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NICHOLAS HENRY JOCK
Born 1857, Martell, Pierce Co., Wisconsin
Died 26 July 1928, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
In memory of our grandparents Grandpa and Grandma Jock
and their children, Arthur Henry, our mom Ada Grace and Lilian
Florence Jock.
Tales of a pioneer . . . Jock of Jock’s
Flats
Some time ago, Mrs. George Seibel had a letter from an old
friend, Mrs. Grace Berry (nee Jock) of Errington, British
Columbia. In it she told of having an opportunity of reading a
copy of “Across The MacLeod”, a history book the
country north of the MacLeod, had been put together by the senior
citizens of the Fulham district. Among the stories were
remembrances of Nicholas Henry for whom ‘Jock’s Flats’
was named. . . Further correspondence with Mrs. Berry brought the
following story.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dear Pioneers and friends:
I was recently loaned a book to read by Mrs. Elizabeth Fallbacher
Borstell who had been visiting her sister Mrs. Louise Gardiner of
Edson. The book was “Across The McLeod”. You can
imagine my delight and surprise as I read the very first page and
realized it was referring to my late father, “Jock”, as
was called by all who knew him.He was born in the town of
Martell, Wisconsin and his given name was Nicholas Henry Jacques.
His father was a French Canadian who had moved to the American
side from French Canada. Jock was married n 1881 and widowed in
1885. Shortly after that, he being adventurous and of a rather
restless nature wandered westward looking for a spot that
appealed to him where he would homestead. It wasn’t until he
reached the Edson area in the 1890’s that he found what he
was looking for, gorgeous country with rich fertile land
inhabited, mostly by the Cree Indians and the odd white settler.He
immediately became a friend of the local Indians and soon had
learned their language and eventually could speak the tongue
fluently. He had a friend in Edmonton, Dr. Harrison, who supplied
dad with a case of medical instruments which he used to help all
those in the area. I doubt if he ever did any abdominal surgery,
but he did extract teeth, treat many illnesses and give first aid
to the injured. He became a trapper and fur trader and also
packed supplies out and into the area. At the turn of the century
wild life abounded in the area, possibly some species that no
longer exist around Edson, or if there is, they would be very few.
I’m thinking of the wolverines and the red fox for example.“Jock”
also broke many trails throughout the area and part of the “Yellowhead
Pass”’ as it is today was originally trails that he had
blazed.I have a little black book of my father’s with
entries made in 1902. I think he was freighting in supplies for
some of the area people. He mentions Island Lake in it and I
wondered if that would have been the present Lake Isle. One entry
as follows: “Left Prairie Creek with John, Albert and Tomar.
John and Albert $1 per day each , Tomar $50 for round trip”.Another
dated April 20, 1902 --- “Jimmie Cardinal paid on account,
owed $15. Paid by one bear skin. This is all the furs Jimmie has.”
Another entry is: “247 skins (and itemizes many of them),
sold for $1,647.88”. Another, “Dr. Harrison wants to
come up in September with the outfit”. He mentions “Old
Sato Maman, Old Man Mucksee, Fredrick Smith, Amel Dueplice,
Bernard Mitchel, Soby Cardinal Patrick Goshey, Old Man Muesa,
Paul Goshey, Joe Donald, Victor, and many more entries.In the
book it called him “the one-eyed Texan”, which was
incorrect. He had been born with one eye lid that drooped, but he
did have sight in both eyes. I assume that “Jock’s
Flats” as it known today, was an area where he homesteaded,
but I’m not certain. Some of the older maps had “Jock’s
Trails” on them but I don’t suppose they would be on
the more recent maps. My mother came out from England in 1913.
Two years late she met and married my father. She was extremely
crippled with rheumatoid arthritis but a dearer soul never lived.
Her feet were so mis-shapen that she was unable to find
comfortable shoes so Dad had the local Indians make her moccasins.
She continued to wear moccasins for many years until she found a
shoemaker that could make her leather boots. As I look back I
marvel at how such a little, rather frail woman of 82 pounds
could come through such times with none of the modern
conveniences that we have today. But such were the pioneer women
of those days with a spirit and strength to be marveled at. My
brother Arthur was her first born and he arrived with the help of
a midwife, Mrs. Tom Cole at the homestead on Long Lake. I arrived
15 months later at the Onoway hospital, Mother had been sent
there several weeks before as she hadn’t been too well and
they were afraid of complications at the time of birth. At this
time I believe they were operating the store at Niton. Around
1920 we moved to Willow River, B.C., near Prince George. Here my
sister Lilian was born in 1921. In 1923 we moved back to Edmonton.
