership all pine trees. Any person who has a license to cut timber may enter the lands, cut trees and make roads for that purpose. I can only guess that there was no interest in staking mining claims on the south part, and perhaps it had already been logged over, explaining the low price. The land Mr. Pellatt bought was transferred on November 2. 1892 to three men named Johnston, all described as lumbermen from the Township of Franklin, for $700.00. A few days later on November 21 1892 the new owners borrowed $1,500 against the land, all to be paid off by 1893, with interest at 9% after maturity. The mortgage was actually discharged on June 7 1894. On July 14th 1893 the three Johnstons transferred to one of their number, John Johnston, and Duncan John McPhee, an “Indian Agent” of Mara Township. On July 28th Mr. McPhee borrowed $1,000 against his half- interest from Allan McPherson, a lumberman from Rama, with interest at 8 ½%, all to be paid off in four instalments ending in August 1895. It was finally discharged on April 8, 1904. On November 9th 1895 the lands were transferred to James Haw, a hotelkeeper of the Town of Orillia, in consideration of $100.00. On the same day Mr. Haw transferred the parcel to Duncan John McPhee. Also on the same day Mr. McPhee transferred to James Fowler, a farmer of Franklin Township. All three of those transfers weren’t registered until June 11, 1904. I don’t know what to make of the foregoing. I assume that there must have been licences for cutting timber issued to some of these lumbermen. In the early 1940’s during my first visits to Bona Vista, there were the remains of what was thought to be a logging camp on the trail between Bona Vista and Little Lake (sometimes shown as “Dreamhaven Lake”). Richard Tatley’s books on the Steamboat Era in the Muskokas makes it clear that licenses for “timber limits” around much of Lake of Bays and its watersheds had been issued, creating a demand for steamboats to pull logs to sawmills and to Baysville for log drives down the South Muskoka River to the mills of the lower lakes. When the limits were gradually exhausted, logging and the steamboat activity it fostered ceased. Why the purchase prices were so varied and the mortgages so large, I do not know. Perhaps other lands were also involved, but the records I have seen don’t indicate that. On August 9th 1904 the southerly 13 acres of Lot 29 Concession V were separated off and sold to Harry W. Crump for $350. That parcel runs from the concession line between Concessions IV and V about a quarter of a mile north, along the road allowance between Franklin and Brunel townships, to the top of the northern bank of a creek, and then along that bank about 338 feet to the shoreline road allowance of the Lake. Tatley describes the “Crump Brothers” as being the owners of the Ronville Hotel, on Ten Mile Bay. The land was still subject to the original prohibition against taking pine trees, and was subject to the free use of all navigable waters; there was to be a right of access to the shore for all vessels, boats and persons, together with a right of use so much of the 66 feet from the water’s edge as “may be neces- sary for fishery purposes”. Mr. Crump’s holding also included 17 acres in the adjoining Township of Brunel (now Town of Huntsville). He sold all of his land to the Rev. J. A. Brown on 28 October 1909 for $300. Those parts of the land not surveyed into cottage lots was land eventually acquired by the Bona Vista Cottagers’ Association, over which the road now passes and which contains a path to Little (Dreamhaven) Lake. Much survey work in Muskoka was carried out between 1860 and 1864 by my paternal grandmother’s uncle John Stoughton Dennis, who named after his father and Lake Vernon after one of his assistants, Vernon Wadsworth. In those days those two sides of my family knew nothing about each other, but I am pleased that both had a share in the establishment of Muskoka. Much of the actual Lake of Bays was contained in Franklin Township, with some southern parts of the Lake in Ridout and McLean. Prior to 1971 many of the cottages and in former days the hotels were in Franklin Township, which therefore had much of the assessment and tax revenue for the area, while many of the roads and the cost of maintaining them, fell on adjoining townships. This was one of the reasons for amalgamation of Franklin with Ridout, McLean and Sinclair to form the present municipality of Lake of Bays Township. Brunell, however, was made a part of the Town of Huntsville. All of the original Bona Vista cottages are in the geographic township of Franklin. Most of the older Bona Vista cottages front on sandy beaches or on a gradually sloping shore. The most noticeable geographic feature of the community is a high ridge of rock running generally north and south, mostly to the west of the lake shore and the sites of the cottages. The ridge is very precipitous in places, and was called by some “Brown’s Rock”. To the west of the cottage lots is the (geographic) township of Brunell, separated from Franklin township by a 66 foot road allowance. Research in the Regis- try office turned up data concerning a number of real estate transactions in what is now Bona Vista in the late 19th century. The land in the south half of Bona Vista, south of the concession road allowance at which the big dock was built, is Lot 29 in Concession IV of the township of Franklin. The concession is called a “broken front” concession, as it is bounded on the east by the Lake of Bays. Mr. Brown bought the whole of lot 29 Concession IV from the Crown on January 31st, 1911. The Crown Patent shows the area of land to be 