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PAGE 6, WEDNESDAY,, FEBRUARY 8, 1984, Wl Br~k1in Byines I. by BETTY-JEAN BLYTH C&IU55.»79 %Wlh Items fer this cohumn. Last week the paper had barely bit the streets when I received a cail from someone identifying himself at Mr. G. Roundhog, formerly kiiown as 'Woody' or 'Chuck'. Amid much wheezing and snor- timg, the caller proceeded to tell'-met that 1 was to ignore any press releases from "that young whip- persnapper" in Pennsylvania who, accordlng to my caller, doesn't know bis grass from a hole in the ground. He then went on to inform me that he is the one and only. "bonyfied" forecaster, and resents these imposters'hogging the spotlight. When I asked him what the forecast for tbis spring is Mr. G., as he likes to be known, began hacking and coughing so badly that I had trouble making out the words. However, hé croaked * THE CORPORATION 0F THE TOWN OF WH ITBY 1984 MUNICIPAL TAX NOTICE The flrst Instaliment of taxes for 1984 Is due and payable February 24, 1984. If payment Is flot recelved by the due date, penalty will be added on the f lrst day of defaulIt and the f lrst day of each calen- dar month 80 long -as non-payment con- tinues, at the jrate of 1i/¼ % per month or part thereof. Taxes may be paid at any Whltby bank wlthout bank collection charges or at the Municipal, Office, 575 Rossland Road East, Whitby, Ontario. Deborah A. Smart, Tax ollector,- TOWN 0F WHITBY.1 [ETRUSF It 's oider t han was thought.... Brooklin man writes Don't'Th row 1ItAway -, Consuît The Wood Doctor We repai r & refi1ni1sh antiq ue and old wood furniture. . FREE ESTIMATES PIC K-Up & DELIVERYl ýon Eîliott rock Rd. N. 683-2175 ickering Openl7Days AWeek ? 'HITBY FREE PRESS somethlng to the effeet that the next six weeks would makethe ski-doers happy (or was it the skln- ny-clippers?). Before I could ask hlm to repeat bim- self, he went into a long harangue about bis lum- bago and rbeumatlz; about, how dlfflcult it Is to wake up from bis annual Rap; about how it gets barder every year to drag bis creaklng old bones out into the cold. I thought 1 might get more information from bis wlfe, s0 I asked for ber but he said that Aggle was too busy. It seems she was making up a mustard plaster and running a hot bath for bim. The Then be hung up. There was one question in particular that I reaily wanted to ask ber, a question I and -a lot of other wives would like the answer to and that 15 "What's your secret for getting the old man out of bed in the moig"VALENTINE'S DANCE Brooklin and District Kinsmen are holding a Valentine Dance on Feb. il in the Community Cen- tre beglnning at 8 p.m. This is the time of year'set aside to remind us to let our loved ones know just how much tbey mean to us, so why flot pick up a couple of tickets and take your love out for a night of fun and frolie? You can get tbem at Brooklin Esso or by cailing Don Vipond at 655-4953. Tbey're only $5 per person, 80 burry before tbey're alI gone. PAPER DRIVE Yes, it's that time again wben 2nd Brooklin Cubs and Scouts come around to pick up your old newspapers. Remember to tie them securely both ways and leave them at the curb on Sat. morning, Feb. il before 9 a.m. Ashburn residents can leave theirs as usual at Asbburn Community Centre on the Friday eveming before. Not any earlier please because of the fire bazard. 'SKATING TIMES Last week. the Sunday afternoon public skating timnes were inadvertently omitted, please accept my apology. The Sunday times are 1: 30 to 2:45 p.m. for family skating. Wednesday afternoons fromn 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. are primarily for the scboolage crowd and Mondays from 10Oto il a.m. and 12 noon to 3 p.m. are parents, tots and seniors. MYRTLE NEWS Myrtie United Churcb held a Communion service on Jan. 29 wbicb wasi-ed bythe Reverend Bull Pier- cy. Its annual meeting was held at the home of Jim and Mary Housego on Feb. 5. A "Special Show of Interest Sunday" will be held Feb. 12 in the church. Please come out and help f111 this little church for tbis special service. Myrtie UCW meets Feb. 14 at the home of Rita Wade and Myrtle Womens Institute m eets the next day, Feb. 15 at the home of Mrs. Lorne Parrot. Dessert will be served before the meeting at 12:30 p.m. 50 be sure to get there early and partake of the goodies. Mrs. Frank Tbronton, Curator Will be in, charge 0f the program. Don't forget