This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
Sprucedale Farm — Crown Hill
When George Caldwell, his wife, Hannah Demeline, and their three children, Robert, George and Emma, came to Canada from Goole, Yorkshire, England, in 1831, they were on a path to becoming one of the most prolific pioneer families in our area.
After a short stay in Scarborough, the family settled in Oro Township. The couple would have eight more children: William, Thomas, John, Mary, Miles, Joseph, Hannah and Alfred.
Notable to Barrie’s past, their son, William, a blacksmith, built the impressive heritage home that still stands today at 149 Collier St., a remarkable example of Georgian-styled architecture.
George Caldwell, a member of the Methodist church, was an advocate for education and a trustee of the Crown Hill school. George and Demeline’s children, for the most part, all stayed and farmed in Oro.
George’s seventh son, Joseph, was farming his own land in Oro by 1867, at the age of 25.
In 1876, he purchased a wooded lot on Concession 1 of Vespra (Penetanguishene Road) and began the process of clearing the forest and establishing a farm. By 1880, he had built a fine homestead.
Unique in this area, Caldwell created an English-style courtyard, with barns on three sides, and a cistern and a poultry house forming the fourth side of the enclosure.
One hundred spruce trees were planted for shade and shelter, creating a boundary around the house and outbuildings. Joseph Caldwell was an accomplished and industrious farmer, as his beautiful Sprucedale Farm confirmed it.
In 1880, Joseph married a local girl, Caroline (Carrie) Jemima Luck. The Luck family were ‘old Oro,’ arriving from Albany, N.Y., about 1820. Carrie’s father, Edward, was the first school teacher at Crown Hill.
Caldwell sold his Oro property to Carrie’s father, Edward Luck, in 1886. Joseph and Carrie had six children: Melville, Alvin, Vernon, Winnie, Mamie and Ivan. Alvin and Ivan died as infants. Joseph expanded his farm, purchasing two more adjacent lots that stretched back from Penetanguishene Road to the shoreline of Little Lake.
Besides being a capable and experienced farmer, Joseph was quite active in municipal affairs. Like his father, George, Joseph understood the importance of education, and served as a trustee of the Crown Hill school section for nine years and as secretary for eight years.
From 1897 until 1911, he served on Vespra council and was considered one of the most efficient executives the township ever had. Joseph had a way of objectively assessing a situation and acting quickly. This level of effectiveness was greatly appreciated throughout his tenure.
Similarly, during the 12 years he spent as reeve, he was again revered for his competency and character. He was known to be “a man of rugged honesty, he believed in calling a spade a spade and hewed to the line regardless of where the chips might fall,” and for not having reached the position through any cronyism.
Joseph retired from farming in 1915, moving back to Oro, literally across Penetanguishene Road. When he died several years later, following a brief service at his home, he was taken to the Methodist church for the funeral, where every available space was filled with folk from Oro, Barrie and neighbouring townships, who had come to pay their respects to their “just and upright” friend.
Joseph’s son, Vernon, took over Sprucedale Farm upon his father’s retirement, managing the dairy and beef herds and the swine and raising poultry. His land still had acres of standing timber to clear, producing lumber and maple syrup to support the farm.
Sprucedale Farm had a corn binder and threshing machine, which brought in custom work for many years.
In 1922, Vernon married Hazel Rachel McLean. Hazel came from an old Oro family. Her great-grandfather, John McLean, engaged an agent in Toronto to locate a farm to buy. Shown sandy hills and poor land, McLean was rumoured to have thrown down a shovel, declaring he’d go back to Scotland if the agent couldn’t show him some decent land.
He was taken to view 150 acres in Oro, which he promptly bought in 1832. The new farmer had to fetch his supplies from Holland Landing, carrying the flour and grain home on his back. Vernon and Hazel had four children: Marion, Ross, Dorthea and Joan.
During the 1930s, neighbouring farmers brought their grain to the Caldwell farm to be ground. Not surprisingly, of the five townships participating in the 1939 Farm Home Improvements competition, sponsored by the Barrie Agricultural Society, the first prize went to Caldwell’s operation.
In 1925, Sprucedale Farm was the setting of the charming summer wedding of Vernon’s sister, Mamie, to James Edgerton McLean, his wife’s brother. Decorated with lush pink and white peonies, the farm made a beautiful setting for the intimate family gathering and buffet luncheon. Mamie was said to have looked quite stunning in a dress of cocoa brown georgette over cocoa brown crepe, with her shower bouquet of Ophelia roses.
Sadly, that same year, Joseph Caldwell’s widow, Carrie, Vernon’s mother, died. Like her husband, Carrie was well liked, and a good neighbour. The church was crowded with people who came to pay their respects to a much-admired woman.
Once again, Sprucedale Farm was the scene of another pretty summer wedding. This time, Vernon’s eldest daughter, Marion, was marrying John Guerin, of Toronto. Tall arrangements of summer flowers surrounded the lawn where the elegant wedding took place.
The descriptions of the flowers would make a gardener breathless: a cascade of Esther Read gardenias with stephanotis for the bride, a headdress of natural flowers and a nosegay of Shasta daisies for the attendant (Marion’s sister, Dorthea), fleurs d’amour for the flower girl, a corsage of pink cornflowers for Marion’s mother, and Joanna Hill roses for John’s mother.
The bride was exquisitely gowned and the women stylishly turned out. Music for the wedding was provided by Marion’s brother, Ross.
Ross Caldwell’s interest in music began early with the Crown Hill church choir, and later with the Barrie Collegiate Band. After graduating high school, Ross attended the University of Toronto, teachers’ college and a summer school of music before accepting a teaching position at Glen Park Public School in Willowdale in the late 1940s.
It was here that Ross founded and directed a choral group, the Ross Caldwell Singers. These North York singers were highly successful, with many appearances, including an invitation from W.A. Fisher for the Caldwell Singers to perform with the distinguished Collegiate Band, in Barrie, in 1952.
In 1955, Ross Caldwell returned to Barrie, joining the staff of Johnson Street Public School, and was promoted to principal in 1957. He formed a new Ross Caldwell Singers, the group becoming incredibly popular, entertaining at many events. The Ross Caldwell Singers made their TV debut in 1957 and, for 14 years, they performed on radio and TV and in concert.
Ross did not limit his choral talents to his own singers. He also directed the Royal Victoria Hospital Singers, a group of 60 nurses, nursing students and clinical instructors who presented a Christmas program for their friends and family, and carolling for patients in the wards.
After 34 years of teaching in North York, Barrie, England and at the Adult Occupational Centre at Edgar, Ross Caldwell retired. His father, Vernon, had died in 1975, but he and his mother continued to live at Sprucedale Farm.
Hazel died in 1992, and Ross died peacefully at Sprucedale Farm in 2014 at the age of 90. He is buried with his parents in St. James Cemetery, Crown Hill.
Sprucedale Farm changed over the years, the Highway 400 extension in 1950 reducing the 225-acre farm to 184 acres.
Happily, many of the gigantic spruce trees that inspired the name of this picturesque century farm still stand today.
