DRIVING HOME: KIDD CEMETERY, MELCHIOR WAŃKOWICZ & HIS BOOK „THREE GENERATIONS”, DAVID FIFE AND RED FIFE, THE EXPLOSION SITE, AND THE VILLAGE OF LAKEFIELD AND ITS RICH LITERARY HERITAGE
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BONUS: SUSANNA MOODIE’S DANDELION COFFEE & ANOTHER PIONEER COFFEE SUBSTITUTE: THE KENTUCKY COFFEETREE
We packed up and left on Friday, August 1, 2025, the 81st anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. Instead of taking Highway 401, we chose Highway 7, stopping in Havelock to look at the existing train station. We exited Highway 7 at Apsley Dummer 7 Line, then turned onto Dummer–Apsley Line and drove north on South Dummer 5 Line Road. Just before Webster Road, we noticed on our right a small pioneer burial ground, Kidd Cemetery (44°24'24.9"N 78°03'46.2"W / 44.406917, -78.062833). Most of the burials dated from the second half of the 19th century, with only two from 1906 and 1907.
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| Kidd Cemetery |
Later, after returning home, I did some brief research and discovered a connection to a story I had read many years ago in one of my favourite books.
In 1982, while in Austria, I received a Polish book by Melchior Wańkowicz, Tworzywo (available in English as Three Generations). It is a remarkable account of four Polish immigrants who came to Canada between 1900 and 1929. From this book, I learned many fascinating details about Canadian history—so much so that Canadians were often surprised at my “extensive knowledge of the history of Canada.” One of the immigrants, Stanisław Gąsior, arrived with his parents in 1900. They received two parcels of 160 acres each in the middle of dense forest. Later, he moved to Saskatchewan and eventually became a very prosperous farmer, raising 13 children.
In the 1930s, his neighboring farmer, Colonel Winston MacManus, frequently sought his advice. During one such meeting in August 1939, as they discussed wheat prices over the years, the following exchange took place:
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"One thing you can't complain about is that Canadian wheat is afraid of the cold."
"Eh, what? Is that so" the Colonel's mood softened. "Do you know, Mister Gasior, how that wheat got to Canada?" he said in a voice ringing with pride. "You, you young people (Gasior's Adam's apple went up and down) are experimenting with new wheat varieties not knowing that the Red Fife made Canada rich. Why, we inundated the globe with our wheat."
He stroked his mustache with satisfaction, as if it were the MacManuses themselves who produced the frost resistant and nutritious hybrid which was the foundation of the big flour mills of St. Paul and Minneapolis in the United States.
"I remember my father telling the story about his father, Arthur MacManus. Grandfather Arthur had a friend called Fife in Peterborough, Ontario, whose son was called David after Arthur's father. Among the Scottish people friendship is passed from father to son and Arthur, that is my father's father, used to visit David Fife often, complaining that the wheat took too long to grow ripe and that the frost often destroyed it in the field. They decided to write to a Scotsman they knew in Glasgow asking him for samples of seed from the northern countries where the cold weather sets in early. It so happened that a ship from Gdańsk with Polish wheat was tied up in the port of Glasgow, and the friend took a sample and sent it to Canada. That was in 1842. Five stalks came up, two of these were eaten by a cow, but David Fife did not watch and guard the three remaining stalks in vain. They were to change the destiny of Canada. For decades after that no one in Canada planted anything but Red Fife."
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| Painting of David Fife, the developer of Red Fife Wheat Source: Wikimedia Commons |
Red Fife Wheat, an early maturing, high-quality variety, was discovered in 1842 by David Fife in an experimental plot on his farm here. For over 60 years it was “spring wheat” in Canada. It opened up the grain potential of the West and is a parent of the famous Marquis wheat.
Recently, in my BLOG about a trip to Minnesota in 2024, I described the story of Wendelín Grimm, who—through sheer perseverance—developed the first cold-resistant variety of alfalfa in North America.
With nothing more spectacular than stubborn determination and careful selection, he succeeded in creating a truly hardy strain capable of surviving harsh winters. According to agricultural scientists, this was the most important achievement in the development of crop cultivation in North America until the invention of hybrid corn.
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| James Kidd (born in 1813 in Scotland, died in 1875) |
Not far from the cemetery stood a historical plaque commemorating the 1885 dynamite explosion (N 44° 22.151 W 078° 13.454), which Chris carefully read.
