|
|---|
| Text from the 1877 article which was omitted in 1916 is enclosed in [[double square brackets]]. |
| Turned Swords Into Ploughshares |
|---|
|
[[Perth, 20th Oct. -- In his sketch of the town of Pembroke and its belongings, which
appeared last week in The Citizen, your correspondent edeavored to show what a
British tar could accomplish when he made up his mind to it, and now in order to make manifest
that there is no intention of bestowing more kudos upon one branch of Her Majesty's
brave defenders than another, it is proposed to set forth how]]
Some veteran military heroes, who had borne the brunt of the Peninsular and the American wars,
turned their swords into ploughshares, and from being sons of Mars, became disciples of
Cincinnatus, forsaking the art of war, for the peaceful and more profitable pursuit of tilling
the soil. Before, however, the soldiers arrived on the scene, the fame of the fertile tract of
land on which the "fair town of Perth" now stands, had travelled abroad, and reached the ears of
some canny Scots, and with the forethought of their race, Joshua-like, they sent out scouts
into the promised land, and these returned with such favorable reports, that in 1815 a large
number of families left Scotland and settled in 1816 on what is now called the "Scotch Line",
situated in the 1st concession of Bathurst, 10th of Burgess, forming as it were, a little
trans-Atlantic Scotland, a peaceful, thrifty, and industrious community, who, in after years, by
their own handiwork, and almost unassisted, built up for themselves and their posterity
independencies. [[But, however, as the settlement is not exactly in the town of Perth proper, and
it is with that your correspondent proposes, almost exclusively, to deal, although much of
interest might be written relative to the Scotch line, the subject has to be dismissed for
the present at all events, with the mention of one notable fact, which]] This speaks volumes for the intelligence of those pioneers. They, even in the
wilderness in which they had cast their lots never lost sight of the importance of educating
those who were to fill their places when they had gone to their long homes; so in the same year,
the Earl of Bathurst, under whose auspices, if your correspondent is not mistaken, the
settlement was founded, sent out one John Halliday, a dominie well versed in the learning
of the age, [[and doubtless as firm a believer in the persuasuve influence of the "tawse" [a
leather thong split into strips and used as a whip -- Ed.] as
Mr. Andrew Irving was, and is to the present day,]] and under his regime the future colonists
grew up to be what they are still, shrewd well informed men and women. |
|
Perth, which derived its name from the city in the Land o' cakes [sic], is situated on the banks
of the River Tay, which empties itself into the Rideau Lake, a few miles from the town. The
first thing that strikes a stranger visiting the place is the substantial character of its
buildings and the regularity and well kept appearance of the streets, the latter running at
right angles, the old ordinance survey, when the town was laid out in lots in the early part of
the present century, being adhered to. |
| The Private Dwellings and Stores |
|---|
| are for the most part constructed of free stone, which is obtained close to the town,
and is of a fine white quality, conveying an impression of durability and cleanliness not often
noticed in towns of its size. Brick has also been most extensively used in building operations,
frame erections being almost the exception, and not the rule, as it is almost everywhere else.
There is an entire absence of the appearance of "an old worn out town," as it has been called by
those interested in detracting from its merits; on the contrary there is a staid, solid business
air about it and its inhabintants, highly indicitive of prosperity and wealth, both of which it
enjoys to a very large extent. [[Business failures are few and far between, this being due,
doubtless to the fact, that merchants and store keepers generally are content with their own
legitimate trade, and are not to be lead into the wild schemes of speculation and over trading so
commonly met with in places of greater magnitude. Most of the business men have been long
established, the majority of them are large property holders, while not a few have acquired
handsome competencies, and could retire upon such at any time they chose. The trade of the
place is almost as conservative as its politics, and goes on now in as steady a manner as it did
a quarter of a century ago. Of course, if the proposed Toronto & Ottawa railroad passes through
Perth, a great impetus will be given to the mercantile enterprise of the town, but
walled in as it is now, with the almost impassible barrier of enormous freight charges for the
conveyance of merchandise, those engaged in business are content to tread the old path which
has led them to wealth by somewhat slow, but, withal, certain degrees. If the railroad company should
choose the route through a comparatively sterile and . . . text hidden by fold]] Before speaking of the early history of the town itself it should
be stated that the district immediately surrounding it is rich in mineral products,
superphosphate of lime, beds of mica, plumbago [graphite -- Ed.] of the finest
quality, stone for building purposes and iron are to be found in quantities, [[and,
even with the present imperfect means of transit large quantities of phosphates are shipped
annually for Great Britain and the United States, and it is safe to predict that if the
railway is constructed on the Southern route plan vast industries will spring up that will
soon make this section of the country one of the most important in Canada.]] |
|
So much, then, for what Perth is now and what it may be in time to come. And now to take a
glimpse of what it was in the long ago, when trade and commerce were yet unborn and the only
signs of civilization were the scanitly cleared and sparcely planted patches of ground here and
there, and the sound of the hardy settler's busy axe, as he tellsomely |
| Hewed Out a Home in the Wilderness |
|---|
| for himself, his wife and little ones. Hard times did these people see, and many were
the privations they had to endure, but patience under difficulties in time to come, as is
manifest at the present day, brought its reward. One of the earliest of pioneers was Mr. Francis
Allan, who arrived in 1816, and settled on the Scotch Line close to Perth, but the oldest
inhabitant of the town proper, and who is now alive, a hale and hearty man of seventy-two years
is Mr. John Manion, son of the late Sergt. Manion of the 49th Regiment, and who
possesses a memory as green as one of his own meadows in the spring. It is to him and Mr. James
Bell, the Registrar of the County, who was born in the town in 1817, that your
correspondent is indebted for the facts now presented to the readers of the Citizen.
