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BUSINESSES IN OUR TOWNTHE BUSINESSMEN OF OUR TOWNDRUGGISTS |
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Hotel Keepers: Eddie Frezell, Elmer Cook, Pat O'Neil, Wilfred Brownlee, Ed Sherlock, Pat Donelly, Dickie Reid
Plumbing and Tinsmithing: Sam Crawford, Archie Haines, Harry Wilson, Bradley and Watt, W. S. James, Art Olan, A. J. Armstrong
Printing and Publishing: The Pickwells, Rev. J. S. Clarke, Jas. Skelton, H. Moshier, H. H. Brennan
Jewelers: Philip and Gerald Librock, T. H. Ferguson
Grocers: Dick Allen, Fred Matthews, George Goff, Wm. Ryan, Ed Carnochan
Restaurants: Lee Shuk, H. Spencer, V. Davey, Charlie Sherlock
Druggists: Bert St. John, J. DeW. Randall, W. J. Campbell, A. J. Coyne
Butchers: V. Davey, Bob Chapman, Jim Stewart, Ken Vine
Liquor Store: John Hall, Dick Allen, John Simpson, H. H. Doyle
Bakers: MacPhee and Gardiner, Dempster, F. Thomas, Dave Chapman
Stationary: Herb Walsh, Fish, Robert Bishop
Tailors: Robert Rogers, Lorne Smith, William Miller, J. F. Schmidt
Shoe Repairing: F. Ascher, Bullock, R. M. Burtwell
Boots and Shoes: Peter Healey, I. M. Billing
Dry Goods: R. C. Burns, Fred Rowland, C. W. Inkster, H. W. Clark
Photography: W. H. Quinn, H. Pratt
Candy Stores: Mrs. Swift, Mrs. Dales, Mrs. Murphy, Crosby, Bert Currie
Barbershops: Charlie Smith, Jim Withers, Winslow
Blacksmiths: Jim Coleman
Garages: The Slingerlands, Art Inskeep
Livery Stable: Tommy May
Fruit Store: Frank Riley, Nick Arghittu, George Greenwood
Pool Room: Bert Currie, Harold Doyle
Picture Show: Mrs. Harris, George Reid
Lumber and Hardware: Melville Millar
Most of these people moved elsewhere. Many have ceased all earthly toil, while some few are still in our midst, but not in business on our Main Street. Some of the these were pioneers in their particular line here. Mrs. Norris brought the first picture show. It was located in the Town building. I think McKenzie and Nolan were about the first in electric wiring although W. S. James was an early bird at that too.
THE BUSINESSMEN OF OUR TOWN
Having given some attention to the Fishermen as a class, I thought I should like to make specific mention of the business men of the Town and the part they have played in the Public Life of the Community. Suppose we start with the Druggists. There have not been many of these, but most of them have taken a prominent part in the affairs of the Town. In the store now occupied by the Fields, there have been four men who deserve mention by us. First of all, there was Henry Paffard. Now Henry, as I remember him, was a quiet-mannered, meek looking little man, but a big man inside. He it was who served no less than twenty-six years as Mayor. He could be elected any time, so that fact alone gives him a unique place in the Annals of Niagara. I believe that to him we owe our shade trees and the trees in our Park. But while we probably consider the office of Mayor of the greatest of public offices in any Town, yet there are other spheres of usefulness just as necessary to the welfare of the Town and its people. There is our Public Library. You will find upon one of its walls, a picture of Mr. Paffard and he well deserves to be so remembered by habitues of that institution, for he served the Board as Treasurer for thirty-six years. On one occasion, before the Library was housed in the Town Building, he paid ten years rent for the premises they then occupied. He served for years on the Board of the Girls Home. He also made himself very useful to St. Mark's Church, serving as Churchwarden for some years. He was followed in the business by John DeW. Randall. While Randall would have found it hard to fill Paffard's shoes, yet he did pretty well at that. He put in six years in Council, five of them as Mayor. He too, served on the Board of the Home and filled various offices at St. Mark's. One never knows what he might have done had he lived longer, but he was full of energy. He wasn't always the easiest man to get along with, but had the interests of the Town at heart and did whatever he found to do with all his might. The next man in that store was Arthur Coyne and while he was only here for a few years, yet he did serve one year in Council and returned to St. Catharines. Erland Field, the present proprietor of the store has one year of service to his credit in the Council. Will Campbell, who had the place of business where Jack Bates is now, was quite a useful fellow in various ways. While he only served one year in Council, he did run for Reeve a couple of times, one of those times being against me. He was Treasurer of the Patriotic Committee that built the Clock Tower, Mussen, MacPhee, Campbell, and I being the Building Committee. While Bates has not served in Council, he has plenty of time to make himself useful. Now, don't you think that the Knights of the Mortar and Pestle have been of use and influence in our Town?
