The following is a re-print of a past column by former Advertiser columnist Stephen Thorning, who passed away on Feb. 23, 2015.
Some text has been updated to reflect changes since the original publication and any images used may not be the same as those that accompanied the original publication.
146 years ago July/August, 1878
Peel Township council met July 4 to tackle some road projects.
Pleased with the usefulness of road scrapers in the past couple of years, council authorized payment for four more for a total of $26. The clerk had ordered them in June, and they had already been shipped to the Goldstone Station. These would be owned by the township, but placed in the custody of the pathmasters, who would loan them to farmers who required the use of them in fulfilling their statute labour obligations.
The matter of the road scrapers did not end with the authorization of payment. William Blackwell had taken two of them from the station without permission. Councillors authorized the reeve to take whatever steps were necessary to recover the implements, or to recover the cost to the township of $13.
The tardy arrival of two bills for work done in 1877 annoyed the council as well as the clerk and treasurer, as the accounts for the year had been closed months before. The amounts were 75 cents from John Glen, a blacksmith in Glen Allan, for repairing one of the road scrapers, and an account from the Drayton newspaper office for printing in the amount of $334.
Two agenda items produced much discussion. The first was for repairs to the approaches at the bridge located at Lot 1, Con. 16. Council eventually agreed to call for tenders. The other item was a long-standing one: work to the Peel-Maryborough town line. Maryborough had agreed to a contribution of $20 toward cutting down a hill. After a long debate, Peel agreed, by a 3-2 vote, to accept the amount and to make an equal commitment.
Another road item was a payment of $50 to Josiah Johnston, for a right-of-way for the Glen Allan Road at Lot 10, Con. 3. The travelled road deviated slightly from the route initially surveyed. Though the easier route had been used by the public for years, Johnson had never received a cent for the right-of-way.
Though the year was only half over, Peel council made preparations for the municipal elections at the end of the year. James Gibson agreed to tackle the task of serving notices of a court of revision to be held soon, and to attending and testifying at the court of revision. His payment would be $7.
Before adjourning for the rest of the summer, council authorized the treasurer to borrow sufficient money to meet current expenses. Council then recessed until Sept. 30, barring an emergency session.
Drayton council met July 9 for one of its numerous special sessions. This one was for some emergency street repairs. The work was required due to recent rain storms. The bills came in for the regular monthly meeting on Aug. 1. Among those receiving payments were W.J. Davidson for culverts and ditching, and Bill May for street work. Sidewalk repairs consumed $45. Ditching and culverts on Wortley, Elm, and Market Streets cost $83.
Drayton council authorized some extensions to the village’s sidewalk network, and replacement of some sections of eight-foot wide sidewalk in the downtown area. Property owners along the routes of the new sidewalks were ordered to remove their fences and other obstructions from the affected roadways.
Another special meeting on Aug. 27 authorized the treasurer to borrow up to $200 to meet current expenses until the 1878 tax payments came in at the end of the year.
The report of the Wellington, Grey and Bruce Railway, operated as a division of the Great Western, showed disappointing results, with an operating loss of $15,650 for the first six months of 1878. Nevertheless, the parent company had faith that the line would eventually become profitable. During the summer the railway continued a program of replacing iron rails with new ones made of steel. About a third of the line, or 60 miles or track, received new rails in 1878. Prospects of a good grain crop in 1878 made railway officials optimistic. Several grain buyers along the line sought overseas orders.
Year by year, Palmerston was becoming more of a railway centre. By 1878 the WG&B had 15 train crews stationed there. Several dozen more held regular employment around the station and in making minor repairs to rolling stock and locomotives. Total railway employment in Palmerston exceeded 100 by 1878, and it would grow to twice that level in the coming decade.
121 years ago June/July, 1903
Peel and Maryborough farmers began to cut their hay in late June under blue skies. The quality, according to most reports, was excellent, and prospects for a good grain crop seemed bright. Harvesting of wheat began about July 25.
School students breathed a general sigh of relief with the announcement in late June that Latin would no longer be a compulsory subject in Ontario’s high schools. Instead, students had to study at least one of Latin, Greek, French or German.