Perth may be called a strictly military settlement, as it was first peopled by half pay officers
and discharged non-commissioned officers and men, when peace was declared after the
Peninsular war. Grants of land were made by the Government, captains receiving 800 acres of
land, lieutenants 600, ensigns 400, non-commissioned officers in proportion to their rank,
and privates 100 acres. Many of these lots, Mr. Manion's for instance, remain intact to
this day, and are still owned by the descendants of the original grantees. Others have been sold
at large prices. In 1816 Captain Joshua Adams, a veteran who served in the American war
of 1812-13, in the Canadian militia, was about the first to draw a town lot of an acre, and he
erected a tavern thereon. Shortly after that settlers of the class before mentioned began to
pour in, and pending the taking up of their allotments, camped on the island in the Tay River,
which now forms the centre portion of the town. The settlers were for the most part 49th
Regiment and Foreign Legion men, who, with their wives and families were conveyed in the month
of May, 1816, in wagons, from the various stations at which they were discharged, to Portland,
twenty-eight miles north of Brockville, where |
| They Embarked in a Scow |
|---|
| owned by a man named Lindsay, thence down Rideau Lake and up the River Tay to
Perth. Here was a Government storehouse, under the charge of Capt. Fowler, Capt.
Gregg, having as a subaltern Mr. Davern and Mr. Alex. Matheson and Sergt.
Campbell, of the Glengarry Fencibles, as issuers of stores. The storehouse was on the
southwest corner of one of the present bridges, where Spalding's brewery is now, and
there on the 24th of each month, rations with necessary household and agricultural implements
were issued to the settlers -- males received per diem, one pound of pork and the same
weight of flour -- females half that amount, children of ten years and upwards, the same as
females, and under ten, one quarter rations. This arrangement was only to last until the
settlers had got some land under cultivation, and were in some sort of position to help
themselves -- at this time the settlers lived in the crudest of huts, roofed with bark and
wooden boughs, and as the winter came on most of them moved off to Brockville, Prescott and
Montreal, and there remained until the following spring, However, the first year a quantity of
potatoes were planted, and three bushels of seed fall wheat, obtained from the Government store,
was also put into the ground. As the spring of 1817 opened, the settlers began to return, and
clearing the land, commenced in good earnest. Many of the single men, however, got sick of a
backwoods life, the work being too hard for them, and they either turned trappers or hunters, or
else sought employment in the more settled parts of Canada and the United States. The married
men having the responsibility of wives and families to provide for, stuck manfully to the task
before them and were not long in laying the foundation of a career of prosperity. The year of
1817 was, however, one of great hardship and privation, and the settlers were in great straits,
in fact, on |
| The Very Verge of Starvation. |
|---|
| The crop of potatoes was destroyed by the frost, and the rust got into the wheat. Some
families lived for three weeks on the wild leeks they found in the woods. An application was at
last made to the Government for the issue of an additional half ration per head, which was
granted, and the famine which was imminent was averted. Referring to the failure of the potato
crop, Mr. Bell tells how his father offered one man two dollars per bushel for the
potatoes in his plot, and he would dig them himself. The man refused the offer, and a few days
after, the frost came and killed all he had -- so much for avarice. At this time Mr.
Manion's father was working in a field logging, without the aid of oxen, in the month of
June, for four pounds of flour a day, all he had to support his family on, but this, says Mr.
Manion, "was a God-send after living on leeks for nearly a month!" He added, that he has
hated that esculent ever since, and would not have one in his soup on any consideration, but "he
reckoned there were some Welshmen among them who thrived on the diet, but it was not strong
enought for a North of Ireland stomach!" Timely assistance, and a patient waiting for better
times, tided the settlers over their difficulties; the lane turned and the highway to prosperity
was soon reached; the clearings became larger, the dwellings began to assume some semblance of
comfort, crops were better year by year, and each spring saw fresh bands of settlers coming to
Perth, and quite a large community was formed by degrees. While this was going on, the Capt.
