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View Tree for Joseph Thomas JOSLINJoseph Thomas JOSLIN (b. 06 Dec 1868, d. 07 Mar 1944)

Joseph Thomas JOSLIN (son of Thomas JOSLIN) was born 06 Dec 1868 in Oro Township, Ontario, Canada, and died 07 Mar 1944 in Orillia, Ontario, Canada.

 Includes NotesNotes for Joseph Thomas JOSLIN:
Referred to as 'Young Tom'. As no school had been established in the
area when he reached school age he wa sent to his Aunt & Uncle Annie &
Robert Turner in East York where he attended the Davisville School just
off Yonge Street near Hogg's Hollow. He attended there for 3 years, about
1877, until a school was opened at Sadowa about one mile from the farm.
He, of course, worked on his parents farm while attending school & during
the summers. When he finished school he worked in the winters in the
lumber camps & also on the Northern Railway in Allandale, & one winter in
a paper mill in Toronto. In 1885 he enlisted in the Queen's Own Rifles
for service in Western Canada to quell the Riel Rebellion, but was
released as the fighting was ended before the regiment entrained for the
trip west. He did not have his father's love of farming & sought out
carpentry & mechanical work.
After his marriage they went to live on a farm in Rama Township just
over the township boundary from his father's farm. The family lived here
until 1900 & their first three children were born here. At the same time
Tom learned blacksmithing in the shop of Mr. Fletcher in Coopers Falls.
In 1900 Fletcher moved to a larger shop in Washago & Tom took over the
shop & connecting house & the family remained there for the next 12
years. It was there tht their next three children were born. In 1912
moved to Hawkestone where he took over the village blacksmith shop. Tom &
Addie's first home was a small log house built by William Morrow, the
original owner of the farm, and who, a few years earlier while looking
for his livestock, had been lost in an erly fall snow storm & never
found! They kept chickens, a cow or two & a horse but they did not farme
the land which continued to be worked by Thomas snr. & the younger boys
as they became old enough along with the home farm just across the
Dalton/Rama township line. They lived here until 1900 & Tom worked in the
lumber camps in winter & at carpentry work in the summer. With a growing
family to support & having found he had an aptitude for metal working as
well as wood working, Tom arranged to learn blacksmithing from Robert
Fletcher who operated a shop at nearby Coopers Falls. In 1900 Fletcher
decided to move to Washago & Tom purchased the Coopers Falls blacksmith
shop.
The town was at that time a thriving backwoods settlement with a Post
Office, two general stores, a sawmill, a three storey boarding house, a
public house, a cheese factory & three blacksmiths shops. Lumbering was
then at it's peak & local farms were fast coming into full production.
The school & four churches were located west of the town. The school &
two churches, Presbyterian & Methodist, (later combined as Wesley
United), were about two miles distant, while the Anglican & Free
Mehtodist were a mile & a half from town. As the first settlers in the
district were the farmers, the churches & the school were placed close to
their farms; the town was no built until until a later date following
establishment of the sawmill on a site with water power.
Tom was a good craftsman with both wood & metal & soon found it necessary
to double the size of his shop. He was also n excellent mechanic & was
always experimenting with, or improving, existing machines or building
new ones. One of his first projects was to adapt a steam threshing
engine for winter use in lumbering. He replaced the front wheels with
sleigh runners & equipped the rear drive wheels with a track of steel
links & wooden treads. It worked very well & was used in local lumbering
operation for a number of years & might have had a bearing on th family's
future had it been protected by patents. An implement manufacturer who
examined the modofied machine was sufficiently impressed to send an
engineer to study its construction & performance. However the engineer
filed and unfavourable report & the matter was not pursued further. It
was later learned the engineer left his employer & patented a similar
machine which he successfully produced & marketed. As lumbering declined
in the district & farming increased, a line of farm machinery was added
to the blacksmithing service including a chopping mill which was noted by
the local newspaper as follows :-
"Coopers Falls, March 22nd. 1906
Mr. Thomas Joslin, our enterprising blacksmith, has added a gasoline
chopper to his many mechanised appliances & farmers are not slow in
taking advantage of this new convenience"
Thus gasoline power reaced the district & gasoline to operate this
service had to be ordered from Toronto, shipped by train in wooden
barrels to Washago, & then carried by horse & wagon the six miles to
Coopers Falls.
