Clyde River

Montrose Farm – original Ward Farm (Google street view photo)

I was out touring around the original Ward family property on the “upper” Bannockburn Road in Hampshire this weekend with James and Carol Ward from Arizona who were on PEI for the first time on a genealogical quest.

There are two Ward houses still there at the jog in the road, one was the home of Benjamin and Hattie (Beer) Ward and across the road, the farm owned up until 13 years ago by Milton Ward. After friendly visits with the new owners, they suggested we should make sure to visit with Milton who now lives in North River.

James and Milton are 4th cousins and their first meeting was a great homecoming. James is a descendant of Alex Spurgeon Ward, one of the boys who moved to Boston around 1900. He asked Milton if he had any good stories to tell about the farm, and Milton pulled out a newspaper clipping for him to read. Always on the trail for a good story myself, I asked Milton if I could share it on the Clyde River website. Apparently, the story made The Guardian and CBC-TV news back in March, 1987.

Steer escapes from tight spot, only pride hurt

Hampshire – One of Milton Ward’s steers might think twice before he tries to escape again.

The 1000-pound steer pulled a chain over its head in the barn stall sometime Monday night and while wandering around the barn fell into Mr. Ward’s well, where it was trapped until discovered early Tuesday morning.

When Elizabeth [Lizzie] Ward got up Tuesday, she couldn’t get any water out of the kitchen tap. She couldn’t figure out what was wrong until Mr. Ward checked the barn.

“I figured it was a fuse,” he said. But when he discovered the steer stuck in the well it wasn’t hard to figure out the problem. While the animal was attempting to get out of the well, it broke a pipe connecting the tank to the pump, so no water could be pumped out.

After recovered from his surprise, Mr. Ward phoned a neighbour who had a hydraulic hoist.

Getting ropes around the steer was no easy task since the opening only measured six feet by four feet. It was accomplished by putting a rope around the steers head and pulling it to one side so the rope could be pushed down the side. Then the steer could be pulled to the other side so the rope could be brought up again.

Although the whole operation took about three hours from the time the steer was discovered, the actual lift only took about half an hour, Mr. Ward said.

“It wasn’t easy, but we managed.”

Although the steer has a few bruises it probably sustained in attempts to get out of the well, it appears none the worse for wear.

The well had been covered with two-by-five boards and a half-inch sheet of plywood “but it was made for man, not beast,” Mr. Ward said. He thought there was no need to put a heavier cover on it since it wasn’t near where the steers were kept. But now he admits he’ll have to put a heavier cover on it.

I asked Milton what the price of beef was back then and he said around 70 cents a pound, so on top of it being a prized Holstein, it was $700 they pulled out of the well that day.

Editor’s note:

• The farm is now owned by Peter Cairns.
• The Wards named the farm “Montrose” after the beautiful varieties of rose bushes at the front of the house.
• Hattie (Beer) and Benjamin Ward were Davis Ward’s parents. Davis sang in the Clyde River Presbyterian Church Choir for many years. Their house is across the road from the farm.