Adams before mentioned, gave up his tavern, and put up one of the |
| First Grist and Saw Mills |
|---|
| on lot 20, [[Glen Tay]] [ink notation on 1877 copy -- Ed.] in the 2nd concession of Bathurst, County of Lanark, and he soon begain to
drive a brisk trade. The first store, an old Canadian can well recall to recollection what the
stores of those days were, was opened in 1816 by Mr. (afterwards the Hon.) Wm. Morris,
father of Lieutenant-Governor Morris, of Manitoba, the latter subsequently partner
of Mr. W. H. Radenhurst, the present respected Mayor of Perth. This store was on the
south side of the River Tay, then unbridged, and there the town may be said to have started,
though it has since grown altogether in a northerly direction. A ferry was then used to ply
across the river, and cattle when moved from the north to the south side, and of course, vice
versa, had to swim the stream. The next store was established by Benjamin Delisle, an
ex-captain in the Canadian Fencibles, who came to the settlement in July or August, 1816. His
store, which is still standing, was also on the south side of the Tay, near where the English
church is now. Mr. Delisle, after doing business there for many years, removed to
Montreal, where he died not very long ago. Others came in their turn, and the place begain to be
in some measure independent of other markets at a distance. As the settlement grew, of course
someone was wanted to look after their spiritual welfare, and then came |
| The First Protestant Clergyman, |
|---|
| in the person of Rev. William Bell, a Presbyterian minister, and father of Mr.
James Bell, the present Registrar of the County. He had his church, which has been burt
down, in the southeast portion of the town. He ministered faithfully to his flock for many
years, and was highly esteemed by the members of all creeds as being a thoroughly good man. In
1820 came the Rev. Michael Harris, an Episcopal clergyman, and co-temporary with him was
the Rev. Father Lamottie, the first Roman Catholic priest. Both these gentlemen's memory
is still held in veneration by several of the old residents of Perth, who speak of them in
unqualifed terms of respect. Then, of course, the physical ailments of the settlers had to be
attended to, and |
| [[A Desciple of Galen,]] |
|---|
| a Dr. Thom, formerly of the 41st Regiment, came among the people. The
gallant, and no doubt, learned doctor, must have been a gentleman of a practical turn of mind,
or else the place was so unprofitably healthy that time hung heavily on his hands and the
piastres did not come in plentiously enough to please him, for he started a grist and saw mill
on the site of the one now belonging to Mr. John G. Haggart, M.P. History does not go so
far as to state whether the doctor had a lathe mill for the purpose of turning his own wooden
legs, but probably that branch of industry was not sufficiently developed in Perth at that time
to make it profitable; it is on record though, that the saw mill and the compounding of physic
agreed well together, and the doctor accumulated many shekels, doubtless well earned. Before his
advent, any small parcels of grain raised had to be ground in pepper mills, or boiled whole.
About this time too, the seed for the patches of ground cleared had to be carried on men's backs
from the settlement behind Brockville, and a good proportion of the provisions were taken into
Perth in the same way. A good story is told apropos of the difficulties which the people in
those days experienced in getting their grain ground at this mill; sometimes the miller was
extremely dilatory about the operation and required a great deal of coaxing to induce him to
perform the work. One farmer named Haley had brought a couple of bushels of wheat on his
back some six miles away from the settlement, having to walk through bush and mud, the latter in
places knee deep, three times in order to get his flour, and on each occasion was unsuccessful.
Some one who knew the miller well suggested that a bottle of whiskey would have the effect of
hastening his movements, so Mr. Haley supplied himeself with one. The miller saw him
coming up the hill with the "cratur" under his arm, and forthwith called out to his men,
"Haley's grist next!" Haley had found out the soft spot in the man of flour's nature, and
in future always went provided with the needful stimulant to his energies. |
|
In 1817 the first native of the town, Mr. James Bell, was born. This gentleman's father,
who it will be remembered was the Presbyterian minister, used to tell of the difficulties to be
contended with in a trip from Perth to Brockville in those days; there was nothing but a foot
trail, and that not particularly defined either -- scarcely a vestige of human life was to
be seen, and the only marks of civilization were the few miserable cabins of some settlers near
the bank of the Rideau River. The woods then abounded in |
| Wild Animals, |
|---|
| many of which man was not desirous of forming any close acquaintance with. Bears,
wolves, wolverines, wild cats, etc., deer, partridge and other game were plentiful, but the
prices given for the pelts scarcely paid for the means adopted for obtaining them, to say
nothing of the trouble and risk; but, notwithstanding this, several of the settlers then eked
out their scanty livelihood by the sale or barter of the spoils of the chase. |
|
A few years of which were not remarkable for any event of importance passed over the heads of
the settlers, who kept adding to their numbers people of all classes, creeds and nationalities.
