EPISODE 1,020 JOHN AND ELEANOR CALDER — BUILT A SAWMILL FROM PARTS
alan skeoch
dec 8, 2023
Note: This story is about the Calder family aw mill. Your task is to separate threshing
from sawing….the Calders did both.
John and Eleanor Calder were a remarkable couple, Hard to know where to start their story
because they could do things thst would intimidate people like me and possibly you,
‘What is all that scrap iron beside the barn John?”
“I am going to build a sawmill, Alan…got all the pieces here.”
John and Eleanor were a perfect match…fitted hand and glove.
They decided to build their own house after a fire converted nearly all their
possessions into ash. I remember John’s burnt hands after he reached through a burning
window to rescue some silverware and pottery.
AFTER THE FIRE ‘MAKNG DO’ WITH WHAT REMAINED
“We will just have to make do with what remains’”
“What remains?”
“Lots.”
“Like the dairy herd was untouched and the barn and the sheep…and our family…no
deaths in the fire.
so we began to build our dream house.
I rescued this sawmill from scrap iron dealers. We have trees
…lots of them….and we have stones,,,lots of them. Enough to build a two storey field stone house, I have a plan,”
P{lan””
“The stones are free but lumber costs money. I need my own saw mill to cut costs”
‘
JOHN AND ELEANOR CALDER WITH HELP OF CHILDREN JAMES, DOUGLAS AND
ANNE BUILT A STONE HOUSE THAT BECAME A FEATURE STORY IN NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES i,e HARROWSMITH
The brand new stone house about to receive lumber from
the saw Mill
ENTER OUR FMILY
when we discovered the Calder saw mill. We had been collecting white pine beams from the demolition of the Massey Harris factory in west Toronto. The pictures below show how the beams became nice lumber.
Today the saw mill has been abandoned for two decades
OUR LUMBER AWAITS A NEED
alan
P.S> Eleanor was born to Frank Townsend and Elizabeth Skeoch, dad’s sister
