William Edgar CLOW

Edgar Clow, 87 Edgar Clow, 87, market gardener, genealogist and local historian, died December 19 at Brockville General Hospital, two months after a serious fall. He was born William Edgar Clow on December 12, 1917 at the Clow family homestead on County Road 29, near Spring Valley (RR 4, Brockville). His parents were William Henry Clow, a descendant of United Empire Loyalists, and the former Hattie Westlake. He was raised in Spring Valley, attending public school there, and went to Brockville Collegiate Institute. After graduating from high school, he worked with his father in the family's market gardening business, selling produce in the family's stall at the Brockville Farmers' Market for many years. In the late 1950s he opened a retail country market business, later called Clow's Country Market, at the Clow homestead. In 1943 he took on additional responsibilities when, along with Gananoque's Joseph Galway, he founded the Leeds Federation of Agriculture (LFA) to bring farmers together to act as one on wide-ranging agricultural problems. Mr. Clow became known as the Voice of Agriculture around 1950 with a local CFJR radio program, "Calling All Concessions," which he initiated as secretary of the LFA. For 10 years he interviewed agricultural figures and provided updates on local and provincial farming issues. From 1947 to 1954 he also contributed a weekly agricultural column to The Recorder and Times. In the 1940s he started the Film Circuit through the schools, along with Ivan Dorman and Lloyd Kerr. They showed educational films until television became prevalent. For two years in the mid-1950s, he was Lanark County's fieldman for agriculture. He helped carry out new developments in agriculture and visited farmers to exchange information. He then returned to Brockville to give more time to Clow's Country Market at Spring Valley. He retired in 1984 when he sold the operation to his son Rod. In 1985 he received the Bicentennial Certificate of Merit for his contributions to local agriculture. Mr. Clow married Mildred Irene Parslow on August 9, 1952 in Lyn United Church. He and his wife raised three children while developing their successful market garden business. Always fascinated by his United Empire Loyalist ancestry, Mr. Clow became a member of the Col. Edward Jessup branch of the United Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, which was chartered in May 1968. He served on the executive and was president when the branch celebrated its 20th anniversary. He remained active with the branch until his death. He was a member of the Brockville Museum and a longtime member of the Genealogical Society of Leeds and Grenville. He also came up with the idea for a township heritage committee about 1986 and helped establish one in Elizabethtown in 1989, with the blessing of the township council. He spent a great deal of time researching the history and historic spots in the township. Among several booklets he wrote was one on the homes and businesses along the old Perth Road, from Brockville to Perth. He also took on the task of recording the Clow family's 200-year history, following a large Clow family reunion he and his wife hosted in 1974. Years of following clues and leads, of interviewing relatives and digging into archives led to publication of A Cleft in the Rock: Henry and Rebekah Clow and Their Descendants late in 1999. Mr. Clow was a longtime member and trustee of Wall Street United Church. With his interest in history, he became the church's archivist and helped organize the church's library. In 1993 he proposed to the church trustees that a history of Wall Street United be written to commemorate the centennial of the major reconstruction of the church building in 1896. A member of the book committee, he ended up being the "general manager," the one who made sure the project, The Meaning of These Stones, was completed in spite of the death of one contributing author and the illnesses of two others. He loved reading and enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife Mildred Clow and son Rod Clow and wife Teresa, all of Spring Valley, his daughter Meribeth Rochester and husband Wes of Bradford, Ont., and son-in-law Michael Perron of Cumberland (near Ottawa), as well as five grandchildren, Erika and Katie Clow, Emelie and Jonathon Perron-Clow, and Leyland Clow Rochester. Also surviving are two nieces, Aileen Moorhouse of Brockville and Muriel Gingras of Ottawa. He was predeceased by his daughter Laurel Mildred Clow in August 2002, his sister Helen Moorhouse and his nephew Stanley Moorhouse (who lived in Athens). Friends called at the Irvine Funeral Home, Brockville, on December 21. The funeral was held December 22 at Wall Street United Church, with Rev. Dr. Allan Bennett officiating. Burial followed at Oakland Cemetery. The pallbearers were Randy Moorhouse, Paul Dick, Bruce Parslow, Robert Blake, Terry Van Asseldonk and Paul Vanasseldonk. Honorary pallbearers were Myrtle Johnston, Eric Webster, Herb Sheridan and John Davis. Memorial donations were directed to Wall Street Village, a seniors housing project of Wall Street United Church. Published in Section b, page 7 in the Saturday, January 15, 2005 edition of the Brockville Recorder & Times. Posted 10:08:15 AM Saturday, January 15, 2005.