Written By Dave Zavitz, Middlesex Centre Archives
The second of five children, Anna Shotwell Hampton was born 2 September 1835 in Orchard Park, New York near Buffalo to Asa Hampton and Catherine Pound. Anna, her three sisters and one brother were raised in a strict Quaker home, provided a good education and loving support. She met George Ott Zavitz from Bertie Township, Ontario at Quaker meetings. Friends often visited other meetings and came together for Yearly Meetings. They struck up a friendship and decided to get married.
After the wedding ceremony, a celebration and meal was held at the home of her parents. Anna’s wedding suit was a full, floor length cotton skirt and matching tight-fitted bodice closed with hooks and eyes in a dark colour such as grey, blue, brown or black. George wore a new, dark suit. These clothes would be used in years to come for going to meeting and on special occasions. Anna would have also had a Quaker bonnet and may have worn a white lace cap under the bonnet to keep it clean. She and her sisters had been well trained in hand crafts and their clothes would have been hand sewn at home.
Following the wedding, they packed up Anna’s few belongings and their wedding gifts and travelled to Bertie Township, Ontario buying a farm near George’s parents. Anna was only 19 years old and had little worldly experience. So, this must have been a challenge for her. They farmed in Bertie Township for three years.
George had previously visited his brother, Benjamin F. Zavitz, in Lobo Township and while there had purchased a 50-acre lot. The area had been surveyed but had not yet had much development. It was heavily forested but appeared to have rich soil. George was anxious to settle on his new farm. They sold their farm in 1858 in Bertie Township and any possessions, animals, etc. that they could not take with them. Loading their few possessions on a lumber wagon, they hitched the yoke of oxen to the wagon with their horse, Chubby, tied to the back and set off for the wilderness. Going was slow as the oxen were strong but slow moving. They followed the Talbot Trail to St. Thomas, Ontario where they turned north on another trail crossing the Thames River at Delaware. They continued north until they arrived at the farm of George’s brother, Benjamin. Tired and weary they were ready for a break. It had taken five long days of travel. It is likely that they lived with Benjamin and his wife, Merrin Cutler, while clearing and building a log cabin.
George and Anna’s lot was Lot 11N Concession 10 (Charlton Drive) just over a mile from Benjamin’s farm. They chose the north corner facing the road allowance to clear for a cabin. It was densely forested and George got busy immediately cutting and trimming trees. He used the oxen to drag the logs to where the cabin would be built. Anna’s job was to use the horse, Chubby, to pull the brush and tree branches into piles for future burning. When they had enough logs, a cabin was put up with notched logs and a clapboard roof over it. It was a one-room, rough building. When roofed to protect from the weather, they moved in. George later built two partitions at the back for bedrooms with a narrow set of stairs leading to the attic loft.
As fall approached, it became necessary to hurry and make the cabin weather-proof. Anna helped chink and plaster the walls with mud. George laid a plank floor over the dirt. Anna had brought seeds and cuttings with her and immediately began a garden to provide regular food to add to the wild fruit, plants and nuts that she gathered. George built her an arbour over the front door to support her grape vines. She planted fruit tree seed she got from neighbours to begin an orchard.
When the piles of brush were burnt, she collected the ashes, poured water through them and collected the drippings. This mixed with animal fat and boiled over an open fire provided them with lye soap. It was strong and caustic but did the job.
Evenings were used for mending and making of replacement clothes as the hard work soon took its tole on the ones they had brought. It must have been hard on the eyes as they only had candles to provide light.
In the following Spring, Anna found herself pregnant, and Mary Eliza was born in September. She continued with her work right up to the birth. Her sister, Mary, travelled to Lobo Township from Orchard Park to help her with the birth and care of the newborn infant.
The following twenty-one years slipped by with more clearing of land for crops, expanding orchards, more animals and daily chores. They were chronically short of money so Anna sold extra eggs, butter, fruit to supplement their income. She was an excellent seamstress and began providing handmade Quaker bonnets for Coldstream, Sparta, Norwich and Malahide Meetings. When the neighbours heard of her skill, they began asking her to make them things as well. She found she could not produce enough with just evenings by candle light to work so purchased a pump Singer Sewing Machine. She also purchased a crank knitting machine but many pieces needed to be finished by hand adding heels and cuffs. Her sister, Elizabeth (Libby), came for several months in the summer to help with gardening, sewing and food preparation. They worked as a team to help supplement the family income. Days were long and full of activity.
As Mary Eliza grew, she was moved to the attic loft to free up the second bedroom for her Aunt Libby. Because her mother and aunt were always at work, she was given tasks to occupy her and keep her out of their way. She learned to knit mitts for sale and to stitch leftover scraps from sewing into cushion tops.
In 1880, Hugh Kester Zavitz, son of Benjamin F. Zavitz, decided to move west as it opened up. He sold Grandview Farm to George and Anna. There was a large two-storey brick house with a large barn on the farm. They sold their farm, loaded their belongings and livestock and moved into Grandview. Their few belongings didn’t make a dent in furnishing the house. Anna decided she would have to work hard to furnish the house properly. There, however, was lots of room for her sewing machine, knitting machine and spinning wheel.
George was a friendly soft-spoken man but not a very good manager, often making unfortunate decisions. Thus, Anna had to work hard and try to make up the shortfall in family needs and loan payments. She expanded the gardens, fruit crops and poultry. She made butter, hand crafts etc. to be sold to neighbours and at the market in London.
In 1888, Mary Eliza met and married John Edward Bycraft. Two rooms upstairs were fitted out for their private use. John soon realized that two families could not live off the farm as it existed. He finally convinced his father-in-law to make him a partner. He didn’t want to make changes without assurance that he and Mary would benefit. He expanded the chicken houses buying chicks from a local hatchery. He planted acres into orchards and small fruit. Any excess could be sold to bring in needed money. Anna and Mary continued to work steadily in the home and on the farm to help support the family.
Around 1890, Anna began to have some health problems. She had memory lapses and sometime forgot where she was. This condition progressed and the grandchildren were called upon to keep an eye on their grandmother. It got so bad that they were finally compelled to confine her to the front parlour for her own safety. By 1896, things had gotten really serious and the elders of Friends Meeting convinced them that Anna would be safer and better cared for at the Ontario Hospital in London. She no longer knew where she was or who she saw, so the move was not too traumatic. She died quietly in 1898. She was sixty-three years old. She was buried at Friends Burying Ground in Coldstream marked by a simple stone in the manner of Friends.
Anna’s whole life had been centred around family. She worked steadily for the good of all passing on her skills and knowledge to family. She was a courageous lady who left the comforts of home to settle in the bush far from her family. She faced adversity and challenges head on. She set the stage for success for future generations of her family.