1885 DYNAMITE EXPLOSION
On September 4, 1885, James Simmons and George Morton were hauling a load of dynamite from Tweed to Burleigh Falls, Ontario, in a horse-drawn, steel-rimmed wagon. The dynamite was intended for use in opening the Trent-Severn lock at Burleigh Falls. They stayed overnight at a hotel in Indian River, Ontario, and the following day proceeded toward Burleigh Falls via the Douro–Otonabee Township line and what is now Highway 28. At approximately 9:45 a.m., residents of the surrounding area were alarmed by a massive dynamite explosion on Highway 28, about 4.1 km north of County Road 4.
Messrs. Morton and Simmons were never seen again. Ten-foot-deep craters were discovered at the site of the explosion, and the horses and wagon were found lying about 50 feet on either side of the craters. Only fragments of the men, horses, and wagon remained; they were described as “mangled beyond description.” Pieces of wood and steel from the wagon were found 100 to 200 yards away.
The blast was heard in Lakefield and in distant communities, including Peterborough, Warsaw, Young’s Point, and Madoc. Large crowds soon gathered at the explosion site, some searching for remnants of the victims. “Every few minutes something more fresh and sickening befell them.” More than 1,000 people and 300 carriages reportedly visited the site.
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| Samuel Strickland |
His two sisters, Susanna Moodie (1803–1885) and Catharine Parr Traill (1802–1899), emigrated from England in 1832 and established farms in the area. They became well-known writers, describing the hardships of pioneer life in Ontario. Their most famous books include Roughing It in the Bush and Life in the Backwoods by Moodie, and The Backwoods of Canada and Canadian Crusoes by Parr Traill.
I should also mention that Margaret Atwood, the famous Canadian writer, was strongly influenced by Susanna Moodie. Atwood engaged directly with Moodie’s legacy in her 1970 poetry collection The Journals of Susanna Moodie. In this book, Atwood imaginatively reconstructs Moodie’s voice and life, presenting poems that follow Moodie through different stages: her arrival in Canada, her years in the bush, and even her “afterlife” as a ghost haunting the modern Canadian landscape. Atwood uses Moodie as a symbolic figure to explore the psychological experience of settlers and the uneasy relationship between people and the Canadian wilderness.
I might add that their sister, Agnes Strickland, who lived in England, was a well-known author of biographies of the Queens of England (Lives of the Queens of England). Similarly, when Agnes was preparing for publication her brother Samuel Strickland's book, Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West, she softened the descriptions of the hardships of pioneer life, removed some of the more brutal or mundane details, and gave the text a more "elegant," English feel. She was reportedly quite shocked by the candor of her sisters in Canada. For her, the vision of colonial life should be more "civilized" and in keeping with British middle-class tastes. Thus, Agnes represented the metropolitan perspective, while her sisters in Canada represented the pioneer perspective.
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| Above the town, on the hill brow, the stone angel used to stand. I wonder if she stands there yet, in memory of her who relinquished her feeble ghost. These lines on the Canadian stamp depicting the author, open the 1964 Canadian novel The Stone Angel by Margaret Laurence, introducing the story of 90-year-old Hagar Shipley looking back on her life. The angel statue symbolizes the stubborn pride and emotional rigidity that defines Hagar's character and her inability to show vulnerability. |
Another prominent Canadian writer, Margaret Laurence (1926–1987), lived in Lakefield and died by suicide (she was suffering from lung cancer) at her home at 8 Regent Street. A historical plaque stands in front of her former residence:
Margaret Laurence
Canadian Author
1926–1987
Born in Neepawa, Manitoba, Margaret Laurence lived and travelled in England and Africa before choosing to settle in this house in Lakefield. In 1974 she became Writer-in-Residence at Trent University and was the first woman chancellor from 1981 to 1984. Her novels quickly became highly acclaimed and are now considered Canadian classics.
“Cultivate in your work and your life the art of patience, and come to terms with your inevitable human limitations while striving to extend the boundaries of your understanding, your knowledge and your compassion.”
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| Margaret Laurence's home in Lakefied |
Catharine Parr Traill 1802–1899
A member of the literary Strickland family, this talented author married Lieutenant Thomas Traill and emigrated to Upper Canada in 1832. For seven years, they struggled unsuccessfully to establish a profitable farm on bushland in Douro Township. Subsequently, they lived at Ashburnham and Rice Lake. In 1862, following her husband's death, Mrs. Traill’s daughters purchased “Westove,” and she lived here for the rest of her life. Her best-known book, The Backwoods of Canada, is based on her pioneering experiences. In Studies of Plant Life in Canada and other works, she proved herself a gifted botanist.