At about this time the sawmill was destroyed by fire & shortly after one
of the stores. Lumbering by this time had passed well beyond the
transportation limits of the day & the sawmill was not rebuilt although
the store was. The second store was closed with the death of the owner &
the two other blacksmiths shops went out of business. Mill workers moved
away & thir houses stood empty; a number of unprofitable farms were
abandone & the cheese factory closed for lack of milk. With the area in
decline Tom sold his shop in 1910 but it survived only two years under
new ownership & was then closed never to re-open.
Tom moved the family, by now six children, to Washago & returned to
carpentry. He joined the Canadian Northern Railway, Bridge & Building
Dept.. The railway was at that time extending its line from Parry Sound
to Western Canada to form the transcontinental system. He worked mainly
in Northern Ontario until 1912 when he was injured in the wreck of a work
train at Ruel, later renamed Hornepayne. While recovering from his
injuries he decided to leave the railway & again establish his own
business.
The blacksmith shop at Hawkestone, a mile & a half from the farm on which
he was born, was vacant. The location, which he had visited during the
life of his grandmother, Rebecca Ady, seemed an ideal place in which to
establish a business & a permanent home for a growing family, so he &
Addie moved there ion September 1912.
Hawkestone was at that time the business centre of Oro Township; it
boasted a bank, three stores, a farm implement agency, sawmill &
gristmill, both water powered by Hawkestone Creek, & the blacksmith shop
located near Stone's General Store. It was also the railway shipping
point for several cattlle drovers, who handled livestock from the local
farms & for those shipping potatoes apples & other farm products. There
was also a two roomed school, two churches & a community hall. A
prosperous comunity with plenty of work for growing boys. Many of the old
families had known the Joslins & the Adys & as Tom had visited there
periodically through th years & he had many friends to welcome him back.
Durins the 20's & 30's the automobile had come into its own & the
blacksmiths shop hjad gradually become a garage. First the automobile &
then the farme tractor took over from the horses & th business of the
country community became a part of the large neighbouring towns of Barrie
& Orilla. Tom changed with the times & first persuaded Garnet & later
Walker to take auto mechanics courses & both at different times joined
him in the garage before moving on to other fields. It was from the
courses taken by his sons & his own mechanical aptitude & personal
experience that Tom became a fine auto mechanic in his later years..
The great depression which started in 1929 found the blacksmith shop &
garage well established but with widespread unemployment in the cities
there was little or no money available for even the necesstiies of life &
farm products remained unsold, or, if sold, brought such a poor return
that the cost of production was not recovered in many instaances, &
repairs or replacem,ent of fafrm equipment could not be afforded. Many
times horses were shod, & equipment & vehicles were repaired in excahnge
for vegetables, meat & dairy products. But farm produce would not buy
parts & materuial & consequently the business was hard pressed at times
to provide a living for the family now only Tom Addie & Gordon. It did,
however, survive th depression years through the industry & tenaciousness
of Tom & Addie to enjoy a return to more normal times.
With the outbreak of WW11 business continued to increase &, except for
shortages, times were good. However Tom was now in his seventies & though
he had no thought of retiring his healt was failing - nothing serious at
first, just a general slow up. He claimed 1942 as his best year
financially & regretted he was not able to do all the work that was
available. In November 1943, while in the hunt camp at Bear Lake with his
brother Jack & others of the family, he contracted pneumonia. He
recovered & returned to work in the garage but suffered a recurrence
which caused his death on March 3rd. 1944.
Whilst Tom was raised and Anglican he scorned churchgoing & Addie alone
attended the Hawkestone United Church across the stree from the garage.
He was a lifelong & active member of the Orange Lodge & the Scarlet
Knights having joined in Toronto in his teens. Always an outdoorsman he
was at home in the woods & an avid hunter & angler. In politics a staunch
Conservative & proud of his British ancestry.
