The Goderich Signal-Star, 1972-05-18, Page 13air
Romance. tragedy, and a young
Dutch baron's Huron land deals
all form part of the story of Point
Farm summer hotel, but it really
ft, came of a young Englishman's
dream about a pleasant rural
retreat for tired .city people.
"So impressed vas I, the first
time I saw it," wrote J.J. Wright.
'•with the location and interesting
surroundings of .the place. '11
• appeared tome just the spot for
tired. rundown city people who
desired a change iri everv.respect
in honre•living, and I conceived the
idea of building a place that could
he calledti home in every sense of
the word."
The hest?e1. at what was formerly.
called Four -Mile -Point, on the
shore of Lake Huron. north of
Goderich: 'undoubtedly 'filled a
need. as Wright foresaw. and
flourished greatly in its time. It
died a slow death as competition
arose and the Motor Age
advanced.
Ina joint issue published by the
two Goderich newspapers in 1889
it was said of Poirot Farm that ••its,
patrons extend over a continent,
while even from iicross th .seas
• parties seek rest and health
beneath its spac'tbus roof." -
(;ertainly thousands from
Canada and the United States
found a haven there. and its story.
enriched by the ' founder's
reminiscences, deserved to he
[► told. �.
The hotel was built in the 1870s
on Lot 8, Lake Road West.
Colborne township, First owner
of rale land (after the Canada
Company l as well as the lots south
to and including The Ridge, was
the Right Honourable Vincent
Gildemeester, Baron van Tuvll
van Serooskerken. His father.
Carel Lociew'ijk van •Tuvll. ,had
arranged, in the 1830s, with the
Canada Company in tondon. for
the purchase of land in the newly
opened Huron Tract, Whatever
the precise mature of this bargain.
`and its documentation, if any, the
fact is that no deeds were
executed until some years
afterward, when -the son came -to
Canada. The deeds are dated in
aac M 184Q and 1811
Baron•Viri 'ent at_ once
t , rnortgaged the properties to the
• �'' Bank of Upper Canada, which
vulner able toOhe applications of
r
title f customers, On the lake
shore lots. the 'baron borrowed
1;293 pounds sterling. Eventually
the Bank.kgot the lots back on its
hands and sold them to various
.persons Lot ;became- the
property • of Charles Boulton
• Davies, a yourig'Englis1 man who
had, Jimmied Susan Ellen,
daughter of .John Hawkins. a Port
Albert pioneer: Davies°.was-the
A
4
e
a '
only son of Rev. Morgan Davies,
and a grandson of Sir
Mortimer Davies. His father had
been stationed in India, and
Charles was born at Balgarrie;
near Bombay, in 1830. The •family
was from Flintshire, Wales.
Susan Ellen Hawkins was horn
in London, Ontario. 'Minato!!and
,,his Wife lived in Goderich at irst.
The late William Campbell.
whose recollections usually were,
dependable, said the Davies
couple lived in a stone house on"'
East Street. The records show
that Davies never Owned either of
the two stone houses on that
street. but could, have been a
tenant. At any rate, the family
moved to Colborne. where _the
lake shore farm reportedly was
bought for them by Charles' -
father in England..`•
They had been on, the p'r=eper-ty
some time, and erected a house
and' outbuildings, when Davies.
returning trots Goderich with
supplies, was drowned in • Lake'
Huron, July 22, 1856. ''to the
great grief of his most
affectionate widow." as the stone
in PortAlbert cemetery records.
Mrs. Davies became a surety for
administrationof the estate and in
due course receiyed title to the
.property. The Davies' only child,
Thomas Frederick Boulton; -'died
July 31, 1855, aged 11 months: and
is buried at Port Albert.
In 1859, still' only 25 years of
age, MI's. Davies was married to
Joseph Joshua Wright, 26.
Whether or not through caution on
the partof the bride's father, the
wedding was preceded by the
'execution of a quaint document
setting forth that "a marriage is
• intended 'shortly to be had and
solemnized." and transferring to
H.T. Pell and Samuel Wright the
200 -acre farm, -dwelling and
outbuildings, household goods and
chattels, cattle and farm
irnplenients, in trust for _-her
(Mrs. Davies') own proper use
and benefit." The trust appears to
have terminated. in 1861, H.T.
Pell, here mentioned: was owner
at the time of the Varcoe farm.
Con. 8.
•.J.J. Wright was a native of Bury -
St. Edmunds. England. orie Of 16
children of Richard 'and Betsy
(Clutton) Wright, 'who in 1854
cametoCanada with his parents.
They settled in West, Flamboro.
Wentworth • county: An elder
Brother of .Joseph, .Richard
Clutton Wright. was the
grandfather of R ev. , Huson.