Doyle's Hotel was at the corner of Picton and Davy Streets, now a thing of the past. Jimmy Doyle was known as being a kindly and helpful man who worked himself up from nothing. His house was known as a quite family hotel, to which summer people came year after year. He was a man of good influence in the Community and the Town lost a good citizen when he departed this life.
Just an incident or two about the McMillans before we go along. My father has told me of these two incidents. At the time of the Fenian Raid in 1866, our men marched to Fort Erie. After arriving there and finding that the expected Fenians had fled across the River, who should arrive with a wagonload of provisions but our John McMillan. Of course, they were very glad to see him, especially as arrangements for feeding the men were not yet in a satisfactory state. A few years later, we would have found Jim, John's son, keeping a sutler's store at Fort Niagara that was, no doubt, part of the family's business. So that while in my time, they were hotelkeepers, those incidents show that the family had quite a diversity of interests. Jim, by the way, had a narrow escape from drowning while at Fort Niagara. A party of soldiers was about to set out in a howling gale from the eastward, to salvage a lifeboat that had gone adrift. The boat in which they were about to embark was a long narrow craft, which I came to know in later years as the "Barge". When Jim found that the Officer in Charge would not allow Jim to handle the craft, he very prudently declined to accompany the party, as he had no faith in the ability of the Officer to handle a boat in a sea. There is a marker at Fort Niagara Burying Ground to the two officers and six enlisted men who were drowned in Lake Ontario. They were the whole of that party.
The next Hotel I wish to mention was that of Bill Long. This hotel was built in the early 1880's when I was going to School. This was a fine place of business and Mr. Long was one of the very best types of hotelkeeper. It was scrupulously clean, the meals were good, and no rowdyism was allowed about the premises. It was headquarters for the commercial travelers that came in by train and a large room on the ground floor was reserved for their use in displaying their goods to prospective buyers. This hotel and Doyle's were ideal places of their kind. Not much like modern beer parlors. Bill Long was the Auctioneer and his Dinner Bell was used to advertise sales when they were to be held. I sometimes wonder what became of that old bell. It's call to dinner sounded out so clearly over the air that it made me hungry just to hear it. Mr. Long was a sober, levelheaded man, looked up to and respected. While his being a hotelkeeper prevented him from serving on the elective bodies of the Town, yet when he could, he served and was an all round good citizen. He removed to Toronto after he retired from the hotel business and died there. Several others had this hotel since Long's day, Pat O'Neil having it for a long time. He served one year in Council.
The building where Bob Howse has his store was also a Hotel, kept in my early days by Jim Walsh. Jim was a quiet fellow, who kept a decent house and minded his own business. I have no record of his serving on any of our various boards, but he has left behind him, a clean record and quite a number of descendants who are doing their bit to help carry on the Town's life. In the early days, before my time, there were a great many places that were hotels or taverns. There were three on Market Street alone. There was one on the corner of King Street, known as the Pacific Block. Mrs. May Reid's house was another, as was that of John Lee at the corner of Regent. Here was a hotel on the site of Ern Kemsley's building on Picton Street, known as Whitewings." Bill Long kept this one before he built the one on the corner. There were two brick ones on Prideaux Street, now owned by Dr. McGarry and by Mrs. Riddell. Dock Tranter's house was another. There was one on the Rigg and adjoining property known as the "Black Swan". That's just a couple. What I want to get at is that the people who kept them must have played an important part in the business life of the Town of Niagara.
OUR STOREKEEPERS
Three sons and a grandson followed him in Town Business. The oldest of these, Will, put in nine years, three of them as Mayor and two as Reeve. Will wasn't any world-beater, but he was a nice fellow to work with. I knew him well in musical circles, as well as in his Council work. I was very sorry when he passed on. The next brother Bert, only served one year in Council work, but he died while quite a young man and his one son later on came into the picture, serving two years in Council. Fred the third brother, came along and between 1910 and 1931, he served six years altogether.
These three families were Butchers and Grocers, so I won't have to bring them in the latter category. But these three families served the Town in its Council, a total of one hundred and seventeen years altogether. I don't suppose you will find any three families and any one town who can come within reach of that span of public service.
