Tag Archives: Bloomfield

Emma and the Williams farm at Bloomfield, 3 of 12

Book Musings, , , ,
The farm was purchased for Caleb Williams in the summer of 1814.
The farm was purchased for Caleb Williams in the summer of 1814.

Four months short of his seventeenth birthday, Caleb Williams was “set down” on land that is still in the Williams family 200 years later. He had some supplies, his axe, a gun and doubtlessly a tent. The land sloped away to the south for a quarter of a mile to a beautiful stream of clear water which still flows southwesterly into West Lake. The soil was brown and loamy with barely a stone (and that is a big, big deal to farmers!). Caleb erected a log cabin before he began the arduous work of clearing fields with the help of his neighbours and a “negro (sic) servant”, who family records report, was at the time of his death “buried at the foot of the Dutchess (apple) orchard .”*

Gloranah Young was the daughter of United Empire Loyalists and a granddaughter of the founder of the lovely White Chapel (the first Methodist Church in Prince Edward County). For a little 19th –century steaminess the family history book says, “during one of Caleb’s visits to the Red Grange (no idea what that is!) Caleb found Gorahnah operating the dash (butter) churn. He suggested that she could come home with him to make his butter. She accepted.” The two were married May 3rd, 1820 and lived out the rest of their days on the farm they homesteaded.

*Merton Yarwood Williams’s The Samuel Williams – Jemima Platt Family

Emma and the Williams farm at Bloomfield, 2 of 12

Book Musings, , , ,
Cup and Saucer owned by Jemima Platt Williams, 1776-1853, settler on the shores of West Lake, within view of the sand dunes.
Cup and Saucer owned by Jemima Platt Williams, 1776-1853, settler on the shores of West Lake, within view of the sand dunes.

Samuel Williams came to Canada from the United States in 1784. Along with other United Empire Loyalist he began clearing land in what his grandson later reported as “howling wilderness”. In October of 1792 he married Jemima Platt, also from New York State, and they settled within sight of the “lovely Sand Banks which were shaded at the top by spruce and willow, rising at one point to a height of 125 feet above West Lake”*. The couple were to have 13 children, 3 of whom they settled on bush farms before Samuel died at the age of 55. Caleb was one of those three sons and the maple, beech, butternut and elm covered land he was given was located a mile south-east of the fledgling Quaker settlement of Bloomfield.

*taken from Merton Yarwood Williams’s The Samuel Williams and Jemima Platt Family.

Emma and the Williams Farm at Bloomfield, 1 of 12

Book Musings, , , ,
The former West Lake (Quaker) Boarding School is located near the Williams farm at Bloomfield.
The former West Lake (Quaker) Boarding School is located near the Williams farm at Bloomfield.

My burning desire to write a novel (which became “novels”) about a young woman growing up amongst the Quakers came to me as I was walking out of the former West Lake Boarding School in the fall of 1998. I had no need to write about my family, who for 200 years had lived not far from there. However, one day as I was merrily writing, John Williams (1830-1915) appeared strolling along the main street of Bloomfield. I had been using a family history book to anchor the events in Emma’s life in the time period and had read about the many accomplishments of the young man. I really didn’t want to build him into the story and certainly didn’t want to use his name, but no matter how much I tried to write him out, he wouldn’t go.

John Platt Williams II was the second generation of Williams’ on the farm located on a ridge just east of Bloomfield, Ontario. My nephew, Justin Williams, is the 8th generation and this year marks the 200th year our family has worked its land. Out of love for it and respect for the Williams’ who lived in Emma Field’s time I will write blogs about the farm over the remainder of the month.

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