In 1994 my mother, Margaret Ellen Quinton (nee Dixon), worked to document some of her memories in a "Grandmother's Album" which we have — memorabilia from her estate. This was a small pre-printed book with pages on various topics, with questions and answers to fill in, which would be of interest to others. It was a somewhat directed project; Kate and I may have given her the book. Her work on it was never completed.
I've tried to capture the book and her notes here. I have transcribed her writing (which was in pen) with only minor edits for readability. The following are her notes from that book.
My Family Tree.
I am Margaret Ellen Quinton (born Feb 5, 1920). My parents were Ellen Jane McKay (1894-1975) and Thomas Russell Dixon (1892-1965).
On the maternal side: my grandmother was Ellen Jane Taylor and my grandfather was Robert McKay (1862-1941); my great grandmother was Elizabeth Glenn (1866-1905) and my great grandfather was John Taylor McKay (1839-1905) a native of Ireland.
On the paternal side: my grandmother was Eliza Seabrook (died 1925) and my grandfather was William Dixon; my great grandmother was Jan Harper and my great grandfather was George Dixon a native of England.
Memories of my grandparents.
Grandmother Eliza Dixon lived in Walter's Falls after leaving their Holland township farm. I was 5 years old when she died. I remember standing on a stool to comb her hair which she loved me to do.
My grandmother Ellen McKay died when my mother was born, so the new baby, my mother, went to live with her grandparents Mr. and Mrs. John Taylor and her Aunt Esther and uncle Alex Taylor who raised her when their parents passed away. So uncle Alex Taylor was more like a grandparent to me, he remembered me and my brothers and sisters in his will when we were children and the money left to us was kept in trust until we became of age.
When I was small.
I was born on February 5,1920 in Holland township on the Alex Taylor farm near Massey. I have blue eyes and I was a fair haired child.
My full name is Margaret Ellen Dixon. My nickname was "Margot" or "Maggie". Maurice often called me "Maggie" or "Nellie" (which was my mom's nickname).
My mother's maiden name is Ellen Jane McKay, her nickname which she usually went by was "Nellie". My father's full name Thomas Russell Dixon, he went by "Russ". They both lived in the Massey Strathaven area and I'm sure they met at the football games. Dad, Russell Dixon, was a team player.
What I remember most about them when I was a child — Mostly I remember a happy family of two brothers Walter and Mac (William) and our sisters Edna, Grace and Iva. We always a table full of good food. I remember helping to get fruit ready for Christmas cakes and puddings. Our first radio was battery operated and I remember the first electric radio when the hydro came to Walter's Falls in November of 1931. I remember attending United Church Sunday school and singing in the church choir when my mother was the organist.
My first home was in Walter's Falls the house with insulbrick. My friends or Jean Menary, Jean Walter, Jessie Wales, Jean Lourie, Marjorie Marshall, Mary Lemon, and Lulua Jerry.
When we were young we made doll clothes at the Menary's. We went holidaying with Jean Lourie and Jean Menary. I spent time at Sam Caswell's farm with Mary Lemon. We gathered wildflowers with Lulua Jerry and I remember Sunday School with Marjorie Marshall.
I remember swimming in the mill pond in September and packing shingles at the Olmstead Mill in the summer. We played house in the vacant house in our back lot. We gathered beach and butternuts in the fall.
Special things my parents did for me — they took us on picnics at the beach in Meaford and swimming at Wasaga Beach. I remember July 12th parades and picnics for the Orange Mene. I remember them taking us to our first moving picture show. We visited with our aunts and uncles and had a lot of company at our home. My mother taught me to sew, quilt, knit, and cook and clean, to do the laundry and iron. They taught us right from wrong, the gave us a fear of guns and of poison. They taught us to help others as they did.
Going to school.
My first and only school was U.S.S. No. 1 Walters Falls Holland and Euphrasia. A brick one room grade school just a short distance out of the village.
I studied reading, writing, arithmetic, geography, history and grammar. My worst subject was spelling. I still remember these teachers: Miss Curry, Miss Morgan, Miss Scott and Mr. Neelands.
