1
Portrait of Amos Jury at age 40circa 1900
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos Jurycirca 1950
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos Hargeaves Jury (1863-1964) was the second of nine children of WIlliam (1822-1888) and Elizabeth Fletcher Jury (1835-1939). In 1888 Amos married his neighbor Julia ("Jewel") Alder (1863-1950), after which they operated a small farm on Lot 12, Concession 2, Lobo Township, Middlesex County. Amos and Julia had two children, William Wilfrid (1890 - 1981) and Charlotte Irene (1892-1964).4
Julia (Wilf's mother)circa 1920
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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William Jury & Elizabeth Maria Fletchercirca 1880
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos had many talents and interests, not the least of which was collecting both Indian artifacts and pioneer relics. He came to be a highly respected member of the local community, serving as fence-viewer (archaic position in the municipality in which he served as arbitrator in the event of a disagreement over land ownership or fence placement) for the township and as deacon in the Baptist church. He was a general handyman who could fix just about anything, from kitchen cupboards to farm machinery. He helped his neighbors harvest their crops with his steam-powered thrashing machine. He was an expert marksman and fisherman, using his firearms and fishing poles to obtain meat, game and fish for the kitchen larder. He gained quite a reputation as a "witcher", dowsing for water for wells throughout the county. As an avid student of nature, he could identify all birds by their sight or sound and accurately predict weather by observing the clouds.7
Amos dowsing for watercirca 1940
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos fishingcirca 1930
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos the outdoorsmancirca 1930
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Amos had a truly natural artistic ability as a painter and as a creator of models. He took formal painting lessons at Woodstock College and in London under W.L. Judson, sometimes working alongside London's best known painter Paul Peel. Amos supplemented his income by giving painting lessons himself and by selling his paintings. Some of Amos' paintings survive today at the Museum of Ontario Archaeology and at Fanshawe Pioneer Village, as well as in the homes of relatives and friends. What is almost certainly Amos' largest painting, at 10' by 12' in size hangs today at Haskett's Funeral Home in Lucan: it was given to them by Wilf in appreciation for them handling Amos' funeral arrangements in 1964.11
Amos painting with wife Julia admiringcirca 1960
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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Painting by Amos Jurycirca 1920
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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In addition to his paintings, Amos' other important artistic legacy is the wide and diverse assortment of models and model figures he crafted. He began creating models as a hobby but soon he and WIlf recognized the enormous educational value that models had for depicting varied aspects of both Native aboriginal and pioneer life. As the Jury collection of Native and pioneer artifacts grew, so too did the models they created to supplement and enhance their displays. until his dying day, Amos kept in his head the secret recipe he had developed to harden the plaster he used to make his model figures.14
Amos with some modelscirca 1950
Lobo Township, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada
Credits:Museum of Ontario Archaeology
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