HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1975-06-26, Page 51y.
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CONGRATULATIONS
and
Best Wishes
to the .
TOWN OF SEAFORTH
and all its residents
on the Centennial Year.'
Yours sincerely,
Bob igcliinley
R.E. McKinley, M•P•
you wanted hay fed you paid
more.
The Royal Stables were located
Where Bill. McLaughlin Motors
stands today. The Queen's Hotel
'Stables were where Rowcliffe
Mot ors are today on the
north side of GoderichStreet East.
On busy' shopping' days, these
horse barns were all filled with
horses. '
On the corner where the Blue
Sunoco now is, was N. Cluff &
Sons planing mill, lumber and
coal yard and behind that at one
time was Fred Welsh and Son
who made wooden well pumps
and pump logs. Many wooden
pumps were used in those days.
Do you remember Gabriel
"Reeves, the lightning Rod King,
who could walk up the highest
roof unaided by safety devices?
After Local Option came' in
force, about 1913, the bar-room I
closed in the Royal Hotel and the
lower floor turned into stores.
Harry Edge had a hardware
store on the corner and there
were several offices. I think
J.H.Best, Law Office was there.
Then Crich's Bakery and
J.F.Daly's garage facing on. to
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(Continued. front. Page 7) with 7 or 8 teams. had, the
ever had up 'to that time. I recant barn where Nontgomery's were
the colorful 45thHighlander Band I in later years,
from TorontS with' their high Etmie Chlttenden had a dray team
plumed hats. and swinging kilts. for many years along with Ted
Many ,of 'those fine menenlisted- Barnett. Jack Abel delivered coal
later in .the Yirst World War for Sdaters for many years, Alex
which had just been declared, and McNab dreiv freight froM the
a lot of them paid the. supreme •Istation to the merchants in town
sacrifice. and. Philip used to deliver
Also the Fireman's, bread for Cardno's Bakery. Fred
Tournatnent when that Brigade McGavin delivered /for
from 'Merlin, Ontario, among „W.E.Kerslake & Son, seed' and
others took part: feeds:- I •
I was in, the class of 1917-18 There were four hotelS
which • attended Seaforth operating over 50 years ago. The
-• Qollegiate Institute : as it was Royal owned hy Weir's where the
named then. There are several Royal apartments are. o-day. The
students wito attended at that Queen's owned and operated by
time still around. Others have Thomas Stevens. The
moved away' and still others have Commercial in my time was
passed on. operated by Alex McLennan and
The teachers of Seaforth
Collegiate at that time were : J. F.
Ross, Principal, who taught
Mathematics; Miss McKinley;
who taught English Grammar and
• .Latin; Arthur Hazen, Science and
Botany; Miss •Nelson, Canadian
and' Enlgish History and
Geography. Miss Allen, and Miss
Hall, French and Composition.
Miss Wetherell, Spelling and
Commercial.
Discipline was handed ,out
according to the Golden Rule.
Physical Training was held in the
Old Separate Gymnasium.
Seaforth had a lot of blacksmith -11 shops in those days as
transportation was by horses,
buggies, wagons , 'sleighs and
cutters. There were very few
automobiles and no' trucks.'
To name a few (including
carriage repair shops and steel
tire " setting on buggies and
wagons, cast iron welding as
there was very little electric
-welding at that time? They
were: Jim Davis, later Tb omas
Sharpe, where the Datsun Motors
are now; Archie Barton on North
Main, where Wright Chev.Olds
storage shed now stands;.
Devereaux • Bros. where
Roweliffe's garage is located on
Qoderich• Street East, Jack
Stewart where Durst's Machine
Shop now st ands.
Sylvester. Allen worked there
before joining the P.U.C. and was
later electrocuted while working
on a hydro pple.
Then there • were Torn Hill and
Son George Hill in Eemondville
andLouis Van Egmond, wood
worker.
These shops were all busy
especially in winter months when
horses had to be sharp shod so
they could travel on icy roads. •
How many remember, Drs.
Scott and McKay and Dr. Scott's
team of ponies he' used to drive in
the buggy? Dr. McKay's first
motorized transportation was a
motorcycle, before he had a car.
Then there were Dr. Burrows and
Dr. E.H.Ross. These doctors
were in Seaforth many years.
Ament's Sawmill was where
Gay Lee eggs are now. They
specialized in sawing logs into
Barrel staves. They had piles of
these staves piled in their lumber
yard to dry. They were later
delivered to the Cooper Shops
where they were made into
wooden barrels used to pack
apples, flour and other uses.
It was something to see a
cavalcade of log teams in the
winter, hauling in logs from the
Country. George Pethick drove
Ament's big black team for many
years. They also skidded the logs
up tp the sawmill to be sawed into
lumber.
Others whO would draw logs for
Aments were : Joe Storey, Harry
Martin, Alec MacDonald,
sometimes Roy McGeoch -and
garry Chesney.
