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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Clinton News Record, 1925-07-30, Page 14th, Year onie Wee Some of Clinton's Former Mayors OBEFRT CA ENDER -1, A. S. FISHER -1876 D. A'.. ORRESTER-1880-5, T. JACKSON --1906-3 1 WIT INCORPORATED THE CLINTON ONTARIO, TRURSD.Yi JULY 39, i ECIAL IINHoN•OR. o• E LINToN!s SEMIENTENNJ.AL etc., and some :outside advertising: 14r. ,James Turnbull' was head nsas. ter of the Clinton Iligh' School, aL Tlaie, 11. Coats, A `S. Fisher,; J. Reeve, 'VI.D., Rev. I'. teQusig and A. , Worthington, M.D.,being the board of trustees. Clintons Takes a Look Back«Over': Log Trail. Although we should not w:inte to naueh Gime looking, backward, -shoo keep our faces resolutely turned :Co ward for the most part, yet it doe no harm occasionally to turn a bac ward glance over the • trail we hav traversed, to see whether we'v "tracked or not, count our blessing along the way and to :see if we migh not improve our walk in the future,' The year of our Lord 1925 is a good time for Clinton to take this' back- ward glance, ' as" it : has reached a milestone in its career, this being the fiftieth anniversary of its ineorpora tion as a town. - • Clinton is one of the oldest; settle- ments in Huron County, its -location, at the junction of the London and "Ilium} roads, the first' and. still the chief roads which traverse what was once the "Huron; Tract," and the very centeei of, the district which' after- wards 'Became' Huron County, ensur- ing for it a local. ascendancy. o,ta+io street church now stand lel I'4� here Clinton now is was nearly 'a r-. woods at that tithe.• He remember. s 1;_ hearing his parents talking of coin e o o r v are e t market no- s. t le s. tations -.for Aug 511r, 18 t5. Tall ll wheat, 81.10 to' 71.12; spring wheat, bar - ,s $7..06 to 71.07; oats 37c to 40c; ,bar ley, 60e to 65c; Peas; ! 70e' to 720;' Flour78,00 bbl, Potatoes, 40c to 50e e'qr e "ing bo "The Corners," and wonclei e ing in his ehildisla Ty,^nonanee wha s by painting the words on it, "This t ton became quite a thriving place, be ing a busy marketing `town. When he grew older he : came to . school, a log building, with bark roof, con- tenting three windows, that is, three panes of. glass, eight .by ten inches. Mr, 'Campbell was the teacher and the"Gibbings, the Watts, the Meyers, the ,Beacoms, Lookwoods, VanEg- monds were also scholars. Mrs. Trowse, also Mrs.` James Fair were among the girls who attended school. '- bag; Butter, 17e to 180;: Eggs, 12c to t 13c; -Pork (dressed), 76.75 to 77,00; s , beef, (dressed), 75,00 to 77.00. Cars were unknown in 1878 and youth sought its recreation in 'sports.: Games' of all . sorts',seenred to be played' by the young men, the young women probably occupying them- selves with needlework, and an occa- sional game of erocluet. Cricket seemed to be a favorite game then and later. In that year a baseball club Was organised with the following.of- ficers: ` President, C. Pussielc; vice,' E. Doherty; manager, Wm. Jackson;. committee: W. Ranee, G. 'McTaggart The first settlers in what is now Clinton were Jonas Gibbings, who came from Peel County, and Peter and Stephen Vanderburgh, who carne from Yonge Street. - They carne ie 1831; the Gibbings family coming by boat to Goderich, the Vanderburghs by land, and arriving about the,sarne time. - Peter Vanderburgh built a .log house on the corner where the Bank of Montreal now Stands ,and kept the first, tavern, which ` was afterwards bought out by "Yankee" Read and from hire by late William Ratten- bury, whocatered to the travelling public in Clinton for many years, leaving when he died, his sen, Jloseph, who in turn kept a:public house which, for comfort and general excellence has .seldom been excelled, in any town: For a time the place, was reIied "Vanderburgh's Corners,". later "Rat- tonbury's :'Corners," or, for short, "The Corners." In 1844 William 1atten!bury, who had been in the vicinity for ten years or so, working for the Canada Com pang at