HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1972-10-19, Page 17=1/C=14=41C=11,====iR==4/C=XIC==4/C===>IXIX===.0===.;
of an Indenture, TRIPARTITE, made the Lars:
in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty
in pursuance of the act to facilitate the 'conveyance of Real Property, BETWEEN 14_
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ofd 424942c,.."'
of the first part ; 0 of the same place,
Wife of the said party of the first part, of the second part; and "fr'es4.(eerataa--
."0-s`-/---- %er--e-046e.
of 'the third part;
WHEREBY the said party of the first part, in consideration of Arre_sa.,
4a-as-4_7
of lawfbl money of Canada, then paid by the raid part i of the third part, to the said party of the
first part, the receipt whereof is thereby by him acknowledged, did grant unto the said party of the
third part, heirs and assigns, FOR EVER, ALL AM) SINGULA11, 4,10-Z— certai(n parcel
or tract of land and premises, situate, lying and being in the Town -- of ../groc, La-t-a-ez- '36
in the County of ‘-'44 , in the Western part of said Province, containing by
,s4ssa-a„.‘k - as-a.?
be the same more or less ; being composed of
a/2' ea Zats cat-ca .q? tic.4---es "1P-1-Ca-
ttasza a,"-t.so 4,-2, ao--0--e-4- •
TO HAVE AND TO 110I,I) the &ye/0 granted premises unto the said part of the third part,
€6 heirs and assigns, to and for their sore and only use for ever And the said party'of
the 'second part, Wife of the said party of the first part, thereby barred her Dower in the said Lands,
Which said Indeninre is witnessed by sie-ao-ta 2.4 ,ga. ca c;;I! adca-sea.assaat
ve_e_asa_aa „aas4.--a ,,sgeses t x 4 40_4 /-41. Cc Tt.
And this MeMorial thereof is hereby required to be Registered by the said party of the sad-part,
the grant therein named. Weratss my hand told seal the a/eso/i'* day of os/2tre--'-t---4-
in the year of our Lord one thoostptd eight lihudred and sixty ervoa
Signed Oita SOnled in tarrente or
t~"(:4:7 /
Handbill from Edwards' Cacti stare its Bayfield. Frank Edwards rah more man the store. HO
rented cottages for Contritistitut; hi, had the first telephone In Mayfield and took Messagea for
a priest he bought and sold property In Mayfield, Grand Bend and London; and he Oven
rented his Pewee to the !Own elector and the Anglican Minister so they could Make each their
respective bout** Celli.
==00==;:oti.t=i0c==i1
A MEMORIAL. to be FiLeglitsterepd.s,
day of
• erzaos,
/f oz aaaz-e
aclineasamment
Z-r-ola (earl-
4701
F. A. Edwards
BAYF1ELD
is the only place in town where you can purchase
Appleton's India & Ceylon Teas.
Rich Luscious and Full of Aroma
Ask for Free Souvenir Sample Tin of this Delicious Tea.
Wholesome
Refreshing
Invigorating
in airtight WO Packets
40C. & 50C.
PER LB.
BLACK, OR MIXED
IN LEAD
PACKAGES
ONLY
Try our special Japan tea at 25c per lb
A full and well assorted stock of
. GROCERIES .
always kept.
fresh ground Coffee M Pure Spices a Specialty-
Glassware and Crockery.
Our Dry Goods stock is complete
F. A. EDWARDS
Bayfield
This is the registered deed for the prOperty known asthe Edwards' dash Store ill Wield.
Dated 1861, it passes OWnership Of the store from Malcolm Cameron to William Wright. H.F.
(Harry) Edward* purchinied the Mere in 1891. Mr. Wright paid $4,000 for the propeNto,
extremely high for those Otto, but it was believed that the Grand Trunk Railroad WoUld be
running thretigh Mayfield on a route that would folloW the Lake Huron shoreline. The rsiltread
never carnet,
Clinton, Ontario $0cond S.ction
Thursday, October 19, 1972
The "Edwards' Cash Store"
107 Year - No. 42
The only commercial building from last century
The only original commercial building left in Bayfield is the
old F.A. Edwards Cash Store now occupied by the Lances. .
The building, built in the 1850's, still retains its original.-
the wreck of the Malta on
November 24, 1882, she said
that was a busy night in
Bayfield, because besides the
wreck, there was an
BY LOIS LANCE
A stranger visiting the village
of Bayfield might point to a
certain store and ask a resident
what that building was, and
almost certainly the answer
would be "Edwards' Cash
Store". The property thus
identified was known and
actively operated as that for 55
years, but it has a history both
before and since the Edwards
family.
In 1967, Centennial Year, the
house and store shown on the
assessment rolls as "Lot 221,
Main Street, Village of
Bayfield", was purchased by my
husband and me, Mr, and Mrs.