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| "Westcove" in Lakefield, Ontario. It was Catherine Parr-Trail's (who is sitting on the left) from 1860 to her death on August 29, 1899. |
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| Collage "Westcove" as it appeared in 2003 |
Lakefield is also home to the prestigious Lakefield College School. Among its alumni are Prince Andrew, Duke of York; Felipe VI, King of Spain; Ian Binnie, Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada; and David Miller, former mayor of Toronto. About 20 years ago, I visited the school and was given a brief tour. It is beautifully situated on the shores of the Otonabee River, and I was told that many parents visiting their children there wished they themselves were students. There is also a nearby island named after Prince Andrew, although its name was reportedly to be changed for obvious reasons.
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| Train Station in Lakefield in 1910 |
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| The same train station in 2003. The tracks have been replaced by a recreational trail and a renowned used bookstore is housed inside the station |
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| It was here that Susanna Moodie farmed for almost 7 years and described her tough life in her book |
I showed Chris a historical plaque marking the location where Susanna Moodie’s farm once stood, and we also drove to the end of the road where Catherine’s family lived— “my” Catherine, NOT Catharine Parr Traill’s!
Susanna Moodie
1803–1885
This farm was the home of Susanna Moodie, the famous Canadian writer who settled in Douro in 1834 with her husband and two daughters. Their first three sons were born here. After six years of great hardship, attempting unsuccessfully to tame the wilderness, they moved to Belleville in 1840. There, Susanna wrote novels and contributed extensively to the Victoria Magazine and the Literary Garland of Montreal, in addition to writing tales of farm life in her most famous book, Roughing It in the Bush. Together with her literary sister, Catharine Parr Traill, who lived and wrote on the adjoining farm, she is known as one of the “Grandmothers of Canadian Literature.”
Susanna Moodie 1803–1885
This talented writer, the wife of a retired British army officer, emigrated with her husband and daughter to Upper Canada in 1832. In 1834 they moved to a nearby farm lot to be near her brother, Samuel Strickland, and her sister Catharine Parr Traill. The following six years of unsuccessful efforts to develop a wilderness property provided the theme for her best-known work, Roughing It in the Bush. In 1840 they moved to Belleville. There, the Moodies edited and were principal contributors to the short-lived Victorian Magazine, and Susanna wrote many novels and poems. Her contributions were for years the mainstay of The Literary Garland, a Montreal publication.
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| Christ Church in Lakefield, founded by Samuel Strickland |
Later, we visited the grounds of Christ Church, where Catharine Parr Traill’s husband and Samuel Strickland are buried, along with many early settlers. Another historical plaque stands in front of the church:
Colonel Samuel Strickland 1804–1867
This church was built in 1853 principally through the efforts of Samuel Strickland. A member of an English family that included several successful authors, he emigrated to Upper Canada (now Ontario) in 1825. After farming in Otonabee Township, he served with the Canada Company from 1828 to 1831 as a superintendent of settlement. In 1831, he became one of Douro’s earliest settlers and later established a school there for the training of persons interested in pioneer farming. His book, Twenty-Seven Years in Canada West, is of unique value, as it is an educated person’s record of a lifetime spent on the agricultural frontier. Colonel Strickland is buried in this churchyard.
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| Grave of Samuel Strickland in Lakefield |
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| One of the graves at Christ Church Cemetery in Lakefield. Many people died young then, like Agnes Strickland (1858 - 1880), a granddaughter of Samuel Strickland. She had been married for just one year to Samuel Philip Wigg when she died at the age of 22. Sine relatively many women died during childbirth, I would not be surprised if Agnes Strickland was one of them |
CONCLUSION
Although relatively short, this was an exceptionally rich journey—both as a camping adventure and as a return to history. I was grateful for the chance to see the park again and to assess the damage left behind by the Derecho storm, while Chris was equally eager to revisit places he hadn’t seen in 31 years. We also explored the surrounding region, discovering new areas and even finding another promising spot for future camping and canoeing.
In the end, even our drive home became part of the adventure, transforming into a delightful and thought-provoking lesson in Canadian history.
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BONUS: SUSANNA MOODIE’S DANDELION COFFEE
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the lives of pioneers in Upper Canada were full of hardships and required great resourcefulness. In remote settlements many products that were considered ordinary in England were very expensive or simply unavailable. Among such luxuries were tea and coffee. It is therefore not surprising that settlers often tried to replace them with beverages prepared from local plants. One such substitute was coffee made from dandelion roots. Susanna Moodie wrote about her experiment with this unusual drink in a very engaging way in her famous book Roughing It in the Bush, which describes the lives of pioneers in the Canadian wilderness.
