This is one of the oldest structures left in Sinclair Township.
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R. W. May, one of the early settlers of the mid 1870s, built this fine square timber home on Long Lake, before it was later move to Bella Lake. It is one of the oldest buildings in Sinclair Township. This is a photo of it as a cottage in the late 1940s. (Photo by M. J. Thompson))
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Robert W. May
Settler Robert William May built his home on his lot in Sinclair Township in the mid-1870s. It was located on the Bobcaygeon Road and backed onto Long Lake (Dotty Lake) at its top end (Lot 26, Concession A). It was a fine one-and-a-half storey home, and the logs were very large squared timbers. The Mays abandoned their home, relocating in theHuntsville area prior to the 1890s.
Geoff Isaac
Geoff Isaac (the English Man) was a trapper and fishing guide who worked for Mabel Hart Brook at Camp Billie Bear in the 1930s and 1940s. He also called the square dances. While he lived at Billie Bear during the winter, he preferred to stay in his wood and canvas tent shack during the summer at the far west end of Second Sandy beach. Around 1940 Geoff met a gal from Delaware and set his sights on marriage. Now he would need to have a proper dwelling. In 1941 Geoff had the old R. W. May home disassembled, and that winter the logs were moved by sled via the road to Bella Lake, down to the west end of Second Sandy.
Mabel, however, likely figured it might be better for Geoff’s new wife if she were closer to Camp Billie Bear instead. She gave a small parcel from within her own Billie Bear lot as a wedding gift to Geoff in 1942.
And so, when spring came, the logs were floated back across Bella Lake to Billie Bear Bay, the cottagers watching with amusement. The old settler’s house was reassembled in the corner of Billie Bear Bay near the swamp. (On the far shoreline of the swamp, there was a graveyard of the larger wooden boats that had been used in earlier times to shuttle guests from Kells Landing to Camp Billie Bear.) The brick fireplace was likely added at this time. Geoff and his new wife moved in. The cabin was secluded in the woods, and there was no driveway – only a lane that joined up with the other Billie Bear cabins.
However, after the first winter, Geoff’s wife fled back to the States, obviously not accustomed to the hardships of living in the bush.
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Geoff Isaac, trapper and fishing guide in the late 1940s (Photo by M. J. Thompson) |
Interior of the cottage, lit by oil lamps in the late 1940s (Photo by M. J. Thompson) |
Ethel Thompson
In 1944 Geoff’s small lot with the log house was sold to Ethel Thompson, cottager Sandy Thompson’s sister. Ethel, who was not married, used it as a cottage during the summers, along with few winter visits. Pine paneling was put up throughout the interior. In 1949 a new driveway was put in from the road, and all the cottagers, Billie Bear guests, Mabel, and Brookie came to celebrate at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
When Ethel died in 1953, Sandy’s daughter Margaret Jane Thompson inherited the cottage. Electricity went in in 1955. Margaret married Ron Clifford in early May of 1956, spending their honeymoon at the cottage. The cottage was known as the Clifford cottage until 1973, when it was sold. The Clifford children grew up paddling Geoff Isaac’s old yellow canvas canoe.
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Sources:
Huntsville Forester, October 17, 1940, p. 1.
Paterson, Barbara, personal communication (Isaac story as told to Paule Clifford).
Thompson and Clifford Family Collections.
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