I had been to Elora and Nichol Township many times before I actually found Thomas and Catharine Gray's original homesite, called "Rosehill," pictured below. One time I had picked up Amy Ketchebaw Young, a cousin of my father's who lived in London, Ontario, and we had driven the area for a number of hours, even until it was dark, but we never found the lot and I wasn't sure how the concessions were numbered. She had been to both Thomas and his son William's homes many times, even as a child. That was my first trip to Elora. I had stayed with my sister-in-law's sister in Toronto and had spent two or three days in the township, staying at a wonderful bed and breakfast in town. We never found Thomas and Catherine Gray's home, we never found William and Jane Reid's (pictured to the right) home, but she showed me so many other places, including the house where Jane Reid Gray lived at the later part of her life. Jane Reid actually died in Buffalo, New York, at the home of her daughter Christena Gray Graves, wife of George Orrin Graves. Amy has since passed away, I have some of her pictures, but she really did introduce me to Bon Accord and my Gray family. I have been to Nichol Township many times since, including this past October (2011). I have found and talked to the couple who live on the homesite where Thomas and Catharine had their home. They said that the house was standing when they bought the farm, but the foundation was so old, you could see light through it. They debated restoring it, but for financial reasons decided against it ... so sad, but understandable. They had dug under most of the rocks, but had used some in their fireplace. I wanted a rock ... did not get it. As we went outside she showed me a lilac bush just in front of the house. The lilac bush had framed the front door of Thomas and Catharine's house, thus "a lilac bush marks the spot." I also drove up and down the dirt roads and pulled up to a house that I thought could be the William's house. It was at the end of a long lane. I stopped the car got out and knocked at the door. A woman answer
ed who was only renting the house and said that this particular house and land was owned by a German woman and she was only renting. STILL NOT SURE ... I went back again in October, up the same lane, there was no other house around, but this time no one was at home. Last week, wanting to set this one to rest, I sent an email to the Wellington County Museum and Archives asking if anyone knew if there was still a house on William's lot. The email went like this,I am interested in knowing if there is still a house on the land that was owned by my Great Grandfather William Gray and his wife Jane Reid Gray. The home would have been located on Lot 2 Concession XII, Nichol Township. His father and mother Thomas and Catharine Gray were very early settlers in Bon Accord, living in Con XI, Lot 9 (I know this house is no longer there.)
The response came yesterday,
I had a look at the 1906 Atlas map of Nichol Township and saw the "Thos. Gray" (Thomas William Gray, I think) farm listed at Lot 2, Concession XII. It shows his house on the south side of a long driveway. I then went online to Google maps and looked at the same property. There is a house at the same location, south side of a long driveway [these satellite views were taken within the last 5 years]. The aerial view doesn't indicate the age/style of the house. I've attached the aerial images and have added an arrow to indicate which house/farm this is. I tried dragging the little yellow guy down the lane, but it wouldn't let me so there is not yet a Google Streetview available on this road. (Note: The name of the street is Geddes)Well, here is William's land and house from the air. Exactly the same location as the house I visited. There are few houses around, probably most have been torn down, but my "gut/spirit" tells me this is the home where my Grandmother Helen Gray Lillie was raised. She married William Rayburn Lillie, from Marden, Guelph Township. They lived in a number of nearby towns; Guelph Township, Puslinch and Salem and moved to Manitoba in 1908, the year before my father was born,but this place and a lot just behind and down the road a little, where Catharine and Thomas lived, right next to the Lilac Bush ... these places are my roots and own a little bit of my heart ...
