Ellsworth Crawford Narrative
....... Ellsworth was married to Cora Irene Knupp on April 27, 1918 and together they raised one daughter, Irene. Ellsworth was an agriculturalist, conservationist and athlete.
The breeding and raising of sheep was Ell’s life. He was known throughout Canada for his knowledge and care of sheep. He won numerous awards with his Shropshire’s at the CNE, Royal Winter Fair, Peterborough, Ottawa and London as well as the many local fairs in Simcoe and surrounding counties. He worked for the Department of Agriculture in the judging of sheep at these great shows.
The vast Minesing Swamp from the age of 14 was Ell’s territory for exploring and trapping. Ell trapped for approximately 65 years and had the greatest of respect for the Swamp. Ell always said that the Swamp was no place for the novice outdoorsman. “There is something about trapping that sort of gets you; like fishing, there is always something different,” said Mr. Crawford. “I would do the same thing all over again”. (quote courtesy of A History of Vespra Township)
Minesing was blessed in having a fine sportsman like Ell in our midst. Besides farming and trapping he excelled at hockey, baseball, curling and horseshoes
Horeshoe Hall of Fame
On December 2, 2001 the late William Ellsworth Crawford of Minesing was inducted into the Horseshoe Ontario Hall of Fame. El’s daughter, Irene Miles, graciously accepted a plaque commemorating her father’s outstanding contribution to the sport of horseshoes. Charlie Hastings, First Vice president of Horseshoe Ontario presented the award and recounted El’s devotion to the sport, which he began playing competitively in the form of quoits during the early 1920’s. In later years his horseshoes were made at the blacksmith shop in Minesing, and his Sunday afternoons were spent gathered with friends and family at Midhurst Provincial Park for horseshoes and a picnic lunch.
El was one of the founding members of the Barrie Horseshoe Club in the mid 1950’s and was the Barrie Singles Champion 12 times between 1960 and 1976. Other highlights of his career include a first place finish for a four-man team at the 1957 Royal Winter Fair with teammates Wray Faint, son-in-law George Miles and Logan Cruise. Ell was also known to have beaten such horseshoe “greats” as Canadian Champion, Dean McLaughlin, in 1959 at Port Credit, as well as Canadian/World Champion, Elmer Hohl, at a Richmond Hill tournament in 1962, and he was the 1971 Ontario Senior champion.
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