James Gairns^[1]

1811 - 1872  (61 years)

• Name	James Gairns
  Born	1811	, Scotland   [2, 3]
  Gender	Male
  Occupation	1852	Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [4]
  	weaver
  Occupation	1872	Pilkington Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	weaver
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-91454
  Died	18 Nov 1872	Pilkington Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada   [3]
  	Cause: killed by railway locomotive
  Person ID	I91454	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Family	Bridget Maloney,   b. 1827, , Ireland ,   d. Yes, date unknown
  Children	1. John Gairns,   b. 1849, Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. Yes, date unknown   2. Patrick Henry "Henry" Gairns,   b. 8 Sep 1849, Elora, Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada ,   d. 8 Jan 1929, Evart, Osceola, Michigan, USA  (Age 79 years)
  Last Modified	12 Nov 2024
  Family ID	F23800	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  It was in the fall of 1847 that David Foote and John Cattanach took the contract of building the first Irvine bridge at Elora. One, and perhaps the best mechanic in the settlement, wrote out an estimate, intending to tender for the job of building the bridge, but took a little time to think it over before committing himself. During the night he could not sleep for thinking of it. He had carefully figured on the work of preparing the material for the bridge, but how would he put it to its place after the material was all ready? In the morning he burned his estimate, and because he had a large family of young children and could not afford to run such risks of losing, decided to have nothing to do with it. But that was not the way with the contractors. During the winter of 1847-8 they commenced operations by searching for a number of tall rock elm trees. These were felled, hewn square and drawn to the bank of the river ready to be put in place. Then they had to face the problem which had been foreseen by the other, and older mechanic. How could the first heavy timbers be put across the ravine which is here about 105 feet in width, or 120 feet between supports of bridge, and 70 feet in depth? For a time the contractors were at a loss to know how they should proceed, but a sailor helped them out of their difficulty. Jamie Gairns was at that time working as a baker in the village. He had been a sailor, and at his suggestion the contractors found several others who had some experience as sailors who could assist him. Jamie Gairns was let over the steep bank with a rope and in the face of the rock he cut notches. Into these the ends of long timbers were placed which were to form braces for the support of the main timbers, the outer ends being temporarily held in position by guy ropes. Pulleys, with ropes, were attached to the tops of high trees growing close to the ravine, one of the long timbers was moved forward endwise over the chasm as far as possible without overbalancing, and the back end was weighted down to keep it from upsetting. These operations were repeated at each of the four corners of the bridge, there then being the ends of four long timbers projecting over the river, but not meeting in the centre. Having succeeded so far, another heavy timber was slid lengthways along the top of those already in place on either side of the bridge, in this way bridging over the space between the projecting ends. When these were bolted to their places the main portion of the first cantilever bridge in America was completed; and a good bridge it was, for it lasted fifteen years without any expense for repairs and was only replaced when the timbers were considered unsafe. When they had paid those who worked for them and had settled their board bill at William Smith's tavern, which before him had been kept by George Gray and Martin Martin, the two partners found that out of their four hundred dollars they only had twenty dollars between them in return for all their difficult and dangerous work. In those days an event of such public importance as the opening of Irvine bridge could not be allowed to pass without some fitting celebration to commemorate it, so they negotiated with their landlord, Mr. Smith, who for and in consideration of the twenty dollars by him received did that night provide for all their friends a ball and dinner that was long remembered in Elora. The Early History of Elora, Ontario, and Vicinity by John R. Connon

  
  

• Sources

  [S55] Vit - ON, Wellington - Wellington County Marriage Register 1858-1869. Henry Gairus Event TypeMarriage Event Date25 Feb 1867 Event PlaceWellington, Hillier, Prince Edward, Ontario, Canada GenderMale Age18 Birth Year (Estimated)1849 BirthplaceElora Father's NameJames Gairus Mother's NameBridget Malone Spouse's NameMarion Templeton Spouse's GenderFemale Spouse's Age18 Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated)1849 Spouse's BirthplaceScotland Spouse's Father's NameWilliam Templeton Spouse's Mother's NameJanet McGuffie [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851, Div 5 Pg 2. James GAIRNS weaver Birthplace: Scotland Age 40 United Secession Bridget GAIRNS Birthplace: Ireland Age 24 Roman Catholic Henry GAIRNS Birthplace: Canada Age 4 John ? GAIRNS Birthplace: Canada Age 2 [S116] Vit - ON - Death Registration. James Gairns d. 18 Nov 1872 Pilkington, aged 60 b. Scotland, occupation weaver, cause: killed by railway locomotive [S131] Census - ON, Waterloo, Waterloo Twp. - 1851, Div 5 Pg 2.

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 1811 - , Scotland Occupation - weaver - 1852 - Waterloo Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada Occupation - weaver - 1872 - Pilkington Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada Died - Cause: killed by railway locomotive - 18 Nov 1872 - Pilkington Twp., Wellington Co., Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth