An Interview with Robert Barclay

Robert Barclay spoke to Sarah Chisholm, project coordinator at the North Lanark Regional Museum about how his family helped in the rescue efforts at the Almonte Train Wreck. The interview took place on February 26, 2014 at the North Lanark Regional Museum as part of the “Paving the Way to Sustainability” project.  This project was funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation to build a sustainable relationship between the community of Mississippi Mills and the North Lanark Regional Museum.

Robert Barclay, and older man, and Sarah Chisholm, and younger woman, sitting in chairs in front of a fireplace.

Robert:  “My dad didn’t come home until about 6 o’clock in the morning and he was just home in time to change his clothes and go off to work for 7 o’clock at the mill. Now he talked a bit about it later. He said that there was an officer in the army carried off of the train on a stretcher thing and he was laid on the platform and of course it’s still raining and sleek, so Dad went and got his greatcoat, his great officer’s coat and (indicates with his hands the motion of covering something) covered him up. He also went somewhere and found a piece of tarp and something to put over him and he said to him ‘Are you alright?’

‘Oh, I’m fine,’ he said and then he said ‘I just can’t walk, but I’m fine.’

He said ‘Do you got pain?’

‘No, no.’

He said ‘Is there anything you’d like?’ and he said ‘I’d like a cigarette.’

So, Dad smoked at the time and he got a cigarette out for him and he (indicates using a lighter) lit it for him and he said, ‘thanks very much.’

So dad went about his business and he came back in about 15 minutes and the fellow was dead.”