At recess I liked playing house in the rocks, and playing softball with the other kids. We played "Blind Man's Bluff " — I walked into the brick wall and broke my two front teeth! In winter we would be sledding on the hill and playing indoor games.
I remember a day at school one Friday on May 1st. We cleaned up the school yard, had a bonfire and toasted marshmallows — a teacher's treat for the children. I walked off the schoolyard and down to the river.
We wore navy skirts and white midis with sailor collars to school. We wore pleated skirts and sweaters in the winter with coats, scarves, toques and wool leggings. We wore over shoes or rubbers boots. We had mitts and long underwear to keep warm.
What I liked most about school — the school Christmas concerts, marching at fall fairs, playing and making friends. I disliked the boys fighting at recess, homework and exam time.
Special memories of my early school years. When Miss Scott was leaving she made us candy on the big old wood stove. Jean Lourie helped me a lot and did my work for me (a mistake I found out). I recall playing "Auntie over the Shanty" and planting a wildflower bed on the north side of the school (the bed never did well). Walter, my older brother, and I worked to clean the school. I swept the floors and Walter walked to school early on winter mornings to put the fire on and get fire wood in for the day. I bought my first skates with my money I had earned.
As I grew up.
My brothers and sisters were Edna (1916-1959), Grace (1917-2012), Walter (1919-1943), Margaret (1920-1997), William (Mac) (1922-1999), and Iva (1925-1997). Walter died during in England training as a pilot during the war. Mac drove tanks and similar equipment during the war, he landed at D-day and returned home safely.
My family lived all my days in Walter's Falls. In the war years, 1944, my mother and dad sold and moved to Markdale to manage the seniors home; I was married at the time.
Our neighborhood had good sharing families. There was a post office across the street. The postmaster was Walter Lemon who had a family of eight. There was the Laycock family of six. Mrs. McQuaker was a great gardener and had an apple orchard. I remember Del Rey the blacksmith and Lucy the Sunday School teacher.
My favorite hobby was swimming. I received a life saving certificate and so did my brother Walter (we saved someone from drowning in the mill pond). I recall gathering spring wildflowers and morels. On weekends I learned my memory work for Sunday School and my lessons. We would often have a girlfriend home for Sunday supper or I would visit a girlfriend's home for Sunday dinner.
My chores included washing up after meals, taking my turn at doing Saturday baking. I would wash and wax the kitchen floor. And clean the soot from lamp glasses.
I always shared my bedroom with my sisters. We kept it clean and tidy. We would hang up our clothes neatly and change from our good Sunday dresses to play clothes.
My best friends and I went to ball games and hockey games. We would go skating at the local rink in Walter's Falls; and sometimes, on a Saturday night, we would go skating to music in nearby Rocklyn.
Things my parents told me that help me the most — be truthful and fair; give a helping hand; always be respectful to older people; and always use Mrs. and Mrs. when you address them.
My first dates were Mac Robb and Morris Laycock. What I remember most about my teenage years was dancing at the Walter's Falls Community Hall. We were forbidden to go dancing in nearby Bognor.
I remember my haircut in a boyish bob and the treatment on my front teeth when I was 12 years old.
Meeting my husband.
Maurice Quinton and I came from the same area, Walter's Falls, and probably would have met first at the ballpark. On our first date we took a car drive after a ball game. He picked up Jean Menary and me on our way home from the game. He dropped Jean off and we went for a drive over Massey way.
What attracted me to him — he was good looking and had nice hair. He came from a good home and drove his father's car. He was rather shy and no show off. He was nicely dressed and had good manners.
I think my parents thought he came around too often.
Things we like to do together. Mostly dancing and going to shows. We visited his sisters often: Beatrice in nearby Massey and Melba in Brantford.
Getting married.
Our wedding was on June 11th, 1938 at the United Church parsonage in Walter's Falls. Our best man was Carson Wheildon and our bridesmaid was my sister Grace Dixon.
Before the ceremony I remember feeling I'm older now and I'm a married woman tomorrow.
