HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1977-06-30, Page 118Page 78
Seegmiller's in
hotel business.....
*from page -77 ry
wife, Wilhelmennia, and two
daughters. The burial record
shows Jacob as an
Evangelical, but the funeral
service was conducted by
Rev. E.L. Elwood of St.
George's (Anglican) church.
Jacobs will, made in 1872,
shows that he was able to
provide generously for his
children. Six individual
bequests, additional to the
recipients' share of the
residue, ranged from $500 to
$4,000. Trustees named were
a son, Frederick, Seaforth;
and John Hunter, Goderich
township. Hunter's wife, Jane
Salkeld, was a daughter of
John Salkeld and Martha
Wilson, whose father, Joseph
Wilson, owned a great deal of
town and country property,
The Huron Signal in its
obituary of Jacob Seegmfller
failed to name any of his
children, and to give the first
name of the brother.
Goderich telephone directory
lists no Seegmillers, but there
are a dozen or more in the
Kitchener -Waterloo list.
THE FAMILY
Here are the names of
Jacob's children, as named in
his will: Caroline (Mrs. W.M.
Robertson), Elizabeth,
Louisa (Mrs. Charles
Cammeron). ,Jacob, George,
Adam, John, Frederick,
Samuel and Henry.
Sam was not connected
with the tanning business; he
man.ufactured" the
"Seegmiller truss beam
plow" at his "agricultural
foundry" on "Hamilton street
east," There is a specimen of
this plow in Huron Pioneer
Museum, with a copy of a
Farmer's Advocate ad-
vertisement of April, 1882,
announcing that the
Seegmiller plows were
"shipped to all parts of
Ontario." This plant was not
operated after Samuel's
death.
Frederick, listed as
"miller," is found in Seaforth
from 1869, and owned various
properties there, Miss
Isabelle Campbell, Seaforth
historian, finds that
Frederick went to a fruit
farm near Goderich, but later
got back his Seaforth lots, as
his home was there. In 1879,
he and James 1. Carter
manufactured the "rod beam
plow" in great number, but in
1880 the plant was'removed to
Toronto for better shipping
facilities, Fred's daughter
Janet married John A,
Wilson, son of J.D. *Wilson?
onetime "egg king" of Huron.
A great-granddaughter of
.lacob Seegmiller died in
Seaforth only a few years
ago.
Adam Seegmiller was first
treasurer of the village of
Stratford, in 1855. Whether or
not this was Jacob's son has
not been determined.
Henry Seegmill's 'name
appears in the 1866 gazetteer
as resident gain Goderich
township.
Joseph Salkeld, son of John
Salkeld, one of the earliest
settlers in Goderich township,
married Eliza Seegmiller, of
Stratford. They had six sons
and six daughters, who
subsequently lived in
Seaforth, Stratford, St,
Helens, Spy Hill, Sask., and
New York.
In the year he arrived in
Goderich, Jacob Seegmiller
bought from James Stewart
the lot' at the northwest
corner of Waterloo and St.
Patrick. Probably he built
there a house of some kind.
He left the property to his
unmarried daughter
Elizabeth, who presumably
lived there until 1900, 'when
the place was acquired by
Marion Proudfoot, and in 1913
by Mrs. Mary A. Dunlop,
widow of Hugh Dunlop, West
St. tailor It is now the
residence of Dr. Tom Jasper.
131j1LTTHE "BRITISH"
Also in the year of his
arrival, Jacob lent 75 pounds
sterling to John William
Jones, owner of the corner of
the Square and South street
(now occupied by the
Woolworth store.) Two years
later, Jacob became owner of
that corner.
Here he operated, as the
Signal stated in 1874, "a very
extensive business in tanning,
saddlery, harnessmaking and
shoemaking in the building
now occupied by the British
Exchange." It was not used
for hotel purposes for some
years after Seegmiller
acquired it, but he owned the
property until he died; and it
was not until 1877 that his son
Frederick sold it te) William
Cox, first of a family which
made the "British" a leading
provincial hotel, Isaac Rat-
tenbury, said to have been
first operator of the hotel,
must have done so as holder
of a lease. In the early years
of settlement here, when
judges rejected the primitive
courtroom accommodation
provided on the upper floor of
the jail, courts were held in
the hotel's spacious dining -
room. The roll of
distinguished trial judges
includes three chief justices,
among them Sir Thomas
Galt, no stranger to the town.
In that same room were held
concerts and plays and public
meetings, before Christopher
Crabb built Victoria Opera
House.
A special joint issue of the
Signal and Star in 1889
assured the public that the
British Exchange was "fully
equipped with the latest
improved fire escapes;
guests may rest with a feeling
of perfect security from fire."
The hotel burned on Dec. 4,
1956, with loss of three lives.
The corner lot lay vacant
until Woolworth's built on it in
1959.
in 1849, .Jacob picked up
what was then a, farm lot
(Con. 1, Lot 3) on the Bayfield
road. He bought it from
Thomas Mercer Jones of
Donagh. Back in his ,own
neighborhood, in St. Geoge's
ward, he bought from the
Canada Company in 1851
parts of lots 925-894, and held
this land until 1874, when he
sold ,to Francis Jordan, the
Turn to page 79.
"BRITISH" IN THE MOTOR AGE — This photo shows the hotel not too long before
burned in 1956, or about 110 years after Jacob Seegmiller built his tannery on the site,
N
J _
CONGRATULATIONS
To The
Town
of
Goderich
On Your
150 ANNIVERSARY
From the Management & Staff
GODERICH DISCOUNT CENTRE
70 SHOPPERS SQUARE GODERICH 524-6861
ffiY
To The Town of
GODERICH
and Good Luck on Your Celebrations
Larry LeBeau
Plumbing Itt Heating Ltd.
RR S Goderich
s24.0
Serving Oodorich and surrounding
areas for over 5 years In the
plumbing and hooting industry.
1
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col
de
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mil
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buil
Ca
enc
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fil
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elfin
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