HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1966-04-28, Page 15e
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0 (Continued from last • week)
In April, 1881, these. buildings were burned, It
was Thomas D. Ryan and Lawrence Murphy who re-
built the flax mill the next year, Ryan went into busi-
ness in Brantford in 1883 and -that year Murphy enlarg-
ed the frill, and in 1886 a flax shed was .added. F.
Holmsted purchased the 4% -acre property and build=
Ings for $1,500 in March, 1889, intending to divide it
into town Iota. However, he changed his plans, as John
Paul took the flax mill over in 1891 and from then till
Hesky Flax disposed of it in 1953 it remained a flax
mill. There were several changes., in the .management
and also changes in the mode of harvesting the flax
during those years. In 1920 flax pullers were paid
$25.00 an acre for a backbreaking job, but by August,
1939, J. G. Anderson & Sons, owners of this mill, were
using a new flax puller, capable of pulling 10 acres a
day. Arthur Wright and William Leyburn followed
Hesky Flax, and since then they have used the building
in connection with their trucking b}ls-iness.
Much of the land south of here before 18'75 was
owned by W. C. Gouinlock and was listed as "bush and
beaver meadow". Thomas Darwin had a clearing where
he lived and also grew celery for sale.
Asheries
William 1VIcManus and William Potts, Mitchell resi-
dents, for a few years in the 1870's, had an ashery south
of the Darwin property. '
Another ashery, owned and run by Annandes Beam
before 1875, was situated on Coleman St., at the east
end of George St. It was the Beam Ashery that con-
tinued- in business and expanded. By 1877 Beam Bros.
—Henry and Zenas—were running this one, then known
as the old ashery, and also had another in operation on
Main St South, near the Van Egmond Woollen Mills,
Leeches were run and potash made in these asheries.
When John Joynt and his nephew,; Andrew P.
Joynt, in the early 1890's took over the Beam Ashery on
South Main St., they dropped the making of potash
and shipped only dry ashes to an agent in Burlington,
Ont., for shipment to Munro Lawlor & Co., in the Unit-
ed States. Later, Joynts shipped direct to this com-
pany till the early 1900's: Joynt bought soap by the
carload and stored it in his soap house, west of his
home on Mill and George St. West, now Norman Scoin's
home and ,dry cleaning ,plant. This soap was given to
his customers in exchange for their ashes. Fired Robin-
son bought the soap house and .had it moved to his
property opposite Egmondville Church, to be used as
a stable. From the early 1900's, Harry Martin carried
on the business till the ashsupply dwindled to a trickle,
Early Shops Off Main Street
A number of the early places of business were
scattered in various locations off Main Street. The
majority of these buildings were used not longer than
half a century and some for a much shorter period, then
they were burned, moved oar torn do 4n.
Graham Williamson, an old established plow -maker
and manufacturer, through the 1860's, had his black-
smith shop west of CarrfichaeI's Hotel, where Adam
Gray was making sashes, doors, etc., in his planing mill
in the early 1870's. There is no record of any one doing
business here after the Goderich 'Manufacturing, Co.
machine shop closed in 1882, when Robert Runciman,
who owned the shop, moved to Stratford. This is now
part of the parldng space west of Huard's Service
Station.
Graham Williamson, when he left his first location,
moved his shop across to the corner • of Goderich and
West William St. His shop here was taken down in
February, 1881, and the plot remained vacant for many
years.
Edward Cash, grain buyer and merchant, moved
his home and store—"The Ontario House"—down from
Harpurhey to the nextlot in the 1860's. In 1908 Mat-
thew Williams bought the Cash store and tore it, down,
and at the same time Jim Davis moved the Cash house
a little east and converted it into a blacksmith shop to
replace his 'old one. • This old one was first Cash's hide
storehouse, but by 1895 was being used as a blacksmith
shop by John McIntosh. On this property, in the fall
of 1946, McColl-Frontenac Oil Co. built a gas station
and garage. George Miller is now the manager.
.In the late ,1840's, Sam -Stark .had his home "and
shoe shop next, but by 1878 James Sparling & Co. were
using it as a grocery store. -
WhenSamStark was about to leave Ireland in the
early 1840's, he only had enough of this world's good
to pay the ocean passage for two. To attain success in
the new land, some one told him it was important that
he take a wife with him. So, with his worldly posses-
sions packed- in a large red bandanna, Sam set out to
visit homes with daughters of marriageable age. Those
he wanted refused, him flat, butt in one home, where
there was a large family, one older and not so beauti-
ful,• consented willingly to share his fate -good or bad
=-and he accepted her. It was an adventure, she used
to tell, that she never regretted.
Andrew Steene's logcabin, built in 1842, was quite
near the Stark home.. and shop. This was. the Steene
home till it was burned in 1878.
On the corner east of Steene's log cabin, Robert
"Barney" Lumsden, in the early 1860's, opened a store
' in which he sold drugs -a business which he continued
to carry on in the town for many years.