his tradeof blacksmith, bought property on the four corners and it is said that he 'and Jonas Gib- bings,' who had been here for sone years, agreed . alms the name of "Clinton" for the village. This was in honor' of Lieut -General Lord Clinton, upon whose estate in Devonshire, England, William 6attenbury's _fath- er was a large tenant farmer. In 1858 Clinton had grown to such dimensions that it was incorporated as a village, with Joseph Whitehead, one of the early settlers whose name is as familiar to most citizens yet as their' own,- as its first reeve. He it. was who "fired" .the engine on the first trip ever made by Stepitenson's ferrous engine. He lived in Clinton until his death, but carried through many large railway building con- tracts elsewhere in Canada. He was a public-spirited :citizen and did much for the upbnilding of the town. Aritbngst other early settlers -were the Rance brothers, Thomas and Samuel, Henry Ransford and Malcolm McTaggart, sons of theoriginal set- tlers in each case being still here. The, Ranee Brothers built the first still and also). ran 'a .distillery; The first store was kept by "Yankee" Read, The first'male'child born here was William Gibbings, son of Jonas Gitbbings, who died in the 'west and whose remains were- brought home and laid in Clinton cemetery only a few, years ago, Clinton was incorporated hs a town in 1875, and Robert Callender, who had been reeve of the: village • for two years, was chosen as first mayor. A, 5., Fisher was.elected reeve and R. A. Barton, O. S. Doan, Ii. Stevens, R. Irwin, A. Johnston, J. Sheppard, J. P. McDonald, J. Smith and W. Coop- er, councillors. Mr. John Gibbings, who is Clinton's oldest native-borncitizen, recalls a th number of interesting things' concern- ing,the early settlement.of Clinton, stories heard from his father, which in a reminiscent nmoodhe related to The News -Record representative. The first school he recollected stood near s Where St. Paul's church now stands. The Rev. Mr.' Dobie, a •Methodist. "Saddlebagger," was the first preach- t er to visit the settlement and he carne through ever=y few weeks holding ser- vice at :first in the Gibbings hone. r Mrs Gibbings was an Anglican and he e plainly told this preacher -th4it he "would, never' make "a: Methodist out of him." "But he became a Methodist u eventually," , said Mr. ,Gibbings, "We joined the Bible Christian - church, e which later united with the Wesley- an,Methodists. . . r g One of the `changes Mu. Gibbings notes between;; 'the early days and b now is the lack' of roadside taverns, ', In the early days there were two or 11 three between.' Clinton and Goderich, $ Of course it was a long way in those 'B days, when the roads were not mood g and ,ox .teams were slow travellers. + One would probably need to stain and get warmed and "filled" two or three s 'times en route. 'Anyway, whether it s was necessary or aol, many 816 it. C Mr. Robert Fitzsimons is another b old resident whom the' scribe inter- 11 viewed in connection with Clinton's The stage used to run between- Stratford and Goderich and the pass- ing of this vehicle was •always `fin event in the day for • the scnooi chil- dren. He can remember when .there was but 'one store in ,Clinton and rte, a lad he, heeeed to load sand for the building of the mill, But later the village became a very.busy' centre, people 'coming as threes from Tees - water to market their produce. Wheat was bought here and hauled to Lon- don by team, before the railway was built. It. was, also,.rather lough 'at times. It was no . unusual using to see a rough and. tumble fight in the streets. That was the only way of settling disputes and as thererwere .about a dozen taverns and lots to drink disputes were not uneoiinon. One amusing happening was re- called by Mr..l+itzsintens. It was in the days, of the Fenian scare, in the sixties, when a young farmer rode in to say that.Fenians' had landed at Goderich and were seen marching be- tween. e-tween, Goderich and Bayfield: In a short time every able-bodied