The Spence Family:
Early Teachers in Churchville
Over the March Break we visited Black Creek Pioneer Village and I was happy to be able to see this embroidery sampler in person. Made by Sarah Jane Todd while she attended "Mrs. Spence's School" in 1849, it gives us an interesting glimpse into village life during a decade that is a bit enigmatic. Sarah Todd lived with her parents Oliver and Susan Todd at Lot 3 (7593 Creditview) and is buried in the Cemetery. According to the inscription on her memorial, she was only 18 years old when she died in 1855, so she may have only been 12 or 13 when she made this sampler. The Todd family were among the very first settlers in northwestern Toronto Township, and you can find many of their memorials in the Cemetery.
Churchville Public School in its original location, where the white frame church stands now.
Thanks to a biography written by their grandson in 1950, we have a good deal of information about the Spence family. David and his wife Jane were both teachers in Churchville. There is no record of anyone named Spence having owned land in the village, but given how much teachers made at that point it seems more likely that they rented.
In 1844 David made the 8-week voyage from Newry (Northern Ireland) and came to stay on the Arnott farm (where Loblaws is now located). John Arnott was married to David's aunt, Susan. David married another Irish immigrant, Jane Eccleston the following year. Jane was trained as a teacher in Ireland and had recently made the journey to Hamilton, Upper Canada
David taught at Churchville Public School for seven years when it was located where the white frame church is now situated.
According to an article on the Find A Grave site, the Trustees at Churchville P.S. wouldn't give David a day off to get married, so he walked from Churchville to Hamilton one Saturday afternoon at the end of July, married Jane and then they walked back to Churchville the next day. This is obviously quite a feat; at a distance of about 60 kilometers, a journey like that would have taken at least 12 straight hours of walking, with minimal stops. The Spences welcomed their first child, James, on July 16th, 1848.
In Churchville Jane set up a private finishing school for girls in their home, where she taught skills like languages, art, music and needlework. Known as Mrs. Spence's School, it was likely only open for four or five years, before the family moved to Amaranth Township in May 1852. As Churchville is reported as only having a population of around 150 residents at this time, it would have been a very small school; likely only serving a handful of students at most. The location of the school is not clear. There are no land records from the time that mention the Spence family, so it seems likely that the young couple were renting at that point.
After enduring extreme hardship, settling on an uncleared bush lot in Amaranth and losing a baby during one of the freezing winters, David went on to eventually become the second Reeve of Amaranth township and then town clerk and the Justice of the Peace. Jane eventually organized one of the first schools in the township, teaching in their barn. David died in 1893. His memorial in Forest Lawn Cemetery reveals that he was a devoted member of the Orange Order. Jane died in 1897 at the age of 83. Both are buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Orangeville.