Mother's maiden name was Jane Hamil. Grandfather David Hamil's father and mother, and I believe eight children emigrated from the north of Ireland to Kent County, Ontario: I don't recall the year. Grandfather Hamil was the youngest, five years of age.
They purchased 160 acres of land from a company that was offering inducements to farmers in northern Ireland to move to Canada. The family came by sailboat up Lakes Ontario, Erie and St. Clair, then up the Thames River to Chatham, a small village, the county seat of Kent County.
They had to carry their belongings on a trail through the woods to their newly purchased acreage. As was the custom, neighbors came in and assisted the family in constructing a log house. The new house was ready for occupancy in about a week.
The land was all wooded and had to be cleared of large elm, walnut, beech and maple trees. The family acquired some cattle but the wolves killed several. Wolves were one of the farmers' worst pests; it was impossible to raise chickens or turkeys, unless fenced in.
An Irish family told about the very large wolfhounds they had in their section of Ireland. This family thought if they could get one of these large wolfhounds over it would kill off the wolves or drive them away; so the neighbors took up a collection to buy one. They knew of a family that was coming over soon and sent the money over for a wolfhound. About a year later the new family arrived with a beautiful ten-months-old Irish wolfhound. These hounds have no sense of smell; so they waited about a month for a fall of snow so they could track down a wolf and try out the dog.
About a month later, two or three inches of snow fell and three of the farmers started out with the dog to see if they could locate some wolves.. They hadn't gone very far before they jumped a couple and sicked the dog on them. Away they went with the three men trailing them. About a mile down the creek the trail in the snow was not far from a couple of settlers cutting wood. They asked these men if they saw the dog and wolves go by- they said they did- and how he was making it, not badly was the reply; the dog was leading the pack by about 300 feet when they passed. The settlers never found hide or hair of the Irish wolfhound.