Prominent among those who went out to seek their fortunes in the wilds were Captain
Marshall, Captain McMillan and Captain McKay, all of the Canadian
Fencibles, which had been embodied for service for several years previously; Lieuts. Watson,
O'Connor (of him more anon), and Monk Mason (afterwards recalled for service in the
24th Regiment), Blair, of the Glengarry Fencibles; Playfair, and Fraser,
the father of Mr. James Fraser, Deputy Clerk of the Crown in Ottawa. Of these now none
remain. Lieut. O'Connor, met with his death at the hands of justice at Brockville Gaol,
in either 1821 or 1822. The circumstances were briefly as follows: O'Connor, who was a
member of the Roman Catholic faith, had a servant man named Porter, who was an infidel
and scoffer at everything pertaining to religion. The two men had been to Brockville one day
purchasing some provisions, and while in the town they drank enough rum (old rye was in its
infancy in those days) to make them quarrelously drunk. On the way home they got into a
religious argument, and in the course of it Porter applied a most offensive epithet to
the name of the Virgin Mary. O'Connor's angry feelings were aroused at this, and he
demanded that Porter should withdraw the expression he had made use of, but he
persistently refused to do so. O'Connor said if he did not do so he would blow his brains
out, but Porter laughed at him, and the wrangle continued until they reached
O'Connor's house, when the Lieutenant went in doors, almost immediately re-appearing with
a loaded gun, which he presented at Porter at the same time repeating his demand for a
withdrawal of the expression. Porter still refused, and O'Connor, true to his
threat, pulled the trigger, and the infidel fell a dead man. O'Connor was taken into
custody and after remaining in jail for nine months, expiated his crime at Brockville. This was
the first crime of any magnitude committed in the settlement, which, up to that time, had been
characterized by peace and order, and an entire absence of any serious infringement of the laws,
which were then, of course, in but a crude state. The body of O'Connor was, as was the
custom in those days, given up to a surgeon for dissection, and his skeleton is at present in
possession of a doctor in Pembroke, and a portion of his skin now forms the covering of a bible
in the possession of a resident of Perth -- a queer use to put a part of "the human frame
devine" to! As the subject of crime has been adverted to here, it may be a fitting place to note
that the |
| First Jail and Court House |
|---|
| was built of brick, on the south side of the river, in 1821 or 1822, probably its
erection extended over a portion of both years. The structure was afterwards burnt down, and the
present one, a handsome free stone edifice, was put up in its stead. |
|
The first death recorded in the anals of Perth was that of the wife of Sergt. Wallesley
Ritchie, of the 89th Regiment, in 1816, and her remains were interred in what is now the
English cemetery, on the south side of the Tay. Mortality does not seem to have been large until
the year 1832, when the cholera was the cause of some deaths among the settlers. |
|
The next band of emigrants to take up their abode in the township of Lanark were a number of
Paisley weavers, whose descendants now form a great portion of the wealthy residents of the
district. They all took up land and entered vigorously into farming pursuits. They were an
industrious, law abiding folk, adapting themselves easily to their new mode of life, and were
soon a large and important item in the list of colonists. Despite the hardships which, perhaps
from the extremely sudden transition from the use of the loom and shuttle to that of the spade,
axe and plough, they felt in a keener degree than their fellow settlers, they rapidly acquired
wealth, and not a few of them have left to their posterity handsome dependencies. |
|
Fall wheat was first grown in large (for those times) quantities in 1823, and the succeeding
years. The only outlet and market for it was Brockville, to which place it was taken by ox
teams, a crude road having, by this date, been made, there being no horses in the settlement
until about 1830, when Mr. Henry Glass procured a team. The wheat sold in Brockville at
three shillings and sixpence currency per bushel, and the settlers were paid in kind, taking
home supplies for their families -- but a very small quantity of money being afloat in
those days, in fact, until some of the veterans applied for and obtained pensions from the
British government, the whole, or nearly the whole, trade was done on the barter
system. |
|
The making of potash became quite an extensive branch of industry, and large quantities of it
was shipped, both winter and summer, by ox teams to the Brockville market. For this article
money was generally supposed to be paid, but the amount was nearly, as a rule, eaten up by the
credits obtained by the farmers from the storekeepers, who, it would seem, invariably got the
best of the bargain, although the settler tried to sail as close to the wind as possible. The
trade in potash was an extremely brisk one until |
| The Lumber Trade |
|---|
| was opened up in 1834 by Rogers & Thompson, Porter & Gemmel,
Alex & Henry Montgomery, James Flintoff and others, whose names your correspondent
could not with any degree of accruacy ascertain. The lumber operations in the immediate vicinity
of Perth were of a most extensive character, and the settlers then saw to their sorrow the
amount of valuable timber which had been burnt by them when clearing their lots, and the
thousands of dollars which had been literally thrown into the fire. However, they were not the
kind of people to indulge in vain regrets, and not a few of them went into the business
themselves and carried it on for some years successfully and profitably. The timber thus
obtained was drawn to Brockville, there rafted, and went by the St. Lawrence river to Quebec;
large quantities were also floated down the Tay to the Rideau river, and thence to Ottawa, en
route also for Quebec. Staves and square oak for many years formed the staple of the trade. This
business while it performed the important office of clearing the land, of course, was the means
of bringing large numbers of men into the town, for by this time the settlement had grown to a
size which entitled it to that designation, and stone houses following the first one built
(still extant) in 1823 by John Ferguson, a Highlander, who delighted in the patronymic of
Craigdarrich, began to be erected on all sides. Perth then commenced to be |
| A Place of Importance. |
|---|
| But previous to this, and as far back as 1824, before Carleton was made a county in
itself, the Court of King's Bench sat there twice a year, and all the law business of Bytown was
transacted there. Perth was originally in the District of Johnstown, but was subsequently made
into the District of Bathurst, which embraces that portion of the now county of Carleton north
and west of the Rideau, and also what is now the County of Renfrew. When Bytown became Ottawa,
Perth was shorn of much of its importance, the present Capital, with its more advantageous
surroundings and facilities for carrying on a vast lumber business, soon outstripped her elder
sister with rapid strides. Meanwhile, Perth was not idle, but in its own quiet but sure
commercial method of carrying on trade, increased in solidity and wealth, each year witnessing
the opening of extensive stores. A distillery established by Henry Graham, an ex-Captain
in the army during this period, formed an important item in the commerce of the place, and it at
present boasts of one of the most perfect in the Dominion, that of Mr. J. A. McLaren, who
manufactures Scotch whiskey equal to the best Glenlevat ever brewed in Scotland. Mr.
