CHARLES THOMAS a Stonemason's Legacy Restored

CHARLES THOMAS A Stonemason's Legacy Restored . ~ 'Reprinted with the kind permission of the Ontario Genealogical Society journal Families (28:2, 1989) and the author. What is a genealogist to do when he/she reads statements in popular and respected . publications crediting another person with an achievement that we know proudly belongs to a relative? What if such statements are often written as absolute fact, yet are contradictory to our own family history? What if every time one picks up a book or reads a magazine article about the subject in question, that glaring "mistake" is found? One might try to ignore the inaccuracies. But most family historians would do as much as possible to correct them. I was caught in just such a problem in the spring and summer of 1986. In my case the inaccuracy was a fully understandable case of mistaken identity. But because it appeared in print again and again, I grew increasingly frustrated. I decided to try to set the record straight. -•~, Victoria Hall, Cobourg, Ontario, circa 1860. This may well be the earliest photograph of Victoria Hall. The three-storey building to the extreme left is the Bank of Montreal, designed by J.H. Spring Ie. Directly behind Victoria Hall is the Market Building, apparently designed by IVvas Tully and constructed as part of the town hall project. (Art Gallery of Northumberland, NEC) thas alwaysbeen the contention in our family that my maternal too, was born in Wales. The story goes on to say that after the work on Igreat-great-great uncle, a Welsh stonemason and master Victoria Hall was completed, Charles Thomas left Cobourg and, some builder named Charles Thomas Thomas (1820-1867), executed the time later, was killed on a bridge building project in the United States. beautiful sandstone carvings on Victoria Hall in the town of Cobourg, At this point we had no details of the exact nature of his death. Ontario. Thomas' young niece Mary stayed in Cobourg. She was put under In the late 1850s,the Towndecided to erect an imposing and grand the care of a charwoman at the house of a prominent local lawyer. town hall. Noted Toronto architect Kivas Tullywas commissioned to census records indicated that Mary became a seamstress when she design a magnificent municipal building that, according to the local grew up. newspaper, would reflect "not only our present standing but future greatness as well." Cobourg enjoyed a pros- In July 1873 she married Thomas perous economic boom in that period. Tully James Wark (1845-1913); ironically, he was designed a Palladian-Classical Revival style the caretaker of Victoria Hall at the time. building that most architectural historians I thought it unlikely that an Thomas and Mary Wark lived in back consider to be his masterwork. Construc- architect of William Thomas' quarters in the building and raised a large tion began late in 1856.In September 1860, stature at the time would have family. Among the children was my grand- Victoria Hall was officially opened by Ed- allowed himself to work as a mother Clarice Wark-Romano (1892-1970). ward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward stonemason on a project designed VII). by one of his chief rivals. Since almost every noted architectural historian, including Peter John Stokes, An- The building was adorned with finely thony Adamson, and Thomas Ritchie, had detailed Ohio sandstone carvings, including already awarded architect William Thomas a bearded gargoyle, lyre ornaments, scrolls, Corinthian capitals, and the credit for Victoria Hall's stone work my only chance of convincing cut stone (ashlar) walls. The building fell into disrepair over time and them otherwise was to find solid original evidence to support our was inevitably threatened with demolition. In the early 1970s it was family's version of the facts. saved and its full restoration began. I began byexamining the fewsurviving original sources (day books, Dozens of architectural journals, heritage magazines, and his- architectural plans, etc.) related to the building's construction. These torians began paying a great deal of attention to this designated papers were of little help since, in every case when the stone con- national landmark. Several magazine articles and book chapters docu- tractor's name was mentioned, they referred to only a "Mr Thomas." mented its construction. When writers referred to the stone carvings I examined minutes of town council meetings from 1856 to 1859 and however, they confidently and consistently awarded the credit for the the Cobourg Star newspapers from the same period. Again, both work to noted Toronto architect William Thomas. One book on early sources referred to this "Mr Thomas" and, as such, were totally Cobourg, written in 1973, stated: inconclusive. The Cobourg Star for 7 July 1858 simply said: a