Wright. one of the earliest
nlini.Stel's of First Baptist
Church. Goderich. 'Richard
Wright moved to Aylmer.
Young .Joe Wright started to
learn,thepr'inting business in the
office of the Dundas Warder; then
,owned by S. F. Jones, hut left that W. E. Elliott
field to become a.-• tErlegraph.
operator with the Montreal
Telegraph '('ompanv." He
continued in that employ in
Hainilton,' Toronto, Cobour'.g,
Berlin and Guelph. He opened the
first telegraph offices in
Stratford andt;odertch, the latter
on Kingston street. Arriving in
this town in 1854, he was
thereafter continuously identified
with the locality for 60 years.
He entered the hotel business in
1856. at the age of 23, managing
the BritishExchange. After his
marriage 'to Mrs. Davies he
removed to Colborne, but
re•tur•ned to Goderich in 1860 and
bought the old Il1rr'on Hotel on
Kingston street:, The Wrights
conducted that hotel for 10 years,
aclvertisirrg,that it offered horses
and carriages for hire, as well as
,"omnibustoa.nd from the cars."
9: 'They sold to Capt. Cox in 1870
and bought Lot 9, next north of the
Point Farm site, from Hon.
•
Donald McDonarld-, former Canada
Company surveyor but by this
trine 0 senator. With the two lots
iri their possession, the •Wrights
built 1 sunnier -Hotel to
accontrnodato 60 guests. It was
filled the first season, but burned
at the end of that season. in 1872.
The loss was not covered by
irlsuranc''0. which Wright
attributed to the neglect of an
agent.
The Wrights returned to
Goderich, but after a couple of
Years they hr on their Colborne
property a h ter to house 200
guests. with 'a diming -room for
300, anl,a central tower 75 feet
high. In his published
i'erninsconces Wright Lias left no
particular's of the construction
period, hut; he borrowed on five
'mortgages, .unci evidently most
were foreclosed, leaving only 30
acres -- all he needed -- around
the hotel. ( When ,1.T. Goldthor'pe
,rye iLt oDrecity
SIG AL -STAR
purchased Point Farm in 1912,
his deed conveyed 30 acnes.) .,
The new hotel opened for
business orrJuly 1, 1874.
During the building of the
Crouse." - Weight recalled,
'several parties sent cheques
and drafts to obtain r'oorns for the
.Season One in parnticular,`known
as the •lumber king' of Saginaw;
Scut me $100,"but for one reason
or anot-her was always- unable to
corse I wrote t() hint that- he could
takeout the money by proxy. His
'X.-el)ly was short arid
characteristic_of the Arrrerican
-"I'onbusy to come; as to the $100,
h.t It rip ' "
• Aright called 1877 his banner
season. with 200 bona fide
.•grTsts in August, which meant 600
to 70t1 meals daily. Letters and
telegrams hi'oughtrequests frurri
50 others, but, they could not he
received "
From his journal in that year he
THURSDAY; MAY—T- 1 97 2..
FIRST: -SECTION
4
Point, Farm hotel, built in 1874, is shown in this photo with its many -gabled third storey, well -
shaded ,verandah
ell-shaded,verandah and 75 -foot central tower.
Another
Hi sto-r-i-cc'U
Article
written bY-
• r
produced for his reminiscences a
copy of an invitation sent to a
couple who' 'were among "the
leaders of Goderich society:
"Mr. -and Mrs. Wright to- Mr. .
and,Mrs. Otter, and they, request
the pleasure of their company at
an evening party, 30th inst.,'-as a
slight acknowledgment " of the
.liberal patronage extended to
them. Dancing from 8 to 10.
Refreshments half -past ten. Point
Farm, 8th August; -1877.-"
Albert M. Polley, a liveryman
who came to Goderich from New
Englandaoi ened a branch rat the
hotel; and provided a four -horse
coach to meet trains. The 'Hur
Signal of July 29, 1881, report
as hollows: "The Point Fa 1
coach, swarming with living
freight, attracted considerable
attention on Wedhesday' afternoon
as the four-in-handda§hed around
the Square, the Stars and Stripes
being waved by an erithusiastic
passenger. Mr. Wright was on
hoard, but how he managed to put
that many persons. into anirtipon
the coach we cannot understand."
' Among distinguished guests
Mr• Wright mentioned General
William Tecumseh Sherman, at
the -time- eorri"•mander-fa-c-1ie€-- of ---
the United States army: Mrs.
Garfieldl wife of the 2.0th
President; Bishop Conroy of
Cork, and , J; B. Bengqugh, noted
Canadian cartoonist,
When General Sherman,
accompanied by an aide,.arrived
from Washington to he a guest at
"my house," as Wright termed it.
the staff co-operated ingiving him
a proper reception.