Don Lance, In 1939 when we
were looking for a spot for a
vacation, my Mother had said
"Why don't you go to
Bayfield?" or in today's
ernacular "Try it - you'll like
't!" We tried it - and we liked it
- and we've been summer
residents of Bayfield ever since.
We remember being in the
Edwards' Store several times
when Mrs. Edwards 'was
running it, so we knew some of
the history of this property from
first-hand knowledge and our
interest in local history has led
us to dig further.
When we invited the Bayfield
branch of the Huron County
Historical Society to our home
in September we thought we
were ready to present the story
of this property, but I have
obtained quite a bit of new
information since then. Here is
the story I have pieced together:
Mr. Andy Bronson (also
spelled Brownson and
Brundson) told Lucy Woods
many years ago that the store
just to the north of the Albion
Hotel was built by Thomas
Bateman between 1850 and
1860 and that it was the first big
store on Main Street. Mrs. Alma
Bassett, former owner of the
Albion, said that she had been
told by old-timers that it might
have been built as early as 1840,
This is not likely because the
first commercial buildings in
Bayfield were in another part of
town, and there wasn't much of
any permanent settlement here
in 1840. The Canada Director of
1851-52 lists Bayfield with a
population of 125 and four
general stores run by Crysler,
Frazer, Gairdner and Tippet -
no Bateman. The Huron County
Business Directory of 1863-64
• lists Bayfield with a population
of 500 and 88 businesses and
professions including; T.H.
Bateman, general dealer in dry
goods, groceries, crockery,
hardware, etc.
The minutes of the Bayfield
Cemetery Company note that T.
Bateman was one of the original
stockholders when it was
organized in 1861, and that he
was elected president of the
Bayfield Cemetery Company in
1864 at a "meeting held in T.
Bateman's store", But none of
this was proof that T.
Bateman's Store was the same
as Lance's Store today.
Furthermore, the index on this
property in the Huron County
Registry Office had no listing of
anyone named Bateman in
connection with the property.
The first item on the index was
a Grant in 1861 from the
Honorable Malcolm Cameron to
William Wright of the Militia
Dept., Quebec of "Town Lot
Number Two Hundred &
Twenty One and the brick store
thereon included," so I knew
the store was built prior to that
date,
My search then led to the
Special Collections Department
of the University of Westeim
Ontario, and there I found a
gold mine of clues about former
owners of this property, but they
had to be dug for. With the help
of Mr. Phelps, the Librarian,
learned that in 1857 the "Taxes
Levied or Collected" on Lot
property. The voters' list for
Stanley Township for 1858 lists
"John Robson and Robert
Robson, Joint Tenants, Lot 221,
Bayfield". The voters' list for"
1861, 1862, 1863, 1864 and 1865
show T.H. Bateman on Lot 221,
and the name .of Alexander
Campbell for the years 1866 and
1867, Voters can be tenants as
well as owners, so until I find
evidence to the contrary, I am
assuming that the title to this
property remained in the name
of Malcolm Cameron (who had
purchased most of Bayfield
from young Baron de Tuyll (or
Tuyle) in 1854) until he sold it
to William Wright in 1861, and
that Mr. Bateman and the
others were just tenants' or
lessees, Even a tenant needs an
abode, however, so we still have
unanswered the big question
"When was the store built?"
Whenever it was built, it was
built well. The original building
contained a store 24' x 50' on
the first floor, and a 6-room
home upstairs, with an outside
stairway as the only access to it.
The two front rooms were
evidently the "sitting room" and
"parlour" - one has a fireplace
and the other wide ornate
woodwork. The other rooms
were bedrooms with simple
woodwork and, surprisingly for
those early years, closets. There
is no remaining evidence of
what might have been a kitchen.
The next registered document
on the property is a Grant from
William Wright to Robert
Morrison in 1869 of "Town Lot
Number Two Hundred and
Twenty One, with Brick Store
and outbuildings". The
surprising thing is that the first
sale of the land and store in
1861 was for $4,000 and the
second in 1869 for $1,100. This
was about the time that the
railroad was put inland,
through Exeter, Brucefield and
Clinton, instead of running up
the lakeshore as many
Bayfieldera had hoped it would.
Perhaps this drop in value of a
piece of real estate in Bayfield
reflects the effect this had on the
development of the village.
The Tax Collector's }toll for
Stanley Township for 1869,
1870, 1871 and 1872 lists; Robt.
Morrison, merchant, Bayfield
Lot 221. Heal property asanint.,
$800; personal property (Bus.)
$400,
There is a gap in the records
Until 1877 When the Assessment
R011 Shows: Robt. Morrison,
windows, front doors, shelves, counters and floor. This
picture, •taken in 1902, shows the Albion Hotel on the left and
store owner Harry Edwards in the ,doorway of the store.
merchant; Bayfield, Lot 221;
Real property, $1200; personal
property (Bus.) $400.
