Tindall

(submitted by Greg Stott)

Thomas Tindall (1817–) was born in England, the son of James Tindall and Hannah Segsworth. He came to Canada some time before 1845 with his wife Jane (1816–1869). They farmed two hundred acres on Lot 23, Con. 4 NER. Thomas and Jane had seven children, James (c.1845–), John W. (c.1847–), Richard W. (c.1850–), Anne Elizabeth (c.1852–), Thomas (1851–1854), Thomas (c.1858–), and Egerton Ryerson (1861–).

Some time in the late 1860s or early 1870s Anne Elizabeth was attacked by an unknown assailant near her home. The news horrified the surrounding community when it was reported in the Sarnia Observer.

Four years after Jane’s death, Thomas married again, to Elizabeth (Sinclair) Dodds (1823–). Her first husband had died in 1871 and she had two children, Isabella (c.1851–) and William (c.1855–). In 1881, the Tindall family left Warwick Twp. for Michigan.

Richard (Dick) Tindall was a lay preacher who maintained some ties with his former home and returned to Arkona on a fairly regular basis to visit with childhood friends and speak at the Methodist Church. He would often stay with the family of Lorena (McChesney) Dunham (1879–1951). Richard’s father was one of the original trustees of Arkona’s Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1860.

In one instance in the early 1920s Tindall, with a skull cap on his head, addressed the congregation and gave a stern message. Having had his say, he felt behind him and placed his left hand firmly on the arm of one of the pulpit chairs and his right hand on another and then sat down between the two chairs! The initial shock of the congregation soon gave way to desperate attempts to stifle laughter.

Chapter 24 of 25 - Tinadall Family

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