vast amount of stone cutting has been accomplished .... The carvings on the spandrels of the chief entrance are exceedingly fine. They comprise the national emblems of the three United Kingdoms - the rose, the thistle, and the shamrock disposed on either side by an ancient lyre. These carvings, The design of Victoria Hall has been variously attributed to William Thomas together with the fine bearded face which forms the keystone of the arch are and to Kivas Tully. There is no doubt that Thomas was associated with the the work of Mr Thomas, contractor for the stone cutting and they certainly do building, since the local paper in 1858 noted the carvings ... are the work of Mr him very great credit.3 Thomas, contractor for the stone cutting ....1 To the best of my knowledge, historians relied exclusively on this William Thomas was the designer of St. Lawrence Hall, St. vague reference when crediting William Thomas. Making this claim Michael's Cathedral, and the Don Jail in Toronto, and Brock's Monu- more plausible isthe fact that WilliamThomas was an apprentice stone ment in Queenston, Ontario. It was my contention, however, that cutter in hisyouth and so might have had the necessary skillsto execute William Thomas had absolutely nothing to do with either the design the stone work on Victoria Hall. Historians have also referred to the or construction of Victoria Hall. Thus began several months of pain- general similarity in carvings on William Thomas' buildings and Tully's staking research to find·evidence clearly naming Charles Thomas as Victoria Hall. It was apparently not considered possible that the Victoria Hall's stonemason. newspaper might have been referring to another man in the building trade with the last name Thomas. I began the project by collecting all of the available information written about Victoria Hall and its builders. More importantly, I set As my research progressed, two points in my favour kept coming down on paper the full account of Charles Thomas' life as we then to mind. I thought it unlikely that an architect of William Thomas' knew it. Our version of the facts had always been that Thomas was stature at the time would have allowed himself to work as a stone- born somewhere in Wales, and that he became a skilled stonemason. mason on a project designed by one of his chief rivals, namely Kivas In the mid 1850s he arrived at Cobourg, C.W.accompanied bya team TUlly.4Architectural historians believe Tullywas inspired in his designs of Welsh stone cutters and his three year old orphaned niece, my for Victoria Hall by William Thomas' St. Lawrence Hall, constructed maternal great grandmother Mary Tomlin Thomas (1854-1937). She, some years earlier. In fact, many experts - including Peter Stokes - believe that Kivas Tully was determined to out-do Thomas with his Charles Thomas Thomaslbuilder/having resided in Ottawa/dying on or about Victoria Hall designs.5lfthis was indeed the case, whywould Tullyhave December 26, 1867/widow, Susan M. Thomas - used William Thomas in his own game of one-upmanship? There were flaws in the accepted historical interpretation. The will was processed in Carleton County Court.7 Naturally, I went to the Ottawa newspapers for 1867-68 in search of an obituary. Early in the summer of 1986 I made my first visit to the Archives In the Ouawa Citizen for 3 January 1868 I discovered: of Ontario in Toronto. I found the business papers of the general contractors for Victoria Hall, William and David Burnet, but they too THOMAS - At Quincy, Illinois on Christmas Day. Charles Thomas Thomas only made inconclusive reference to "Mr Thomas. " One such example isfound in a letter dated 7 May 1859 from the sandstone supplier, John formerly of this city. Worthington of Toronto, addressed to Wil- liam Burnet. Worthington wrote "Has I remember thinking how sad that he Thomas finished up his work, how does his died on Christmas Day and so far away account stand?,,6 It isfair to conclude that he was from home. But now at least I could con- the contractor for the stone work firm that he did die in the United States as Finally some progress was made. I considering what the Assessment we had always believed, and now we also tracked down three separate original sour- Roll, Poll Book, and Deed knew where. ces confirming that Charles T. Thomas did list as his occupation while indeed live in Cobourg during the period of In the Ottawa TImes issue for 28 in Cobourg. Victoria Hall's construction and that he December 1867 I finally landed upon that worked as a stonemason. The Poll Book for piece of evidence for which I had spent the South Ward of Cobourg dated 31 Dec- months searching. I found a wonderfully ember 1857 listed: detailed obituary chronicling the career of Charles T.Thomas, including his work in Cobourg (see below).

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