Walsingham in Norfolk County, Ontario — Central Canada (North America)

The Story of my Life

Photographed by Tim Boyd, July 8, 2024

1. The Story of my Life Marker

Inscription. I grew from an acorn in 1723 along the bank of the Lynn River, when there were only native people in this region. Probably a friendly squirrel planted me. I was lucky those first few years: nobody stepped on me or ate me. I did have to fight for my place with all the other small trees and shrubs close to me. When I was about 25 in 1750 I could start seeing what was going on around me and through the brush, I saw horse drawn carriages and wagons travelling along Norfolk Street. These belonged to newly arriving farmers, merchants and the folks I worried about: loggers with huge loads of lumber going to the United States.

When I was about 75 years old, these loggers came very close to me and they took a lot of my neighbours away. I did not know that eventually they were going to make a park out of my place but now I had room to grow much faster. Soon I could see all over the town of Simcoe and people came to sit in my shade. Each fall the passenger pigeons would come and feed on my acorns. In 1795 the popular Governor John Graves Simcoe came to visit our County and he camped close by to meet all the citizens. Included was the Culver family, which had arrived from the United States with many other United Empire Loyalists. The Govenor decided that Vitoria was going to be the capital of our London Distict and not Simcoe as I had hoped. In 1812 war broke out with the United States and I could see the militia practice all around me. A lot of good people got hurt.

About 1890 I saw a lot of building activity across the river from me where Mr. John West and Mr. James Peachey had started their foundry. They built all kinds of farm machinery and also what they called Alligator tugs that could travel on water as well as on land and were used to boom logs to sawmills all over the world. It was quite a sight to watch

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the men launch a new tug into the river. I might have gone to South America as part of a tug, had I not lived in a park. The town kept growing all around me. I was lucky I was born a white oak, because we can live a long time.

In 1914 there was war again and many soldiers practiced where I could see them before they went off to fight in Europe. Some days though, I could hardly see anything around me when the dust was blowing in from the fields around town. The farmers had cut down too many trees and the good soil was blowing away. In 1908 a few people in St. Williams had started a nursery to try to stop the dust storms by replanting the trees. With the help of the Government, they were quite successful and I was able to live out my life in much better air. In about 1980 my end was coming near: new insects from foreign lands attacked my leaves several times and I could not come up with the energy to fight them off. Then disease struck my bark and I passed away in the year 2000. I had to be cut down and people made many beautiful things from me. Fortunately, the nursery is still here in the County and I am pleased that one part of

Photographed by Tim Boyd, July 8, 2024

2. The Story of my Life Marker

me will be here for a long time, so I can tell you my story of 277 years.

Erected 2008 by Port Rowan/South Walsingham Heritage Association.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Historic Trees series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1723.

Location. 42° 41.812′ N, 80° 26.669′ W. Marker is in Walsingham, Ontario, in Norfolk County. It is on Highway 24 West half a kilometer west of Forestry Farm Road, on the right. The marker is on the grounds of the St. Williams Forestry Station, approx. 100 metres from the entrance on Highway 24 West. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 885 Norfolk 24 West, Walsingham ON N0E 1P0, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Southwest Ontario Area

and in Southwestern Ontario.

It is also in Central Canada.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Great Lakes,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony,

the Viceroyalty

The tree, with years indicated on its rings, depicted in the Story of my Life marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Boyd, July 8, 2024

3. The tree, with years indicated on its rings, depicted in the Story of my Life marker

of New France,

the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

and Rupert’s Land.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 10 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: First Forestry Station (within shouting distance of this marker); Port Rowan History (approx. 8.2 kilometers away); Our Oldest Heritage (approx. 8.3 kilometers away); Bird Studies Canada (approx. 8.3 kilometers away); Long Point Bay (approx. 8.3 kilometers away); Long Point (approx. 8.3 kilometers away); Long Point Biosphere (approx. 8.3 kilometers away); Port Rowan Cenotaph (approx. 8.4 kilometers away).

Credits. This page was last revised on December 5, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 4, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. This page has been viewed 96 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on December 4, 2024, by Tim Boyd of Hamilton, Ontario. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.