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HISTORY OF KEARNEY (cont'd) deal. Later, Fry took his own life. Fry had come to Canada following the civil war in the states, where he had fought with the army of the South. He was a skilled axeman, and it was he who hewed the pine logs for what is now the United Church at Sand Lake. A few years ago Kearney thought they held some sort of a record for people who had celebrated their Golden Wedding, in the small com- i munity there were more than a dozen couples who had been married for fifty years or more, including the Goyeas, who had celebrated their sixty-seventh wedding anniversary. , There are not too many of the old settlers left. In the Sand Lake section Gib Bason is still on his father's old farm. The Pettit boys, Herb and Charlie are there, but that is about all. Mrs. Charlie McCann, who was a daughter of Sanky Moore is still at her old home, and Wm. Simpson too is still here. Of the Corcoran family, the boys come home on holidays, but the old house is vacant. Con Holland still works his fathers farm at Beaver Lake. No one lives on the 12th concession, and on the 10th there is just Ike Masters of the old timers. On the 8th con- cession Bert and Charlie Gilchrist are about the last. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Groom still live on the farm they have occupied for more than fifty years and their son George lives on the old Pheonix farm. John Lawson is on his grandfathers farm. The Lawsons first set- tled at Sand Lake, but moved to Bethune Township as it was too hard to clear land with so many large pine trees as there were around Sand Lake. Mrs. Arthur Wilkins, Mrs. Harvey Hurd, and Arthur Hurd live close to Kearney on the Emsdale road. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Beaten still live on the old Beaton farm, also Wm. Beaten. Some of the Craig family live part time in Kearney, but are not permanent residents. In Kearney, Harry White claims to be the oldest resident born here with J. E. (Errol) Woodruff a close second, and Wm. Howe third. Mrs. Martin Harkness, born Margaret Olton lives with her neice, Miss Crooker, both very old residents. Many interesting things turned up in a few interviews, Mrs. Hark- ness told of her early life at Sand Lake. The Simpson family, of which the Oltons, her family, were a part, first settled East of Ravensworth in 1879. There were three families besides the Father, Wm. Simpson, known as Wooly Willy. There were three sons, Jock, Wm., and Ed. They located adjoining farms in McCraney Township, and cleared con- siderable land. Ada Simpson, daughter of Ed. Simpson was the first white child born in McCraney Township. She was the recipient of a I grant of 100 acres of land. The old farms have a special interest for me as they are in my trapping zone It is odd to see piles of stones with I large trees growing around close by. The apple trees they brought and planted still bear after these many years and the flowers they planted have turned wild, but still grow. One thing is quite noticeable in all the Simpson family, and that is their love of flowers. After a few years some of the family left, and Jock moved North of Beaver Lake in Proudfoot Township, and later to Sand Lake, where his son Wm. still lives. The Olton family have all left except Mrs. Harkness, though some of the third generation have summer homes here. Mention should be made of Mrs. Crooker, Katie Olton. Educated at Stratford, she came to Sand Lake with her family in 1879. Her ambi- tion was to be a teacher, and she finished her studies with the aid of a neighbour at Sand Lake. It was necessary to go to a place near