Norbeck Research, 117RuchSt. Coplay, PA 18037
Ontario’s rural history and the importance of agriculture
are recalled at the Ontario Agricultural Museum. The eight acre
site features a series of historic farmsteads, a crossroads
community and a variety of display buildings. The museum has one of
the largest collections of agricultural machinery in Canada.
Exhibits of Massey-Harris, International Harvester, Ford, and John
Deere machines depict the influence of these large companies on the
agriculture industry.
Other exhibits feature the variety of implements made by Ontario
manufacturers. The ‘Steam on the Farm’ exhibit was opened
in 1990, and traces the history of steam power on Ontario farms.
Twelve portable and traction steam engines are displayed.
Sawyer-Massey 76 HP steam traction engine, built in 1920 by the
Sawyer-Massey Co., of Hamilton, Ontario, is owned by the Ontario
Department of Food & Agriculture, Ontario, Canada. When not at
steam shows it is on display at the Ontario Agricultural Museum in
Milton.
Photo was taken by Jack C. Norbeck, author of Encyclopedia of
American Steam Traction Engines.
Every July, the museum holds the Great Canadian Antique Tractor
Field Days, a steam, tractor, engine, and implement show for
machines made by Canadian firms. In 1991, the event will take place
on July 20-21. Other events are scheduled through the museum’s
season.
The museum is open from mid-May to September, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. It is located in Milton, Ontario, just off Highway 401. The
museum is a project of the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and
Food.
The Sawyer-Massey steam traction engine #4191 on the cover was
purchased new by the Ontario Department of Public Highways in 1920
to crush stone for highway work. It was sold after several years to
a man in the Lindsay, Ontario area. He also used it to crush rock.
It was then sold to Mr. George Ports of Bobcaygeon, Ont., who used
it to power a sawmill until 1950.
The engine sat unused at Bobcaygeon until 1953, when it was
purchased by Mr. Garnet Pattenden of Rutherglen, Ontario. Here it
was used to power another sawmill, until the mill burned in January
of 1956. The mill was destroyed and the engine was damaged: the
babbitt melted out of the bearings and the governor was ruined.
Mr. Pattenden was going to rebuild it for use in a new mill, but
instead he purchased a mill with a stationary steam engine already
installed. The Sawyer then sat until 1959, when it was sold to Mr.
Charles Matthews of Langstaff, a collector of large machinery and
farm implements.
The engine was restored under Mr. Matthews’ ownership. In
1965, the Government of Ontario arranged to purchase Mr.
Matthews’ collection. The Matthews Collection was the base on
which the collections of the Ontario Science Center and the
Agricultural Museum are built.
The following is a list of steam engines in the Ontario
Agricultural Museum collection.
Sawyer Massey 68 HP steam traction engine owned by David Stirk
from Brampton, Ontario. This engine was winner of the Johnson &
Holt Trophy for best restored steam traction engine at the Ontario
Steam & Antique Preservers Association show at Milton. Photo by
Jack Norbeck.
The portables are a Sawyer-Massey ‘LDS’ return flue, 17
HP, 1895, cosmetic restoration; Waterous ‘Champion’ upright
#48, 14 HP, 1878, cosmetic restoration; Hagget Brothers (Brampton,
Ont.), cosmetic restoration; John Abel ‘Triumph’ 10 HP,
1879, cosmetic restoration; J.I. Case #27092, 30 HP, 1912, operable
restoration; George White return flue, 1890, running
restoration.
The tractions are a George White rear mount, 20-25 HP, 1913,
cosmetic restoration; American-Abel ‘Cock o’ the North’
14 HP, 1905, cosmetic restoration; J.I. Case rear mount, 30 HP,
1912, unrestored; Robert Bell (Seaforth, Ont.) compound, 25 HP,
1922, cosmetic restoration; Robert Bell, unrestored; Goodison
(Sarnia, Ont.), #1905, 20 HP, 1919 unrestored; Waterloo (Waterloo,
Ont.), ‘Ontario Special’, unrestored; Leader (Clinton,
Ont.), #283, unrestored; Sawyer-Massey camel back, 1915,
unrestored; Waterloo 20-22 HP, 1912, operable restoration;
Sawyer-Massey 60 HP, 1923, operable restoration; Sawyer-Massey 76
HP, #4191, 1920, running restoration; and a George White, no
clutch, 1895, cosmetic restoration.
Information for this article came from Cliff Jones, acting
registrar of the Ontario Agricultural Museum.