North of Lumsden's, Edward and Jelin. Hickson,
from 1860, had two frame stores—one a general, and
the other ,a drug store. In 1869 John Hickson sold the
general store to D. D. Wilson, the "Egg King", who
for a short time before had been 'buying eggs at his
home just north of here ---This Eickston store was Wil-
son''s first office and egg emporium, known as, the Huron
Emporium. By 1872 he was buying poultry also. Wil-
son purchased the Lumsden property in 1877 and very
'soon after, Steene's and Stark's also. On the corner in
1878 he- built a large white brick building with under=
ground vats for pickling his eggs. This replaced his
first smaller egg emporium. In 1883, because of busi-
ness expansion, additions were made to this building.
In the late 1920's it was torn down and a gas station
and garage was built by' Supertest Oil Co, • The open-
ing date was July 20, 1928. J. M.,Toohey was in charge.
This garage also was s denf'olished and the present one
• built "off street" in 1959. William C. Brown is the
present manager. -
Wilson's large frame house and barn were on the
next lot from the 1860's. A few months after his new
home on . James St. was completed, the front part of
this house was moved tri James St. This Was occupied
by his son, John A. Wilson. David Cornish now owns
it. The back part wasmoved to Wilson St. William
Nesbitt is the present owner. John Beattie bought the
barn, and had it moved to his farm on Goderich St, West, ..
The new home of D. D. 'Wilson was the largest' in
the town. It was designed by a Toronto architect and
built by John Lyons: The contract was let in April,
1888, but it was not finished till December, 1884. The
contract price was- $6,200,- but almost as much again
was spent before it was completed. The hoine con.
!N`;
ai History by Isabelle Cempboil
tained thirteen rooms, plus a huge basement, and three
large unfinished rotrays in the attic. The wbodwork had
a furniture finish. From 1929 it has been used° as a
hospital and a nursing ,home:
North of the Wilson home, on North Main St:; ..Was
another home owned by a contractor, Alex 1VIcEEay,
Wilson also bought this property in 1870. Guttridge,
Tyerman & Sparling, in 1886, got the contract from
Wilson to build a large brick stable on part of this lot
and his house lot to accommodate the horses used to
gather the eggs throughout the country.
In 1867 Wilson had one wagon on the road :and;
bought 1,100 barrels of eggs of 70 dozen each. By, 1878
he was purchasing 9,000 barrels a year .and had seven
teams making regular trips through the County of
Huron and parts of Perth, Bruce and Wellington. C0141 -
ties, Hundreds of loads of ice, harvested from his Eg-
mondville mill pond dam, ,were hauled and stored, here
to be used as a refrigerator during the summer .in • his1
extensive egg pickling_ and_ pacing establishment. The
eggs were packed in barrels in kiln dried oat huS s. fp f
shipment to New York, Glasgow arid Liverpoox. 2 y
1892, twenty ' wagons were on the road, and he was
employing around fifty men.
In March, 1907, a joint stock eon any took over
Wilson's business with the intention of converting it
into a mechanical cold storage plant. This company also
went out of business around 1911..From that time•these
buildings were used as implement shops and garages.
This is now W. T. Teall's garage, with United Auto
Parts Inc. doing business in the north part of the build-
ing.
From 1867 David McNaught's home and black-
smith shop were north of Wilson's property. The shop
in the early 1870's was used by Munro & Hogan as a
plow factory. Malcolm Munro was alone in 1876 when
his plow received a medal at the International Exposi-
tion in Philadelphia. Later, the Canadian Government
sent this plow to Sydney, Australia, for display, to show
what a sister colony could produce. ,Franz Meyer, in
the middle 1870's, used part for his ginger pop works.
For many years after the middle 80's it was Sam and
Archie Barton's blacksmith shop. Alex Boyes, imple-
ment dealer, in the 1950's tore down the old landmark
and erected a steel building, which has, been empty
since Boyes left in 1963.
Across on the. east side, north of the Queen's Hotel,
James Bonthron & Son had a dry goods and ocery
store in the 1860's, and beside it was William Ngr. \Vat -
son's insurance office. The present brick building, where
John A. Cardno's insurance office is today, was built
by Watson in 1888, to replace the one burned in the
1876 fire.
Still farther north, beside the present Orange Hall
from an early date, Robert Taft had a saddler shop, and
later Alex Love used it as a shoe shop. James . Glass
followed Love, For many years it was the home of
"Jock" Wright, who with his white horse, plowed gar-
dens and was a general handyman throughout the town:
The old home, after remaining vacant for many years,
was torn, down, as was also the John Pethick home
beside it. On these vacant lots in 1960 a cement block
construction, 40 x 80', -was erected to be used as a Liquor
Control Board story. It was opened for business on
'January 20, 1961.
Temperance Hall
A Temperance Society was organized by 1859, and
the frame Temperance Hall was built. by 1866, or earl-
ier, on the corner of Side and what is now East Wil-
liam St., but in the 1860's was listed as Temperance St.,
and in the 1870's as Victoria St. The Good Templars
an&L.O.L. Societies met here for many years. William
A: Crich, and later his son, John C. Crich, owned and
used the building as a garage for their delivery trucks.
During the winter of 1956 the roof collapsed from the
weight of snow, and later the building was torn down.
