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The Huron Expositor, 1966-03-10, Page 9(Continued from last week) The 1876 Fire It was not till September, 1876, that Seaforth net its first misfortune when twelve acres of the business section was burned to the ground. The fire broke out on Monday morning, September 6th, at 2:00 o'clock a.m., in Mrs. Griffith's grocery and candy shop, where Trapnell's bakeshop stands today. AIL the buildings on both sides of Main Street, from Goderich Street to St. John Street, and also one block east along Goderich Street from the Main Street intersection, on both sides, fell victims to the flames. The buildings, with the exception of Cal -Michael's Hotel, were frame, and the hand fire engine, with an insufficient supply of water and fire hose, made;the task a hopeless- one for the firemen. Their first effort was to save William Campbell's block, then the British Hotel and the stables of T. •A. Sharp, at the rear of it. By the time .they failed here, Thomas Coventry's shoe shop, on the west side near the Mansion. House, had become ignited, and in this block also the fire got beyond their control. They saved only Robert Lumsden's drug store and --D. D. Wilson's buildings across on the northwest corner at the intersection. Pat Megery's new brick store, still unoccupied, which is new Sam Shinen's dress andmen's wear store, stood guard against the flames. Although its windows were burned out, it arrested the blaze and saved a row of frame buildings beyond it from the ravages of the fire. Wet blankets, soaked in a plentiful supply of salt, helped to save other buildings bordering on the burned' out area. The following were lost on the east side of Main St.: William Campbell's clothing, store, Miss Wright's millinery shop, Seattor's block, A. G. Ault's grocery store, D. McGregor & Sons bookbinding and stationery store, Mrs. Griffith's grocery and candy store, Andrew Calder's photogr"aph gallery and residence, James Mur- phy's dwelling and grocery store, William Robertson & Company's_furniture warerooms, 'Sam Stark's shoe shop, and Miss. ..Graham's ..millinery __shop...__ ..... The loss on the west side was Carmichael's Man- sion House, P. Megary's bakeshop, Passmore's grocery store, Thomas ,Coventry's shoe- store, Hoffman Bros.' dry goods store, George Dent's dry goods store, Thomas Lee's grocery store, Miss Leach's millinery ,Shbp, and Mrs. Whitney's' tinshop and residence. On the south side, east of -Campbell's store, was William Grassie's carriage factory and blacksmith shop, William Henderson's paint shop, and on Victoria Street, William.. Grassie's home. On the north side was William N. Watson's office British Hotel and . stables (later known as the Queen's' Hotel), Thomas A. Sharp's -livery and residence, 'also the residences of J. Quelch, a vacant one, and W. Sochel's on the corner; and north of it, R. Young's dwelling. The. William N. Watson family vacated their home, but by using Mrs. Watson's salt -soaked blankets the dwelling was saved. This is now the home of Mrs. Leonard Bolton. It was here the devastating fire peter- ed out, with a total property loss of $102,800, with only an insurance of $36,400 held by the owners.. Some carried not a cent of insurance. The real cause 'was never discovered, although the finger of suspicion pointed to Mrs. Griffith, who had a short time before lilaced an exhorbitant insurance on her property and stock. In court she testified --she be- lieved a lighted coal oil Iamp left on a stand had''explod- ed, but .because of threats she had. made and beiliga..one of a disreputable character, her statement was not taken too seriously. So there lay at that time, and ever since, the mysteryof the memorable 1876 fire. Replace With Brick As there is no ill wind that blows but brings some good, so it was for the' town of "Seaforth. In less than two years the former wooden buildings were practically f all replaced by up-to-date brick stores. and blocks, of which the citizens. were justly proud. These builders built well and for time, as the same buildings are the ones in which business is being carried on today. a a History by Isabelle Campbell ville Church. Later, either Rev. 11I. Barr or Rev. Wil- liam Graham, of Egmondville,..conducted services Sun- day afternoon in Seaforth Temperance Hall. After many meetings and much discussion, a lot was bought on Goderich St. West in 1867, and by the end of the year the walls of the church were up and the basement completed for the opening ceremony on the 16th of December. The auditorium was finished as soon as money was available. The contractors were William Shaw, Hugh Grant and David Duncan. Rev. Thomas Goldsmith was inducted in 1870 as