HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance-Times, 1954-07-28, Page 5C ongratulations
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ON YOUR
STEDMAN'S
AS “NIGGER IHLII”
By W. J. Fleuty
Any review of well-known former
citizens would not be complete with
out mention being made of one of
the town’s best known characters,
Whose most familiar title was simply
“Nigger Fred”.* He enjoyed a* lucra
tive business as a tonsorial artist,
. A strong feature of his personality
,was his .unusually boistrpus laughter.
Young fellows around town would
concoct the most ridiculous, nonsen
sical yarns just to spring them on
Fred to hear his responsive laugh.
This peculiar feature of his got him
into a peck of trouble on one occasion,
but the why of if is worth relating.
The north branch of the Maitland
River was on unusually savage ram
page at an unusual season of the
year. Two dams had been carried out
farther up the Aver and it was not
possible.that Rockey’s dam would sur
vive the onslaught of the high water
and the accompanying wreckage that
came down the stream. Btit it did.
Then the Lower Wingham dam was
watched eagerly by hundreds of the
nervous citizens. There was a long
backwash alongside the roadway on
the north side, At the extreme end
of this backwash three fellows found
a frog that had succumbed to the'
roughness of the water. "One of
the trio picked
with him.-
It must have been the grandfather
of all’ frogs in
from Jits great size. The three’ boys
walked together, knowing Nigger
Fred • was ' about one hundred yards
behind. The frog was hung up on a
meat hook at the front
place.
it up and carried it
the millpond, judging
of a business
he beheld the
loud that it
ft
B
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Thomas Abraham '* '■ t WinghArti A4Viin<^TIm0p July M 19M
Sidney Auburn
Departed in Haste
It will thke the old-timers to re
member Sidney Auburn, the happy,
smiling character With a pleasant
word for all, who had earned for
himself the name of ’’Happy Sid”, It
seems he beat a hasty retreat from
Wingham in November 1885, without
pausing th bid farewell to the host
of friends he had made during
his sojourn in the town.
■ ’’Happy Sid” was connected with, a
religious group when he arrived ip
Wingham and appeared to be deeply
in earnest over the wprk he had un
dertaken. Several suspicious circum
stances had arisen from time to time
in which he was supposed to have
been concerned, but they were over
looked because he was such a genial
fellow,
GEO. KING FOUNDED
THRIVING BUSINESS
George E. King, father of the King
Brothers, was in business with T. A.
Mills for a number of years in the
building which is now The Advance-
Times office, In 1891 the partnership
was dissolved and Mr, King opened
a general store where Kerr's drug
store stands today. In 1892 he moved
his establishment to the centre store
in the Beaver block, on which site
the business remained, Following Mr,
King’s death his sons, Thomas and
Robert became owners.
WELCOME
To The Celebration
AN OLD ESTABLISHMENT’
WITH A NEW NAME . . .
WISHES 'EOU ^IiL THE JOYS >
' OF A HAPPY
Earl s Men s
formerly I sard*
Fred’s response when
frog was so long and
awakened the family residing in the
premises. Everyone was familiar with
Fred's hilarious voie'e, so early in the
morning the business man was at
Fred’s place. It went without further
evidence that Fred was the miscreant.
What a Billings'gate tongue-thrashing
Fred got, but he took it without mak
ing any mention of the trio' who pre-
ceeded him. " /
Nigger Fred finally left for a larger
field where more of 'his race was to
be fodnd. No doubt lie Has‘long ago
been gathered to his fathers, as have
two of the trio mentioned, while the
third remains to tell the story for pub
lication in this 75th anniversary
number.
Thos. Abraham
Was Early Shoemaker
A very early resident of Wingham
was Thomas Abraham, who carried
on a shoemaking business on Victoria
Street, in a building, that stood about
two doors west of the present’Chas.
Hodgins premises. At one time he em
ployed five workmen in . his establish
ment. • ‘ ’ , '
He was born in Ireland, was a,Con
servative in politics,ua member of the
school board for 20 years, a member
of the I.O.F. lodge and of-the L.O.L.,
being .treasurer of the latter for many
years, Through Jhis enthusiastic efforts
the .L.O.L, hall, built in 1873, was clear
of debt at . the time it was completed.