,The:vacant plot is still owned by John C. Crich,
By 1912 Reuben Frost, plasterer -and general con-
tractor, in a large cement building at the back of his
home on East. William St., just south of here, was mak-
ing cement blocks and tile. By 1933 he was assisted in
this work by his son, John. -
(To be continued)
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NEWS OF
(intended for last ivoek)
°Miss Donna Baker,. ,of Toron-
to; Miss Rlizaheth Esson, oil fit-
chener, and .Miss Vivian Baker,
of St. Marys, wereweekend
guests with their. parents, Mr,
and Mrs. Nelson Baker, and Bill
Esson.
Mr. Fred Parkinson is a Pa-
tient in St. Marys Memorial
Hospital. We wish him a speedy
recovery.
Mrs. Archie Dewar is spend-
ing some time with Mr. Stewart
Marriott and family while Mrs.
Marriott, is a patient in hospi-
tal at London;
Mrs. Verna Johns, of St.
Thomas, was a guest on Friday
with Mr. and Mrs. - Nelson, Bak-
er.
Ross Scrivens, of Rochester,
N.Y., spent the past week holi-
daying with his uncle and aunt,
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson Baker, •
John Rinn, of St. Marys, spent
.several days with his uncles,
Messrs. William and_Ward
Rinn, and,Miss Noreen Sansom.
Eddie Rodd; spent a couple of
days. with Keith Passmore of
Thames Road.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Beck-
ett were Saturday evening
guests with Mr. and Mrs. Wm.
Holliday, of Rannock.
Mr. Frank Levy, Hilda and
Helen, of Transval, were Sun-
day guests with Mr. and Mrs.
William Rundle and Larry.
Misses Yvonne, Jaques and
Cheryl Hern and Joanne Hod-
gert were Wednesday= overnight
guests with Miss Karen Rodd.
Mrs. James Stead and Jim-
my, . of Thorold, spent the past
week with Mr. and Mrs. Gerald
Lawson. and Ed,...,........,.-
Mr. Alvin Wurm, Mrs. Priscil-
la Hewitt, Mr. and Mrs. Clar-
ence Wurm and family, and Mr.
and Mrs. Elliott CIarke, of Exe-
ter, were Sunday guests with
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Lawson
and Ed.
Mr. and Mrs. Max Epplett, of
Kingston, and Mr. and Mrs. W.
R. Kirby, "of Kirkton, were
Thursday evening dinnerguests
with Mr. and Mrs. La Verne
Rodd and family.
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gowen,
Garry, Cathy and Karen; Mrs.
WO9P1.1AM:
Mao 0040.4 and Mrs$ Cafio•
Larrh on, 6.f Detroit,. were,
Sund-ayr guests .with Miss Ala'
Holt ins and,Z4'i'rs, Arthur -op
kizts,".
Mr, and"Mrs. Fred Taylor„ of
Stretford, and Mr. and Mrs, W,
R. lOrkby, of Written, were Sat-
urday dinner guests with i4r,
and Mrs. La Verne, Rodd and
lankily. Risky McLaughlin 'hav-
ing spent tib holidays with.
Wayne- returned with them to
Waterloo.
Mr, -and Mrs. Oscar Brine and
Mr,- and Mrs. Ross Robinson,
Lynn and Dale were Saturday
evening guests with MF; .. silo
Mrs. Jim MitcieU ,and Mrs. Jean
,Mitchell, of St. Marys.
Mr. and Mrs, AJgac 04144.
burg and Mr. and Mrs, Reg Mc-
Curdy attended the reception
and dance for Mr. a44 Ztra.
John Shaw in Dashwood Com-
menity Centre on Saturday ' eve -
Master Ricky Revington, of
London, visited several days
with Gordon and Graham Rob-
inson _during the holidays,
Remember! It takes but a
moment to place an Expositor'
Want Ad and be money in
pocket To advertise, just
Dial Seaforth 527-0240.
USBORNE AND
UIIBBERT
MUTUAL FIRE
INSURANCE CO.
HEAD OFFICE - EXETER, Ont.
Directors:
Robert G. Gardiner R.R. 1,
President Cromarty
Martin Feeney - R.R. 2, Dublin
Vice -President
Wm. H. Chaffe - RR. 4, Mitchell.
E. Clayton Colquhoun R.R. 1,
Science Hill
Raymond McCurdy R.R. 1,
• Kirkton
Tim Toohey - R.R. 3, Lucas
Agents:.
Hugh Benninger - Dublin
Harry Coates - Exeter
Clayton Harris - Mitchell
Secretary -Treasurer:
Arthur Fraser ' - - Exeter
i
ROY N. BENTLEY
Public Accountant
4 Britannia Road East - Goderich
Phone 524-9521
HE HURCN'EXPOSIT+r 1t« S.EArOR` A '1r� iM PL
atio• fps -
woos
JOHN J. WALSIl
Phgne 21I4000 Rebecca S,#
,, STRATFORD
Sun Life Assurance Compa'e ' of Canada
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6 -Cylinder; Radio; Lic: A61866
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