the first permanent minister of First Presbyterian Church, and he remain- ed till 1877. Harpurhey united with First Church in 1879. Major changes have been made in the church at different times through the years. Perhaps .the great- est of these changes was In 1904, when the large "New Ontario" addition was erected at the west side of the church. ' At this time the interior was completely chang- ed. There have been also innovations in the order of the service. • The precentor and his dining fork by 1886 were replaced by the organ, organist and choir leader, Hymns were introduced also into the service of praise. About the same time the, congregation decided to stand while they sang and to sit during the prayer- Previous- ly the reverse had been the custom. • Before the congregation owned a Manse, Rev. Gold- smith lived in two houses on High St., now occupie by Peter Malcolm and R. S. Box. The first manse, frame cottage, was purchased from James Darling i the fall of 1875, just west of the present manse. Th brick manse was erected in 1879. Rev. A. D. McDonal and family moved into it in 1880. He remained til 1899. Others who have ministered to the congregatio and lived ih the manse since Rev. McDonald have bee Rev. Frederick H. Larkin, 1900-1928; Rev. Irvine B Kaine, 1928-1934 ; Rev. Harold C. Feast, 1935-1937 Rev. Hugh Jack, 1938-1944; Rev. Richard R. Williams 1944-1948-; Rev. D. Glenn Campbell, 1948-1958; Rev D. L. Elder, 1958-1961. Rev. D. 0. Fry was inducted in 1962 and still ministers to this congregation. .Roman Catholic It was at St. Columban the early settlers of the Roman Catholic faith gathered for their first religious service. The first Mass was said in Arthur McCann's tavern, and later ones in Dennis Downey's home. As early as November, 1835, Rev. Father J. B. Werrie, a German priest from Waterloo, Ont., was making mis- sionary tripsthrough to Goderich, and he was the one who organized this first group at St. Columban. From 1837. till 1342, Rev: Thomas Gibney, -of Guelph, visited the mission periodically and preached in the homes till the log church was built, where a room was furnished for visiting priests ' who first made the trip on foot from Stratford to Goderich, but later on horseback. Rev. Peter Schneider for the journey used a white horse. He was known to all as the "Apostle of the Huron Tract". In 1$65,Rev. Dean James Murphy followed Father Schneider in this parent church. Under his supervision he founded and built churches in Wingham, Blyth, Brussels, Zurich, Drysdale and .Seaforth. The first Mass said around Seaforth nearer than St. Columban was in the home of Michael Donovan, not far from Egmondville. It was 'in 1869 the .spacious and dignified white brick St. James' ,Roman Catholic Church was built on Victoria St. under Father Murphy's supervision, ion a, lot bought by him from Dr. T. T. Coleman. The dedi- cation service was conducted by Rt. Rev. Bishop Walsh on July 17, 1870. • • From 1870 till 1880 the parish was attended by Rev. Dean Murphy, or ,one of his many . valued assist- ants, till the first resident priest was appointed on Janu- ary 29, 1880. He was Rev. Father O'Shea. Others who ollowed and served faithfully were Father Cooke, Father Kennedy, 'Father McCabe, Father P. Corcoran, Father E. F. Goetz, Father. T. P. Hussey, Father E. P. Weber, Father Charles E.Sullivan, and the newly- ppointed pastor, Father Harry J. Laragh. Until a pastor's residence was secured, Father O'Shea boarded in a local hotel. In July, 1880, it was lanned to build a residence on a lot at the rear of the hurch. However, in September that same year, the arge frame home of Thomas Coventry was purchased. he price paid- was $2,600. This was the home of the riests till the present 'white brick was built by 1900, wring the pastorate of Father McCabe. The first rec- ory is now the home of Mrs. Scott Habkirk. It was Father Kennedy. Who bought a plot and had t. James' cemetery opened at the east end of the town. he first interment was John Duncan, who died in 1893. Anglican County TJ... Has' Clinton-Meetn Progress regarding the: pre, employment" ° - pre - retirement program was a highlight of the ease finding report of the Hur- on County Tuberculosis Associ- ation meeting in the Town Hall, Clinton, on Thursday. One 'hun- dred and thirty-two businesses have been contacted regarding having all employees X-rayed initially, and periodically. These businesses, together with all public school teachers in the county; have received a booklet entitled, "TB — The Road To Eradication," also, The. co-op- eration of the hospitals had been expressed: The meeting was in charge of the president, George A. Watt, of Blyth. • Of 307 persons screened in the