Tom was a respected member of the community & his obituaruy in the Orilla
Packet & Times is noteworthy :-
"J. THOMAS
JOSLIN"
"Hawkestone again in mourning for another of its valued citizens in the
person of its village blacksmith, Joseph Thomas Joslin who passed away
unexpectedly, although he was ailing foer some time, on Tuesday morning
March 7th. 1944 at the home of his daughter Pearl (Mrs. E.W.O'Brien of
Orilla). Tom Joslin was a familiar figure & the typical pioneer woodsman.
Among the treasures of the village are innumerable photographs taken by
tourists & friends & used for commercial advertising. He was a friend of
all, highly esteemed & the toy mender for the kiddies. He was a master
workman at his trade of blacksmith & will bne hard to replace as men of
such gifts as his are few. He was a loyal Orangeman & gave worthy
leadership yet a man of quiet disposition & tolerant, which made him
beloved of every creed. His last photo was taken at a recent banquet held
in Orilla for McColl-Frontenac agents. Joseph Thomas Joslin was born in
1868 in Oro at Braden's Bay, his father having homesteaded there. He was
named after his father, Thomas Joslin. His mother was Sarah Adey.
Tom early left home to spend his time in the lumber camps of the North
Country. It was there that he learned his trade. On June 22nd 1892 he was
married to Adelaide Gertrude Hepinstall by the Rev.Mr. Gray of Orilla.
The two set up home at Sebright, living there for nine years, later
moving to Coopers Falls where he started a blacksmiths business of his
own & carried on successfully for eleven years. In 1912 they moved to
Hawkestone where he opened a blacksmiths shop (which later became a
garage & service station), remaining there until his death.
He leaves to mourn him his wiwfe Addie; Clayton, of Bracebridge; Garnet,
of Toronto; Hazel (Mrs.Chas Fullerton, of Barrie; Roy, of Hamilton;
Walker, a skipper in the RCNR, Halifax; Pearl (Mrs.E.W.O.Brian) of
Orilla; Gordon, with the Canadian Army in Alberta, home on leve.
A largely attended funeral service was held on Friday in the Hawkestone
Unied Church with the pastor, Rev. Albert E. Millen, officiating,
assisted by Rev. George Lark. Tribute was paid to his fine spirit, his
generous nature & the high respect in which he was held.
Internement took place in Orilla Cemetery. The many wreaths from friends,
churches & business associates paid wide tribute to the high esteem &
fond affection of his many friendly contacts. Hawkestone will miss him."
Rev. Mr. Millen ended his tribute with this very apt quotation of "The
Requiem"
Under the wide and starry sky
Dig the grave and let me lie.
This is the verse you gave for me
Here he lies where he longs to be.
Home is the sailor, home from the sea,
Anbd the hunter, home from the hill.

More About Joseph Thomas JOSLIN and <Unnamed>:
Marriage: 22 Jun 1892, Orillia, Canada.

Children of Joseph Thomas JOSLIN are:
  1. Thomas Clayton JOSLIN, b. 20 Mar 1893, Dalton Township, Ontario, Canada, d. 07 Mar 1956, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  2. +William Garnet JOSLIN, b. 06 Mar 1896, Rama Township, Ontario, Canada, d. 22 Nov 1966, Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
  3. Hazel Minnie Alberta JOSLIN, b. 05 Apr 1898, Rama Township, Ontario, Canada, d. 14 Jun 1957, Barrie, Ontario, Canada.
  4. +Roy H JOSLIN, b. 24 Oct 1901, Coopers |Fall, Ontario, Canada., d. 10 May 1972, Hawkestone Canada.
  5. +Joseph Walker JOSLIN, b. 04 Sep 1903, Coopers |Fall, Ontario, Canada., d. 08 Jun 1952, Toronto Canada.
  6. Annie Pearl JOSLIN, b. 07 Mar 1906, Canada, d. date unknown.
  7. Dorothy JOSLIN, b. Jul 1917, Canada, d. Jul 1917, Canada.
  8. Charles Gordon JOSLIN, b. 13 Aug 1918, Hawkestone Canada, d. 24 Dec 1963, Toronto Canada.
  9. Bonnie Marie JOSLIN, b. 22 Jun 1921, Canada, d. 09 Mar 1929, Canada.
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