The Huron Expositor, 1968-10-31, Page 28HURON EXPOSITOR. SEAFORTH!, (,)01', 31, 1968
Broadfoot
James R. Scott (left) well known Seaforth author wrote
the History of Huron County as well as a number of other
papers.and books. Miss Isabelle Campbell has made'a care-
- fu l study of area history which has been recoided in books
dealing with Hibbert, Seaforth, Egmondville, Harpurhey
and Roxboro.
Huron Emporium
Prosperous in 70's
, For, many of the years dur-
ing Seaforths early expansion
• period of the seventies one of
the largest business ,operations
in the community was the D.
, D. Wilson egg business,
. Mr, Wilson, who for a
shot time before had been buy
- ingeggs at lifs home a short
distance north of Goderich
street on the north road pur-
chased the ,adjoininggeneral
store from John Hickson, This
H ckson store was Wilson's first
office and egg emporium,
known as the Huron Emporium,
By 1872 he was buying poultry
also, Wilson purchased the
Lumsden property on the corn-
er in 1877 and very soon after,
Steene's and Stark's also. 'Qn
the corner in 1878 he built a
, large white brick'building with
underground, vats for pickling
his eggs. This replaced his
first smaller egg' emporium, In
1883, because of business ex-
pansion, 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.•
The Wilson's large frame
house and barn were on the
net 10t north from the 1860's.
A few months after his new
-home on James St, was com-
pleted, the front part of the
•original hobs& was moved to
James Se This was occupied
by his son, John A. Wilson and
it is now owned by D. C. Corn-
ish, The b.ack part,was movea
to Wilson St, and -Wm. Nesbitt is
the present owner, John Beattie
bought.the barn, and had it
moved te his farm on Goderich
St, yest.
'The new home of D. D.
Wilton was the largest in the
town. It was designed by a
TOtonto arChitect and built by-
John't.yons, The contract was
let in. Aptil. 1888, but it was•
net finished till December,
1S,S4 The .contractAiricei Was
KNIO, hut aintoSt "A's mlich
40111 Was Odra before it wat
ompletod: The home ebir-
t4ibea;thrtteeh monis, plus a
Imp l'fastinietit,. antrthree large
and Box Furniture Factory
Early Industry' in Seaforth
unfinished rooms in the attic.
The woodwork had a furniture
finish. In 1929 following re-
modelling it was opened as
Scott Memorial Hospital and
now serves as a nursing home.
North of the Wilson home,
on North Main St, , was another
home owned by a contractor;
, Alex McKay. Wilson also bought
this property in1879, Guttridge,
Tyerman 8 Spoiling, 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 through-
out the country,
'In 1867 Wilson had one
wagorion the road and bought
1, 100 bhrrels of eggs' of 70 do -
en each, each, 'By 1878 he was pur-
chasing 9, 000 barrels a year and
had seven -teams making regulat
trips through the County of Hur-
on and part§ of Perth, Bruce and
Wellington Counties Hundreds
Of loads of ice, harvested from
his Egrnondville mill pond dam;
were hauled and stored here to
1;•e used as a refrigerator during
the summer in his extensive egg
pickling and racking establish-
ment.
WI(L.TAM.1-1, 01:151146
. .
( By Miss Isdbefle Campbell)
The 'A-. (.0).` Van Egmond
Woollen and Carding Mill was
one of Seaforth's first industries.
A. G. VanEgmond was the young
est son of the well-known Col.
Anthony VanEgmond. He start-
ed business on a small scale in
a small building in 1854, at tbe
.southern limits of the toWn. In
1866 a three-storey brick build-
ing was erected, and by ' this
his two sons, Leopold' G.
d William, were connecte
with the business. Bnsiness in-
creased as the years passed„
Later, another large frame build -
Served
Huron
Riding
46 Years
Senator William H. Gold- ,
ing served Seaford' and the peo-
ple of Huron riding for 46 years.
Senator Golding was born
in Hibbert Township, April 14;
1878, a son of the'late Henry
and Sarah Golding. He receiv.
ed his early education in that
district, and apprenticed as a
machinist. In. 1905 he came to
Seaforth, where he gained em-
ployment with The Robert Bell
Engine & Thresher Co. Ltd. -
an association that was to con-
tinue until 1949, when the com-
pany was sold. At that time he
was director of the company.
Early in his life he indict-
ated an interest in public af-
fairs, and in 1916 was elected
to the Seaforth town council.