Graham's distillery was situated on the west side of one of the bridges and the latter is
called Graham's bridge to this day. One of the early storekeepers was |
| The Late Hon. Malcolm Cameron, |
|---|
| who, when a boy in 1821, used to ferry passengers across the Mississippi River on the
road to Lanark, and whose parents kept a public house or stopping place for the settlers of that
district close to the ferry. In after years Mr. Cameron kept a tavern and afterwards a
general store where the extensive establishment of Messrs. A. Meighen Bros. is now.
Subsequently he was in partnership with Mr. H. Glass and carried on business on the
present site of the Hick's Hotel. |
| The Construction of the Rideau Canal |
|---|
| in 1825 did Perth an immense amount of good, opening up as it did, a direct line of
communication and means of conveyance with the River Ottawa. During the years the canal was
being made trade was very brisk in the town, the large number of men employed on the work, being
the means of causing a considerable amount of money to be put into circulation. About this time,
too, a private enterprise called the River Tay Navigation Company was formed for the
purpose of deepening the channel and making it navigable to the Rideau River. Large sums were
laid out by the company, locks were constructed, and for a time a considerable amount of traffic
by means of flat bottomed boats was carried on; but in time railroads took the trade away, and
the locks, on the building of which so much money had been expended, have now fallen into decay
and only remain as monuments of a scheme which eventually did not turn out as profitable as its
projectors anticipated. The company built a steamer called the Enterprise, which was
launched on the Tay right at the town, in the year 1833. She, however, only made two trips and
was then transferred to the Rideau canal, on which she ran for many years. When she was broken
up, her engines were put into one of the steamers built by Mr. Jason Gould for the
navigation of the Muskrat lake and river. Goods from Montreal at this time, consigned to Perth,
were brought in barges up the Rideau Canal via Ottawa, and then up the River Tay. This state of
things continued until that stream began to fill up, and the locks got into bad repair and
became useless. Then part of the merchandize intended for the town was taken in via Oliver's
Ferry by teams. Then the Brockville & Ottawa railway was bult, and this effectually
killed the traffic on the Tay Canal, and the latter gradually fell into complete disuse. The
business then was entirely of a mercantile character, but lumber of excellent quality was still
being taken out of the northern and western portions of the neighbouring county. |
| The First Newspaper |
|---|
| which was called the Examiner and was edited by either Mr. Wm. Tully or
John Stewart, who was also a schoolmaster. This was in 1825 or 1826. The Examiner
afterwards merged into the Courier in 1834, when Mr. John Cameron, brother of the
late Hon. Malcolm Cameron occupied the editorial chair. At his death, Mr. Malcolm
Cameron succeeded him -- from his hands it passed into those of the present Sheriff
of Lanark, Mr. James Thompson, who conducted it for many years. Mr. Chas. Rice,
the present Clerk of the County Court, bought it from Mr. Thompson, and after running it
successfully for some time, on his appointment to the office he now holds, he sold it to Mr. G.
L. Walker, in 1863. In 1868 Mr. Walker took Mr. J. M. Walker into
partnership. The former died in 1874 and the Courier became the property of the present
proprietors, Messrs. J. M. and W. T. Walker, who now carry on the business under the
style of Walker Bros. The Courier is Reform in politics, and enjoys an extensive
circulation. |
|
The Expositor, the Conservative journal, was established in 1861, and is consequently in
the sixteenth year of its existence. Its first proprietors were Messrs. Thomas Cairns
(the present postmaster) and Thomas Scott; at that time the British Standard was
in existence, but it has since ceased to wave, and has gone to that particular corner of Hades
from whence no newspaper was ever known to return. On the appointment of Mr. Cairns to
his present office, he retired, and Mr. Scott continued to publish the paper as sole
proprietor until the 1st of September, 1873. He received his commission as a Captain in the
first Red Cross River expeditionary force under Col. Wolsley, and going in command of the
second expedition he determined to remain in Manitoba, selling the paper in September, 1873, as
before mentioned to Messrs. Bedford and Elliott, who conducted it until 1875, when
they sold it to Mr. A. J. Matheson, the present proprietor, who conducts it most ably.