Drayton’s new IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows) hall opened on June 26, in second floor quarters above the drug store and adjoining retail space. Visitors considered the rooms lavish. The suite consisted of an entry room, a large meeting room, an assembly hall, and three small rooms, all freshly carpeted, painted and papered. The Oddfellows and their guests celebrated with a concert, then retired across the street to the Queen’s Hotel for a banquet.
Maryborough council met on June 27, and dealt with bridge issues, specifically new approaches and abutments at Hollen, and major work at Booth’s bridge, on Con. 8. Councillors awarded a contract to Charles Mannell to smooth and grade the road Between Stirton and Moorefield with his new steam-powered grader.
The annual Moorefield Camp Meeting opened on June 28 and ran until July 13. Rev. James Livingstone opened the first day with three sermons during an all-day service.
The following day, the Methodist and Presbyterian Sunday schools of Palmerston led an observance known as Rally Day. The program including a half dozen visiting ministers, a woman revivalist, and a famous baritone from Scotland. Crowds came from a wide area, but the meagre turnout of Moorefield people disappointed organizers.
On July 1, the camp meeting offered the only Dominion Day celebration in the area: a concert featuring mostly religious music.
Noecker Brothers in Drayton sold their hardware store to Tom Fullerton of Atwood at the end of June. Fullerton expanded the business at once by adding a tin-smithing shop.
Several stores offered fresh strawberries at the beginning of July, but there were local sources as well. Wooddisse Bros. advertised that berries “in any quantity” were for sale at their farm at Lot 13, Con. 13.
Richard Stickney, at Lot 10, Con. 7 of Peel, pioneered the “pick your own” concept; he sold a daily pass, allowing the purchaser to pick any quantity, at 10 cents per day per person.
Noah Cober, on Con. 3 of Maryborough, constructed a new barn using a concrete foundation, the first in the township.
Rothsay’s Presbyterians were busy with renovations to their church. A new driving shed went up in June, followed by major work to the church building. While the project was underway, they borrowed the Rothsay Methodist Church for their weekly services. Not to be outdone, Rothsay’s Anglicans constructed a new driving shed as well.
Orange Day, July 12, fell on a Sunday in 1903, so the holiday was observed generally on July 13. The big celebration in north Wellington was in Harriston that year. The various lodges hired a special train from the Grand Trunk Railway from Guelph and intermediate points, and Canadian Pacific supplied special service from the east and west.
Anxious to turn aside years of poor public relations, the Grand Trunk advertised that it would honour the excursion fares to Harriston from July 11 to 14 on its regular trains. A few Orange Lodges held local services on Sunday. In Rothsay, for example, the Orangemen met at their hall at 2pm, then marched to the Methodist Church for a solemn celebration.
News came from Ottawa that redistribution had reduced Wellington County from three MPs to two. A federal election was expected in 1904.
At its summer session, county council let a contract for a new wooden bridge on Con. 4 of Maryborough. Richard Boyle, the famous bridge builder of Parker and Alma, submitted the low bid.
The Glen Allan area was a beehive of activity in the first week of July: there were three barn raisings and two garden parties in the area that week.
Drayton’s Royal Templars of Temperance met on July 14 at the home of Mrs. Robert Slimmon. Several new members signed up, and there was a discussion about pushing for local option plebiscites in Drayton and the townships. The usual lunch of sandwiches and weak tea was augmented, to the surprise and delight of members, with ice cream and cake.
As well as good crops, farmers enjoyed a strong market for cattle, at prices in the range of $4 to $5 per hundredweight. One Drayton cattle dealer shipped $29,000 of cattle from Drayton and Alma during a four-week period.
Dairy farmers also enjoyed the rare combination of rising prices and good markets. The cheese factories in the Peel and Maryborough worked at full capacity in 1903.
The one at Rothsay shipped 35,000 pounds of cheese between June 15 and July 7. All of it went to the Ingersoll Packing Company, which acted as the selling agent for many of the smaller cheese plants in the area.
*This column was originally published in the Drayton Community News on Aug. 1 and 15, 2003.