foodhandlers' survey, 24 of • RRODHAGEN The sympathy of the com- munity is extended to Mrs. Mervin Leonhardt and Mr. Leon-• hardt in the death • of her father, Thomas Clark, Mitchell, who was buried on Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Gary Sholdice da attended the funeral of her a uncle, Thomas Clark, on Satui�- Mr. and Mrs. Harry Tait with e Mr, and Mrs. Lavern Wolfe. d Mr. and Mrs. Lavern Wolfe 1 with Mr. and Mrs. Ed Oliver, Stratford, and also visiting with her mother, Mrs. John Hinz, at n the home of Mr. and Mrs. Mich; • ael Connolly, Sebringville. Mr. and Mrs. Norman Ahrens ' of Mitchell with Mr.' and Mrs. ' Henry Diegel. • Miss Virginia Leonhardt, daligli.tei=of--Mr —and Mrs. Mer- vyn Leonhardt, underwent a heart operation at Sick Chi dren's Hospital, 'London. Mr. and ,Mrs. Russell Sholdice are spending two weeks do a bus tour to Florida. Mr. and Mrs. R. `Sholdice at- tende4 the Mitchell Lions La- dies' Night Friday evening. A shower was held for Mr. and Mrs. Aikens, of Mitchell, at the Community Hall here Friday night. Miss Beverley Hoegy, daugh- ter of Mr. and Mrs. Wilbur Hoegy, celebrated her seventh birthday with a party. Mr. and Mrs. • Albert Smith and Arthur,'Y of Blenheim, and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Rundle,- of - Chatham, with Mr. and Mrs... Harold •• Wurdell and family, and with Mr. and Mrs. Ken Smith and Edward Smith. Mrs. Manuel Beuerman and Mr. and Mrs. Ray Beuerman, Michelle, Michael and Scott, in London, with Mr. and Mfrs. Wayne Beuerman. i Mr. and Mrs. Joe Smith, of Seaforth, visited her father, Mr. 'George Diegel, and brother, Mr. William Diegel, before they left for a holiday, visiting at the home of their daughter, Mrs, Ross McLean, and Mr. Mc-, Lean, North Hollywood, . Cali- fornia. . The family of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Sholdice, from Orillia; Scarborough and Brodhagen; with their parents on Satur- day before leaving for Florida Sunday, Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Beuer- man, London, with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. M. Beuerman, on Sunday. Mrs. (Rev.) M. Shatto,. of Zur- ich, was . guest speaker.. at the World Day of Prayer which was held at Zion. Evangelical Breth- ren Church, McKillop, an Fri- day afternoon, the theme being "Ye Are My Witnesses". There were about 65 attending from St. Peter's Lutheran Church, Brodhagen; and Zion United, No. 8 Highway. ' Mrs, Alvin Beuerman and Mrs. Norman Eggert were the ushers. Mrs. Harry Regele, organist of the church, played for the singing and accompanied the soloist, Mrs. Elmer Koehler. Leaders of the horne,..eh2flch were Mrs. Ford'Dickisen, Mrs. Lavern Hoegy and Mrs.' Art Nichol; of Zion United: Mrs. Gordon Aiken, Mrs. Ross Pep- per and Mrs. Charles- Roney; St. Peter's Lutheran' Church, Brodhagen: Mrs. Irvin Miller; Mrs. Lloyd Pfeifer, Mrs. Dan Beuerman, Mrs. Manuel Beuer- man and Mrs. Reuben Buuck. Social, Religious Progress p With the commercial growth of the town, the c social; educational and- religious life. kept pace. 1 As early as January 27, 1859, ' the Independent T Order of Grand Templars—Huron Temple 308—was yi? organized in Seaforth, and .others followed soonafter. d The early settlers, soon craved for a place to wor- t ship, but ministerial supply was not easy for t'he churches to secure. Because of this, church groups of S all denominations were served by travelling mission- T aries—priests, presbyters and circuit riders, who serv- ed large areas through Huron and other counties. These missionaries, trudging along the lonely trails through F the forest, never failed to answer a. call to serve. G Presbyterian In the early 1830's, two. Presbyterian groups—the Church 'of Scotland and the United Secession Church of Scotland—were actively engaged in missionary work in. Upper Canada, and both sent men to the Huron Tract to make a thorough canvass of the area. The Scottish settlers who had come to Roxboro in • 1833 became very anxious to establish a church for themselves. Word came to them from a relation at Galt that some young men had been sent out from Scot- land as missionaries to preach- in needy areas and they might have a chance to get one of these. Robert Scott and John-Govenlock were the ones chosen to go to Galt to the Toronto Presbytery meeting. Willingly they set ▪ out on foot, with the petition, on the 60 -mile journey through the bush. This was the first, step taken to get a Presbyterian Church in the Seaforth district. As a result of their efforts, Rev. William Proudfoot and Rev. Thomas. Christie met with the Presbyterians in Tuckersmith and McKillop on their second missionary journey in • 1835. The gathering was held at • the home of Colonel