The Huron Expositor, 1966-04-07, Page 15er
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'(Continued .from last week)
One of the coopers, Henry Weiland, father of
Ralph "Cooney" Weiland of hockey fame, deserves spe-
cial mention. Henry, for many years, made a good mile
and a half trip twice daily on foot from and to his home
in Egmondville, and in doing so, many days he had to
battle the elements, yet he was always at his post
ready to start work when the whistle blew at 7 a,m.
The land here remained mostly vacant for many
years till several new homes were erected in the late
1940's and early 1950's. Much earlier, one small house
was moved here from Harpurhey. Wallace Ross,
apiarist, in the 1940's, remodelled it and also made
extensive improvements on the garage where his honey
is prepared for the market.
In November, 1874, Alen Armitage, James I.
Carter and William M. Gray erected a, steam sawrnill
on three and three-quarter acres of land south of the
Eclipse Salt Works. Early in 1876, Carter took it over
and a few months later sold the sawmill to Samuel
Lounsbury 8.v Co., who also did" custom sawing till
November, 1880. At that time Joseph Kidd, of Dublin,.
bought the mill and machinery and had it moved to
Goderich, where it was re -erected and used inconnec-
tion with his salt works there.
James I. Carter also, opened 'a stave ;factory in a
large warehouse south of the track, a short distance
from his salt block. Only a few lots -west, in the late
1879's, Messrs. Seigmiller, Carter & Co.,• manufactur-
ed the chilled plow, known as the "Rod Beam Plow."
In 1880, over three thousand of these plows were in
use, and all made in 1879 were manufactured in Sea -
forth. James I. Carter was the business member , of
the firm. In August, 1880, the business was moved to
Toronto because of better shipping facilities there.
That year• a branch.. was opened in Montreal.
In the 1860's, between the .Baptist Church and
the Public School on James Street, Philip Sparling had
a churn factory. He offeredit for sale in 1869; An-
drew Malq'olm owned it till 1877, and by 1878 Dr.
Henry L. Vercoe, M.D., one of the early town doctors,
had his home and office' on this property. When, Dr.
R. W. Bruce Smith was' here he added. a- wing to the
south of the house in 4886 for an office, This is now
Miss Marion Scarlett's home.
In October, 1880, D. D. Wilson, and W. S. Robert
ti History -by Isabelle Campbetl
Their market extended across the Dominion, and even.
to Great Britain. . By 1893 the mill was again under
the management of Walter Thompson & Sons; In the
1920's. Walter's son, Harry, a maltster, made malt for;
a time,, and his other son, Gordon, was in charge of
`the chopping mill till John• A. McKenzie took it over.
McKenzie did business here till the early 1940's. The
west part was sold to the Co-op hi 1942, but the brick
part was empty for many years and became badly in
need of repair.
In 1961 Henderson Started Chicks Ltd. remodel-
led this building and officially opened for business in
February, 1962. On Opril 8th, most of this brick build-
ing and 35,800 chicks were destroyed by fire. Imxnedi-,
ately a new structure of colored sheet steel was erected
and opened again an October of that same year. In 1965
this company went out of business and Logsden's
Hatcheries took over the hatchery.
From a small beginning in a Farmers' Club which
existed in Seaforth from around 1914, the present
Co-op, which is doing a flourishing business in the
frame building tothe west, has grown through the
years till it reached its present high status. The Club
was a branch of the United Farmers of Ontario, and,
at the time rdf organization only a limited variety of
farm supplies and fertilizer were handled on. a cash-
and-carry basis off the car. The U.F.O. store, which
was' opened on Main Street, only did business a short'
time.
During the winter of 1942 a need was felt for a
feed service enterprise. It was then the west part of
John• A. McKenzie's property was' purchased, and in
November that year the Co-op opened with Homer
Hunt, manager. The first chairman of the Board was
Robert McKercher, and Frank Reynolds was the secre-
tary. Many renovations to the buildings and additions
to their wares have been made since 1942.
Early in 1964, part of the Willis Dundas property,
a short distance..vvest of the original building, was pur-
chased and the warehouse built in 1954 was moved to
the new location. At the same time, Frank„Kling Ltd.
was awarded a contract to build anoffice and store
attached to the east of the warehouse.
(To be continued)
son bought the Baptist Church, mentioned above, and Read
used it as an apple evaporator. That season they plan-
ned to dry 10,000 bushels of apples for the Manitoba
market. Three peelers and corers were used, and it ,
had a capacity to dry 125 bushels in 24 hours. The
furnace occupied the cellar. At the front of the second
floor were bins to receive the fruit purchased from the
farmers: The price paid was 20 cents per bushel. The
back part was the workroom, and on the third ` floor
the dried fruit was stored till shipped. In September,
1881, they erected a cider mill to be operated in con-
nection with the evaporator. Peter Klinkhammer had
the building for his cooperage shop by 1889, and in
it he made -apple barrels and firkins for butter. It was
later made into a private home and is now occupied by
Gordon Wright.
On Jarvis Street, in 1873, Samuel Trott, on. the
back of his, lot, built a factory to manufacturebutter
tubs on a Iarge scale, and he later also made wash tubs.