GEORGE A. CLEMENT
Other Butchers I might mention are Bill Longhurst, the Sandos' father and son, Bob Chapman, Vern Davey, Jim Stewart and some more who followed the calling for a more or less short time. Vern Davey served one year in Council and was Assessor for a number of years. Sando had a shop at one time in the Regent Street part of the Magder store, and at another time in the building where Harry Steele and Bill Kirby are now located. Later on, John Sando had a shop on the site of the building that used to be Reid's theatre. There he sold books, paper and stationary, giving that up when he was appointed to Customs. Longhurst's shop was where Papetti's Shoe Repair is now. Chapman and Davey had the store where Mr. Church is now located. This was first of all Jack Bishop's Butcher Shop. After he passed away, Pete moved to the building he now has at the corner of King and Johnson Streets, later on giving up the Butcher part of the business. After Davey and then Chapman had a go at butchering in the old place, Jim Stewart came along and moved across to where Daley is now, he succeeding Stewart in the business.
A man who had a grocery business next door was Henry Crysler. A quiet man, but one who found time to put in four years in Council. Walter Reid worked for him for years and married his daughter.
Bart Currie had it for a while, then sold out to Bob Cumpson. Down on Regent Street was the stable of Don Waters. These two stables, between them, did all the livery business. Then Mr. Waters died and Mike Greene bought the business. Later on, he and Cumpson entered into a partnership. These two men had married twin daughters of Jack Bishop. Bye and bye, Cumpson sold out to Greene and bought Jim Longhurst's coal business. Later on, Greene closed the Waters stable and confined his business to the King Street one. Bob Cumpson served 14 years in Council and Mike Greene, 5 years.
Along came Tommy May, and started up where the Arnold establishment now is. There he carried on, beginning with one team and when motor cars came on the scene, he soon acquired a Ford. I had known Tommy from the time he arrived at Fort Niagara with the American Army. He married Julia Thompson and spent the rest of his life here. A native of Birmingham, England, he was English in his talk, and quite a voluble man. I liked Tommy and I never knew him to do a mean or unkind act. He served nine years in Council and did a very good job. Another liveryman was Steve Sherlock. He too started in a very humble way and built up a good business. There was keen rivalry between him and May and they clashed sometimes, both in Council and in business. Steve served 15 years in Council and had a lot to do with the paving of our roads, he holding the office of Chairman of Works for many years. So here we have five liverymen with a combined service in Council of fifty years. Not a bad record, is it?
Besides those I have mentioned under the heading of their several businesses, there have been: Bill Harrison with 20 years' service, Bob Howse with 13 years, Bill Greaves, Sr. with 11 years, Jim MacPhee with 10 years, Jack Black with 8 years, W. H. J. Evans with 7 years, Billy Miller with 4 years, and Bill Insater with 3 years service.
These few notes will serve to show you what the businessmen of the Town have been doing towards managing the Town's business. And they carried on without looking for thanks or pay. It was their Town and they believed in doing something for it.
"One who builds wooden structures"
"A worker in timber for buildings"
"A builder of houses"
"A man whose work is building with wood"
I have heard another not so complimentary: "A wood butcher". Wracking my memory, I have made a list of thirty-one that I can remember. Most of them have sawed their last board and nailed their last nail. Many will be only remembered by the old timers. I was thinking of Billy Diamond, who used to keep a Tavern on the corner of King and Market Streets. In my time, it was a sort of Apartment house, the corner one being a Tin and Plumbing Shop kept by Alf Armstrong. That part was moved to Prideaux Street and now is the home of George Corus. The part fronting on Market Street was for quite a while, occupied by Jack Abbott when he was driving the Stage between Niagara and St. Catharines.
At the time of its removal, it was the home of Mrs. Addison and her daughter and son-in-law, the LeFraughs. It is still on Market Street, but on the other side of the Town Hall and was lately the home of Mrs. John Bolton. The remaining piece of the building was, I think, torn down. The N. S. and T. Railway erected their station on the site. But latterly, Billy Diamond was boarding with the Morrisons at the corner of Ricardo and Melville Streets. He was doing a bit of carpenter work, but as he became too old and too frail to work, he sold his tools. In fact, I bought some of them myself. Poor old Billy. It was related of him that he once fell down a well, but was rescued and was occasionally referred to as "the 140 pound Diamond that was found in a well."
Steve Todd was another old timer. He and Bill Thornton built the Jack Bolton house on the beach, now the home of Bert Taylor. Steve was a good carpenter, but slow and careful. He wasn't always careful enough, for one day when they were putting the roof on the Bolton house he sat on the end of a board or scantling and sawed himself off. Fortunately he lit on a scaffold. He and Bill also built the house on Delatre Street next door. There were formerly two houses there, but they were taken down and the present house built in their stead. Bill Thornton, who worked with him on those jobs, was a brother of John Thornton and a brother-in-law of Jack Bolton. He was a widower as I first remember him and had a boy and a girl, but he later remarried. He lived in the house on Gate Street where the present Bill lives. A good many of our builders were handy both as Carpenters and Masons. Bill was one of these.
