*From information written by grandson Samuel and supplied by great grandson, John Gallaugher.

Thomas Gallaugher and his wife Jane came to our part of Canada, from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, a long, long time ago. The family grew and flourished until their name has become well known around the Alliston area.

Like most pioneers who came here, they came to be farmers regardless of their occupation in the old country. No doubt, the dream of actually owning 100 acres of good land in Upper Canada was pretty appealing. The only problem was that it first had to be cleared of countless giant trees in the virgin forest.

When they arrived at muddy York (Toronto) they were young and strong and ready to take up the challenge. It must have been heavy work for a man with only an axe and a saw and no woodsman experience since Ireland's trees had long ago been used up.

Thomas was born in 1806 and died on June 7, 1898. Jane was born in 1810 and died a few weeks before him on May 15, 1898.

The young couple from Tyrone was joined in holy matrimony in 1831, and being strong Christians, they did indeed consider marriage to be a holy sacrament where the two leave their families and become one until death parted them, an agreement between the couple and promised before the Lord.

Those were troubled times in Ireland, particularly in the north. The future seemed to hold very little for the Gallaughers so they boarded ship (probably from the Liverpool port in England where so many sailing ships were unloading Canadian lumber and timbers), sailing for the New World in May of 1832 when the weather was more or less fair and safe for sailing ships on the broad Atlantic.

No doubt, the old sailing vessel was becalmed frequently because it was seven weeks before they arrived at Toronto (York) where their first child (Margaret) was born in a city suffering from the plague of cholera.

Only three days after giving birth, Jane felt strong enough to travel so the couple started out early in the morning to seek their land in Adjala Township at Lot 29, Concession 2. It was a long hard hike through bush and paths and Indian trails and some primitive roads and they carried the baby and their belongings on their backs.

They were strong and determined and there was no turning back. This was the time of the longest days of the year and they arrived at their destination (about three kilometres from Rosemont, Ont.) by sunset. They would stay at the farm of their Gallaugher relatives.

No doubt, the exhausted couple slept well that night after bathing their sore and blistered feet and feeding little Margaret.

Dawn came early and the old rooster crowed and soon the oatmeal porridge (so important to the Irish) was ready in the log house and their first day was beginning. They were eager to walk over their new land. They had paid 32 English pounds, 10 shillings and seven pence and received a deed on parchment, beautifully hand written with a quill pen. That deed would state that the King of England had first claim on any trees that were perfect for ship masts for his Royal navy. They hoped that their descendants would farm this fine good earth for many generations.

We don't have much information about the original Gallaugher settlers except that they later purchased additional land in the township and managed to clear their land and plant crops.

One of their children was Joseph (called black Joe because of his dark hair). He was born in 1865 and died in 1914 and apparently he was the seventh son of the seventh son. The Irish people in those days believed that such sons had the spiritual gift of healing and his relatives sometimes came to him for help even if he did not share their beliefs.

Samuel Gallaugher who provided this information was black Joe's son, the third generation to farm that same good land. He and his wife Sarah (Rawn) retired across the street from my grandparents at the northeast corner of Wellington Street and Ontario Street in Alliston. They were friends of the Welchs and they were my friends too.

They were a fine couple and I had great respect for them. Sam was a respected elder of the old Presbyterian Church on Victoria Street West and no doubt it was partly because of him that I became an elder of that same congregation.

My friend Sam is long gone but I have continued on as an elder for almost 40 years. They loved the Lord and the wisdom and kindness modeled in the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Gallaugher were a good example for the younger generation.

Sam wrote that he remembered his original old pioneer grandparents. He wrote, "Grandpa was always present and smoking his clay pipe but he could not hear very well anyway. Grandma always saved some fat pork for me and expected me to go to her part of the house after I had my breakfast in our part and I seldom disappointed her. She said my uncle Robert always ate lots of fat pork and what a big powerful man he grew to be. She made oatmeal porridge every morning in a little round iron pot and I loved the part that stuck to the sides. She called it "crutlins." So I ate the crutlins and the fat pork to please a loving grandmother."

Samuel recalled that his father died on Dec. 11, 1914 at age 69 and he took over the family farm in 1915. He and Sarah were married on March 28, 1917 and his mother and his sister Minnie moved into Alliston.

John Gallaugher tells me that he remembers visiting them at their home on Elizabeth Street. He still recalls pumping water into a white pail at their well. The dear lady passed away at age 77 on March 5, 1936.

Samuel Gallaugher was an excellent farmer, having been taught well by his dad and his grandpa just how to work the land that knew the Gallaughers so well. He was particularly skilled in hog production but like most farmers of the era, he grew grains and raised cattle too.

His son John recalls that they kept a lot of laying hens and delivered the eggs (in their old Chevrolet with side curtains) to Hap Mullen's store in Alliston at the corner of Church and Wellington.

Sam's Orchard Valley Farm advanced their swine business when Sam bought an expensive bred sow from George Drennan. His neighbours thought he paid too much but the litter proved to be the beginning of a herd of fine show stock which won prizes at The Royal Winter Fair and The Canadian National Exhibition. It was a tradition that would be carried on by his son John when it became his turn to carry on with the high quality stock.

By 1951, Samuel and Sarah Gallaugher were ready to retire to Alliston and let the next generation have a turn with the old Orchard Valley Farm. The Good Lord blesses His loved ones and they had been blessed with two daughters and a son, Dorothy, Mary and John.

Times had changed a lot since they started to farm in 1915. The couple had been able to change with the times, moving gracefully from horse and buggy days into the space age.

Sam's success with fine quality, breeding stock in the swine production had improved the quality of swine in Simcoe County even further. Today his picture hangs on the wall of fame at Simcoe County Museum and Archives among our great men of agriculture.

John Gallaugher and his wife Velma bought the old place in 1951, where he grew up. Since his birth in 1923 his father had prepared him for excellence. He had learned well how to excel on the land and he carried on in his father's fine tradition and in the years ahead, he was to win a lot of ribbons in the show ring with his hogs, always in friendly competition with his close friend, Bill Braden. The two always worked well together over the years, each benefiting from the working relationship.

In 1994, the Gallaugher farm finally passed from the family's hands as John's son Brian, in keeping with the times, made his career in The Alliston Honda plant.

Few farms in Adjala Township can claim to have been in the family name as long as theirs. They farmed it well and it paid the family well throughout the generations. Their name is known and respected. That's the way we were then.

For more stories about the yesteryears of our community see next week's edition of The Alliston Herald. The 2008 compilation of these stories is about to be printed, entitled The Way We Were Then Book 1.