In 1921 he was elected Mayor,
an office he continued to hold
for nine years. He served as
chairman of the Public Utility
Commission until 1935.
• Senator Golding played a
major pert in the establishrnent
of what Ls now Scott Memorial
Hospital. 'First chairman when
the hospital was organized in
1924, he continued in that ca-
pacity until 1945.
His interest in politics led
to activity in the Huron Liberal
Association which he served as
a vice-president. In 1932, fol-
lowing the death of Thomas
McMillan, N. p. , he was nom-
inated to crime& a by-election
called to fill the vacancy. Suc-
cessful, he was returned at sub-
sequent elections in 1935, 1940
and 1945. In June, 1949, he
was summoned to the Senate.
Senator Golding was appoi-
nted deputy chairman of the
committees of the whole House
in March, 1947, and served in
that post until 1949, when he ,
was valled to the Senate, Under
Prime Minister maekenzie Xing,
he was for many yeats ohair-
man of the libetal party cutout.
ing was built for storage. In six
days in one week. in May, 1882,
on nine looms, 2,575 yards of '
checked flannel were turned out.
The brick building, a pic-
ture of which appears on page
27, was completely destroyed
by file on December 28, 1883,
The present white brick build-
ing was built early in 1884, and
the roof of it was ornamented
with 27 lightning rods and an
unusual whistle was installed -
one which made three different
sounds at the same time.
Early in 1886 A. G. Van-
Egmond retired, The two stills
continued to carry on till John
Dick Co. tookover in the early
1900's. By December, 1906,
the mill was again under new
management. W. E. Southgate
t' Co. Ltd, mOved their cloth -
ingfactory here from Berlin,
Ont„ and opened for business
in February, 1907. Thiseorn-
pony was composed of W, E.
Southgate, Sr. , John Dick, H.
Fullerton, W. E. Hilliard ancr.
W. M. Hilliard, of Cobourg,
Ont,
In August, 1907, a serious
fire completely destroyed the. ,
building and contents on the
west side of the road: The
company, in 1917, moved to
an uptown locatibn where
Boshart's furniture factory is
now doing business. From that
time this building was used
principally to store flax till the
iniddle 1950's, when it was ta-
ken over by. HendeissOn Started
Chicks Ltd. Logsdon Hatcher-
ies, by 1960, bought and oc-
cupied it for a time.
116. YE410:-
SERVICk.
(Left) Jim Sills, , Mrs, Joan MacDonald, F. C. J. Sills, Wm.
McCurdy and D'Orlean Sills.
Daniel Lloyd Sills carried on a Grain,
Drug and Hardware business in Bruce -
field from the early 1850's. His son,
George A. Sills who came to Seaforth as
a youth learned his trade with Johnson
Bros. Hardware before establishing
Geo. A. Sills and Sons.
The sons of tiv firm for a time included
Frank, Charlie and Joseph, but latet
the partnership included onlythe
founder and his oldest son, Frank. When
his father retired, Frank took over the
business. Re was in business 66 years.
For the past 33 years, Digplean Sills, son
of Frank, has beep associated with the
store, and he in
turn was joined by
his brother Frank,
Jr., 21 years 4o.
Jim, ,on of Frank,
Jr.-, has recently
*joined the business
and with his uncle
and ,father con-
tinue to carry on
the tradition of
serviceestablished
by Daniel -Lloyd
Sills in Brucefield
• 116 years ago.
Frank Sills
G: A. Sills
The interior of Sills,Hardware as it appeared 60 years
• ago. Shown are (left) Jos, Sills, Frank Cluff, Miss Lil
Twist and Frank S. Sills,
SILLS HARDWARE
- PLUMBING
- PHONE 527-1620
HEATING
SEAFORTH
The furniture store of M. Robertson which later became Box Fur-
niture is shown in the upper picture. The ,building on the right was de-
molished about twenty years ago and on the site the present IGA store is
•located. The lower picture shows the original Broitdfoot and Box cabinet
shop and furnitir e store at the -corner of Jarvis and Market Streets.,
R. S. BOX FUN ,A CHAPEL
AND MADMAN:CO §UltriCES'
OotootoOhoottloot000pOtomoutroomloolsOloalottoftwor
THE TRADITIONS BUILT UP
DURING NEARLY 100 YEARS
OF BUSINESS IN SEAFORTH
ARE YOUR GUARANTEE OF
. ,
SATISFACTION
R. S. BOX LTD.
BOX. FURNITURE
• AND APPLIANCES '
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