The Expositor has an excellent circulation among members of both political parties, and
is a good specimen, as indeed is also the Courier, of a country newspaper. Perth appears
to have been a sort of Eldorado for knights of the quill, so far as snug appointments have been
concerned, or else the brethren must have possessed abilities of an extraordinarily high order,
and have been fortunate enough to have their merits appreciated and recognized in high quarters,
and reaped rewards accordingly. Here's a list: -- Mr. J. Thompson, late of the
Courier, Sheriff of Lanark; the late Hon. Malcolm Cameron, also a Courier
man, made a Senator; Mr. Charles Rice, also a Courier man, Deputy Clerk of the
Crown and Clerk of the County Court; Mr. Thomas Cairns, while of the Expositor,
Postmaster of Perth; Mr. Thos. Scott, another Expositor man, he, being martial in
his tastes, was made a "Captain bold" of Red Riverites, and if your correspondent is not
mistaken Mr. Richard Shaw, now holding an appointment in the Inland Revenue, was once
belonging to the noble army of Bohemians. Ye gods! If your correspondent had his newspaper
career to commence again (which he is glad he hasn't) Perth would be his starting point
certainly, for the lines of all who have been there, of a surety, have been cast in pleasant
places, yea even exceedingly pleasant places! Well, well, we can't all be sheriffs, and deputy
clerks of crowns and senators, with comfortable seats in gorgeous chambers and getting $1,000
for doing it, and postmasters, and brave centurions having men under us, and inland revenues and
such, so let us rest and be thankful, waiting patiently for the good time coming, and which has
been coming from time immemorial and is as far off now as it ever was. Eheu! "It's better to be
born lucky than rich," so they say, but the sentiment of the adage is an extremely doubtful one.
Now for something for the antiquaries. On the green sward in front of the Court House
are |
| Two Brass Field Pieces |
|---|
| (three pounders) to which there is quite a history attached. The little "barkers" were
originally taken from the French by the Duke of York, in Flanders, and did service for the
British in the American war, when they were taken from Gen. Burgoyne at the Battle of
Saratoga. They were retaken from the Americans by the British at the Battle of Chrysler's Farm,
on the 11th of November, 1813, which affair Mr. Manion's father took part in, and Mr.
Manion himself, then only a youngster of about seven year's old, was an eyewitness. He
relates how the women and children belonging to the troops engaged in the fight were sent down
Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence in bateaux, and the one in which he was with his mother was
struck in the bow by a round shot, which fortunately did no injury to those on board. With a
youngster's curiosity, and of course, not knowing the danger he was in, he crawled up the bank,
under which the bateaux was moored close to where his father's regiment was, and from there saw
the repulse of the American dragoons when they attempted to force a passage across a bridge. Mr.
Manion says that, long as that is since, he has still a vivid recollection of the
scene. As probably your correspondent will not have occasion to mention this gentleman's name
again in the course of this sketch, it is worth mentioning that in the same year (1813) he
crossed Lake Ontario from Kingston to Niagara, with Mr. Peter White, sen., the pioneer
settler of Pembroke, in the man-of-war "Earl of Moira", which had the
49th Regiment on board. By the way, it was almost omitted to be mentioned that the two guns
alluded to have still the original trails and axles, and they bear the inscription on the
breech, "J. & R. Verbruggen, freerunt 1775 and 1776", showing by the name of their maker
that they are either of Flemish or Belgian manufacture. They were taken to Perth when peace
was declared, and presented to the town and are now used for saluting purposes on high days and
holidays. |
| Several Affairs of Honor |
|---|
| took place in Perth and neighbourhood; some were bloodless, others resulted in one or
other of the principals getting a little of the heated sanguineous fluid let out of them, and
their "honor" satisfied and but one bad or tragic termination, that being the affair between the
late Judge (then Mr.) Wilson and Mr. Lyon, of Richmond, [[nephew of]] [correction
made in ink, written over "brother to" -- Ed.] the late Mr.
Robt. Lyon Fellowes. A lady was the cause of the quarrel, and the parties met at a spot,
just outside the town; at the [[second]] [correction made in ink, written over "first"
-- Ed.] discharge Mr. Lyon fell, never to rise again, Mr.
