Dear Editor,
I grew up in Starks Corners and am a daughter of the late Orval and Winnifred Smart. This past August, we took some grandchildren to Shawville to see the home place. One of our granddaughters Hannah and her friend Adam wrote the following poem after being in Shawville.
It all began back in 1805
When Alexander Charles Smart
was birthed, alive.
Not a given fate in those days.
And good thing too, seeing the trail he’d blaze.
For the man he’d grow to be,
the decided pioneer of a vast family tree.
Over 150 strong, the descendants of ACS
spread all across the globe,
their reach beyond a guess.
Yet it did begin in one small town,
just north the Ottawa River,
where logs floated down.
Upstream from Portage, past Starks Corner,
in charming Shawville, settled the Scottish foreigner.
With his first wife Jane Lang
(and another Jane thereafter)
he fathered 16 children, over a 43 year chapter.
Their 1,000 acres and the town’s strong foundation,
made for a prosperous homestead,
passed to the next generation.
It is by his great family, in a unique way,
that Alexander is bound to Shawville,
still to this day.
Countless memories and photographs
full of penchant and charm,
from School No. 3, to the old Smart Farm.
From Alex to Sheila, the story, nowhere near done
of Shawville, the home of 1641.
– Adam and Hannah, Logos Land 2020
Sheila Kleinikkink
Alliston, Ont.
