Click on the  photos below,   collected by the Cordova Calendar Committee

Some sadder stories........

Tragedy struck the small community at various times over the years. Zella McCulloch, a student at Cordova Mines School, was killed on Wednesday, June 5, 1938,  as a result of falling off the runner boards of a moving car; On January 22, 1939, three more students Melbourne, John and Dorothy Johnston lost their lives in a house fire. It was 16 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, that night.

On Jan. 22, 1943,  14 year old Helen Jackson drowned in the Deer River.

W.L. Wannamaker purchased a store north of the school in 1911. He moved to the Bake Shop by the town well, which he opened and dug deeper and installed an iron pump. In September 1914 a fire destroyed the store. He then purchased a store opposite the original and then moved it down opposite the large church. He was responsible for the sidewalk on the main street.

During the war years many of the residents of Cordova Mines volunteered for active service overseas. Some of these people never came home.

Click here to read about the tragic death of Donald Ellis

The tragic fire of the Johnston family- scroll down

Aug. 16, 1917 Lucky Escape    The young son of Mr. Ira Outwater,  of Cordova, narrowly escaped death on Monday.when he detonated a dynamite cap while holding the explosive in his hand.·' As it was he escaped with losing the ends of three fingers and his thumb.

1923 TRIPLE BEREAVEMENT
The Herald:   The following is an account of three deaths,  two in one day and the other within three months. The deceased persons were father; sister and a brother of Mrs. Wm. McCallum, of Marmora. The home of Mrs. Robert Henderson, Cordova,· was doubly bereaved on Friday, March 16, 1923, when the father, Mr. Robert Henderson, aged 85, and daughter Mrs. J. D. Kerr, aged 42 passed away. The latter predeceased her father by about five hours after an illness of four days from pneumonia. The late Mr. Henderson was born in Ireland and came to Canada when quite young, settling at Marmora, until his removal to Cordova some years later. He was a man of loving and kindly disposition, ever ready and willing to lend a helping hand and had a host of friends who will regret his demise. In his passing a loving husband and father and true friend was lost to the home and community. Mrs. Kerr, whose husband passed away ten months ago in Los Angeles California, where they resided was on an extended visit to the home of her parents when the grim reaper death so suddenly entered, bringing with it double sadness. She is survived by a little son nine years of age.

Surviving Mr. Henderson is his loving wife, six daughters and one son- Mrs. William Sanders and Mrs. QuacKenbush, of Havelock, Mrs. Winfred, of Madoc, Mrs. Scott of Marmora, Mrs. George Riley of Marmora, Mrs. Keene,  of British Columbia and Thomas of Havelock. The double funeral which was one of the largest ever held in Cordova, took place on Sunday, conducted by the pastor of the Methodist Church, of which the deceaseds were faithful members, the service being held in the· Methodist Church, Cordova. The remains were then laid to rest in a double grave in Rockdale Cemetery.

HAVELOCK YOUTH FATALLY
INJURED IN AUTO ACCIDENT
Richard Bernard Dafoe, aged 17, of
Havelock, died of injuries received
in a two-car crash at the western
limits of Marmora Village on No. 7
Highway about 1.45 a.m. Saturday
morning. Four other passengers in
the car driven by the deceased were not seriously injured although two ofthem. Eugene Dafoe, 21-year-oldbrother of Richard and Edward Best,23, of Campbellford were taken byCassidy's Ambulance to St. Joseph's
Hospital, Peterborough. The other
passengers Clifford Anderson of
Havelock and Wm. Symes of R.R. 2
Bonarlaw were treated by Dr. Parkin of Marmora.
Driver of the other car was Everett
Nobes, of Toronto and he was ac
companied by Peter Quinn of Marmora Township. Neither man was seriously injured in the crash.
It is reported that the two vehicles
sideswiped on a straight stretch of
Highway and both cars were de
molished.
The funeral for Richard Dafoe was
held on Monday from the Curtis
Funeral Home in Havelock to the
Fellowship Baptist Church where
Rev. L. V. Bigelow conducted the
service. Burial was in Maple Grove
Cemetery.
The deceased was a son of Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Dafoe of Havelock and he is survived by four brothers and seven sisters.
Died 22 June, 1963.

Ronald Barrons Thanks for posting this information. I have often thought of Dick and wondered about the circumstances of the accident. Dick and his brothers and sisters played a significant part of my school days at Cordova. Their home there in Cordova was consumed by fire and they then moved away from Cordova.

Ronald Barrons writes: I received this photograph from my Aunt Theda of the barber shop / pool hall at Cordova. She indicated this was Harry Bowen’s shop. I also have information that Frank Thompson, brother-in-law of George Barrons was a barber at Cordova in the 1920’s and this may have also been his shop. I have no date for the photo and do not know the children in the photograph

Ruth Tierney goes on to describe another matter of importance.

" A cunning fellow named John Maloney wanted to open a whiskey tavern for the miners but unfortunately for him whiskey was illegal at the time, so, he had to figure out a way to circumvent the law. Finally, after much careful thought, he got an idea he was sure would work but told no one of his plan. For weeks he kept secretly busy in his back yard building a fancy "saloon-on-skids". His dual purpose was to make money and outwit the police. In those days they could not arrest anyone outside their own jurisdiction. Village spotters informed John when Peterborough or Hastings authorities were on their way, then he simply crossed over the boundary road into the opposite county and set up his portable tavern in full view. For many years they tried but could never catch him, for it had become a sort of game that everybody played. Most of the villagers and probably all the miners didn't want him to be caught. His son now lives on a farm just a few miles from Cordova."