Anthony W. G. VanEgmond, on the Huron Road. After remaining four days in the community, arrangements were completed for setting up a congregation. Later in the year Rev. Alexander MacKenzie arrived and took over three charges in the district—Harpurhey, London Road and Goderich. y However, it was not till 1847 that the Harpurhey Church, for which they had waited 'long, was erected. There was also a graveyard around it, where few inter- ments are made now. In 1853, Rev. A. MacKenzie retired, and, after being ordained in 1854, Rev. Matthe* • Barr became their minister. This church continue' to prosper till the middle sixties. As Seaforthrew, every- thing changed drastically, and the church here did not escape. . In the late 1850's ana early 1860's, Presbyterians in Seaforth attended either the Itarpurhey or l gmond- In 1849 when Rev. E. L. Elwood succeeded Rev,, R. rancis Campbell, the first .Anglican missionary at oderich, Elwood became the . rector of all Duron, and among his many appointments, Harpurhey and Sea - forth were included. In 1855 Rev William Cresswell arrived with a license from the Bishop of Toronto, .to officiate here. Services were Yield by him in Knox Hall, Harputhey, and Sacraments were adfiinistered. That year .an enthusiastic group planned to build a church, but for some reason this plan did not materialize. In 1859, when Seaforth continued to show more and more to be a place of importance, these church people again looked forward to having a ,Sanctuary of their own in which to worship. However, before their dream was achieved, they encountered many diflicul °ties ; among them was a scarcity of money., About this time Rev. William Cresswell, Rev. James Carmichael, rector at Clinton,: and Rev. J, C. Des Barries, used their influence and came to their rescue to enable them to hold a service in Downey -'s Hall or Carmichael's- Hotel every Sunday afternooh. These three carried on for almost three years, when they were relieved by Rev. John Ridley, Mitchell rector, who was assisted occa- sionally by Archdeacon Ellwood, of Goderich. At this time services were held in the winter in Carmichael's Hater, and in the summer in Thomas Adams' barn on Goderich St. West. (To be continued) Arnold Stinnissen GROUP - LIFE • ACCIDENT and SICKNESS - MAJOR MEDICAL PENSIONS • ANNUITIES ftepresenttng Sun Life Assurance' Company Goderich St East - Seaforth , of Canada - teLEPHbNE 527-0410 YOUR RED CROSS THANKS YOU FOR YOUR HELP BARN CLEANER SILO UNLOADER -BUNK FEEDER YOU'LL GET BETTER PER- FORMANCE AND LONGER WEAR FROM A BADGER SALES • SERVICE • INSTALLATION cm JOHN BEANS, Jr. BRUCEFIELD SALES •-- SERVICE Phone ^CollaCt: 482929 - Clinton :then). requiredchest cl nl� fol- low-up. No active cases of ;Iub- erculosis werefound, butcsev- eral were sent to their family physician for medical attention. Two hundred and one persons had attended chest .clinics since the last meeting. Miss Louise Robertson, educa. tion .chairman, reported that 3,000 pamphlets and posters had been obtained for Public Health Nurses' use in schools and else- where. Members expressed ap- preciation to the residents of Huron County for their gener- ous support of the Christmas Seal campaign. In view of the increased program in rase find- ing, education and social serv- ice, there, is need for constant support. Campaign receipts this year were $715.00 over last year's -total. E. E. Walker reported con- cerning' the semi-annual Ontario Tuberculosis Association meet- ing held in Toronto. Addresses were heard, not only on control of tuberculosis, but the need for research in fighting all respi- ratory diseases. The annual -meeting of the association will be held in Blyth on May 30, with E. J. O'Brien as speaker. Mr. O'Brien is the executive director of the On- tario Tuberculosis Association, and has just returned ----from Thailand, where he spent some months activating the TB As- sociation there. The secretary reported that she had addressed the Monkton Women's Institute and had ap- peared on CKNX-TV, Wingham.. She will also address the Blyth Lions Club on March 10, -1966. THE. 11PRO eXPQA11rOR •$EA0OR1171r. 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Call in now for a free estimate. Our pric- es are. lower and quality of work is higher! Clip This Coupon —= Good for a -Paunt Special $74•95 Ask for Gord Hildebrand Seaforth Motors 5271750 . Seaforth PAINT.. SPECIAL One Color 74.95 This 'offer expires Mar. 31/66 Repack Universal Joints Clean, inspect and repack uni- versal joints on all cars. Regular Price Complete $8.00 Bring This Coupon and Save $2.00 YOUR SPECIAL PRICE $6.00 (Materials, Extra) Good only at Seaforth, Ont. (Coupon must be presented at time order is written) �.