a . they are at. 14 - Sunday, August 28, 1988 - Lynn Valley Echo Creek, valley were named after pioneer John Linn ACCORDING TO books and historical accounts, ‘Lynn’? Valley has been misspelled, with the error reflected in other names such as Lynn Creek, Lynnmour and Seylynn. Sappers: The Royal Engineers in British Columbia, written by Beth Hill and published by Horsdal and Schubart on Saltspring Island, tells the story of the engineers, who be- tween 1858 and 1863, laid the foundation for much of British Columbia with their surveying, road building and town planning. One of their number, John Linn, was among the many sappers who stayed on in British Columbia and took advantage of crown- military Jand grants after the engineers were disbanded. In 1869, the ‘‘good-looking, strapping, Scottish stonemason’”’ moved his family (wife Mary Robertson and six children) from New Westminster to a frame house just east of Lynn Creek’s mouth. It was after the Linn — not Lynn — family that the creek was named. The six Linn children attended school in a one-room schoolhouse that was part of a sawmill settle- ment (later called Moodyville) one mile west of their homestead. To the east was an Indian village and an area where the Native dead were laid to rest on tree platforms. To help support his cow farm, By PEGGY WHITTAKER Echo Reporter Linn had a logging camp up the North Arm, which supplied the poles for the Stamp Mill (later Hastings Mill) wharf. One Linn daughter. remembers that floods were an annual occur- rence. “‘We used to get drinking water in buckets from the creek,” recall- ed Maria Ellen Peters in a 1953 in- terview for a Vancouver Sun arti- cle. ‘‘There was a plank slip going into the water in front of the house and daddy had a rowboat tied there. There. were terrible floods on the creek in those days, and when I was 12 or 13 mother got the rowboat one night and tied it to the veranda, the water was so high.”’ -Although Peters had attained the ripe age of 84 at the time of the interview, having started her younger years with schooling at St. Anne’s Convent and employment as a tailor in New Westminster, one of her siblings did not fare so well. Her brother Hugh Linn was hung in New Westminster in the mid-1890s for the murder of two shopkeeper/traders on Savary Island, near Powell River. . Linn arrived on the island in 1893 with an Indian woman and her son to apply for work from storeowner Jack Green. However, Green, crippled with arthritis, already had an assistant, Thomas Taylor. The three men rowed from the island to a bar in Lund, where ac- cording to a magazine article in Westworld, the trio got drunk on whisky bought by Green. The next afternoon, after using Green’s account to obtain more bottles of whisky, Linn returned to the island wheré he shot Green and Taylor. In an attempt to cover up the traces of his crime, Linn tried to make it appear as though the men had shot each other, even though the guns which he put in their hands had not been fired for a long time and did not match the bullet holes in the bodies. Linn was eventually found on Shaw Island in the San Juans, traced there after a chance remark by a Bella Coola woman was overheard and passed on to authorities. He was brought to justice at a trial in which he was irrefutably linked to the crime. One of the witnesses was the seven-year-old Adults take to the rink EVERY THURSDAY, evening, ‘October to March, Karen :Magnussen Arena features a very iunique skating session. i One can see many different sorts ‘of blades oh the ice — figures, ‘hockey, speeds, and even “automobile D s’’! These skaters are a community adult group organized for the sheer pleasure of skating. They skate for two hours, 8:15 p.m. to 10:15 p.m., to the strains of live organ music. The Moonlight skate with lights turned low, along with Trios, In-Line, and Couples are _ some of their fun skates. The Pleasure Skaters have been skating at the arena since its open- ing in 1975, and their ages. range from 18 to 89 years. One skater even celebrated his 89th birthday on ice last February. He is a regu- © lar weekly skater with the group. - The group welcomes any adults, no matter. what level of skating The emphasis is on YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD NEWSPAPER 1139 Lonsdale Avenue North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 Displa Advertising _ 980-0511 Classified Advertising 986-6222 Newsroom 985-2131 Distribution 986-1337 FAX 985-3227 Publisher Managing Editor Advertising Manager Peter Speck Barrett Fisher Bruce Methven Submissions are welcome but we can- Not accept responsibility for unsolicited material including manuscripts and pic- tures which should be accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Entire cortonts © 1988 North Shore Free Press Ltd. All rights reserved. pleasure, not ‘Styling. The Opening session for this season is Thursday, Oct. 6, 8:15 p.m. So why not get the blades sharpened up and join them for e ~- FRIDAY, SEPT. 9 aon g SATURDAY, SEPT. 10— 1:30 PM. sie some fun on ice? More information can be ob- tained from Bill or Kay Gilmour, 987-9694,.or Ruth Devlin at 988- 1444, wei 2 ER - 7:30 PM~/\ = 4 ale = ~ son of the Indian woman who was on Savary Island with him that day, who claimed to have seen the murders through the store window while his mother was asleep. Perhaps it was a blessing that John Linn was not alive to hear of his vagrant son’s crime. He died in 1876 of a paralytic stroke, but his wife Mary stayed on at the farm for several years, eventuaily selling the property for $21,000. She died in 1907, and was buried beside her husband in a cemetery in New Westminsier, formerly reserved for Masons, Although their daughter Maria Peters said in her 1953 interview that she still visited Lynn Valley every year, there was little to re- mind her of her childhood home. The cottage had disappeared com- pletely, and she noted that ‘“‘the railway goes right through the property.”’ - While the Linn property may have been absorbed into a grow- ing, evolving community, the fam- ily name lives on -— even if it is spelt incorrectly. APPLIANCE PROBLEMS? We can help in a hurry! ® Repair all makes of major appliances, including RV - appliances * Rebuilt apptiance sales © Certified Journeymen (with gas tickets) BESTWAY MAJOR APPLIANCE & REPAIR SERVICE 100% FAMILY OWNED & OPERATED SERVING THE NORTH SHORE SINCE 1969 SERVICE SALES 985-5252 ‘prizes for best beach costume. -" : ‘special -: a ae aa \ 7 _ADMINISTRATIO! Starts DUST OFF the blades and don é the mittens — it’s time once : again for skating : at your local recCentre. Public skate sessions (“Fami: ly’’,. “Public’’, ‘*Preschool Special’ and ‘‘Aduft Public and Dance’’) ‘will’ resume the weer ‘of September 12...» . ‘Ckeek the pages of the latest North Vancouver. . Recreation Commission | Leisure - Activities Guide (appearing on your doorstep soon) for the fall skate schedule. . Take advantage of Cheap Skate Week, September - 18-24, when you can attend all public skate. sessions at both Lonsdale and Magnussen Arenas free of ‘And. get ready: for. ‘Beach Party ’88*’ (un ice) coming up. Sunday, ® October’: 9. at-. Karen’ Magnussen Recreation Centre.-* There. will be:.-skating =to_ ‘Beach Boys’. masic,: ‘SNOWCAS~ tle: contests, relays, games, and - For more ‘information on fall events “call: Karen Magnassen Recreation Centre, 984-9341. renee eS : 985-8341 \ 980-9354 _4° ; (INFORMATION /_ ff “87980-1082 - na “, Nf Y¢