HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-06-30, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 30, 2016.
Sports
Letter to the Editor
Mason family has long history
1.1( over the Central Hotel in Blyth.
An advertisement in the Blyth
Standard of May 31, 1893 lets
people know that a dentist from
Clinton, T.C. Bruce, would be at
Mason's Hotel, Blyth each Monday.
The same ad was still being placed
in the Jan. 3, 1895 issue.
In the years around 1900 it seemed
that an arsonist was on a rampage in
the village filling residents with fear.
Many of the businesses along the
creek were destroyed by fire as were
the businesses where the Pretoria
Block stands today. One of the next
victims was the Central Hotel,
Mason's and other businesses north
of it to J.H. Chellew's furniture store
in this period.
John Mason died on Aug. 15,
1900. Perhaps he had been
negotiating to buy the Queen's Hotel
(sometimes called the Victoria) on
the north east corner of Queen and
King Streets, because his wife,
Frances bought that hotel from John
P. Kelly for $5,200 according to the
Huron Expositor on Jan. 4, 1901 —
Huron column. J. Kelly, brother of
Patrick Kelly, moved his family to
Goderich by 1902. Census records
show it to have been a boarding
house for teachers and people who
worked in Blyth businesses.
In 1900, Ben's son Harvey, father
of Ron, was born.
When charges were laid under the
Scott Act's liquor laws they were
sometimes against Frances Mason
and sometimes against William, her
youngest son.
The sign on the hotel announced
"Mason Bros."(see picture) which
Tom Wallace and Jack Wallace with horse, Gladys; Frank Wallace with
Livery horse; Ben Mason and 7 Mooney with Ben's horse.
Looking back
Ron Mason, a highly decorated college hockey coach, is
part of a family that has been in the Village of Blyth for
generations, as shown by this historic photo that is part of
the Repository of Blyth History. (Photo submitted)
THE EDITOR, Commercial which is now known as
We were sorry to learn of the death
of Ron Mason on the sports page of
The Citizen, June 23, 2016, as his
family never forgot their Blyth roots.
The writer refers to the Mason
family's involvement with a hotel in
this community and assumed that the
hotel in question was what is now
the Blyth Inn. However, in early
days there were as any as five in
operation. The Masons' impact on
Blyth began long ago in the Central
and Queen's Hotel, not the
Fastball teams
earn big runs
Teams in the Huron County
Fastball League continued to score
plenty of runs over the past two
weeks, including some games where
double digits were just the
beginning
On June 26, the Fullarton A's
visited Tavistock Athletics and
bested their hosts 11-6.
Walton also traveled to Wingham
that day, however the Brewers were
unable to best the hometown
Hitmen, losing 11-4.
The Belmore Stingers also hosted
a game that day, welcoming the
Milverton AW Millwrights and
triumphing over the visitors 8-4.
On June 25, the Sebringville Jr.
Sting hosted the Wroxeter Royals
and managed a 9-2 win.
On June 24, Fullarton visited
Wroxeter and handed the home
team a 9-2 loss.
Sebringville was bested by
visiting Milverton 5-4 on June 23.
The Brussels Tigers visited the
Belmore Stingers on June 22 and
bested their opponents 12-5.
In an extremely high -scoring
game, the Walton Brewers bested
visiting Tavistock 20-14 on June 21.
On June 20, Tavistock traveled to
Goderich only to lose by a score of
9-2.
June 19 marked several games,
including Fullarton visiting and
beating the Mitchell Jr. Mets 24-5
and Belmore hosting and defeating
Wroxeter 11-4.
On June 14, Sebringville nearly
shut out Tavistock 11-1 while
Walton trumped Milverton 16-9.
For the full schedule and more
information on the league, visit
www.hcfl.bravesites.com
the Blyth Inn.
These Masons were known as the
"Hullett Masons". John Mason came
to Blyth around 1893 to run the
Central Hotel which was located on
the west side of Queen Street. When
R.J. "Bob" Cook owned this hotel
there was a "zoo" attached to it to
draw customers. (Ref. Huron
Expositor Feb. 20, 1879.)
John Mason, a Hullett farmer,
turned his farm over to son
Benjamin in February 1889, who
then sold it to William Waymouth in
November 1892.
Around that time it seems that
John and Frances (Nott) Mason took
with Village of Blyth
would include Ron's grandfather,
Ben, who in 1887 had married
Harriett Manning and his youngest
brother, Billy.
The Blyth Standard of April 30,
1903 announced that an addition was
being added to the Queen's Hotel. In
the May 23, 1907 issue it was noted
that some of the rooms were being
papered.
On page ix of Blyth a Village
Portrait, the editor, Susan Street,
says Masons continued at the
Queen's Hotel until 1916. The
building was torn down in 1920 after
a part had been removed and taken to
a farm in East Wawanosh where it
still stands.
Imagine the courage it took for
Frances (Nott) Mason, recently
widowed, and her son, to take on
another hotel.
Ron's grandmother, Harriett
(Manning) Mason was an amazing
person, too. Her husband Ben fell
victim to a debilitating disease, and
from 1917 to 1942 she tended him
herself at home. Doctors came from
many places to study his puzzling
case.
By then, Ben and Harriett were
living in the west unit of the Dinsley
Street Terrace.
Throughout their ordeal they were
supported by neighbours and
businesses and church and by
medical doctors near and far.
Neighbour children ran errands for
"Nanna Mason" as they still
remember her. And she always
rewarded them with homemade
cookies. She welcomed neighbour
children into her home and some
remember the Mr. Peanut colouring
books, with which she entertained
them. They were one of the families
who showed by example that a
family and a village can recover
from terrible disasters by positive
action.
This amazing family could have
left the village when the village had
its darkest period but they did not.
They set a wonderful example for us
to follow even today.
After many years of suffering, Ben
Mason died August 2, 1942 and his
loving and dedicated wife died the
next year.
These then, are Ron's great-
grandparents and grandparents who
were involved in the hotel business
on two sites in Blyth and are among
our local heroes.
In the Repository of Blyth are
many pages related to this Mason
family should anyone wish to know
more.
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