He had a house and a cooper .shop built beside the fac-,
tory by 1875. In the 1890's his son-in-law, John Daley, -
who had a dray business, lived in the house. Daley
also sold nilkr-It was here he kept his dray horses
and dairy cows. After he left, no one occupied the
Mime till John T. Crawford, painter and handyman,
moved it to the front of the lot around 1924. This is
now Glenn Staffen's home.
VanEgmond Mill
The A. G. VanEgmond Woollen and Carding Mill
was one of Seaforth's first industries. A. G. Van-
Egmond was the youngest son of the well-known Col.
Anthony VanEgmond. He started business on a small
scale in a small building in 1854, at the southern limits
of the town. In 1866 a three-storey brick building was
erected, and by this time his two sons, Leopold G. and
William, were connected with the business, Business.
increased as the years passed. Later, another large
frame building 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 on December 28,.1883, was
completely destroyed by fire. The present white brick
was built early in 1884, and the roof of it was orna-
mented 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. VanEgmond retired. The
two sons continued to carry on till John Dick Co. took
over in the early 1900's. By December, 1906, the mill
was again under new management. W. E. Southgate
& Co. Ltd. moved ' their clothing factory here from
Berlin, Ont., and opened for business in February,
1907. This company was composed of W. E. South-
gate, - Sr., John Dick, H. Fullerton, W. E. Hilliard and
W. M. Hilliard, of Cobourg, Ont.
In August, 1907, a serious fire completely 1estroy-
ed the building and contents on the west side of the
road. The company, in 1917, moved to an uptown
location where Boshart's furniture factory is now doing
business. From that time this building was used prin-
cipally to store flax till the middle 1950's, when it was
taken over by Henderson Started Chicks Ltd. Logsdon
Hatcheries, by 1960, bought and occupied it for a time.
Today it is, standing idle.
Industrial Expansion
Flour Mills and Warehouses
With grain coming into the hamlet by the thou-
• sands • •ef bushels after the railway came through in
the late 1850's, grain buyers . hadto have more and
more flour mills and storehouses. These from the early
1860's were built near the track to alleviate shipping
' conditions.
The property west of the old creamery, from 1863
till 1869, was used by Thomas Johnston, wheat, grain,
wool . and general produce dealer. Fromthen till the
Victoria FIour, Oatmeal,. Barley and Chopping Mills
were burned here in December, 1874, Fred Seigmiller
was in charge. In May, 1875, Thompson Bros., of Mit-
chell, 'replaced these frame mills with the Iarge brick
4 oatmeal mill. Thompson built to the West of this brick
building in 1883 a large frame storehouse,* Walter
Thompson, known as the "Oatmeal King", was the one
who transacted business in the Seaforth mall.
For three years in the early•18Q*s, D. D. Wilson
and John Lyon " owned and manufactured oatmeal in
this well-equipped, mill of'70 bushel c paeitt per hour,
the Advertisements - It's a Profitable Pastime!
'WINCIIRSEA, NEWS F THS WE
The Eliun1lle JCW met WO
nesday at the church, the
theme 'being on Easter, with
Mrs. Phil Johns in charge. Scrip-
tune was read by M. Gilbert
Johns. Mrs. Lorne Elford light-
ed six candies; which iiitted in
with the message of raster,
Mrs. Torn Campbell played an
instrumental, and Mrs. Jackson
Woods mead a chapter from the
study book.
. Mr. and Mrs, William' Walters
were guests Thursday evening
with Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Frayne,
of Sunshine Line, celebrating a
wedding anniversary.
Mrs. Newton Clarke and Mrs.
John Coward attended the pres-
byterial on Tuesday at Wesley -
Willis United Church at Clin-.
ton.
Mr. Brian Hern, of Stratford,
spent the weekend with his par-
ents, Mr. and Mrs. Phil 'Hera,
Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Grubb,
of London, moved on Saturday
to their home in Farquhar.
Mr. Danny Walters attended
a bus trip to Toronto on Tues-
day to visit the `Canada Pack-
ers plant and the ' Research
Farm at Maple, Ont.
Mr. and Mrs. Howard. Day-
'USBORN1 AND
HIBBERT
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, Lucan
Agents:
Hugh Benninger - Dublin
Harry Coates - - Exeter
Clayton Harris - Mitchell
Secretary -Treasurer: •
Arthur' Fraser - - Exeter
K
IPA and faazil3'', Of 1014194, vie
tied Suaday with Mr, 04
William Walters and Danayr,
'the "genth 'elUQw,ship was
held Sunday evening at •Elite
villa VTnited Church.' Swan.
len . was in charge 011ie Meet-
ing. Scripture was read by Dan,-
113r
lanny Walters, and Rev. Roa gave
the topic. Prayer was given by
Susan Allen, and Elaine' Johns
led in a sing -song. •
Lonely bab3r chick (looking
around incubator at unlatched
eggs): Well, it looks as if I'm
to be an only child. Mother's
blown a fuse.''
J�J3DDJ1IQ
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EXPOSITOR
ffE HORONl ,I Xi MT+t►M : ;Ir #! Ti r d 7t;, A
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tic. Licence A-63262.
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Licence E-8693
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• Phone 527-1670 , Seaforth
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