JohnMcIvor’s homestead as it looked in the 1880s
JohnMcIvorwasamultifacetedcharacter.
As a
youngmanhewasambitious, resourceful andwas known throughout
the regionasanentrepreneur. In1869, aneighteen-year-oldMcIvor
and two friendswalked from his home inHuronCounty to theBruce
Peninsula settlement of PurpleValley, north-east ofWiarton. Thegov-
ernment of Canadawas offering land to settlers and theydecided to
stake theirclaimandclear the land.A fewyears later, John’sentire fam-
ilymade the trek north to settle on the land he had earlier cleared,
where theybuilt loghomesandbarns for their livestock. Though there
wereother families in thearea theMcIvors tookupagoodpieceof the
real estate so theareawas designatedas theMcIvor Settlement…or
as itwas sometimes spelledMcIver.
A few years later John was appointed the postmaster of
McIvor/McIverandoperated thepost officeout of hishome.Healso
opened thearea’s firstgeneral store in the front roomofhishouse.After
his brothers and father pulledup roots againandheaded toAlberta,
Johnbought their homesteads.With theseacquisitions he now hada
massive600acreestate.Hecalled itAlbemarleStockFarm.Hehired
manyof the local men to clear the landandoperatea sawmill hees-
tablishedon the farm.When his barnburned to theground in1887,
JohnhiredMcClaren’sPipeBand toserenade theneighbourswhohad
gathered tobuildanewone.Beinga ‘dyed-in-the-wool’Scot he loved
the soundofpipers.Unfortunatelyhealso loved the ‘water’ that got its
name fromhishomeland…Scotch.
In1878 Johnwas appointed the IndianAgent for theCape
Croker Reserve. Thisproved tobeanother unfortunate legacyof John
McIvor. TheCanadiangovernment doledout funds to theagentsand
moreor less left it up toeachagent toadminister the funds to thenative
population.Unfortunately, therewereanumber of timeswhen thena-
tivepeopledidn’t see themoney thatwasowed them—Johnhadused
it for his own projects instead.One of those projectsmay have been
themagnificent home he hadbuilt around the turn of the century. By
this time Johnandhissecondwifehada large familywitheight children
to fill theeight bedrooms in thehome.While thehousewasunder con-
struction, theworkmen slept in theatticandusedahand-operatedele-
vator to lower themselvesdown to theother floors toworkon thehouse.
By1923McIvor tiredof theareaandalsomoved toAlberta.
Some say he lost the farmbecauseof investments that went bad. His
son IvorMcIvor tookover the farm foracoupleof years, but then sold
it to theKilburn familyandheadedwest himself.
By1966 the farmwasup for saleagain. LloydandOliveBurt
lookedat thepropertyanddecided itwouldbeagoodventure to lay
down rootsandmanageabeef operation. They ran the farm foreight
yearswhile in themeantime theirdaughter Judymetahandsomeyoung
farmboy, Bill Glassford, and fell in love. In1969Bill and Judywere
married in the frontparlorof theoldmansion.Bill recalls that his father-
in-law loved thebigopen fireplace in theparlorandbuilt a raging fire
for thewedding. The parson had to standdirectly in front of the fire
throughout theceremonyand theycouldseebeadsof sweat rollingoff
hisbrow.
A fewyears later, Bill andhis brother tookover the farmop-
erations andBill and Judymoved into thebig house. They continued
tooperateabeef farmand raise their twodaughters.Asa teen,oneof
their daughters worked at a restaurant and motel inWiarton. The
restaurant also sold tickets for theMSChi-Cheemaun (The ferry that
takes passengers from Tobermory toManitoulin Island). One long
weekendshecamehome fromworkandsaid, “Momyoushouldopen
abedandbreakfast here. Therearepeoplesleeping in theircarswait-
ing for the ferrybecause thereareno rooms leftanywhere!”TheGlass-
fords thought about the ideaanddecided… “Why not, we have this
hugehousewithall these rooms that nobodyuses.”
No soonerdid they launch theB&B than guestsbegin to fill
the place. Their daughter Tonya complained that her mother would
sometimes come toherand say, “Honeywouldn’t you like to stayat a
friend’s house tonight… I’ve rentedout your room.” The familywould
alsoget callsatall hoursof thenightasking if theystill had roomsavail-
able.Onesuchgrouparrivedwithbottles inhand ready toparty. Judy
gave them thesuiteabove theirownbedroomonly to find that theparty
wascontinuing late into thenight. Exasperated, knowinghehad tobe
upearly to tend tohis chores, Bill knockedon thedoorandexplained
that theother guestswere complaining. Thankfully thepartiers apolo-
gizedand finallywent tobed.Of course, anumberofweary travelers
hadadifficult time finding theplaceas it isdefinitelyoff thebeatenpath.
Bill wonders if there could still be someone drivingaround theBruce
Peninsula looking forMcIvorHouse.
Havingenoughof thesurpriseguestsandunpredictablenum-
bers, theydecided tochange thestatusofMcIvorHouse fromanopen
endedB&B toa ‘FarmRetreat’. Theynowbookedgroupsand families
to come and stay and experience country and farm life. Around that
same time theBruceTrail gainedmoreattention,withgroupsof hikers
doing sections of the trail each year. Some of these groups opted to
stayat lodges likeMcIvorHouseduring thenight rather then roughing
it in tents. Thisproved tobeaboon forMcIvorHouse.
Over the years an interesting variety of guests booked into
the retreat. Among themwas agroupof womenwhoproclaimed to
possess physicpowers.Whenoneof themediums entered thehouse
she immediately felta ‘presence’andasked Judy if shecould ‘smudge’
her bedroom. (Smudging is apractice that has beenaround for thou-
sandsof years—letting theherbsburn tocleanseanareaof unwanted
energy.) Judy felt shehadnothing to loosesoagreed. Thewomanpre-
pared her sage bundle, lit it then entered the room slowly moving
around the spacewith the lighted sage thenproceeded to smudge the
otherbedrooms. Todatenoghostshave returned.
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51
Spring 2014
Escarpment Magazine
