Christine Whelan FEO, June 9, 2022, VOL. 3 ISSUE 21

Did you know that something very exciting happened right here in Fort Erie in July 1997?

This is the question Sharon Dell, President of the Bertie Historical Society, began with, in her presentation at the Crystal Ridge Library, on Wednesday, May 18, 2022. A video by local photographer/videographer Paul Kassay, documenting the Faith and Heritage Conestoga Wagon Trek was also shown.

The video documented the wagon trek from Lancaster Pennsylvania to Fort Erie. This group of locals, who ranged in age from 10 to 76 years, were dressed in historical costumes and with two Conestoga wagons, they re-created the journey their ancestors had made to Canada 200 years ago.

The mission of this group of people on this trek was to call attention to the courage and faith of their ancestors. Also, to establish a fitting memorial in the Fort Erie area which is a plaque that can be seen today along the Niagara River near Black Creek.

There were around 30 people at the meeting, including special guests Cathy Dennahower, Glen and wife Pat (Nigh) Scott and daughter Erin, and Jim Nigh who actually participated in the trek. The Nighs descend from their ancestor Adam Nigh, who was13 years of age when they arrived at Fort Erie with his widowed mother and his siblings.

These descendants prepared a display table with photographs, news articles and other mementos, giving the rest of the attendants of the meeting a first-hand account of the event.

“They had two wagons. There was one borrowed from Pioneer Village. And the other one was built by Jim Nigh and his brother-in-law from the wood from the Nigh farm,” recounted Dell.

The Nigh farm is not Nigh Road. It was in the New Germany area, “Still within the Bertie Township, out in the country. She added, “However, they are all related. The Nighs are all from the same place in Lancaster. So, the Nighs here in Ridgeway are somehow from that line.”

Sharon gave another family connection. “Paul Kassay’s two grandsons are Sherks. His daughter married a Sherk. The Sherks were some of those early pioneers. So, we brought his two grandsons along in 1997.”

Dell had connected with another man who was on the 1997 trek. He brought Sharon a costume of pioneer garb. She shared, “Historical Society member Rick Doan was wearing the original costume worn by Mort Sider on the wagon trek.

The 1997 Re-enactment: “It was really something for the people to see.”

The trek was advertised where it was going to be, in what town, and at what time. People came out to see them. Sharon shared how, in Kassay’s video, while traveling through one town, bringing residents out onto their lawns and porches to watch and ask questions, one man hollered out in amazement, “Are you really going to Canada?”

“A lot of schools and homeschoolers heard about this re-enactment and would bring their classes and kids to watch them go through their town.”

There were two wagons with two horses each. “At times, they had to go onto the highways. They had police escorts. This was well coordinated and well greeted by the Americans. They would end up stopping at a historical museum along the way and camp overnight with their tents.”

The re-enacted trek took about 20 days in the month of June. The original trek took almost two months for the pioneers. “You can drive in a car and make it all the way to Lancaster in six and a half hours,” Dell said, providing some perspective.

The Peace Bridge

Sharon imagined this would have been very unusual for anybody to have seen in 1997. “When they arrived at the Peace Bridge, they came across the bridge with wagons and horses with all of the people dressed in costume. At the top of the bridge, they stopped and sang Oh Canada. Pat told me this was very emotional.”

It was on Canada Day. “They arrived specifically for July 1st, for the Friendship Festival”

“And because there is a history of the natives helping the original pioneers when they arrived,” Sharon explained that one of the Nigh family members who were on the trek spoke at the presentation and included that when they got to the top of the bridge, the indigenous people, in native dress, from the Fort Erie Native Centre, met them there.

Why would these citizens want to spend the month of June in 1997 doing this?

Faith and Heritage Conestoga Wagon Trek: An Important Story For Fort Erie

“These pioneers had to have the perseverance and a lot of faith in God to be able to make this journey.”

Sharon quoted Pat (Nigh) Scott, “Pat said, ‘My great-great-great-great- grandfather Adam Nigh was only 13 years old when the pioneers first took the journey. And as we were re-enacting the trip, I couldn’t help thinking what it would have been like for him at 13. His mother, Julianna, was a widow. When his father died, in his Will, he said to go to Canada. She took the younger kids and took the journey.'”

Going through those woods brought it home to them all, according to Pat.

Sharon said this is an important story for Fort Erie. “A lot of the people who live in this town right now descend from these pioneers.”

Sharon’s ancestors were Siders and Wingers, early pioneers. “And then I have a Sherk history here.” So, this story is very dear to Sharon.

As she told in her presentation, the route from Lancaster generally followed north south river valleys. It was basically a path through the wilderness.

“I talked about our pioneers. I really wanted people to know who these pioneers were.”

Sharon continued, “Some children were grown up, married and had their own children. They did not agree to leave. So, the parents and younger children came but some left their older kids behind. And they may have never seen them again.” It’s not the same as today.

The Quakers

“The first pioneers were Quakers. It was 1782 when the Quakers first arrived here.” When the township was first surveyed in 1789 it was named Quaker Township due to so many religious settlers.  By 1793, it was re-named Bertie Township.

The Quakers, called the Society of Friends, came with family names such as Dennis, Pound, Zavitz, Cutler, Schooley, Moore, Learn and Doan.

Following the Quakers were the Pennsylvania Dutch Mennonites from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania with family names such as Sherk, Fretz and Hershey, along with the Tunker or Brethren In Christ families, such as the Wingers, Siders, Beams and Climenhages.

Among the Lutherans were the Nighs, Nears, Minors and Otts.  There were also natives and soldiers who were loyal to Britain (UEL) such as the Brant, Huffman, Anger, Buck, Teal and Plato families.

If you recognize any of these family names in your own family tree, chances are that you descend from these original settlers. These early pioneers were willing to endure significant hardships in order to secure a new life. The long trek to Upper Canada was a costly trek for many because they had to leave behind family, friends and churches.

The Wagons: The “Big Rigs” Of Their Times

Conestoga Wagons were named for the area where they were built in the Conestoga Creek region in Pennsylvania. They were built to haul heavy freight over bad roads. These horse-drawn freight wagons were the “big rigs” of their time. They hauled everything. For pulling these heavy freight wagons, Conestoga horses, a special breed of draft horse sometimes measuring 17 hands, were used.

“After making this arduous trek, through wilderness and swamps — and they walked, they did not ride in these wagons, they walked alongside as much as 20 miles a day — they arrived at the Niagara River.” Sharon asked me, “How do you think they got across the river without the Peace Bridge?”

She provided the answer herself in detail. “They took these big, old wagons and tarred up the seams and any cracks with pine tar and that allowed these wagons to float. Some actually floated across the river.”

There was also a ferry. “In the Sherk’s book, it says, ‘We came across on a little boat.’ And they were at Black Rock which is where the ferry started from on the other side of the river. I’m assuming that the ‘little boat’ was the ferry. They loaded the wagons on the ferry and paddled across. And the horses swam across the river, pulling these ‘wagon boats’.”

And from there, a new life awaited all.

If you are interested in Fort Erie’s history, Sharon welcomes anyone, whether you have roots stretching back to these brave pioneers or you are new to the area and are looking to find a way to embrace your new community, to join the Bertie Historical Society.

You can contact her by emailing sdell@becon.org for further information.

To any descendants of the Sherks, there is a Sherk family reunion this summer in Ridgeway on August 5 and August 6 at the Crystal Ridge Community Center. This reunion is seldom held in Ridgeway.

For further information, contact  https://www.schurchfamilyassociation.net/reunions

Photos

Photo from 1997 provided by Cathy Dennahower