Mr. Abraham’s shoe shop was ’the
centre of many a political and munici
pal debate in the early days. The men
liked to congregate there and discuss
the current problems.
•We find mention that Thomas Abra
ham drove cattle for Edward Farley
from Stratford to Wingham by way
of St. Helens about 1859 or ’60. This
is no doubt when Abraham settled
here as he was one ’of the first of
the pioneers. He -died in 1906 at the
age of 69 years, ..... . -
However, Mr. Fisher, deputy post
office inspector, arrived one evening
and proceeded to interview Auburn.
A couple of weeks previous a mail
bag was robbed at Kippen and “Happy
Sid’’ was suspected of being the thief.
On February 12, 1912, the Beaver
block was destroyed by fire for the
second time, King Bros, rebuilt on the
site in the same year and this time
only one large store was erected.
f
J
the
his
PIONEER LAWYER
One of the first members of
legal profession to hang out
shingle in Wingham was Jasi Alex
ander Morton, who was born in Scot
land. As a very young man he taught
school, then studied law-and hvas- *aT
graduate of Osgoode HaJl in 1876.
to the
on its
Manufacturers of
g
i
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g
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POLITICAL FUED
ENDS PARTNERSHIP
' In past yeafs ■ pax'tnerships have
' been divided for various reasons and
i the parting of 'the" ways between” the
. partners of the /firm". of’ Scptt.'and
• Bell is amusing but true. "" For^the
I information for this story: We afe . in
debted ‘ to George - Porter,a . student
of Queen’s University, Kingston; who
; included it in an essay written on.in-
1 dustries in Wingham while attending
high school here. ., ‘ ’ .
Walter Scott and Thomas ■ Bell' had
a furniture factory in Wingham, of
which there'is mention, elsewhere in
this issue. This partnership was quite
satisfactory for many years, ’ but .-the
final split came over a horse/and. an
election, ‘ .
They had a horse that had served
thhm faithfully for many.yedrs by,the
name of “Old-Billy” and it was decid
ed that on election' -day the animal
should be given a rest and allowed to
remain in the shed for the entire day.
At that time ah election was an elec
tion and you either belonged to one
party, or the other.' Scott' and. Bell
were no exception and while Scott was
a true Grit, Bell was just as, much a
Tory. ’ ,
By noon on election day the cam
paign became more fiery and Mr.
Scott slipped into the stable and hitch
ing Old Billy to a wagon, set out to
do some real electioneering, by-bring
ing voters in by the wagon load.
Mr. Bell took a dim view' of the
proceedings when he heard what had
happened and contacted Scott at his
home, He informed him that either
Scott had to buy him out, or he would
purchase Scott’s interest in the busi
ness, but that it was impossible to
carry on the partnerhip any longer
since he had found that he could not
trust Mr. Scott. To continue in busi
ness with such a scoundrel was be
neath his dignity.
Thomas Bell went to his friend
H. W. C. Meyer, who was a lawyer,
for advice. Meyer made out a cheque
for $20,000 and handed it to, Mr, Bell
with instruction to use it as he saw
fit. With this financial backing, Bell
bought Scott's interest.
His first office was in a two-storey
frame building on the corner of Jose
phine'and John • Streets. Fire broke
out in this property and his Office fell
a victim to■ flames,-which the'bucket
brigade of that period Could not ex
tinguish. ■ . ’
, The young lawyer came here from
Brampton, where he had been one of
the' Excelsiors Lacrosse Club, known
as one of the fastest teams in Ontario.
He was successful in building up a
lucrative practice and had so won
the confidence of the citizens that in
1897 and 1898 he was mayor of the
town. During his reign in office the
town took on a new'look by the build
ing of granolithic walks, which to a
large extent he supervised. 4 •
He took a keen interest in the Pub
lic Library and Reading, p^oom,. pnd
was a member of both^the public and
high, school boards.. For many' years
He was in charge of the music’of th'e
Methodist Church: Mf. Morton Nvas
appointed police 'magistrate and, held
that • office' in, Wingham for. several
years. , ; '. . .
