HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1967-06-29, Page 224
The qtrQdeTich Signal -Star, TtbuaY, Juue 29, OM'
Goderich Was Bonanza
For Real Estate Money
When Goderich wasdevelop
ing in the pre..Contederatim.
years, a number. of its citizens
had' enough faith in the town
to invest in real estate. .,,ti
tact, they purchased', in num-
erous instances with money bor.
rowed by mortgaging the pro.
perty. Borrowed, from whom?
Often, they obtained fundsfrom
wealthy individuals elsewhere,.
or' persons responsible for in:
vesting the. -funds of estates.
At least a half-dozen were tit.
led, one way or another: Sir
James Campbell, Rt. Hon. Sir
William Mulock, Hon. JohnRob.
ertson, Hon, T. N. Gibbs, Hon.
D. M. McDonald, Sir Thomas
Galt andRt, Hon, Edwin Street,
Diligent search has failed to
identify Street. Obviously a
member of the Queen's Privy
Council for Britain, he may
never have seen Canada, but he'
lent money to Goderich.
.Hon. T. N. Gibbs, who in
18'76 held a mortgage on .the
MacEwan property,''.Cambria
road; was briefly a minister- in
the first Cabinet of Sir John
A. MacDonald: • He Was Secre.
tary of State for the Provinces
and Superintendent -General of
Indian Affairs, then Minister of
Inland Revenue.
Hon, John Robertson, who.
ever he may taw been, in 1887
took a " in artgage on Lot 384,
corner of Britannia road and
Hibernia (a street now gone)
and later sold it to James T;
Garrow.
Cawthra-Mulok funds came
into the picture in connection
with the Crabb (McLean) Block.
William Cawthra, who came
/tom Yorkshire, was a pioneer
merchant in Toronto and
' "amassed a •fortune that made
him one of the richest men Of
the time in ,Canada,"
Sir James 'Campbell, whose
money supported building of
"The Maples" on the site of
the. present hospital, was a.
Glasgow merchant who was.kni•
ghted "onpresenting an address
at the birth of the Prince of
Wales," (Edward VII). Hisloan
was to another Scot, James
Watson, of Goderich, and he
risked $2,000 , more when Wat-
son mortgaged a West `street
lot on which the former Bank
of Montreal building stood.
They Preached In Gaelic_
When Goderich in 1867 (as re-
lated elsewhere) celebrated the
consummationConfedera-
tion, it possess d a congre.
gation in connection with the
Church of Scotland, later known
as the Gaelic church,
Rev. Archibald MacGillivray
Huron Pioneer Museum has
a picture of him - was the first
to preadh in Gaelic to the Scots
here. He conducted a Gaelic
mission for about six years,
commencing in 1871. Worship
wag conducted in a hall over
the old -post office. "In 1876,"
according to the Illustrated
Signal -Star, March 25, 1889',
"on the union of the congre-
gations of the Church of Scot-
land and the Free Church of
Canada the edifice of the forme.
er body on' Nelson street was
occupied by the Gaelic congre.
gation and has continued in
use for. the purpose of wor-
ship in connection with (that
body to the present time."
It is recalled that some fain -
FIRST MANSE The Chufich, of
flies, attended a Gaelic service- Scotland congregation, worship.
on Sunday.. morning, in St. An,
drew''s on Nelson street, and ping in a church an Nelson
an English service at Knox. in street, built in 1855 for "their
the evening, first settled minister, Rev.
"fine
Mackid,- a
The records of St. Andrew's manse" on two acres s extending
dated from 1842, but, it was to Victoria street. Mr. Mackid
not until 1846 _that the build. bought it after retiring. It was
ing approached completion.' It - the home of the family of John
lacked windows and part of the.. Galt, registrar, after his death
flooring when Rev. Alexander •at Ridgewood Park, and was
Mackid paid the congreg.tion
a missionary visit in that year
and pr-eached to "an overflow-
ing 'congregation." He became
the first settled minister; and.
$t., Altai ew's continued a place ues: "The pews were 'rented' -.
`of worship for a halt -century. the first yeaf fdr 96 Pounds,
Services n ended in 1895, "the the' second year for 111 Pounds
use of Gaelic having practic. 17s and the following year an-
ally died out in Goderich," and creasing, but we owed for the
the building was sold. The God. pews. The ,General Assembly
erich Signal of February- 14, of the Church of Scotland sent
1896; reported that the church :us 100 Pounds. Mr. Mackid was
bad been 'sold. the managers to take the pew rents.
of Knox church' to George Bis. "He informed us early in 1854
sett, who was to have , it re. -that the commissioners of the
moved to Hamilton street and Clergy Reserve Fund would give
fitted up for a warehouse. (Who 150 Pounds. toward building a
knows in what Hamilton street manse if an additional 50 Pound
building the bricks of old St. were raised, which was done,
Not all the developnnent
*money carie from outside the
town. Nobody was buster in
this field than Absalom. Shade,
A carpenter from Buffalo with
an eye for business, he found,
ed and wa4 a big shareholder
in the Grand River Navigation
Company, and founded Shade's
Mills, now Galt, where he evid.,
ently made money. John Galt,
after incorporation of the Can.