Wilson surrendered himself to the authorities, was tried and acquitted. Another
encounter, but of a ludicrous nature, in which Mr. James Boulton, then a leading member
of the bar, played a prominent part, took place about the same time. It seems that a dandified
gentleman, whose name your correspondent cannot at this moment call to mind, raised the choler
of the irrascible Mr. Boulton, who applied some terms to him, the use of which he was
always an adept in. The dandy challenged him, Mr. Boulton, who was by no means deficit in
pluck, naturally objected to being made a target of, and the more his would-be antagonist
called him out, the more Mr. Boulton wouldn't go. Finally the dandy began to allude to
him as a poltroon [coward -- Ed.], and boasted of his own valor and sense of honor
in having done the proper thing by challenging him to mortal combat. This was more than Mr.
Boulton could stand, so one fine day he invested in a good stout horsewhip and sailed
forth on the warpath, seeking his enemy to inflict condeign punishment upon him. Finally his
search was rewarded by his discovering his man somewhere in the neighbourhood of the Court
House, and then the fun commenced. J. B. drew the whip smartly across the body of his adversary,
who with a howl of anguish and a bound which would have done credit to a modern acrobat, put off
down the street as fast as his tightly pantalooned legs would carry him, closely pursued by the
blows upon any portion of the dandy's body where the whip could light conveniently. The race
continued for some couple of hundred yards, and a lady who witnessed the scene has stated that
"she never saw better time made over the same distance". After this, people gave up sending
challenges to Mr. Boulton, his skill in handling a flagellatory implement being
sufficient to make him as bullet proof as a shirt of mail. |
|
As men became more engrossed in business their notions as to indulging in pistol practice upon
each other altered in a marked degree, and duels became things of the past. They began to study
the rules of debit and credit more closely than the code of honor; the "bloods" of that day
began to get too old for fighting, and the rising generation did not care much for the
amusement. The town kept on growing and the trade increasing, nothing of any great importance
occurring for the succeeding years, the history of the latter being generally uneventful and
perhaps the most exciting affair which has come about in the last 30 years being the present
struggle about the route of the Toronto and Ottawa Railroad, and a few days will see that
settled. The next epoch of the annals of Perth will be the commencement of the work of
constructing the line, and the one to follow that will be the opening of it for
traffic. |
|
Adverting once more to the Perth of the present day, mention should be made of |
| The Churches, |
|---|
| which are six in number, St. James' (Church of England) is a remarkably handsome
building, situated on the hill on the south side of the river, adjacent to the Court House. It
is Gothic in style, and built of the white free stone found in the vicinity of Perth, and cost
$17,000, and the tasteful rectory close to the church building, and finished but a short time
ago cost $5,000. The church consists of chancel, nave and two aisles, and a tower will soon be
erected at the north west corner of the building, at an outlay of $5,000. The structure is 136
feet long and 66 feet wide. The nave is 110 feet long and 66 feet wide, and the chancel is 24
feet deep. The interior is not disfigured by galleries, and the wood work is of pine, stained
and varnished, and of chasie pattern. One beauty about the building is that it was consecrated
free of debt, and that is more than can be said of many other edifices of the same character.
Perth is one of the old Canadian rectories, of which there are but a few in existence. Since the
days of the Rev. Michael Harris, A. M., the first rector, who ministered in the town
for 38 [1877 copy says 33 -- Ed.] years, there have been the Rev. A. Dyne, who remained only three years, and the
present respected rector, the Rev. R. L. Stephenson, A. M., a good and genial graduate of
the "Silent Sister" Trinity College, Dublin, who had pastoral charge for 20 years. |
|
The Roman Catholic church is a substantial stone building with some pretentions to architectural
taste, the Rev. J. J. Chisholm, D. D., is the clergyman, and is a gentleman distinguished
for his condition and piety. |
|
The other places of worship are Knox church, Rev. W. Burns; St. Andrew's, Rev. W.
Blair, D. D.; Baptist, Rev. J. Forth; and the Methodist, Rev. J. Freshman.
All the buildings if they are not strikingly handsome, are at least well adapted for the purpose
of divine service. After the churches naturally come |
| The Schools, |
|---|
| and first among these, of course, is the High School, a remarkably handsome building
from the design of Mr. Arnoldi of Ottawa. It is of three stories and is of white brick,
and cost about $16,000, without the land. The interior is admirably arranged and there are few
in the Province to surpass it. The average attendance is 75, and the staff of masters
are: -- Messrs. F. Michell, B. A., head and mathematical master; P. Perry, B.
A., classical and modern languages; J. Stewart, English and science. |
|
Little can be said in favor of the Common School building; it answers the purpose, and that is
all. The average attendance is about 375, the staff of teachers being Messrs. Raine, head
master; and Mortimer, Miss Anderson, Mrs. Moodie, Miss Forgie, Miss
Thornton, and Miss Holmes all of whom are most efficient. |
|
Perth can boast of a fine Town Hall, in which is also the Postoffice, which was built some 10
years ago. It contains a spacious room for concerts, public meetings, etc.; Council Chamber,
Town Clerk's office, caretaker's rooms and lock up. A handsome tower, in which is a clock,
surmounts the whole, which is quite an ornament to the street. Mr. W. H. Radenhurst is
the present Mayor, and so popular is he that he is now serving his third term of office. Mr.
