Tombstone Tourism: North Nissouri United Church

One of the most scenic locations in Middlesex is at 24058 Fairview Road, north of Cherry Grove in the former West Nissouri Township, part of Thames Centre since 2001. The spot is North Nissouri United Church and its surrounding cemetery. 

First of all, let's establish what "Nissouri" means. Some residents believe it's a corruption of the phrase "nigh Zorra," meaning "next to Zorra." Why? Because East Nissouri Township in Oxford County was situated next to Zorra Township.* Forget it. Nissouri means something like "gurgling waters" in an Indigenous language. When the former township was first settled by Europeans, there were many running streams emptying into the nearby Thames. 

Land for this church and cemetery was donated by George Black in 1844, a decade before the church was built. The church was constructed from heavy oak timbers supplied by local farms and has rounded windows. It was veneered with brick in the 1880s by John Thompson. The first minister was Robert Hall who served for twenty-one years as a circuit preacher in the neighbourhood. By the 1860s, there was a forty-member congregation. 

Cement block Sunday School room at rear.

Originally Presbyterian, the church joined the United Church of Canada in 1925 after church members voted in favour of church union. The church was lit by coal and Coleman lamps before hydro was installed in 1938. A drive shed once to the north of the building is now gone. 

The congregation celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2004 but disbanded in the summer of 2021. One assumes attendance had dropped to far fewer than forty. No word yet on what happens to the building now.

But the church is perched on a hill surrounded by a cemetery of one and three quarter acres overlooking Gregory Creek valley. Now inactive, the cemetery is said to have more than 800 burials, the first known interment being that of Hannah Horton, local midwife, in 1844. I didn't find a grave marker with her name but there can be no doubt there are many more graves than gravestones. This is true of most older cemeteries. Many families could not afford a marker and some markers have been lost. 

The gently-sloping graveyard reminds me of the macabre poem "The Coffins" by southwestern Ontario poet James Reaney (1926-2008): 

These coffins are submarines

That will sail beneath the slopes 

Of grey-green old graveyards.

One white lone sailor to each

Submarine that navigates 

The wormy seas of earth.

With shrouds for uniforms

Stitched by weeping tailors

These bony sailors

Shall sail deep field and morass

Without periscope or compass

They'll only dimly know

That someday they must flow

Into the final harbour

On some high gray shore

Where the Lord shall weigh

Men's wicked souls on Doomsday.**

A poignant reminder of the harshness of pioneer life:
"To The Memory of George McDonald Who died Sept. 4th 1852 Aged 35 Years. And His Wife Mary, Who died Sept. 21, 1853 Ae. 24 yrs." 

*East Nissouri, West Zorra, and North Oxford townships were amalgamated into  a new township called Zorra in 1975.

**James Reaney, The Red Heart. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1949. p. 60.

Milling Around: Arva Flour Mills

 

This summer a friend and I were fortunate enough to get a rare behind-the-scenes tour of Arva Flour Mills from its new owner. I say fortunate because it's not everyone who's had a chance to view the antique milling equipment inside this pioneer building on the banks of Medway Creek. I say rare, because most visitors only see the workings through a door while shopping in the attached store. But I have friends in high places: my travelling companion once worked with owner Mark Rinker's dad, Fred. They got chatting, and the rest is history. 

Mark, who purchased the business from Mike Matthews in 2021, has done his research and believes the mill, established in 1819, is Canada's sixth-oldest continuously operating business. And perhaps the oldest food-producing company in Canada too. Most historians agree that Arva Flour Mills is North America's oldest continuously-operating, water-powered commercial flour mill. 

Pioneer tool marks on an interior beam.

The business was founded when much of the surrounding area was forest and nearby Richmond Street, then known as the Proof Line, was the main route north through London Township. In the 1800s, the owner often allowed customers to barter for flour, accepting items like turnips or boots as payment. 

In early twentieth century, the original grist millstones were replaced with roller mills made by Goldie and McCulloch of Galt (now Cambridge), state-of-the-art technology for the era. At the same time, an outside water wheel was changed to an underwater turbine. For the most part, the mill operates the same way as it did in the early 1900s, half run by water power, the rest by electricity. 

The equipment allowed the mill to produce 30,000 pounds of flour a day, much of which was purchased by McCormick's in London. With little competition and a major company as a customer, there was probably little need to update equipment, which is why the mill is a rare operating antique in the twenty-first century. 

While there have been many owners over the years, the family of Mike Matthews operated the mill for over four generations since 1919. That must be some kind of flour mill record. 

As I mentioned in a previous post on mills, Arva Flour Mills was shut down by a federal safety inspector in 2017. The inspector was concerned that the old equipment, with its exposed rollers and belts, was a hazard for workers. This despite the fact that Mike and his workers were highly trained on the use of their machinery. Fortunately, common sense prevailed and a federal tribunal later overturned the ruling. The mill was allowed to operate again on the understanding that no workers, not even the owner, are allowed in the upper level of the mill when the equipment is running. Fair enough.

Mark Rinker shows off his equipment.

 Using wheat from local farms, the old roller mills  produce a     "heritage flour" with no preservatives or undesirable     commercial  additives. The store sells flours, mixes for beer   bread and cornbread, and red fife pancake mix as part of the   Arva Flour Mills brand. Mark also bought the Red River Cereal   brand from Smuckers Foods of Canada which had stopped   selling the brand last year. Created in Manitoba in 1924, the   cereal was named after the Red River near Winnipeg. The   recipe  included cracked wheat and rye but was altered about   ten  years ago to include steel-cut wheat instead. Mark's historic   business is now producing the original recipe on site. The cereal   is now available at the mill store and beyond. 

 For such an old business to be booming is fabulous for Mark     and  his family but also for the community of Arva, the wider   London region, and heritage preservationists. The mill's   continued success under sympathetic, enthusiastic management   proves that not everything old needs to be demolished. 

Arva Flour Mills remains a significant and valuable Southwestern Ontario landmark.