there's Choir Practice every Wed- nesday eveninig at 6 p.m. in the church followed by- Square Dancing at 8 p.m. Lynde. A faiaig glimpse of tbe early bistory of Whitby bas been gained by a research project wbich bas just been completed. by the Wbit- by Museum (Lynde House) with the help of a Wintario grant. The research is in the form of a 200 page report wbich bas resulted from rougbiy 1,000 hours of resear- cbing original documen- ta in the Ontario Ar- chives in Toronto, the Public .Archives of Canada in Ottawa and other sources. Copies of the report have been given to the Whitby Public Library. The research was un- dertaken in order to establish 'the age of -Lynde House. The report concludes that it was built- during the War of 1812-14 wbich is in agreementý with sour- ces from the late 180's. This makes- it possibly the oldeat building still standing between Toronto and Prince Ed- ward County. Lynde House is on the NOrtb side of Highway 2 at the West end of Whit- by at' the- corner of D'Hilier Street and is operated as a museum by the Wbitby Historical Society. Historical Society president, Doug Ander- son. points out 'that altbougb the. building may,.not appear nearly as imposing as many other old buildings -'in Whitby, it was built in ' a period ôofU 'conservative solid architecture, and is, in. fact, generations older than the more or- nate late. Victorian buildings that many people associate wlth 44old". The research is of a period when Higbway 2 was only a dirt track throughY virgin forest and Lynde's nearest neighbours along the road were the Posts in Pickering and the Farewells in South Oshawa. There was notbing else in whatý is now Whitby. The research was done primarily by Neil Wick of Brooklin. Wick is deeply interested in local history and is regarded as the- authority on the bistory of Brooklin. It was boped that the research would turn up sometbing wbich would make specific reference to the bouse. Many references to the Lyn- des were indeed found dating back to 1804, however notbing that specifically described Lynde House. What was found was extensive verification of the traditions wbich were written down in the late 1800's and the report concludes "1that in tbe absence of any source wbich suggests any other date, it seems a reasonable conclusion that these secondary sources are reliable in giving a date of 1812-14 for the date of construc- tion of Lynde Hlouse."1 The most fruitful area of research was the military records of the War of 1812. Wick' was able to document in great deail the role that Jabez Lyn- de played in that war. Records were found of a militia company existing before the war and' of a company "f dispatch riders that operated along the Kingston Road (presen- tly Hwy. 2) during the War, both of wbich in- cluded Lynde. A diary of Ehi Playter who was the commander of the s e e I - - i - L Di 'Bi p - i 3 year (AC \iiiitàjl earlier militia company exista in the Ontario Ar- chives and mentions Lynde many times. -An account book found In the llbrary of the Royal Canadian Military Institute lista goods that Lynde sold to the army during the war. One particular date was extensively resear- cbed. Tbis was April 27, 1813. On that date an American naval force captured the provincial capital of York (Toron- to) and an army of British regulars and a large number Of civilians were known to have left York to make the arduous retreat by land to Kingston. A personal account of that trip was found in the form of a narrative wbicb had been publisbed in 182. Tbis was by a Patrick Finan who bad been a young lad at the time. He describes in great detail the first four days of that trip at wbicb point tbey bad not yet reached Wbitby. Unfortunately, he skips over the remaining part of the Journey quite quickly s0 we can only guess at what be found in Whit- by. One of the most colourful traditions about Lynde House, is from an account by Jabez's daugbter Clarissa written in 189~7. She1 desçribes, ,an,,in- cidentwerasodr "with dextrous hanid cut from the neck,,0f Mrs. Lynde, whle, she slept, a valuable string of ,gold <beads.' 'In fact '41 'Gold Necklace"p valued at 2-pounds. ap- pears in " a statement of Losses Sustained by Jabez Lynde 0f the Townsbip, of, Whitby, Ini- nkeeper by the acta 0f General- Sbeaf's Armày on, their Retreat from York, in April 1813". Lynde may neyer bave collected on that dlaim, CONT'D ON PG. 7' House history