rnan and not a fere boys were gathered in the streets, armed with whatever. they could muster, really to defend their hearths and homes. A feW'old 'fowl- ing pieces were seen but, for the most Part the weapons were pitchforks, axes, etc.' Great excitement pre- vailed but;nothing happened said they soon dispersed to their homes, The:. Harlands came up from Chingoacousy in 1854 and for a few years, until the village -was incorpor- ated, paid taxes to Hullett .township, Mr, W. S. Flatland, who is the only representative of the fancily_here. now, remembers well when Clinton became a town and knew. well its first mayor, Robert Callender, who e few years later lost his life. -when the wall of his brother-in-law's store fell in during a fire. He also remem- bers when the late W. Doherty start- ed making organs, which was in 1875, so that the Doherty Pianos are also celebrating 'their semi-centen- nial. Mr..Harland' and' his brother, the late John Harland, had gene into. the hardware business some `years; previous to that, July lst, 1867, and. this firm. -continued to do business until the. death of John Harland three years ago, when the business was sold to ,the • Clinton Hardware -and Furniture Co., consisting' a` Messrs.. N. Ball, J. D. Atkinson and J, Zapfe. iVIr'.'W 5, Harland had retiredha few years previous to that, owing to fail- ing health. '. Mr .Harland tellg sone amusing tales of early life in Clinton. Be'' says people,lived very plainly in the. early days but they were happy ;and contented. , Tho town :had no walks, except a plank walk here and there. The postoffice stood behind the present site, 'where Elliott's livery -now stands, Moore and Hunter having. a store in a large frame building which occupied the site of the present post-. office. Smith and Fisher had: a store on the Morrish corner and McTag- gart's fanning mill factorlfr occupied e town half site. , In 1876 the' secret ,ballot was en -34 or the first. time in 'nnmid.ilpal e lec- tions,' in, Clinton 'and,. acdotding to newspaper reports, it proved every uccessful. A. new' town 5911 was put :up in Clinton in 1875 and Mr,,William Fos- er was appointed Sellringer at a sal- ary of 780 per annum; the bell: to be ung six hares per day three minutes Among the business men who had their- names in the advertising col- nins of the town newspaper in 1875 were: T. C. Gilroy, dry goods; Searle nd Davis, hardware; IIod5ens' and Pay, dry goods; A. S. Fisher, dry. oohs; -S. Palliser' ansi Co,, '850000; N. Robson, groceries; ,It. Mclennan,- alter and confectioner; 'Wright and Poster dry goods; Rninball and Los e, carriage makers; W. Cooper, gun myth; Mrs. Beesley, milliner; C. ,G.' Zack, baker 'and confectioner;,• Foie uson'and Campbell, pumps; R. A. Dhiolt, washing machines; Ge,rge. Diehl, cabinet maker,Thos. 'Steven - on, endertaking; Glasgow, Macpher on and Co., agricultural works; E. orbett, woollen mills; J. A. Neliee, oohs and faecyware; Peter Grant, ay forks; S. Forder, watches, clock;,. ewellere; W. H. Cooper, jr., marble. orks; The Royal Bank,' M.- Lough, • JohnSteep,boots ' nd sboes; gent, a 1 ,. Patterson and Co:, groceries, be - ides a host " of professional cards early history. The Fitzsimons Tam- w ily came to Huron in 1851, settling a on the 2nd of TinlJett, one and a 5 the -1 quarter miles. north of where Ob q ,rte s ROBERT ROLMES-1894-8 S. B. HOOVER -1904-6 J4.COB TAYLOR -1910=11 iARB;ISON WILTSE-1997-9 The News -Record On be of behalf Minion citizens, Welcomes Old Boys and Gills to the town. for the, first week in August. Make yourselves' at home; the (Ad ` town is- glad you carne, aria may the ` 1925 Reunion, stand out in your memory for all the corning years. The News -Record, Founded as Conservative Paper, was "Liberally Supported by 'LiberaIs.. (Edward Fioody) It was in: the autumn of 1880, while teaching school in Goderich township, that.I conceived the idea of going into the newspaper business. I was. getting somewhat tired of "teaching," and as there was a defunct newspaper plant or sale in the