"I possessed a brass cannon.'-'
Wright recalled, "and borrowed
the Stars and Stripes from the
American consul in town. It and
the British elhsign" were
suspended from the balcony over
the main entrance. On the arrival
Of Sherman it was found that quite
a number of our:children were
sons and daughters of old
comrades. Several . affecting
scenes took place as he took them
in his arms." .
Wright took -the general apart in
one of the summer houses to
reveal to him the. whole story of an
earlier visit to Goderich. at the
time of .the Fenian raids in 1-866.
Wright _seems to have felt that it
'was too well known 'to need
retelling for the public, but the
rbeenrelated
n has by
incident
Wfiifam Swaffle hi, a • tri ember -of
the Goderich garrison under
Major Ross, * • •
A -ship came in sight and made
for the harhort•A''4i- wrote. "It
turned out to be the•revenue cutter
Michigan, with Gena -Sherman on
board. He knew about the and basins of a type now regarded
excitement and perhaps wanted to s antiques. -
see what we would do, for he got The steam a yacht Thomas
under the guns before he unfurled Wright, built by Charles Wells
his flags. I thought our men should (Wright states)-wa$1aufehed dilly
have put a shot across his bows."' 20, 1874. " party •vf townsrlae8'
Subsequently, Gen. Sherman numbering about. 40 was invited :to,
was entertained by the officers of Yoe present• As the. J oat slid' into
the 'Goderich garrison at a the water, the pro�ierial battle
"sumptuous dinner."'was broken as cheers went up:for
Wright himself had served .on the health of Tom Wright (son of
the frontier at Sarnia with. the the 'proprietor. iiealths were
Huron Rifles and received a" drunk and speeches were made by
medal for active service. ' Matthew ,.Hutchison' (of the `Big
At the start of the•-Poiirt'?arrn ,Mili')andothers. Captain Dancey
enterprise and for many years acted as engineer and took charge
thereafter, Mr. Wright has of the boat on the trial trip as far
r e c! r d e d�, •' a very great a Four -Mile Point, but as there
tage existed,- as compared was no landing place we'GQuld Plot
to.conditions now. Then domestic get ashore. However, the- staff
help was good, cheap and engaged in building the house
plentiful, ,something , that will assembled on the ban - and
shouted,' a welcome and fired the
never.occur agaiih. This•p'roved of .
great assistance in managing brass cannon which •Ilhad picked •
such an establishment." up from the office of Black &
-To give arr idea of the amount Young, Detroit. The craft did
of business I did at this time, I well, coming u p to all
sit Steven ,Andrews a • written 'expectations,. Later I built a dock ,
order to lay aside' for ' -me 100 •"'15 feet long, straight oii ;irtto-the: -4
pounds of fresh meat. This did not lake, which gave eight feet of
include hams. bacon or eggs. The water at the west end, so that -in
last-named were required at the calm weather she could land
rate of 40 dozen a day. As much as passengers."
-100ioaves'of rea&we•gott•irt one---Evident1. h.e�suec s of ROW. •
day from Belcher's bakery, and it Farm stimulated a movement .in, •
took the milk 0110 cows to supply , Goderich to finance a summer •
this article of diet.." . hotel in the town. That proved to * ,"
For the entertainment of guests be'a quarter century before such -
WesternrE)•ntarf•o cities---•frrovided• ,rr great -number .of..the..g.uest.s who:.
stayed at Point Farm in the summers of• its glory. J.J. Wright. the
proprietor. in reminiscences rei•c'ntly discovered• riame.s many 'of
these families., whose scrapbooks_ it may be supposed, contain Point
Fahrrir,pictures of great• interest. • •
Among the London guests." 11r Wright, -i ord'ed, nearly every
prornlnent. family in the city was represented. I might mention the
Becher's, Carlings, McI)onaghs. George Robinson, the Blackhurns.
Merediths. McFies, Hvrna'ns. - Lahatts. English.. Frasers, Reids.
Sorne.6illes. Judge street. Dean Innes and nearly 6.11 the bank-
rnanager^s. -
Several - families from . L_,ondon -and - Hamilton Would come
continuously for 10 or l2.vears. Guelph sent us a number of prominent
parties -for years. ; including Guthries, Hewitts. Sheriff Gord.
• Armstrong's and Williarrhsons. Brantford also sent a number of people
for years Bucks; Wiseners• Harrises and Judge Jones. McLaren,
Yates and others whose names 1 forget. The largest individual hill paid
_ra.e was_a...little.over $1,300.. q
I'orronto, Hamilton. Galt. Stratford and Windsor supplied a large
nurnl)er-Qf the Canadian guests. while'Bay City. Saginaw New Orleans,
,St.. I,oiris.and_.Chicago sent many Americans. When the house opened.
