At a farm in Coulson on Saturday, family members and friends gathered to celebrate a part of their own – and Oro-Medonte Township’s – history.
The Walker family, as well as families from adjacent properties, gathered to celebrate 140 years since the family patriarch, John Tudhope Walker, bought his farm on Horseshoe Valley Road in 1879.
Neil Walker, John Tudhope Walker’s great grandson, organized the event with his siblings Anne, Janice and Ian.
“This farm has been in the Walker name for 140 years. My great grandfather farmed. It was very pioneer in those days,” said Neil. “There wasn’t very much around here then, just a store, a sawmill and a school.”
At the reunion on Saturday, a family tree was on display, created by Neil’s sister, Anne. The tree was 45-feet long and spanned the interior walls of a shed on the property.
Guests were encouraged to add any links that were missing.
“It (goes back) six generations,” said Neil. “I had people asking me before coming, ‘Do you have a family tree I can take a picture of?’ and I said yes, but you’re going to need a movie camera.
“There are lots of lines and branches of the family that haven’t connected in years, and they’re all coming together today,” said Neil, adding that family members from as far away as Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. congregated on the farm to reconnect.
“Even we’re getting to an age where it might not happen for us again,” said Neil. “We’re not sure what’s going to happen with the next generation. They’re spread all over from Calgary to the U.S., so it’s going to be a little trickier.”
The history of the buildings on the land is unique, as the Walkers had a hand in everything built on the property.
John Tudhope Walker donated the land for a church on the property in 1881. Once it was built, it became the Walker-Seymour Union Church until 1925, when it became a United Church.
“It’s been closed since the 1960s. About 15 years ago, we heard the United Church was getting ready to sell off all their properties, so we were able to get it and we’ve just maintained it as a historic site,” said Neil.
The barn was built in 1880.
“My great grandfather, my grandfather and my dad were all farmers here,” said Neil. “Each generation continued on until this one.”
The farmhouse was built on the property in 1894.
“He and his wife (Sarah) raised 12 children here. The original farm was 100 acres, but (over time) they bought more land. It’s now 260 acres,” said Neil. “It’s very familiar to me. The layout (of the farmhouse) is exactly the same as it was when it was built.”
John and Sarah’s son, Ebenezer, and his wife, Jenny, raised three sons in the home. Their son Lloyd and his wife Sadie raised five children in the home, including Neil.
“Since our parents passed away, the four of us have kept this as our weekend place. We still bring all the family together for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Last Thanksgiving we had 24 people,” said Neil.
All the woodwork in the home is original to 1894.
While the Walkers still own the property and the buildings on it, none of them currently farm the land. The land is rented out to other farmers for soy crops.
The buildings are currently used for various purposes.
The farmhouse is used as a weekend getaway for the remaining Walker children.
The barn is split. Half remains as open space, while the other half is used as an antiques pop-up shop called Grandpa’s Horse Stable Antiques, run by Neil and his brother Ian. It opens three weekends a year: once in the spring, once near Thanksgiving and once near Christmas. For specific dates, visit their website here.
The church is used for events such as weddings and concerts.
But all of the buildings are maintained in the style they were built, as heritage and history is important to the Walkers.
The family has a reunion every 20 years. In 1999, Neil’s parents, Lloyd and Sadie Walker, were alive to see it.
Lloyd and Sadie have since died, so this reunion marked the first time the family would be getting together without them.
But Neil said he’s not sad.
“They’re here,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye.