ada 'Company, and opening of
an office in York, visited the
town named for him and met
Shade, The latter put 1n`for
a share of Canada w~ ompoany con.
tracts. -Later he held •port•
gages on lots 4, $ and 6 along
e lake bank on Cobourg street,
o polite, and slightly *eat ;. of
the Canada Company offices,
Mortgaging Lot. 6 to Shade to
1836. wereVWilliam Fisher;Good,
ing and Jasper K. Gooding., They
deeded it 10 Shade in 1854. The
house on this lot was later
occupied by Henry Marlton,
shipbuilder, who in 185'i named
a schooner Absalom.Shade;
Gooding, first Godekielf
resident inasmuch • as he bad
a trading post here before the
Canada Company surveyed the
place, was not slow to pick up
a ..few desirable lots: He had
the. corner of West and Well.
ington, but evidently got behind
and the sheriff gave a deed
poll to Shade in 1841. Shade
sold it to John Galt (registrar)
and took a mortgage for 3,400,
pounds, other properties pro.
bably being involved.
Jacob Seegmiller, from Wat.
erloo, where the name is often
found still, financed much house
building here. He . was firs!
owner Of loot 988, St, Patrick
street, on which the 19rne Dot.,
terer house is situated, and
m,mbers of • the .family held it
in the 1880s. Seegmiller owned
the land On which William
S mith built his tannery, and On
which. the Breckenridge apart-
ment building now stands. Some
houses were built for hire_ by
Adam MacVicar, a busy con-
tractor here in the 1850s and
1860.s and later: The little house
on Cambria road close to N9,8
Highway, noted for the big thorn
tree , in front, was subject to
a mortgage as early as 1834
when David Cantelon borrowed
frog.) Jacob. Seeg. Miller,..as it
is sPelled 111 the register. See.
grainer bought from the Can-
ada Company in 1851 the lot on
St. Patrick street where the
residence of R. W. Bell stands,
'and sold it in 1874 to Francis
Jordan, • of Pharmacy Hall, who
probably bunt that house, for
he gaye a mortgage to Seeg.
m'.11er for $1,750. Lot 3 in
Concession 1 was acquired by
Seegmiller from Thomas Mar.
cer Jones, of the Canada Com.,
pany. He sold to Alex. M. Ross
and gave amortgage, 'Evidently
partial to the St. Patrick area
Seeeniiller was owner of the
original quarter -dere tha nt.
prised Lot 923, -at the cattier
of St. Patrick and Waterloo
-Bruce' Sully's ce, The fang.
ily was ound' here quite
awhile; Gaviri Green wrote in
one of his books that Nettie
Seegmtller ('played the organ
in old Knox church." Elizabeth
Seegmiller,79, was buried here
in 1920.
In '67 all' year through "AN•TI.QUING" is the thing to
do-,
V I:Si
DENNIS STEEP ANTIQUES
45 Waterloo Street
Canadians Furniture - Rough and Refinished, Glass, China,
Brass, Lamps. Wooden -and Tinware
SINCE 1888
uaIityMeat
S BEEN SOLD
THIS SAME
CATION
- W. T. MURNEY. 1888 to 1910
JOHN BAKER. 1910 to 1926,
AINSLIE & BAKER 1926 to 1940
W. J. BAKER TO 1930 — N,, M. BAKER -TO 1940
M. J. AINSLIE 1940 to 1953
M. J. AINSLIE r SON 1953 to 1961
AINSLIE MARKET LTD. 1961 to 1967
FIRST MANSE
purchased by the late Keith
'Hopkinson in 1940. _
Andrew's are preserved?) The
bell, the Signal stated; "will
be r_em9Y-e.d to Knox church and
placed in position • for use.'i
Organization of St. Andrew's
began with a grant by the Can.
ada Company . of village lots.
The congregation was first ser-
ved by Rev. Alexander Mac-
Kenzie, along with Stanley and
Tuckersmith. (A son, John Mac.
Kenzie, died at Huronview in
April, 1864, aged 93.)
Thomas. Kydd(town clerk 1850
- 570 got the contract to build
a church, and is left on re.
cord an interest account of
therfinancing.
"Mr. Smithand I," he has
recorded, "went through the
town and, neighboring townships
And opened correspondencewith
the .Synod at Kingston and the
Presbytery at Hamilton, asking
ser rices of their missionaries.
The Wesleyans'"gave-us ai Most
'unlimited use of thein church,
enabling us to go into oper.
ation as a congregation. In the
spring of 1844, Mr. Lizars ana
_selected- a--site-'and-obtained-
° an ' acre and a half from the
Canada Company. Then 13 in.
dividuals subscribed the - nec-
essary amount to build the
church, under the impression
we would hold a claim on the
property. i became the con.
tractor at a lower price than
anyone else would undertake,
took my payment any way and
every way, and at considerable
sacrifice , raised the present
edifice.
"Iry 1846 Mr. Mackid paid us
a missionary visit, and --in 1848,
after pews and pulpit were put
in, a call was sent t0 Mr.
