(below right) North is up. View from 1879 Historical Atlas of Huron County, Hay Township, west of Dashwood, north of the Dashwood Road. Lower left of map indicates property of “Estate of W. Tieman”, immediately to the east of the “J. Willert” farm. See text below.

“According to the Goderich registry office, the first settlers on Lot 29, SB, Hay were William Tieman and his wife Anna Truemner, from Germany. They had a deed granted by the Canada Company in 1877. In 1879, a Johanness [sic] or Hans (John) Willert seemed to have acquired a deed for 40 acres on WPt. Lot 29 [Hay]. Lloyd Willert’s father told him a John Willert lived on the west side and there were buildings, a well and orchard there. When the Tieman’s arrived, they found their land was all solid forest. They walked great distances for supplies. Roads were trails, the terrain wet and swampy.

In 1877 there were three sawmills close by. Lumber for buildings was acquired by having logs taken to sawmills and bringing home lumber. It is amazing how they did all this work by hand in such a short time. Lloyd Willert’s father told him trees were cut down by axe, a parcel of trees were notched to fall one way and then a large tree was felled against the parcel of notched trees taking the notched trees down like dominoes. The good trees went for lumber and the rest were burned. William Tieman lost his life at one of these burnings. One of the pry poles broke, piercing him and he died of the resulting infection.

William (1853-1896) [sic] [Ed. note: An 1896 death date for William Tieman is almost certainly incorrect. See map and caption above.] and Anna had five children: Ezra (1868-1939) married Mary Weigand (1861-1965); David (1870-1954) married Fannie Snell (1874-1952); Salome (1873-1939) married Richard Thompson, (d.1943); Emma (1875-1943) and William (1878-1937) married Ida Mosser (1881-1953).

After the sudden death of William Tieman, John Willert, Lloyd’s grandfather, took over Lot 29, SB [Hay] in 1881. He married Tieman’s widow and became stepfather to her children. This marriage brought three more children, Louis, Edward and Matilda. Ezra, the oldest son of the Tieman’s, owned a grocery store in Dashwood and later the butcher shop and hotel. William worked in a Stratford furniture factory, in the CNR shops where he lost an eye and at Kalbfleisch Planing Mill in Zurich. Salome and Emma had a sewing shop in Dashwood in their early years. Salome married cigar maker, Dick Thompson, of London. When automation came in, Dick was put out of work. Salome had to take in boarders and sewing during the Depression to make ends meet. Emma went to London as a housemaid for the wealthy Gunn girls.

Lloyd’s grandfather, John Willert, stayed on the farm until son Louis married in 1913, and took over the farm. He then lived in Dashwood with his daughter Matilda. Ezra Tieman’s family were raised on Lot 29 [Hay]. Addison (1899-1967), married Luella Merner (1903) in 1924. Addison was a schoolteacher and later a butcher. They had three sons: Russell (1926) married Doreen Schilbe (1929)[…]. George Tieman (1928-1991) married Shirley Smith (1931) in 1950. […] Charles Tieman (1932-1993) married Marie Salmon (1940) in 1964. […] Pearl Tieman (1899-1955), daughter of Ezra, married Garnet Wildfong (1903-1973). Both rest in the United Church Cemetery, Dashwood. Eugene Tieman (1901-1973) was an army doctor in the Second World War and Ira Tieman (1904-1943) married Evelyn Cornell (1907). He was a banker.

David Tieman was the second son of William and Anna. He had a hardware store in Dashwood, along with tinsmithing, heating, plumbing, electric wiring and a coal business. Otto Restemayer was his hired man. David’s son, Mervyn (d. 1985), took over the business at the time of his father’s death. Mervyn and his wife Alice (Hoffman) ran the business together until it became unprofitable. They then moved more into furniture, dishes and china. Mervyn rests in the United Church Cemetery, Dashwood. David’s second son, Lorne, became a doctor in New York and daughter Ruth married Cal Streets from Clinton.”

extracted from “Hay Township Highlights: 150 years of Diversified Progress, 1846 – 1996”, published by the Hay Township Book Committee under the auspices of Hay Township Council, Alice Gibb ed.; pg. 641 ISBN : 0-919939-43-0