village Of Blytli, I went. up there one Saturday morn- ing in December, and purchased it. Having aim -chased the plant, it was then a question of 'whether I should continue on in -Blyth, or remove the plant to Clinton, where it was said, a Conservative newspaper was badly needed. Strong representations and inducements were made by the Con- servative leaders. of Clinton, and af- ter two f-tertwo or three weeks 'in Blyth, mak- ing a careful survey of the situation, the plant was removed to Clinton, and the first issue of the Clinton "Record" came out onthe first week of Jan- uary, 1881. The paper' had eight pages, forty columns, "double royal," and was rein off by a . "Washington"_, hand press, which we worked in turns, and Ianust say, it was grand , exercise for tine muscles. We were pretty 'well equipped 'with type, it being practic- ally new, while we used a Gordon press formost of the job work. We started out with a good adver- tising patronage, the chief patrons in the first issue being Messrs. W. Jackson, T. Jackson and Son. R. M. Racey, Ciaib, . McWhirter and Co., Geo. H. Wright, Pay and Wiseman, Harland Bros., T .Cooper, H, Cante- ion, D, CantelOn, W."11. Rainsford, Thompson and Boles, J. Twitchell, T, Stevenson and Son, W. H. Simpson, and a fel' issues later, John fiodgens, R. dloats and Son and Peter Robb, seven of these being column adver- tisers. The "Record" office was located in the Victoria Block, over Twitchells Harness Store, and our staff' consist- ed of the "Boss" Editor, two printers, and two "devils." - The fiist 'issue being out,'and our advertising ,. patronage :guaranteed, our next business was to work up -our subscription list. I think I person- ally canvassed nearly every citizen of Clinton, and' I certainly was more than surprised with the liberal re- sponse which I met on my rounds. Although politicalfeelingwas running high in those days, the Glinton Liber- als showed themselves most "liberal" in their .views, when solicited to sub- scribe for the. Conservative Organ. 'At Blyth, the late Charles Hamilton, auetieneer, ,grain 'buyer, and general. "live wire' for the village, not, only retained most of the old subscribers, but: in two or three' mouths, had acid- ed over 109 new subscribers to mu, list. .in addition 18 this, the amount 'of job .,worksent„ in by him every .month was a great help to the .paper. .Very few people could get away from the popular "Charlie Hantilton," when. he went after then. He and Frank Mectalf'worked together, for the Re- cord and they were a great team. . In Clinton,W. Jackson, -the people's "Billy," rendered yeoman :.serviee'and much of the success of the "Record" in its early days "inust be attributed to. his' splendid efforts. At Bayfield, with the:. assistance. of those two stal- warts,' the late W. W.. Connor, and the late sienry Howard, I roiled up, a' list of_ 30 in an afternoons'. And I can never forget good old Varna.. With the .assistance of Ed. Briggs and Geo. Parke,' two old 'l -time "hustlers" of Stanley township, almost, every far- mer in . the neighborhood became. n reader of the- "Record:" , From 'God- erich township aid .Hallett, the:.sub- sciiptions came . in ' voluritafliy in pounds,' and in two .months, :I had over 200 subscribers from the -former and 100 frons the atter. The late Rev. ' G. M. ICilty, my old Model. School class- mate, rendered 'very .valuable ;assist,: mice in Hullett, both in subscriptions and correspondence, At Wingham, in one evening, with the 'assistance of Dr. Bethune and Rob'." Gronyn, both dead and gorie,.7 added 25 navies to our bete, And so the good work went on. i Our next nnloortant neeessity was .to' secure a staff of live correspond- ents in parts of the County, and in 'this step I had no difficulty. as I 'was personally aegnainted with most of the.