Mad'kid with an offer of 125
pounds per ,annum, which• he
accepted and arrived in June.
but in the meantime an add- ,
itional acre was obtained from
the Canada Company ...It was
=dedidei3 tO--Iteeir-the fo�ii`rots "
and borrow 500 Pounds from
the Trust and Loan Co."
A sister of Mr. Mackid, in
a letter datedF ebruary 18,1857,
-wrote: "The .congregation have
built him a new manse, a very
handsome home indeed and quite
a large piece of ground att.,
ached. Mrs. Mackid has a great
taste for gardening. The gro.
unds are laid out very prettily,
but it will take some time to
get all the werk done. He has
a good, congregation, but like
everyone else is badly paid,
and having such a large family -
falls heavily upon him"
Mr. Kydd's memorandum
concludes: "It was stated one
Sunday after service the manse
had been sold for 800 Pounds,
but still 200 Pounds was to
be raised to pay off the debt
...I left them a chur'h; a stee.
Rle and a -bell.-"
Mr. Kydd permitted ,himself
an uncomplimentary allusion to
one of the town's professional
men, his identity probably well
known to the community at the
time:
"I have often been made wel-
come in the hut of the poor,
as well as the house of the
rich, but I have never by m; j
conduct caused the finger of
scandal to point at the Wife
of my friend. Will Spotless
.Peter say as match for himself;
since his advent in Goderich?"
Rev. Thomas Mackid, a con.
temporary account states, "bras,
a tall, fine-looking fellow, of
fascinating manners. A wid-
ower, he had emigrated with
The parties whobuilt the church.-.. his mother and sisters after
at once abandoned all claim-
s having !t rried, his lady-164ee
against th�is_property.gas she lay dying."
Huron Signal files of 1858
tell of Mr. Mackid's induction
at the Huron Hotel:
"the c'biigregatton of St. An.
dretes church indutoted a new
minister, Rev. A. Mackid from
the Presbytery of Hamilto
Previously, . the congrega
had been' g shepherdless floc
A dinner wad held at the Hur
Hotel at which`" -S5 gentlem
froom . tai* resbytery spent
owing With thatt.decorum and
bless appropriate to the •
Y',A
Kydd's account eontin.
Mr. Mackid resigned fromSt.
Andrew s in 1887 and was sue.
ceeded , Rev. 6.Cameion, vr$o
Was Minister until 1869. Rev.
James Sieveright followed in
1871. At the union of 1875, Rev.
Robert Ure and Mr. Severight
became colleagues in the min.
tatty of Knox, Mr. Sieveright
continuing to.preach at Smith's
Hill. Improvements were made
in the Knox building, and° 8t.
Andrew's was given Over to the
Gaelic mission under Rev.„ A.
(continued on page 7)
(9,
John Baker And His Market -1910
The Style Changes but The
duality Lasts -
See .These Late Model
USED CARS at
HURON AUTOMOTIVE &
263 HURON ROAD - SUPPLY- GODERICH, ONTARIO
1966 MERCURY Tudor hardtop, one owner, .power. brakes, V-8,
automatic, radio, like new. -
1966 RAMBLER Ambassador, V-8, automatic, power brakes and
steering. Like new.ra
1965 MERCURY Fordor, V-8, automatic, power brakes and steer-
ing. Power slant back window, radio. .
71965 MU-STANG_Fast Back,_ V-8,, automatic; radio= ee this mi._
for •'value.
1964 FORD Custom 500, V-8, automatic, radio..
1964- FORD Custom 500, V-8, standard transmission.,
1965 STUDEBAKER, two -door, six -cylinder, standard- transmis-
sion.
1964 STUDEBAKER Wagon, V-8, overdrive, radio.
1964 STUDEBAKER four -door, V-8, standard transmission.
1963 CORVAIR Monzt, four -on -flog, - radio.
1963 PONTIAC, six, automatic, radio. Like new.
1963 PONTIAC, six, standard, radio.
1961 MERCURY Fordor hardtop ,° power brake's, power steering,
radio; one owner.
1966 GMC I/2 -ton truck. Like new.
1966 CHEVROLET 1/Z -ton, V-8, wide box.
e1964 INTEitNATIONAL -tarn, wide box. One -owner. mal sharp.`
CALL 524-6271 GODERICH . CLINTON 482-9782
MERCURY • METEOR - COMET - FALCON - COUGAR.
• Dealer
Weliome HomeB�ys"
er.
ch+,dr,,,
Ai,4 .q•
0sG 0OX
my 'SpCIItias,'
The store of M. J. (Mat) AinsHs in the early 1940's. Notice the ape railings'
on the walls and the centre hung light siniilar.to that of John Baker's above.
It wasn't long after Confederation that this location started sailing quality ma ltsr
In' this advertisement we have listed the owners and their terms of business.. -
Since 1926 it has been an Ainslie tradition to, all nothing but the finest in. fresh- hem*
Killed imitate. For some years it has been a family tradition to shop at Ainslie+%. Wby
don't you start a family tradition this week?
WELCOME HOME
Po
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