Shortly after moving to Edmonton when I was about six years old,
I remember an Indian coming to the house to buy a saddle that Dad
had. Dad spoke so well of him that when he left I remember
thinking “Why wasn’t I born an Indian”. He truly
loved the Crees as brothers, and they loved and respected him.“Jock”
was a stocky fellow who had kept himself in pretty good shape. I
can remember him doing a hand stand on our front lawn shortly
before he died in 1928. He was called upon periodically to be an
interpreter in the courts for some of the Cree Indians that were
on trial.He had a map he had made that showed just where there
was a good deposit of gold on the Pembina River and before he
died he gave the map to a young fellow who later went to war and
was killed in action. My brother and I were eleven and ten at the
time and I guess he thought it should be passed on to someone
older than we were. The man’s name was John White and his
father also was from the Edson area. His aunt was Mrs. Leedy, who
was also a pioneer of the area. I think she was a school teacher.
I’m not sure if I have the spelling of her name correct.
When we were young and Dad was still alive our very favorite past
time was sitting around him listening to his stories. This we
never tired of and he seemed to have a never ending supply of the
most fascinating tales.At the time of dad’s death in July
1928, Art was taken back to the Edson area by Baldy Robb for a
visit. Shortly before Art died in 1976, he told me he remembered
how home sick and lonesome he was having just lost his father and
being separated from the rest of the family as well. Some of Dad’s
friends included Baldy Robb, Peter Gunn Forbes and Malcolm
Groates. My brother Art worked for C.P. Air in Edmonton and later
in Richmond, B.C. for a total of 32 years. He became ill in 1973
and passed away in Richmond in 1976. He had no children. My
sister Lilian Murray is still in Edmonton. She has three
children, Pat, Ken and Morri, and five grandchildren. I lived in
Edmonton until we moved to Parksville, B.C. in 1974. We have
three children: Cliff, Joanne and Danny and six grandchildren. We
were quite young when Dad died and there is much I don’t
remember but I have enjoyed sharing bits of the past with all of
you. To all those pioneers of the district and their sons and
daughters, I feel you are my sisters and brothers. May God bless
you all and may He keep the area that is so dear to all of your
hearts (and mine) rich and bountiful and bring to each one of you
peace and contentment. Your friend and neighbor of the past,
Sincerely, Mrs. Grace Berry, Box 205, Errington, B.C., V0R 1VO
Source: Edson (Alberta Canada) Leader, Wednesday, October 11,
1978.(Submitted by Cliff Watt - thank you!) (See
Biography under "J").
JOCK GOES HUNTING
Jock (first name not known) was a
French Canadian living at Martell before that village was called
Martell, and was famous as a hunter. He was short, thick and
powerful – honest and trustworthy, but entirely without book
learning.The fight with a bear told about in this chapter
occurred in the town of Gilman, on the old Bredahl farm. It is
said that when Jock started to crawl home, desperately wounded,
his clothing torn from his body, he met a man driving a team and
asked the man to turn around and take him home in the wagon; the
man refused. Jock raised his gun to shoot, but it was empty, and
the man escaped. Jock’s death later was from poison, but it
was never investigated. (Source: From a Series that ran in the
Spring Valley Sun in 1905-1906) Submitted by Cliff Watt.
Following is a personal estimate of Mr.JOHN PERLEY, written by
Judge Allen P. Weld, for many years his friend and legal adviser:
"To the world at large Mr. Perley was best known as a
typical business man. To the work he had in hand he gave his best
and most persistent efforts. He was preeminently a practical man.