Our reception was held at our family home in Walter's Falls. Edna was a big help; she and Olive served the meal. Mother and we girls had prepared the food for the reception.
On our honeymoon we left by car for Northern Ontario and were away for a week. We left with $55 in cash. We stayed in cabins and one night with friends in North Bay. We had to buy a tire on the trip and came back with $10. It was very hot weather in the Midland cabin.
Starting a life together.
We first lived on the Quinton family farm home in Euphrasia township, just outside of Walter's Falls, with Maurice and his father Richard.
The farm home was a beautiful brick home with bathrooms, four bedrooms, living room, dining room, den, kitchen, pantry, and a washroom on the first floor.
My daily life involved cooking meals for four men and myself. You must have potatoes to warm up for the breakfast and I made my first porridge out of oatmeal. We had running water, electricity and a washing machine.
We had milk cows and I remember washing up the cream separator and putting it outside in the sun to sterilize on summer days. I learned to milk cows and we had our first chickens.
The elder Mr. Richard Quinton and I got along very well. He talked to me a lot about the Walter family.
We made ice cream in the summer evenings from our milk and cream and used ice from Emerson Quinton's Ice House. A very nice treat. We read the daily papers and would listen to radio programs.
Some funny things that happened that first year. I recall cleaning stove pipes and washing up the soot on the floors. Ellen came in November, our first baby at the Quinton home. Grandad Richard Quinton was thrilled as well as Maurice, the dad. She was a great joy to us all, a fair and happy baby. But it was a cold winter bedroom for the new baby.
Holidays didn't come that often. But when we could, we would go to see Hilda and Reg Puddicombe in Haysville. They gave a good welcome and we always had a nice visit.
Our favorite movies were "Wuthering Heights" and "Gone with the Wind". Our favorite books were "Black Beauty", "Uncle Tom's Cabin", the holy Bible and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.
Our favorite hobbies were country drives through the township; day trips to the Winter Fair, or the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. Later in life, we enjoyed our trip to England with David and Gail and also our time in Florida with Larry and Jean.
Some of the styles of those days — women would not wear slacks or jeans. We wore long dresses for the wedding, church, school and every day. Woolen or cotton jersey swimsuits are much different from today's.
Starting a family.
Our children were:
- Ellen Alberta. November 19, 1938. Alice Sowsd Maternity Home, Meaford.
- Larry Russell. December 4, 1940. Mary Adams Maternity Home, Meaford.
- Anthony Walter. July 12, 1945. Mary Adams Maternity Home, Meaford (12 lb.)
- David Maurice. September 17, 1947. Meaford Cottage Hospital.
- Reginald Emerson. February 19, 1952. Meaford Cottage Hospital.
- Dale Dixon. June 21, 1954. Meaford General Hospital.
- Paul Finley. May 8, 1958. Meaford General Hospital.
Things I remember of each child: Ellen was a happy fair-haired child, a storyteller who loved to read. Larry, his nickname was John boy, would follow his grandfather to Walter's Falls for the mail and loved to sing for the company. Tony rebuilt a motorcycle in our woodshed; he had a lot of friends, girls and boys. David walked to meet his dad; he was a good student; he played hockey; had friends Gary Seabrook and John Hallman. Reg was "Rambling Reg"; a teenager sick with mono. Dale was always a policeman; he played hockey and went fishing. Paul was my baby who said, "You won't cry when I go off to school will you?"
One of the funniest things that happened with our children was when I chased Paul and caught him for swearing. I surprised them all too when I got my driving license.
I recall these special moments we had with our children. On the 24th of May we would have firecrackers. I recall picnicking with all Olive and Beier Pitts, their children Susan and Tom and our family. Beier had gas camp cooker. I recall taking the children to the Toronto Santa Claus parade and the circus in Owen Sound. Following the Rocklyn team hockey team where David played. Dad did a lot of driving for that team. There was not much winter work for Dad, he did snow plowing for the township.
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The notebook ends here with several pages of question/answers yet to be completed. My mother passed away with heart attack on December 11, 1997 in her 78th year.
These notes transcribed during April 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