- school teachers of the county,, at that time, and the teacher,. generally, has a good nose :for news: At.. Wingham, the late W., E. Groves, another of` my Model School class- mates, then Principal of the Wing - ham Public School,: and later Prin- cipal of Ryerson School,"Toronto, act - de as ctde"as my special' correspondent foie' that district and, sent me a column of news every :'week. His description of ball games and : lacrosse matches made very spiny reading. In Clinton, the late Major Murray and G. H. Watson were my chief contributors, and they were both very pungent writers. And now my troubles, so well known to all newspaper men, com- menced. My first snag was struck about the third or fourth issue, when our Londesboro correspondent sent in a very spiey report of awed - ding, which took'place "not a thou- shnd miles from Londesboro," but with no names mentioned. The 1paper had notbeen issued 'morethan three or four hours, when a big husky leek- ing farmer, who was evidently one of the parities interested, came into the office, looking for the -Editor :;to give; him a "licking." He " demanded ' the name ofe the correspondent, and when 1 te£used to give him the name, he told me I would have, to take the "medicine." I could see that he was in a fighting mood, and at that stage I deemed "discretion the better part of valor." So I invited the visitor to take a chair until the "fighting ed- itor" carne in, but he 'declinedthe in- vitation, and took his departure in a very ostentatious manner. ,My next adventure was about two weeks later, ,The late Peter Robb' had been.,elected to the position of High Chief Ranger ,of The Canadian Order of Foresters, an honor -which he considered no doubt of as much importance as being Member of Par- liament for ' West Huron. We were going to press as a'Forestmes,funer- al \vas ,being held, at which 1VIr. Robb was acting m'his official capacity_ In the rush of gettingout the paper, our proofreader did not do his work very carefully, and Mr. Robb was 'de- scribed in the obituary notice as "High Chief Banger." The issue was half sons Off when 141.` Robb, who had. just returned ,from the funeral, came into the oflee in fever Treat, and all excitement. We immediately stopped the press, and made the correction,. but not before a great many papers had been mailed, and the town circu- lation hed ircu-lation.hed gone out. Our next trouble was when we were threatened with a libel suit by the late .M, ; C. Cameron over, an article: which:ap;,neared in the paper, reflect ing on him as a politician. Just inti agine an editor in those, days, without any money, (different now, of course) being threatened with , a ,libel suit, with large damages. ,Mr. Cameron evidently considered aur financial pe. sition and that was the last we heard of the libel suit. The circulation and advertising pat- ronage continued to increase, until May', 1882, 'when A..57. Biackeby, then a factory" inspector nor. the Dom- inion Government, and 51.- T. Havill, foreman- of -=the "Galt "Reporter,": formed a partnership, and made . me an offer to purchase ;the paper and goodwill, which I `accepted, and they continued to - publish the "Record" until November, when they sold" out to N. H. Buchner,. of - the'Hainiltoe "Times." Go account' of . a ' Heavy chattel mortgage; and :other disconr- agenenss Mr. Buchner "threw 'up the sponge"-,ih eb'odt two 'weeks tune,' and the print 'vas` on my hands again. ' ' , I then disposed of it to Whitely and; Todd, of the Goderich' "News," who brought part of their';plant to Clin- ton, and lip-ton,;'and changed - the- name of the paper to the "News -Record,"- After, conducting the Paper for a number of year's,; this firnn sold', out to W. J. Mitchell, of 'Hanover. The . late , Mi . Mitchell met his death, very suddenly in London, a few years ago, when the paper was per'chased by the present. proprietor, G, E. Hall. In November; last Mr. Hall pur'ehased the subscrip- tion dist and good will of the New Era from W. H. h`ei'r and Son, amal- gamating it with -The News -Record and it is now, as the readers know, the only newspaper published' in Clintoai .i. .I. GIi3BINGS--19I2- DR. C. W. T1-IOMPSON-191.6.18 A. T. COOPER -1919-23 DAVID CANTJCLON-1922: FRED .1;ACKSOA-1914.9:5-2425