“During the fall of ’35, I was assisting my husband in taking up a crop of potatoes in the field, and observing a vast number of fine dandelion roots among the potatoes, it brought the dandelion coffee back to my memory, and I determined to try some for our supper. Without saying anything to my husband, I threw aside some of the roots, and when we left work, collecting a sufficient quantity for the experiment, I carefully washed the roots quite clean, without depriving them of the fine brown skin which covers them, and which contains the aromatic flavour, which so nearly resembles coffee that it is difficult to distinguish it from it while roasting.
I cut my roots into small pieces, the size of a kidney-bean, and roasted them on an iron baking-pan in the stove-oven, until they were as brown and crisp as coffee. I then ground and transferred a small cupful of the powder to the coffee-pot, pouring upon it scalding water, and boiling it for a few minutes briskly over the fire. The result was beyond my expectations. The coffee proved excellent—far superior to the common coffee we procured at the stores
To persons residing in the bush, and to whom tea and coffee are very expensive articles of luxury, the knowledge of this valuable property of a plant scattered so abundantly through their fields, would prove highly beneficial. For years we used no other article; and my Indian friends who frequented the house gladly adopted the root, and made me show them the whole process of manufacturing it into coffee.”
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ANOTHER PIONEER COFFEE SUBSTITUTE: THE KENTUCKY COFFEETREE
The story of pioneer substitutes for coffee does not end with roasted dandelion roots. Early settlers in North America experimented with many plants in their search for a drink that might resemble the coffee they had known in Europe. One of the most curious examples involved the Gymnocladus dioicus, a remarkable native tree of eastern and central North America.
This unusual tree produces large, thick pods containing several extremely hard seeds that resemble oversized beans. Early settlers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Ohio Valley discovered that, if carefully roasted, these seeds could be ground and brewed into a dark beverage somewhat resembling coffee. The practice may have originated with Indigenous peoples, who were familiar with the plant and understood that the seeds had to be thoroughly roasted before they could be used.
In their raw state the seeds contain toxic compounds, including the alkaloid cytisine, which can cause serious poisoning. Long roasting was believed to neutralize these substances, after which the seeds could be ground and boiled to produce a dark infusion.
The roasted seeds of the Kentucky coffeetree occasionally served this purpose. The drink produced from them had a dark color similar to coffee, but most historical accounts agree that its flavor left much to be desired. Unlike chicory or roasted dandelion root—which produce relatively pleasant beverages and are still sold today—the “coffee” made from Kentucky coffeetree seeds never became widely popular. Once genuine coffee became easier to obtain during the nineteenth century, settlers quickly abandoned the experiment.
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| Kentucky coffeetree in the winter |
Early pioneers also gave the tree a curious nickname: “the dead tree.” The reason becomes clear to anyone observing it in the forest. The Kentucky coffeetree is one of the last trees to produce leaves in spring, and one of the first to lose them in autumn. For long periods its thick branches remain completely bare, standing gray and skeletal against the sky. To immigrants unfamiliar with the plants of North America, it could easily appear lifeless.
Because of this strange appearance, some settlers initially avoided cutting its wood, assuming that the tree might be diseased or useless. Only later did they learn that the “dead tree” was perfectly healthy and simply followed an unusual rhythm of growth.
The enormous pods hanging from its branches often attracted curiosity. Inside were several extremely hard seeds that eventually inspired experiments with roasting and grinding them as a beverage. Although the resulting drink was rarely praised for its taste, the story of the Kentucky coffeetree illustrates the ingenuity and determination of early settlers who constantly experimented with the plants around them.
In pioneer folklore the tree was sometimes remembered as providing “coffee for hard times.” Whenever supplies of imported goods were disrupted or unavailable, settlers once again turned to such local substitutes. Even if the resulting drink only vaguely resembled coffee, it still provided a small comfort in the harsh conditions of frontier life.
As I have mentioned in my blogs, I first saw a Kentucky coffeetree in Minnesota—it was growing along a bike trail, near Catherine's house, and also at the Minnesota Arboretum. Using the internet, I was able to identify it and learn a wealth of interesting facts about it. Indeed, even in March, the seed pods were still hanging on the branches.
Interestingly, recently, while driving, I noticed several Kentucky coffeetrees growing in my city! Since practically every tree on public property is marked and described on the city's online map, it turns out I was right! So I'll have to go there soon and collect more seeds, and after filing them down a bit, I'll plant them in my garden.
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| Pioneers enjoying 'coffee' made of roasted dandelion root and seeds of the Kentucky Coffeetree during a work break from back-breaking work at their farm |
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