History of The Hollows (Contributed by Mrs. Sidney Wright) That the Hollows district of West Gwillimbury was the scene of a fierce Indian battle is made evident by a burial pit on lot 15, concession 14. From this it is known that the coming of the white man did not mark the time of the first inhabitants of the area. The Hollows is the valley in West Gwillimbury between concessions 12 and 14 and about midway between highways 11 and 27. The present brick school building was built in 1888 and had as its first teacher, William Tindall. An earlier school, a frame building, was on the opposite side of the road. The following is a copy of the first entry in the Trustees' Book for the year 1885: Paid to Moriarty for ten cords of hard wood at $2.85 per cord 14.25 and 2 cords of cedar at $1.00 2.00 Paid William Metcalfe for floor 1.00 M. Mains for fixing seats .30 Paid to Moriarty for new doors 2.50 A new book for Trustees Stationary, .25 postage and broom .55 Paid teacher in full 260.00 Total outlay for 1885 $280.85 The income for 1885: Balance on hand from 1884 30.54 The first grant 14.60 The second do 14.00 Received from taxes 445.60 Total received 504.74 Balance on hand $223.89 The nearest church to the Hollows is Ebenezer, not United and formerly Methodist, built in 1880 on land donated by James Tindall. This is a brick building which replaced an earlier frame building. One of the early English settlers was Nathan Jackson who built on the now Arthur Wright farm in 1860. The old Moriarty farm was formerly owned by a grandson of Nathan Jackson. Philip Wright;s farm was known as the Hambly place. The Fred Hambly farm belonged to the present owner's father, and the present Jack Rumble farm was formerly the property of Herb. Nichol. Eric Wright's farm formerly belonged to a Hollows pioneer, Mr. Garbutt, and Arthur Wright owns the former Dr. Clement farm. Lorne Reid's farm was formerly owned by John Lombard, well known farmer and cattle dealer. Other residents of by-gone and present years include Job Metcalfe, Jack Pierson, Walter Neilly, John Barker, George Dales, Tom Pollack, Frank Steers, Albert Ney, William Carr, Frank Fidler, Richard Carter, Mr. Meher and Norman Davis; while other present day residents include, in addition to one already mentioned, Chris. Bowden, Roy Smith, Joe Vernon, Clarence Button, Dave Pennington, William Carr and his son Earl, (who has a mink ranch).