Jim Chamberlain was another who lived here for a time. A good Carpenter but slow. He was usually known as "Certainly Chamberlain." He later removed to the Falls with his large family.
Ab Lockwood lived on Victoria Street in the house now occupied by the Duddys. He was a small man with a fiery temper. He was a very kindly man, however, and good to his family. I remember him as having a small scow with a sail on it and he took a lot of fun out of it around the river. One day, he was shooting coweens down near the Queen's Royal, when some fellow swung around on a flock and peppered Ab with a dose of shot. He was too far away to do much harm, but it was fun for the onlookers to see Ab, with fire in his eye, pursuing that fellow around the River, loudly vowing vengeance.
John Carnochan, as I first remember him, was in the lumber business. He lived in the house on Wellington Street now occupied by the Clarks. I remember the big lumber piles opposite his house. The house now owned by Billy Richardson was the workshop, but John married a wife and turned the shop into a dwelling. He later discontinued the lumber business and confined himself to building. Most of the buildings on Castlereagh and King Streets nearby are his work, including the one now the home of his daughter, Gertrude. He was one of the best of our carpenters, besides being useful in other ways. I sat with him on the School Board and the Town Council. He also, at various times, was one of the Town Assessors and when we had a Curling Club, was an enthusiastic Curler.
Jimmy Hartley was another of our old timers. He lived on Platoff Street where Mel Gordon now lives. A good carpenter he was, but I knew him best as a Bugler in the old 19th Regiment. In fact, he was Bugle Major for years, until a St. Catharines man got command when Jimmy was replaced by Billy McManus, whose father was Bandmaster. I was in Camp when the 19th, when that happened and Captain Colin Milloy gave him the rank of Corporal, as this was the only rank available at the time. Jimmy had been in the Regiment since it was formed and was a Veteran of the Fenian Raid.
Walt and Bob Davidson, belonged to a family of Carpenters, as I have seen a copy of a statement of the cost used in the building of our Town Hall, made up and signed by a Davidson, the builder and who was their father. Walt died a long time ago, but I know of two buildings that he erected for the late S. B. Rowley. They are the Imperial Bank Building and the residence of Mrs. Stevenson. The chief part of Bob's work in the partnership was in the shop. One must remember that many of the fittings that go in the house and are now to be purchased ready-made were in the Davidson's time, made by hand. Bob was a master hand at that work, Bob was a rather odd little man and when the Salvation Army was here, Bob was their Drummer and for many years after they had left, he handled the sale of the War Cry here.
Another Carpenter of a later generation and closely related to the Davidsons, was Walt Campbell, whose mother was a sister of the Davidsons. Walt was a smart fellow and I know of two buildings that are his work and right on our Main Street: the Fred Curtis building and the Home Bakery. He built these two at the same time, the one for Louis Frank, the Barber and the other for Mrs. James Swift as an Ice Cream Parlour. Before these buildings were erected, Mrs. Swift had been located across the street in the McKenzie Building. She was the pioneer in the ice cream business and her product was home made and was as good as any you can get nowadays. Mr. Frank had been in the Marino store, having taken over the Barber business from Mrs. Fanny Ross, by whom he had been employed. Herb Campbell, a brother of Walt is another one of our well known Carpenters.
Another of our old timers was Jim Doritty. Jim was one of the builders of the John Manuel house on King Street. He served as one of the Town Assessors for years with Dicky Briggs. He had quite a large family, one of his sons Joe was in charge of the Telephone Office for years.
Bill Richardson was another of our good Carpenters. He served three years in Council and was a good man there and a first class Carpenter. Altogether, the Richardsons were a mighty useful family. Young Will, as he was called was in charge of all the building at the Military Camp during the late War and did a good job there.
John Ellison was another of our first class workmen. There were three of those brothers who were good at Mason work and Carpentry. Henry and George Ellison were Masons and John was a Carpenter, but they could turn their hands to mostly anything. All three of them served in Council and all played in the old Niagara Band. John was in St. Mark's Choir when I was a cub member of it and had a good bass voice. I used to hear Henry tooting on his old bass horn when he was living where the Legion now hangs out. He built that house. He once told me that he did all the cabinetwork for the present organ in St. Mark's Church. George built the house on Wellington Street where Mrs. Powell now resides.
Bill Thompson was a Carpenter who seemed to specialize in alterations and rebuilding jobs and in moving. One job I particularly remember him doing was to tear down and rebuild the Quinn house on Ricardo Street. His son Will is still with us and going strong. He has served four terms in Council.