50 acres, and the whole price was sixteen dollars! Since it was bought directly from the Crown, there had been no previous owners, but it had probably been occupied by Mr. Brown and others, perhaps under formal licences of occupation, which may have given them the right to acquire land that had been “improved” by clearing or the construction of buildings. Perhaps, by working for some time to build on the land, Mr. Brown became entitled to a free grant as a homesteader. It has been said that Mr. Brown had a history of buying Crown land at low prices. Logging in Muskoka was generally conducted by lumbermen with licences to take timber, and much logging had taken place in the nineteenth century. While the original grant to Mr. Brown reserved to the Crown the right to pine trees, perhaps the fact that the best logs had been taken off may have contributed to the low price. By April 29, 1911, when the Bona Vista plan of subdivision was registered, Mr. Brown was the registered owner of all of the 21 waterfront lots shown on it. The southern lots, 9 to 21, were all in Concession IV, and the others were in Concession V, the two parts separated by a 66 foot road allowance. The most southerly was lot number 21, while the most northerly lot was number 1. The best site was on the land that had originally attracted Mr. Brown’s attention. It became Lots 11 and 12, with a high promontory overlooking the lake, and good sand beaches on either side. That is where Mr. Brown built his own cottage, often since called “The Cottage on the Point”. All of the lots were set back 66’ from a provincially mandated shore-line road allowance, originally measured back from the lake’s high water mark. There had been a dam in Baysville since the 1870’s, facilitating the saw mill operating there. Originally it was a timber dam, but that was replaced with a stone dam built by the Department of Public Works in 1918. That construc- tion raised the lake level, in some cases permitting the water to cover most of the original shore road allowance. The result has been that when it became Township policy to sell the adjoining road allowance to neighbouring prop- erty owners, some of those have found little actual dry land as part of their purchase. Shortly after the plan of subdivision was registered the lots immediately to the north of Mr. Brown’s, numbers 9 and 10 were transferred to the Rever- end John A. Turnbull, D.D., and by a separate conveyance much of the land between the subdivided lots 9 and 10 and the road allowance between Franklin and Brunell Townships was also transferred to Dr. Turnbull. Early Bona Vista people looked on Dr. Turnbull as a co-founder of the commu- nity. Messrs Brown and Turnbull together built or arranged for the building of the big dock, which lined up with the south side of the road allowance between Concessions IV and V. Early photographs show a rustic sign with the name “Bona Vista” forming an archway at the shore side of the dock, along with a pair of pagodas. Dr. Turnbull was the builder of the sign and the pagodas, the more southerly of which was located on the road allowance immediately adjoining Dr. Turnbull’s land. In 1911 Mr. Brown sold the southern part of lot 29 Concession IV, (those parts to the south of the Bona Vista plan), to George A. Needler. Dr, Needler was a Professor at the University of Toronto. He also acquired the land between the township road allowance and the Bona Vista cottage lots, and sometime later acquired a significant amount of land in the adjoining township of Brunel. After the construction of the South Portage Road in 1954, it became necessary for Bona Vista people to get access from the new road to the rear of the cottage lots. For a time people simply drove over the Needler land, with letters of permission from Dr. Needler. Eventually Helen deRoche (Torchy) Roberts, by then the owner of the original J. A. Brown cottage, acquired the necessary land from Dr. Needler and gener- ously conveyed parcels to the cottages that needed road access. Mr. Brown was interested in creating a cottage community, and he arranged for the plan of subdivision to be registered against some of the lands in both concessions. The subdivision became the Bona Vista Plan, and was regis- tered as plan M 32. He had the land laid out into lots by a surveyor from Norway Point named J. W. Tyrrell. The Tyrrell family still own a cottage at Norway Point one hundred years later. J. W. Tyrrell was also the surveyor of the subdivision plans at Norway Point and Clovelly. As a surveyor he conducted an exploratory survey of the country between Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay, travelling 5000 miles by canoe and dogsled. He wrote “Across the Sub-Arctic of Canada in 1897” and a “Report on the Great Slave Lake expedition in1901.” The area occupied 7000 years ago by the much larger predecessor of Hudson Bay is known by geographers as the prehis- toric “Tyrrell Sea”. My late cousin Katharine Martyn, who cottaged on the lake for many years, did major scholarly work in the cataloguing of J. W. Tyrrell’s papers. Mr Tyrrell’s brother J. B. Tyrrell was also a famous surveyor who, found dinosaur bones in Alberta, near Drumheller in the Red Deer River Valley. There was a huge fire in the bush, south of the Bona Vista Settlement south of lot 21, later owned by the Little family, in about 1916. The major rock outcropping at the south end of that lot was credited by some with saving the community. ACKNOWLEGEMENTS CREDIT IS OWING TO MANY FAMILIES FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND INFORMATION: Connolly, Gordon, Hadwen, Haven, Jaffary, Murphy, Neichenbauer, Woodside.