If he ever indulged in theories it was for self-entertainment and
that of his friends rather than an attempt to carry untried
theories into actual work. This trait of mind led him to give
earnest attention to business in which he was engaged and gave a
distinct color to his life, and by doing this he became more than
usually successful in obtaining wealth. Yet one who would look
upon this as only an evidence of self-seeking would be greatly
mistaken. His efforts were not made simply to get rich, but
rather to gratify an instinctive desire of success in any chosen
undertaking. What he received he freely gave. His charities,
though man, were unostentatious. While he delighted in good
results from his labors, he was equally pleased to have his
friends share in his success. He was perfectly fair in his
dealings with those who gave him their confidence and acted
fairly in their transactions, but to those who tried to deceive
he was almost unrelentless. As the weakening effects of disease
became more manifest and his ability to engage in the turmoil of
business became less, he began to see that success or wealth in
this life is not the all-essential thing and he willingly turned
to a study of how to best bestow that which he had gained as well
as to regard with deep interest matters of higher and eternal
life. Of his thoughts in regard to such matters he was, however,
reticent to strangers, but discussed them freely with his
intimate friends. And while those who came most closely into an
understanding of his mental life were comparatively few, his
friends were many in number. Few who had been in his employ but
mourned his death, few that were not ready to give a grateful
tribute of respect and love to his memory.(see
Biography under "P")
CHAPTER XXIII
Hurley Writes About Hunting
I must give you a chapter on hunting. It was the fall of 1856,
while I was cutting a road on Cave Creek; a rustle in the dry
leaves on the hill side drew my attention, and soon I was
surrounded by a herd of deer. All stopped at once, one not more
than fifteen feet from me. I had only a shot gun, loaded with
bird shot, but I blazed away at one, of course without effect.I
resolved then to have a rifle, but I soon found there was none
for sale until after the hunting season was over. Hunters were
camped everywhere for two months each season.Two hunters from
Indiana, camped on Cave Creek, killed ninety-six deer and three
elk in the fall of 1856. I bought a rifle from them for $20.James
and Hugh McCune, of Beldenville, and J. Fetterdom camped on my
land four or five winters; they killed sleighloads of deer, bear,
wolves, and wild cats. In the winter of 1857 Jock, the famous
hunter…… ( My note: Mr. Hurley now writes in length of
Jock’s encounter with the bear, which was later written in
the History of Pierce County).As for deer, a fine pond half a
mile long south of El Paso village was much frequented by deer,
and for many years they were shot there with a torchlight from a
boat. I heard Mrs. Oliver McGee say that she had eaten a part of
one hundred different deer in one summer. I have shot scores of
deer by torch light. I shot five deer in three successive nights
in October, when deer were fine (Source: From a Series that ran
in the Spring Valley Sun in 1905-1906) Contributed by Cliff Watt.
EL PASO STORY
While the floods were playing havoc with the dams on Rush River,
other settlers were
coming to hew out homes in our heavy timber.Among them were Mr.
Buckley and family, Mr. Fitzgerald and family, Mr. Shay and
family, and Mr.Manning and family. All these settled near what is
now Waverly, and all succeeded well. Of course, they too, had
their trials.Joel Coon and a Mr. Pickett settled in what is now
Rock Elm (near Olivet) then a part of El Paso. Holver and L. H.
Place, Brerjal Johnson, Louis Peterson, and Mr.Bjornson and their
families settled near El Paso village. Zachariah Sigerson, two
Parch brothers (coopers), “Yankee” Martin, Mr. Goodell
(millwright), Holver Tollefson, two of the Thompsons, and Mr.
Bredahl (for several years chairman of Gilman) also a Mr.
Thompson, who served for many years as treasurer of Gilman and
later on as a chairman of the town, settled in Gilman township.
Later on two Brown brothers, Mr. O’Conner and Elias Condit (who
started the first store) settled in Rock Elm.In 1858 El Paso was
all in one school district. Our first school was taught in the
house of Mr. G. Brill; it was small, as there was only a few
children of school age in the town. Miss Lizzie Neylon, who came
from Beloit, was the teacher.The next school was in El Paso
village , called Dist. No. 1; this continued several years. Later
on we divided the town into four school districts, and each
district put up a school house and maintained school.During all
this time our religious duties were not neglected. Our people
were mostly Roman Catholics; Rev. Father Knauf, of Red Wing,
attended to our spiritual welfare about once in three months
– or whenever he could spare time away from his home duties.
He was a saintly man. Source: Written by –Old Settler. From
a series that ran in the Spring Valley Sun in 1905-1906.
Contributed by Cliff Watt.
TRUITTMAN, Miss Annie resident of
Pierce County, Town of Diamond Bluff, perishes in Hinckley Fire
of 1894. John Best, Jr. was digging the pit with the friendly
assistance of two neighbors. Laid in a row, decently covered were
the bodies of John Best, Sr., Mrs. Best, Fred Best, age 23,
Bertha, age 17, Mrs. Annie Wigel, a married daughter and her 3
year old daughter, Minnie, Miss Annie Truittman of Diamond Bluff,
Wisconsin, a visitor, age 26 and Victor Best, age 8. Two other
sons George, 25 and William, 21 are missing and are certainly
dead. And of the whole family of the three generations, only the
sorrowing grave digger and his wife and child, who took refuge in
a dug-out are left. Source: "Coffee Made Her Insane",
Peg Meier, Mpls.
Annie Truittman, daughter of John Joseph Truittman and Barbara
Denzer Truittman of Diamond Bluff perished in the great Hinckley,
Minnesota fire. She was visiting the John Best (her uncle) family
of Hinckley. It is reported that most of the Best family also
perished. Annie was crippled since birth and was unable to make
it to the Snake River, where townspeople fled to escape the great
inferno. Annie's brother, John, Jr. traveled to Hinckley to claim
her body and bring her home, finding only a gold pin that she
wore on her dress to be the only means of identification. The
gold pin remains in the family today. Subimtted by Kathryn C.
Bryan, descendant of Barbara Denzer Truittman.
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