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The Huron Expositor, 1972-03-16, Page 12Unit Meets Unit 1 of Northside.U.C.W. met at the home of Mrs. Hog- garth and Miss Ruth ChM on Tuesday of last week. Vhe President opened the meeting with a St. Patrick's POem and thanked those who helped with the turkey dinner in February and also to those who donated tea towels for the church kitchen. IVirs. NI. E. Reuber and Mrs. Gordan Papple had charge of the program. Mrs. Close read the scripture and Mrs. Papple read a story. Two African rec- ords were listened to and the ladies learned these songs. Mrs. Reuber took as her topic The United Church at Canada in Partnership with Churches is Africa. Mrs. MoKenzie gave courtesy remarks. 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Buick, Sky Larks, Ford; mustangs, Pintos, etc. All A'I with PS mostly 8's. 10 ,,,...__ 1970 Models Chevs, Pontiacs, Valiants, Fords and Plymouths. •' •k MANY . 1969' Models Chevs, Pontiacs and Fords. • • • • 0 - • BRUSSELS MO-TORS •••• • • • .. ' PHONE8°74173 - - • - "The HoMeof`Better Used Cars" " OPEN EVERY EVENING •• , . .• 0 • •40, THE 0NiEXPOkilrqk SEAFORTH, ONT0 MARCH 16.1972 HOMEOWNERS CALL to 10 p.m. — $2,000 - $50,000 ckttabli oat the cash you need maid reduce your paviment&by 14 Mob 0+9 italt with ei 2B aid qr 3rd inuntgagie on, sensible tonne," C4141 to 10 pm). today for helpful, eolunteous, Ravine. PROMPT INVESTMENT CORP., 331 Bay St., Toronto Call Collect 3664516 — Evenings 231.1146. 15 Huron's 130 Year Old Jail Closes (By W. E. Elliott) Huron county's 130-year-old jail, at present leased to the Province, stands on a site which cost the municipality just about $500. The building itself cost $23,672 when constructed in 1841. It's construction was part of a deal with the government of the Province of Canada, which passed . legislation setting up an admin- istrative area comprising Huron and some townships now in sruce and Perth. Negotiations were conducted by the magistrates in this area. They obtained the jail site from the Canada Company, owner of 'the Huroa Tract, and it has .always been said that this was "granted." Evidently it was no{ exactly free. Curiously no record is found of the land transfer in or about 1839, when the site was cleared. It was July 9, 1861 when the company sold to the Municip- ality of Huron and Brtice fots 503, 504, 505, 585 and 586 Com- prising an acre and a quarter. From this it. seems likely that the jail stood for a period of about 20 years on a site the county did not own. County min- utes also show that in 1861 the Warden was authorized to pur- chase Lots 502 and 584 (adjoin- ing the "jail) from the Canada Company ""in order to carry out improvements recommended by the board of prison inspectors." The original lots, 503, 504, ' 505, 585, and 586, were con- veyed, on behalf of the Company, by Frederick Widder and William B. Robinson, Toronto, in con- sideration of five shillings gilaw- ful money of the 'Province of Canada." Witnesses were Thomas Collier and Alfred W. Otter. Maybe we 'should cut Bruce in „ on the sale price; it was a part- ner in 1861. A jail in every county town of Ontario is no longer needed, Hon. Allan Grossman said when in Goderich seven years ago last November. The Reform Institu- tions Minister visited the jail here and reported that it had the same problems as most other county jails in the province: overcrowding, antiquated facilit- ies, lack of treatment and class- ification facilities •and inadequite• segregation of inmates. At that time, the talk was of regional jails, - fer example a three-county unit for Goderich, Walkerton and Owen Sound, or in the aternative a four-county unit for Goderich, Stratford, London and St.' Thomas,FA.more recent plan is providing Elgin and Middlesex with a regional jail, at $3,000,000 or some such amount. The 130-year old jail in dod- erich, now to be closed, cost 4,8.68 pounds sterling, which at the rate long in use would be $23,672. The original estimate was--.2.,680 pounds. The magis- trates, governing authority prior to .county organization, had ideas of their own; their Toronto arch- itect, Thomas Young, finally left them to finish the job. The magistrates-notably Dan Lizars and William B. Rich, had petitioned the Legislative Assembly for an administrative area, and Dr. William Dunlop, elected member in 1841, suc- -ceeded in getting legislation promising this when "a suitable jail and courthouse" were pro- vided. • '• Anticipating a favorable out- come, William Geary 'stumped and cleared the site in the all of 1839., Geary was a contrac- tor, active in land transactions, and had married a daughter 'of William B. Rich. He operated stages to Stratford and 'London, se probably Used horses in clear- ing the wooded site. William Day, of GoderiCh; lowest tenderer, got the building contract. 