There were a lot ofDray Teams'
hiBeiforth In those days as there
were no trucks. Wilson Hawkins
had a big busbies§ at one tithe
4,
e.
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THREE SETS OF SEAFORTH TWINS — Three sets of twins posed on a shady
'Seaforth atreet perhaps about 19104for this photo. At the left are the 1arkin girls, in
the centre; the Sutherland babies and at right the Westcott boys, the same two who
are in 'Their World War I uniforms eliewhere on these pages;
Hugh and Rat Chesney, Abe and
Hank Forsyth, Bille Forsyth ,
Scott Boyes Orehestra, Herb'
Fowler and Frank ' Hogg
Orchestra, Mrs. Ken Ament,
Lizzie Neilans,- Edith Hund and
many others.
Mr. and Mrs. James Mullen
and Mrs. Murless Jones also jive
their talent to-drama and George
Cardno could dance the Sailor's
hornpipe so perfectly. Jim and
rence Stewart who have been
faithful as choir leader and
organist at Northside.
I would like to mention a few
\ other names, that meant a lot to
Seaforth over the years.
Do you remember John Dodds
and later Frank Arnold who had
the Pop Works on the property
lately owned by the late
W.D.Hopper • inHarpurhey. Soft
drinks were made and sold in
Seaforth and surrounding towns
before the days of Coca-Cola.
In the days of so many horses,
buggies and wagons, each one of
the four hotels had their own
stable for tying up the horses that
came into town. Every stable had
a Hostler. You paid 10c for a
single horse or 15c fora team if
main street. He also 'had a
j .ewelery store and was named
Canada's oldest Ford dealer: A
chap named Howard was one of
his mechanics and George
McGavin later and Jack Daly's
father, Peter Daly had a grocery
store across the street. On the
next corner on the west side of
Main Street was Tom Dickson's
seed and feed store. Later
Marshall Stewart had a grocery
store next door.
On the east side was Bulger'S
Jewelery and Dawson's Liquor
about where the I.G.A.Store is.
After the first World War Jim
Willis started the second silent
picture show called the Strand
Theatre situated where
McConnell and Stewart law office
is today.
Do you remember When the old
Post Office was on the west side
of Main Street across from the
Commercial Hotel and Sam
Dickson was postmaster?
Do you remember the Gillespie
Bros.,.one a harness maker , one
the weigh master at the town
scales and the other brother was
the town 'constable?
(Continued on Page 23)
- • j
THE HURON EXPOSITOR,- JUNE 25, lt76
later by Charlie Dungey" and the
Dick House owned and-operated
by :lames Dick and later by QttO
Dick. Over 60 years ago. Frank
Kling's father operated the Dick
, House. Before my time the Grip
House was in operation where
Topnotch Feeds have their
offices. Later it was a shoe
factory owned and operated by
Billie Duncan.
Dr. F:H. Larkin was Minister of
First Presbyterian" "Church way
' back 50 or 60 years -ago. Rev.
W.P. :Lane was minister in
Northside Church, when Union
came in' 1925. Rev. Brown was
minister in the Anglican Church
about then. I remember when
Father Cochrane was the pastor
in St James' Church. Also Mr.
Naylor was principal in the Old
Seaforth Public School at that
time.
How many remember the
terrible flu epidemic in the fall of
1918 when so many residents of
Seaforth and surrounding area
died from its effects? Schools
were all closed for a long period at
that time.
During the first world war, a
Mr. Anderson ran a flax mill east
• of town. The building was used by
Wright and Leyburn to store
trucks and office building. It was
burnt down not too many years
ago. There was a big demand for
fibre Flax during ' both World
Wars and Hesky Flax Co. had a
big flax business in the old
furniture 'factory during the
Second World War. On both
occasions it gave a lot of
employment to men and women
too both in the mill and in the
fields. ,
C During the years there were a
lot of local mI\sical artists both
instrumental ' and vocal who
contributed their talent to the'-
social life of the community,
-mostly in Cardno's Hall and in the
G.W.V.A. "Great War Veteran's
Association" in the ground floor
of the I.0.0..F. building on Main
Street. .
This was before the Canadian
Legion and after the First World
War. Here are some of the artists
of those years.:
• First I would like to say that
SeArth nearly always had a
home town band under the able
leadership of such men as
E.11,Close, Bill Freeman, Frank
Novak and of course, in later
il* years George Hild rand and the
Seaforth High ool Trumpet
Band and Dr. oll, the junior
band. I remember quite well
when the Seaforth Highlanders
Band was organized. How proud
we. all were,
A few of the vocal artistswere
Jonnie .Scott, James T. and
Anderson ,SCott's dad, D. F.
McGregor, 'Jim Sleeth, Dalton
Reid, Milne . Ronnie, Fred Willis.
George Israel, Jack eattie and
W.E.Rays, druggist, son- of
Thomas E. Hays and Many others
including a great many lady,
soloists. A feW instrumental artists ,
of 50 and 60 years ago were L.,
• -L.T.Dolacey ;, Earl Van Egmond,
O