,duly 1 1874, the first ts`w;er e'Hir ee'Tafrtil;iitS' i'tccrttorr•pla•nte-r -'=
from New Orl'eans."
:1 local newspaper item of Aug. 12. 1881, records that Point Farm
guests were from Detroit• Bay City, London. Clinton. Forest.
� r1 r at UJ rrl nc1 ,Brant)i(i... lno.ther lists guests from
l
Detroit, Berlin. Elrrirraan ' nTforcl... "rn one of the hot lss"i'a`5't'
.years, 1912• it entertained guests from Toronto. Sandusky, 0.. Adrian.
Mich., Lethbridge and Edmonton.
At one time." Mr. Wright set down, "I had six ministers of various
denominations, and a bishop from Michigan."
there were dances. concerts and
singsongs, ,G.R. Elliott. now_ a
retired petroleum consultant in
Santa Monica, writes that he has
'a very, distinct recollection of
getting a summer job at the hotel
as porter. - Rothwell was the
manager. The Rothwell family
came up from Detr'oit for the
• summer: there was a boy and a
girl about my .age. Ping pong was
popular. As I remember the hotel,
it was pretty old even at that time,
with creaky verandahs."
According to Mr. -Wright. "it
was a •simple matter to provide
spiritual entertainment, for at
one time •I had six ministers.
There was Sunday school - in the
morning. service iri the afternoon
' and sacred song in the evening°
a hotel, the Sunset, was built, but a
Goderich newspaper published on
March 4, 1875, -the following news
item: "At a meeting of business .. u
men on Tuesday, Messrs. W.M.
Savage, George B. Johnston,'
George H. Parsons and'Alex McD,
Allan were appointed a committee
to interview the chief men for the
purpose of obtaining
subscriptions toward erection of
a summer hotel: They had
reached $4,-000 up to.
Wednesday." .
Point Farm .undoubtedly
possessed the only,barn in Canada.
which was raised by sailors of the
Royal Navy. The incident took -
place at the time the gunboat
Cherub was based 'at Goderich
during the' Fenian raid period, -
T866-68• Evidently: therefore,
.One enterprising clergyman the barn was erected on Lot 8 and
discovered that there wet0-quitea before, the first hotel .was built.
number of members crf his faith: Capt. Huntley, commander of
and, obtained permission to have Cherub, was a guest at Wright's
'prayers after breakfast.'` • Huron Hotel. T.C. Wright years
• Such details being missing afterward wrote from England:. •
from M r . V4' r i t;•h t ' sr. • • My father asked him' to let him
rem! nisconces. f.t.i,s nP(.e.s.sarv..to
law )probability and
invoke the la c f
assume that there were
• fireplaces on the main floor of the.
hotel. Nobody seems . torecall
indoor ,plumbing.. i
but n the
bedrooms were ewers.(pitchers)
-have-some--men- ter r'ai a= =ba n
Capt. Huntley said he could not
report to the Admiralty that his
men had gone off to raise a .barn,
but he would be delighted to give
Please turn to Page 8
g •
Alongside this house on Highway 21,E owned by Ted Cook, was the original road into Point Farm hotel.
Present entrance to the provincial park is several hundred yards south.
pirilY Pirn>r :1^##f+(r1`► lad"+riiYtr
•♦R IA k+!C`JI�t K�rtN-ItK��Y:
.fix ,,-1, .,.' 144 a1«
ATROLED LAKE 5P15 ..,
Ste on Q'c01rt oI of
•
t..it,0''hb' .. th ii
�1..vri C0 e, (.c31114.' tefrviet''
On the Wright farm, Lot 8, Lake Road west, stood this barn, the only one in Ontario ever •
raisedby sailors of the Royal Navy. Men of H.M. Gunboat Cherub,iabove) some of them from
Goderich, took the assignment with permission of their commander, Capt. Huntley, to oblige
J.J. Wright, then owner of the Huron Hotel. (Barn picture is lent by Mrs. S.W. Wallace,
Preston, Ont. )
rw i P
004 a ?MIMIC i
'�adtkG•"a
this,postcardpicturo of Point Parm hotel is dated 1966, near the end of the resort's career. It gives a
good viiW of the many -gabled third storey,,p etert'tious main entr ce and tower, with at appears to
be a lively ball game going on in front,
u '
Flat tombstone in Port albs cemetiery bears the nasi of. "'
Charles Boulton Davies, first private owner.of the Point Farm
site, who drowned in Lake' Huron in 1856, "to the great grief of
his most affectionate widow," the inscription- states.
b, .