'He erected stonewalls two feet thick, 'from the Mait- land River quarry, and when a better stone was desired for the copings, Dan Lizars was dis- patched to Port Huron to neg- otiate with a quarry there. The magistrates thoughtfully provi- ded , for a chapel in the central tower, but when they found there was no money for construction or rental of a courthouse, they assigned the chapel to the judges. - In their capacity of building in- spectors; 'they decided the tower roof should be seven inches steeper., to carry off rain water, and that was where they parted company with the architect, The magistrates at this time included three from that part of the Huron District which is now in Perth: John Corry, Wilson Daly and Robert Donkin. The other were John MacDonald, Wil- liam Robertson, W. B. Rich, John Bignall, Henry RansfOrd, Henry Hyndman, Isaac Adamson, Daniel Lizars, Capt. Robert G. Dunlop, William Fisher Gooding, William Dunlop and Thomas Mercer Jones. The Canada Company, owner of 1,100,000 acres in the Huron. Tract, granted the jail site, and the directors in. London appreved a loan of 1,300 pounds toward construction of the buildingjThis was soon spent, and application was made for a further 1,000 pounds. It was rejected by Thomas Mercer Jones' one of. the magi,strates but also Canada Company Commissioner. Re- mainder of the money was raised on the credit of the District. Henry Ransford, tr asurer, coniplained that the Canada Com — pany charged the District "the Canadian rate, • of interest, '8. per cent," for money he said could be borrowed in England for three or four. The ex-chapel on the top floor of the jail' was soon 'in disfavor with ,visiting judges, who com- plained of the awkward access and jail odors. They began to hold court in the dining-room of the British Exchange Hotel on market square, and were still doing so when the first courthouse was completed in 1856. The register of the "British" has borne the signatures of Sir Beverley Rob- . inson, Sir Richard Cartwright, Sir H. L. Lengevin, Sir Adam Wilson, Sir Matthew Cameron, Sir John Thompson; Sir Thomas Galt, major-General Luard and many distinguished counsel, Pro- prietors of the British were, In turn, Isaac Rattenbury, Thom- as Dark, George Hobson, Sam Dutton and J. J. Wright. First meeting, of the newly constituted Huron council was 'held in February, 1842, at Rat- tenbury's Hotel, for which the innkeeper received two pounds. Councillors present were Wil- liam Chalk, Archibald 'Dickson, J, C. W. Daley, John Galt, Geo. Gordon, Andrew Helmer, John Holmes, Robert Hodgins, James Hodgins, John Hawkins, John McIntosh, William McConnell, William Geary and John Sebring. By late Spring of 1841, almost everyone In town and surrounding area had visited the new jail at least once. 59 much mud was carried in that Charles Slack, newly appointed jailer (at 60 pounds per annum) obtained an order to keep visitors out. This order seems to have been con- tinued in effect for 130 years. In 1911, Edward Jardine was hanged in this jail after being convicted of the murder of Liz- zie Anderson. He was tried before Chief Justice Falconbridge and a jury, with George T. Blackstock as Crown prosecutor, and L. E. Dancey as defence counsel. Forty-eight , years later, on June 12, 1959, the jail received another youth, accused of a sim- ilar crime. Steven Murray Trus- cott, charged with the murder of Lynne Harper at the RCAF sta- ' tion at Clinton, received a pre.- . liminary hearing in July, At a September assize presided over by Mr. Justice R. I. Ferguson, a jury convicted him, recom- mending mercy. He was senten- ced to be hanged. An appeal to the appellate, ?eil vision' of Ont- ario Supreme COurt was rejected in the following January. The sentence was commuted by fed- eral cabinet to life imprisonment. Truscott was sent to Guelph Re- ' formatory and later Collins' Bay. He was freed on parole three years ago. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • * • • • • • S .• • BRUSSELS - ON TARIO •