The increase in assessment
between 1869 and 1877 may
reflect a rise in property values
in Bayfield, but also reflects the
construction of an addition in
the form of a one-story house
next to the store, which hear-say
evidence says was built around
1870. This addition contained
two rooms - living room and
dining room - with a good
basement beneath them. There
was also a small, well-lit room
under the stairway which was
said to have been the sewing
room but which has been
converted to a lavatory,
I said earlier that the access
to the living quarters over the
store was by means of an
outside stairway. This was
removed when the first floor
addition was put on, and at the
top of the new stairs
incorporated in the addition is
still the original front door with
an oval window over it. Mr.
Morrison, or his carpenter,
made one mistake on this
project: they squeezed• the
stairway into too small a space
and made the treads 83/4" apart
which is an awkward rise. The
appearance from the outside
was enhanced with a front entry
way with two double doors (one
opening onto the porch) with the
popular colored and frosted
glass of the period.
The records of Trinity Church
(Anglican) Bayfield show a
daughter born to Robert and
Lucy Morrison in 1867 and
under the column titled Quality,
Trade or Profession it lists him
as a merchant, so perhaps he,
too, was a tenant on the
property for a couple of years.
The church records show three
other daughters born in 1870,
1871, and 1873 and one son in
1880. Several ledgers of
Morrison's General Store are in
existence, though not in our
possession. It was a coincidence
that the day I was studying one
of 'them, which had been loaned
to 'lite, an elderly woman who
lives in Michigan had lunch at
the Albion Hotel and told Mrs,
Robinson that her grandfather
had owned the Albion prior to
the Elliotts'.
She then tame over to talk to
nne and we found the page in
this ledger With het
grandfather's name on it -
Henry McCann', In one of Lucy
Woods' toltinths in 19/0 about
Orangemen's banquet in town
and Dr. Ninian Woods had to
leave it to attend Henry
McCann, proprietor of the
Albion Hotel, who died that
night. The visitor from Michigan
said that her mother and Robert
Morrison's daughter, Lizzie,
were life-long friends, and the
friendship started when they
lived next door to each other in
Bayfield. In the old papers on
the property we have found
Freight Notices to Robert
Morrison of goods to be picked
up at Brucefield, dated 1886 -
the last year he was in business
on this property. He is supposed
to have moved to Hensali and
gone into business there.
In 1887 Henry?, Edwards of
Strathroy opened a General
Store on this property, although
the deed to Edwards was not
recorded until 1891.
Henry F. Edwards was known
as Harry and was 61 years old
when he started this new
venture with his wife, Hester
and son Francis A., known to
everyone as Frank. Frank
'married Florence England and
perhaps it was her urging that
caused a new 15' x 17' kitchen
to be built on in the 1890's.
Near this time, also, the small
door between the living room
and dining room was plastered
over and an opening half the
width of the wall was cut in,
topped by an Edwardian
fretwork room divider.
We have boxes of invoices
neatly filed by year, so we have
proof that the business was
known as "ELF. Edwards Cash
Store" until 1898 and that
beginning in 1899 it was "F.A.
Edwards Cash Store." Business
thrived and some time around
the turn of the century the
kitchen was enclosed on two
sides with sheds with high doors
so that wagons could be backed
up to them for easy unloading,
and a back porch provided
additional storage space and a
covered walk-way to the back
door of the store,
Frank, or his father, made
two other changes in the
property, shown in two pictures
we have, one c. 1895 and the
other c. 1902. The original
windows of the store were small-
paned and the steel columns
supporting the second floor were
iinside the store. The later
picture shows that the outside
windows have been narrowed,
widening the entrance way to
the store and placing the
supporting columns outside. The
pictures also show the porch of
the house with delicate late-
Victorian style posts. Among the
family papers we found the
estimate from the Goderich
Planing Mills Company, dated
July 20, 1918, for "$261.00 for a
straight verandah." I think the
original porch was more
graceful than the remodeled
version with cement blocks and.
heavy pillars, but apparently
Mrs. Frank Edwards enjoyed
her new one because the people
in Bayfield still remember that
it was her invariable custom to
"have a rock" on it every
afternoon.
Grandpa Harry died in
Bayfield in 1906, but he had
deeded the property to his son in
1902 so there was no
interruption of the business.
Frank and Florence had one
child — a daughter, Floy
Hester, born in 1898. The family
was active in Trinity Church,
Bayfield. I find Frank, Florence
and Floy on the Membership
continued on page 2
front section
221, Bayfield, were $84.46. The
taxes on comparable lots in
Bayfield in that year were for
from $22 to $35, so we can
surmise one of two things: either
this amount represents several
years' taxes being paid up in
that year, or it indicates an
improvement (building) on the