Mark Fehrenbach writes: "The car shown at bottom left (insert) is a 1930 Ford "Model A" and at time this photo was taken in the summer of 1967, the vehicle was owned by me, and after 1984, my son, Allen. Doug Caverly, shown gassiing up the car and his wife, Doris, operated the store and pumps atthe time the photo was taken. Doug had donned Gerard Fehrenbach's straw hat for the photo opp and Gerard is shown with beard) standing at rear. The straw hat belonged to Gerard's grandfather, John E. Maloneyand was last worn by him during the summer of 1947 while living in the brick homestead. The straw hat, the license plate - K9-955 from 1967, the car, Doug and Gerard are still with us as of Christmas 2006."

THE CORDOVA PHOTO GALLERY

Carman Hamilton            Carolyn Bowers Langabeer:      "He was such a sweet man ..he would call us every year for the outdoor gospel night ..he was always smiling .. such a blessing."                                 Amy Russel:   Love this picture! He had such a sweetheart.     Lisa Hamilton-Howie :  My great grandpa. Awesome picture!

THE CHURCHES

List of  Methodist Pastors 1903-1990

Gail Steenburgh Zurba writes:   George Washington Steenburgh,  my great grandfather,  was the minister at this church I believe in the middle 30's...

Mary Loveless adds:   My great grandfather was Christy Steenburgh Gail, I think we are relatd.

United church congregation, courtesy of Molly Chard

Anne Marie Wilman-Spry writes:   Rev. Mary Gifford was my great aunt & sister-in-law to Phoebe & Leona Walker & Flossie (Grandma) Hinds.

Free Methodist Sunday School picnic at Mazinaw Lake (M. Chard Collection)

Free Methodist Sunday school,1946 Bottom, Bill Drummond, Harold Carmen, Hazel Vanallen, Rae Caverly, Molly Bird, Ron Wells (Molly Chard Collection)

In her 1986 book, "Echoes From the Past"  Ruth Tierney wrote:    "Percy Ellis, a present-day resident says, "My father Martin came to Vansickle in 1898 and bought two hundred acres for the sum of three hundred dollars. He built a log cabin that still stands on my land just behind the main house, and although I had to replace the roofing with modern asphalt tiles, I've kept the rest of the structure in its original state. My brother was born there".

The Vansickles settled at the site about 1925 followed closely by Steve Sopha, Ed and Fred Cole, the Palmateers and the Warren families. Incredibly the place had not been officially named before 1925,  simply known as the "Sopha Settlement"

Mill Burned Down

Marmora Herald March 16, 1911

At an early hour on Thursday morning of last week Lynch & Ryan's new mill, north of Cordova, was burned to the ground. It is not known how the fire started but it must have spread with- great rapidity. A thorough inspection of the premises was made late in the evening and no signs of fire was discovered. The fires were very low and were carefully banked so that the fire could not have started from them. Some of the men were at Cordova re- turning home quite late and parties passed along the road at various times until about four o'clock. The men hurried to the mill as soon as possible, but when they reached it they found that the whole building was down, not a timber standing. This is a heavy blow to the Company as they have a very large cut of logs on hand, and although a new mill will be erected as soon as possible, they will hardly be .able to complete the cut this season. There was only $700.00 insurance on the premises which will only cover a small fraction of the loss. Last year Lynch and Ryan had a mill burned down on the 25th of March, and this is the third fire in less than four years. It speaks well for their aggressiveness and progressiveness that they waste no time in rebuilding and resuming operations.

Matt Lynch from Marmora had three sawmills in the vicinity, one located at Shannick to the north-east, a second at Deer Lake near Vansickle and the third at Cordova, a mile or two south. These mills provided employment for the early residents of the area. Goldie Ellis (no relation to Percy) said, "My paternal grandfather Matt McFarlin (Click for info.) came from Ireland to obtain work in one of the mills, build a homestead and seek a wife. His dream was realized for he married and fathered ten children. Four of his sons died at an early age, all within three years of one another. He lost two in the First World War, one to polio and the fourth, who was a doctor, succumbed to a heart attack.

Jack McFarlin, father of Goldie whom he named after the Cordova Gold mine, drove a team and wagon to Trenton for the Coobridge Lumber Company hauling wooden staves for the production of barrels that were in great demand. It was a two-day trip over terrible roads and he had to sleep in the wagon at night to avoid wild animals.

Goldie's uncle, Ed Cole, was the postmaster for Vansickle for many years and operated from the rear of his home. Although the post office was closed by the Government, the Cole house is still standing. It shelters a new family.

Lori Zapletal wrote:   My Grampa Percy Ellis is in the back row on the right.

Charles Barrons,  in 1996 wrote:  The Vansickle school, one-room schoolhouse which was used for many years, was destroyed by fire in 1990 My wife, Freda (Ellis) Barrons and her brothers and sisters attended the Vansickle school, from 1930- 1936 Her teacher was Miss Lucy (Wing) Buchanan Although the school was small, at that time its enrollment was around 40 pupils.

Teachers 1908-1919

• Sephrona (Hurl) Sopha

• Pauine Weir

• Jim Melville

• Percy Gilmot

• Dorothy Scott

• Myrtle Sweeney

• Harold McClean

• Roy Rutherford

• Maggie Jordon

• Bertha Charlton

• Dorothy May Cochrane

• Marie Casement

• Gertie Greenback

• Lucy (Wing) Buchanan

• Jack Cowling

• Doris May (Shewchuk) Vansickle

• Vauna Bessie Pearl (Bannon) Green

• Mrs. Ross Hart

• Marie Millard

• Shirley Caterer

• Pat McCaw

• Leona Gordon

• Sandra Island

• Bernice Cox

• Miss McIntosh

• Helen Curtis

• Miss Timmerman

• Miss Anderson

• daughter of Wellington Burridge

• Florence Pearl Andrews

CLASS LISTS