Thos. Brooke is Town Clerk, the same gentleman is also Clerk of the County. |
| The Other Officials |
|---|
| are: Mr. James Thompson, Sheriff; Mr. E. S. Senkler, County Court Judge
and Master in Chancery; Mr. Joseph Jamieson, Warden of the County; Mr. James Bell,
Registrar; Mr. Charles Rice, Deputy Clerk of the Crown, Clerk of the County Court and
Surrogate Court; Mr. E. G. Malloch, County Crown Attorney and Clerk of the Peace; Mr. W.
W. Berford, County Treasurer; Mr. W. H. Grant, Official Assignee; Mr. Robt.
Kellock, Deputy Sheriff and Gaoler. The committee on the Toronto and Ottawa
Railroad is composed of the Mayor, Messrs.. E. Elliott, H. A. Mathews, J.
Kippen, and W. J. Dennison. |
| The Assessment of the Town |
|---|
|
One of the best criterions of the value of property in the town is, of course, its assessment
roll, which, considering that building operations have not been very brisk during the last
decade, presents a most respectable figure. For the last three years it has averaged $1,065,270,
not at all bad for a place of only 2,800 inhabitants. |
| The Learned Professions |
|---|
| are well represented. The barristers are Messrs. W. H. Radenhurst, J. W.
Douglas, F. F. A. Hall, E. Elliott, E. G. Malloch, and A. J.
Matheson. The Attornies are two in number -- Messrs. G. A. Consitt and W. W.
Berford. The Physicians, Messrs. J. D. Kellock, H. C. Rugg, William
Grant and R. Howden. Mr. F. A. Kennedy is the only dentist. By the way it
is worth noting that gentleman has one of Prof. Bell's telephones, which will be in
operation between his house and his office next week. |
| The Banks |
|---|
| are two in number, the Bank of Montreal, R. J. Drummond, manager, and the
Merchants Bank, James Grey, manager. The latter institution occupies one of the finest
stone buildings in the town. Speaking of buildings, some of |
| The Private Residences |
|---|
| in Perth are worthy of notice for the taste displayed in their style, and among the
houses are Judge Malloch, Victoria Hall, [Ed. Note: this building became the
Great War Memorial Hospital and still forms the main entrance to it] Drummond street, Messrs. Peter McLaren,
H. D. Shaw, W. S. Senkler, J. J. Henderson, Drummond street; John A.
McLaren, Nelson street; Mrs. Wm. Shaw, corner Drummond and Foster streets; Dr.
Chisholm, Wilson street; James Gray, Agent Merchants Bank, corner Dunn and Foster
streets; H. Ryan, Drummond street. |
| The Hotels |
|---|
| claim the next share of attention. There are seven altogether, the principal ones being
Hicks, Allan's and the Revere House, the latter a new one. Hick's Hotel, kept for the last ten
years by Mr. Wm. Hicks, who has been twenty years in the business, and thirty-six
years a resident of Perth, is a most comfortable house, as quiet as a private dwelling.
Excellently well managed, and the rule of early hours is judiciously adopted. Mr. Hicks
quaintly says "he likes to go to bed the same day as he gets up." There are thirty-three
well furnished bedrooms, four parlours, four sample rooms, spacious dining-rooms and
office. A capital table is kept, and the cuisine is under the immediate superintendance of Mrs.
Hicks, whose comely presence makes the house look thoroughly homelike. This hotel can be
confidently commended to those who journey Perthward. His Honor Justice Burton stayed
there during the late assizes. Allan's hotel, under the proprietorship of Mr. Thos.
Jordan, is also a most comfortable house, which has been established some forty years. It
contains forty-four good bedrooms, four parlours, four sample rooms, a reading room,
billiard hall with three tables, and all the offices necessary to a first-class house. Mr.
Jordan keeps an excellent table, and is deservedly popular with the travelling public,
who patronize him extensively. There is a good livery attached to the hotel. The Revere House,
recently opened by Mr. W. Wilson, is also a comfortable hotel, and is earning for itself
a good reputation. The proprietor does his utmost to provide well for the comfort of his
patrons. |
| The Principal Storekeepers |
|---|
| are, as has been said before, mostly men of wealth, and Perth ranks high in the opinion
of commercial travellers for the stability of its business men. They are: -- A.
Meighen Bros., (established in 1847), Shaw, Matheson & McMaster, J. T.
Henderson, Alex. Robertson, general storekeeper; A. Allan, hardware; W.
O'Brien, boot and shoemaker; Hope Bros., tinsmiths; W. Farrell, saddler,
John Hart, bookseller and stationer, fancy goods, etc., and besides these there are a
host of smaller, but well kept stores. |
|
Your correspondent in taking leave of Perth must bear testimony to the good old world-like
character of its residents and their kindly manners, and he only hopes that a few years will
bring the town nearer to Ottawa, by means of a new railway, and that the proposed railway will
bring them every kind of prosperity. |
