Settler Henry Modeland admired for his honesty, hard work

Tom St. Amand No one seemed overly concerned about the accident at first. Sure, Henry Modeland, 79, was shaken up when his wagon capsized in May of 1915, but he was known as a resilient pioneer with a strong work ethic.

Tom St. Amand

No one seemed overly concerned about the accident at first.

Sure, Henry Modeland, 79, was shaken up when his wagon capsized in May of 1915, but he was known as a resilient pioneer with a strong work ethic.

But three weeks later the patriarch of the Modeland family was dead, and the mishap “undoubtedly hastened his end,” his contemporaries said.

Sarnians are familiar with Modeland Road, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares. But Henry Thomas Modeland (1836 – 1915) left more than a road bearing the family name.

Some of the Modeland clan had immigrated to Canada from Cornwall, England and settled in Peel County in the 1800s. Henry was born in Brampton in 1836, and on New Year’s Day, 1862 he married 21-year-old Isabella Ritchie.

By the year of Confederation, their union had produced three children: Elizabeth, Ada, and John.

Modeland purchased part of Lot 46 in the Front Concession (the land north of Cathcart Boulevard) in February of 1879 and built a home near the Lake Huron shore, just west of today’s Modeland Road.

He paid $700 for the land, a princely sum at the time, but a wise investment for the family. Henry worked hard turning the uncultivated, sandy soil into one of the finest fruit farms in the area. He prospered and became well known across the city and county.

Modeland was admired both for his tireless industry and his sterling honesty. He found time to get involved in the Blackwell community, helped build its original church in 1880 and became a member of the Health Board.

By 1914, though, Modeland’s own health had begun to fail. He and wife Isabella anticipated the day he would retire and enjoy a well-earned rest.

On June 10, 1915, Modeland was following his usual Saturday routine. He awoke early, loaded his wagon with goods and rode into Sarnia with dairy and garden produce for his regular customers. Later that evening, he tended the cows at pasture.

His daughter, Ada, was the first to see her father had collapsed in the field. Acting quickly, she raced a horse-drawn buggy to his side and managed to get her barely conscious father into the buggy. Henry Modeland died on the way back to the farmhouse.

The news of Modeland’s death shocked the community and distressed his many friends and long-time neighbours.

The man who brought the Modeland name to Sarnia-Lambton is buried in Lakeview Cemetery.