A book of pioneer life in Upper Canada, arranged in the form of a story. The author spent five-sevenths of his life among the pioneer settlers of Western Canada. The incidents in the story are taken from the active life of the pioneers of Western Ontario, among whom the author grew up. A keen observer, the reverend author has been able to produce a faithful record of the hardships, trials and successes of the hardy pioneers of the Niagara district, and all that magnificent country lying between the Niagara River and Lake Huron and Georgia Bay. It is needless to say, therefore, that the book possesses much historic value as a picture of Canadian life in the early days of this western peninsula.

The book is one which will be read with deep interest by those of the old pioneers who remain, and ought to become one of the household treasures of the descendants of those pioneers for many generations.

Rev. Joseph H. Hilts (1819-1903) was a Methodist clergyyman of Hamilton

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In the spring of 2001, Douglas Lochhead received the Alden Nowlan Award for Excellence in English-language Literary Arts from the Lieutenant Governor of New Brunswick. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a Member of the Order of Canada, the recipient of honorary doctorates from several universities, Professor Emeritus at Mount Allison University, Senior Fellow and Founding Librarian at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a life member of the League of Canadian Poets. After beginning his career as an advertising copywriter, he became a librarian, a professor of English, a specialist in typography and fine hand printing, and a bibliographer, scholar, and editor — indeed, he has characterized himself as “an unrepentant generalist.” At Mount Allison University, he was a founder and the director of the Centre for Canadian Studies, and he held the Edgar and Dorothy Davidson Chair in Canadian Studies.

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