J..A. Morton. wa$'a pip he,er, member,
of ’the. I.O.F. and was a recipient:'of
a 50-year jewel by the Grand Lodge
of Masons "as a''past' master of. the
Lebanon Chapter and, for hisi long
years as an Active and useful mem
ber. He was also a member and fpr
40 years an auditor-of the I.O.O.F.
Auburn had been in Kippen the day
of the robbery, He knew the post
master and his family through his
religious connections. Since it was a
stormy day and the post master was
away, the gallant Sid offered to carry
the.,.mail bag to the train for the
daughter. When the' train gqt to Lon
don the mail clerk reported that there
were two bills for registered letters,
but the lettefi, themselves were miss
ing. An investigation was started and
it was discovered that a quantity of
posjt^ge stamps, had also been taken
from the post office safe.
It was then' found that on Auburn's
return to Wingham he had offered
to sell Mayor Neelands $6.00 worth
of stamps and had paid a number of
accounts around town 'in the same
manner.
About the year 1924, Robert took a
position with the Simpson Company,
and in 1933 was made general man
ager in Montreal. Four years later he
was appointed vice-president and di
rector, which position he held until
his retirement a few years ago.
Thomas King carried on the busi
ness until his death, after which his
daughter Mary (Mrs. Borden Spears)
continued the management until it
was sold to Mr. Weinburg of Chat
ham. The firm is now owned ’.'and
managed by Edward Edighoffer., who
came here from Paisley.
When accused by the inspector of
being the guilty party, “Happy Sid”
remained cool but emphatically denied
the accusations and suggested that
together they go to Kippen the fol
lowing morning and face those who
dared to suggest that he was con
nected with the affair. Mr. Fisher be
lieved that he was sincere and the
following morning found the inspec
tor waiting at.the station. Needless to
say, there waS' no sign of Auburn.-
Mhyor Neelands- ;received a letter a
few days laUr.- written from Michi
gan in which Auburn .called the mayor
some" pretty fancy names' In describ
ing anyone wlfo'-^dUld'write such a
Tetter, The Times retaliated fairly
well ip name calling and stated that
whilp» the letter was in possession of
the, editor, with permission from the
mayor to produce it in print, it was
not- fit lor public consumption.
.,, .A , few weeks Jater a letter to the
editor appeared in the paper from a
map ip Toronto by the name of Au
burn, who appedrs to have been Sid's
brother, 'or certainly a relative. It
gave a full aecoufnt of the culprit’s
life and family history. He seems to
have changed his religion when it
suited him, which was pretty often
and he always managed to make it
profitable. The Toronto Auburn de-
1
letter," The Times
v-;2 1,4 ”■
voted much of his time informing
church groups and police of this
“dangerous and treacherous” charac
ter and sincerely wished he Would
“receive the punishment he deserves,
for under pretence of winning souls
for Christ he commits his greatest
robberies”.
Potatoes 50 to 60c per bag; putter
18c' per pound; eggs 10c per dp’zen;
apples 50 to 75c per bag. —Market
prices 1888.
WELCOME TO
Visit
W. A. HEUGHANS
J. A. MORTON
Leather Goods Store
Wingham s 75th Birthday
The property of the estate of Wm,
Mooney was offered for sale this
week. Robert Mclndoo bought the 6-
acre park lot for $170, M. Smith the
house and one acre of land for $90,
John Cameron two acres of land and
house thereon fbr $160 and Mrs. Grif
fin a house and lot for $90. —-News
item 1891.
for
MEN’S FOOTWEAR OF ALL KINDS
Langmuir Luggage, Billfolds, Schoolbags,
Brief Cases and Music Cases.
Quality Dress Gloves and Mittens Since 1906
Men’s Work Shirts, Socks and Overalls 1Problem. If* a merchant advertise
his goods for sale at a great reduction
and you have no money to, buy it,
what profiteth it? Solution: Go to H.
Buchanan and get the cash, buy What
you want, pay cash and find you will
save money by it. —Ad 1887.
AGENT FOR CARSON CLEANERS
PICK UP TWICE A WEEK