Jerry Kemsley was another fellow who could do mostly anything. He was a musical fellow, played in the Band and sang in the Choir, and an all round good citizen. He put in two years in Council. Besides his other accomplishments, he was a good Barber. I remember being in Camp with the old 19th, and he was our Company Barber. His family was all musical, no less than nine of them appearing on my choir list. As a family, they are only exceeded by my own, which numbers thirteen as having served St. Mark's in the Choir. Jerry had one son who followed him in carpentering, Ernest Kemsley who is still with us and going strong.
There was an old Scotsman named Laurence Scott, who lived for a time in the house where my brother now lives. He may have been a good Carpenter but he had a very poor opinion of his fellow Carpenters in this town. I was amused one day when the old chap came along and seated himself and proceeded to discourse at length on the quality of the Carpenters. "They're all darn botches," he said. At this time, I was on my back under our launch, Viola, busy with a plane finishing off a repair job. I couldn't help smiling to myself, as the old fellow prattled on. I never pretended to be a Carpenter, although I could do lots of small jobs about the boats. So I didn't put up any argument with the old gentleman.
FORMER BUSINESSMEN IN OUR TOWN
[From May 15th, 1952]I saw them digging a grave over the way and on inquiring, was told it was for Mrs. Sam Hindle. I knew her family when they lived here. She was Lizzie Riley and they lived in the house on Victoria Street now occupied by Vincent Hindle. Mrs. Riley was a daughter of Mrs. Swift who built and occupied the building where the Home Bakery is now situated.
The Rileys' lived in Youngstown when I was a boy and I am reminded of an incident that happened one foggy night. My father and I were rowing a passenger "O'er the Ferry," and it was pretty thick. As we were passing the old ferry, a voice hailed us from the top of the hill. It was Mrs. Wright who then lived in Fort George. She called out "Is that you, Mr. Masters?" On my father's replying, she said, "Johnny Riley has started out from here twice to go across and my gracious, here he comes again." And there he was and feeling baffled, so my Dad said, "Follow after us and I think we can make it all right." And so he did and we got there and also got back. Dad was a pretty good navigator having sailed in Schooners for many years.
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The first Smith family that I knew of lived in a small house on Mississaugua Street, since taken down. Grandma Smith had a son who was quite a personage when I was a boy. He was a whimsical fellow and derived a lot of enjoyment out of running the Youngstown News. Being a Niagara native, of course, he knew and was known by everybody here and in his Niagara edition of the paper, many a sly dig he took at the follies and peculiarities of people we all knew. If someone took umbrage at something he printed about him or her, he would humbly apologize in his next issue, blandly explaining with his tongue in his cheek that "we were misinformed". Billy Smith ultimately removed himself and his family to Toronto where on of his boys became very prominent in various youth movements. Billy was a Fenian Raid Veteran and while he was no saint, he never did anybody a wrong, and was a fine man to know. Perhaps some of the older folks will remember the Dorans, his sister being Mrs. Doran. They were the last representatives of that Smith family to live in our town.
Another family of Smiths that I have known from my early childhood is that to which Miss Sarah Smith and Eddie Smith belong. This family were our next door neighbours for many years. I have known of no less than six generations of them. The first of them was struck by a train while walking along the tracks on King St. The next of them was a well-known Mason but not a metal worker. His only son became a Barber, his last place of business being in the shop where Harry Steele plies a similar trade.
His son Eddie drove a delivery rig first horse-drawn for McClelland Store, and later a truck, after that form of conveyance became the usual one. Eddie is quite a versatile fellow, handy with the saw and hammer and also with the hod and cement. He has done some excellent work. Then his son Leslie is a well-known Carpenter and has a family of his own, thus completing the six generations already mentioned.
One thing I have noticed about the Smiths is that only one of the name has ever sat in Town Council. I know nothing about this particular Smith, except that his name was Peter and that he was a member of the 1873 Council.
Then there was a Smith who was Caretaker of the Queen's Royal Hotel at one time. Two of his boys were in St. Mark's Church Choir at one time but the family was not here very long and returned to Toronto whence they came.
Plenty of the old timers will remember Harry Smith, who drove a bread wagon for Jim MacPhee. He later moved to St. Catharines. His wife was in St. Mark's Choir and she was the daughter of Mrs. Amy Hall who lived here at that time.
There is the Rector of St. Mark's who is well known to you all. He has been here these many years and there are several families of the name here who are not known by me personally. Wherever you go, the woods seem to be full of Smiths, but I have yet to find one who is a worker in metals. So, What's In A Name, Anyway?
