Abstract Introduction

Out of the Wood Work : The Wood Family's Benefactions to Victoria College (*) John P.M. Court Abstract Edward R. Wood (1866–1941) and Agnes E. Wood ( née Smart) (1868–1950) were members of a close-knit group of Methodist/United Church adherents and business associates who advanced in the late-nineteenth century from modest circumstances in Peterborough, Ontario to great wealth and respect in Toronto. From 1903 the Woods contributed generously to the University of Toronto’s Victoria College, while dedicating their talents and energies in helping to establish it as a secure institution. They are particularly remembered for two timely and creative property gifts of grand estate homes, Wymilwood in 1925, and Glendon Hall by bequest in 1950. Their dedication has been perpetuated through various benefactions for the continuing benefit of Victoria, Toronto and York Universities. This study locates the Woods’ remarkable generosity and voluntarism in the context of values and ideals for public service by lay denominational leaders, and for North American philanthropy as advocated and practised by Andrew Carnegie. Introduction On April 24th of this year [1995], almost exactly two months ago and three blocks from where we sit today, the former St. Paul's Avenue Road United Church was destroyed by fire. Although it had not served in religious use over the past fifteen years, it had been a local and then a national landmark since 1879. It had served the Methodists of this community from before the arrival of Victoria College (Vic) in 1892, and after their marriage in 1891 the Wood family, formerly of Peterborough, were numbered among its local adherents. Although this paper is not focused on that particular connection, it offers a couple of reminders. Firstly, heritage structures and sites, however long they have endured, cannot be taken for granted. We must celebrate them continuously and vigilantly monitor their preservation. That applies at least equally to people -- those who have made meaningful and selfless contributions at historic junctures. (*) Repr.: J.P.M. Court, “ Out of the Wood Work : The Wood Family’s Benefactions to Victoria University,” Papers of the Canadian Methodist Historical Society, Vol. 11 (1997), 26 - 51. Presented at the annual meeting, Canadian Methodist Historical Society, Toronto, June, 1995. 2 The second thing that comes to mind is a case in point. The fact that the Woods remained part of St. Paul's Methodist Church for some thirty years, throughout their sojourn in this neighbourhood, nicely illustrates their loyalty, modesty and unassuming personal qualities. Profiling E.R. Wood in a 1911 series on "Toronto's Millionaires," Saturday Night magazine noted that St. Paul's "was a struggling institution" when the Woods first joined, and its younger members "looked with some deference" toward their counterparts downtown. 1 It was not a fashionable congregation, but as the Woods became increasingly wealthy they stayed with it and contributed more of their energies and resources, rather than drifting south to one of the better-connected churches like Sherbourne Street or Metropolitan. In fact, "E.R." (as he was known, or "Ed"), far from bowing deferentially to those temples of Methodism that enjoyed the personal patronage of his distinguished employer and senior colleagues, was more likely to raid them for their best soloists. He had become the mainstay of St. Paul's choir and was given to luring away talented soloists from other churches by simply out-bidding for their services. With similar enthusiasm, and occasional flashes of the maverick, the Woods remained steadfastly loyal to Victoria University for almost half a century, from the time they were invited to become part of its governing structure in 1903 until the end of their lives. We will see that their imagination and generosity still remain integral to the fabric of "Vic," in several important respects. The Wood Family's Early Introduction to Victoria Edward Rogers Wood (1866 – 1941) and Agnes Euphemia Smart (1868 – 1950, known as "Pheme") were both born in Peterborough to Northern-Irish Methodist families of average circumstances. Having migrated from County Fermanagh in 1847, Ed's father, John W. Wood, "was a prominent resident of the town and had obtained a large measure of success as a teacher," according to a 1910 account, 2 although with a teacher's customarily modest level of income. In his early teens, while still in school, Ed Wood joined the telegraph agency owned by Peterborough's Mayor George Cox, where Joseph Flavelle, eight years Ed's senior, was already learning the ropes. Cox, Flavelle and possibly the Woods were also active in the George Street Methodist Church and the temperance movement. 3 Soon after completing school Ed was moved upstairs to Cox's financial firm, Central Canada Loan and Savings Company. This clearly was Wood's métier , and in 1884 at age eighteen he was transferred to the firm's newly-opened Toronto office. Flavelle also moved to Toronto, while leaving Cox's employ in favour of a management post in the William Davies Co., a large meat packing enterprise. It is interesting (for reasons altogether unrelated to snobbery) to note that neither Pheme nor Ed Wood, nor his early business associates, had pursued a post- secondary education, although they clearly enjoyed gifted aptitudes for leadership and finance that would later become vividly apparent. A career path without university was very much the norm until well into this century, especially for young men (women were excluded) seeking a business career. Similarly, although Victoria University was a degree-granting institution, the Board of Regents had long welcomed non-graduates to its number, particularly from among the delegated representatives of the Methodist Church. When in 1903 at age 37, E.R. Wood was first appointed to this Board, of the thirty-four Regents in total he was one of six without a university degree or a professional designation. As they were listed in the Victoria Calendar that year, 3 those six were: • Hon. George A. Cox, Senator [Head, Bank of Commerce, Canada Life, etc.] • E. R. Wood, Esq. [Head of Dominion Securities - bond brokers] • A. E. Ames, Esq. [Head of A.E. Ames & Co. - stock brokers] • J. W. Flavelle, Esq. [Head of Wm. Davies Co. & National Trust] • H. H. Fudger, Esq. [Head of Robert Simpson Co. - retail stores] • Chester Massey, Esq. [Head of Massey Harris Co. - farm machinery; father of Vincent and Raymond Massey] As individuals these men were among the dozen or so wealthiest people in the city. 4 As a group, the characteristic that chiefly distinguished them was their close ties to each other in fields of endeavour that extended well beyond the Church and the University. They were closely allied in business through interlocking directorates, co-ownerships and various other cooperative arrangements. From 1902 until 1924, the Woods and Flavelles lived as next-door neighbours on Queen's Park Crescent and across the road from Vic. Senator Cox, also the 4 volunteer Bursar of Vic, was Wood's and Ames's superior and mentor, from about 1880 until his death in 1914; and those three along with Flavelle (later Sir Joseph Flavelle, Baronet) and Cox's three sons comprised what Professor Michael Bliss, Flavelle's eminent biographer, has dubbed "the Peterborough Methodist Mafia." Bliss is careful to make the point that his tongue-in-cheek analogy to the Mafia is based on this group's close family, church, hometown and business ties, rather than any suggestion that they looted their enterprises. 5 Most significantly for Vic, however, were their values and attitudes toward education. Fundamentally, as inscribed over the College portal, they believed that "the truth shall make you free;" that religious truth and worldly knowledge, whether self-taught or formally acquired, are essential for realizing a full and meaningful life in the service of God and mankind, and for attaining wisdom and understanding. Also key was their demonstrated commitment to university students and graduates. Elsewhere Professor Bliss observed that college graduates were disdained by many businessmen of that era, as too old to start at the bottom and too reluctant to get their hands dirty -- rather in the way that Ph.Ds were regarded more recently by the business sector, as too theoretical or impractical. Notwithstanding, Flavelle "and others in the Cox ‘family’ were among the first Canadian businessmen to seek out university graduates." Moreover their judgment in selecting them was often quite astute. Flavelle started J.S. McLean at the William Davies abattoir, and he advanced successfully to head up the successor firm, Canada Packers. Around the same time, E.R. Wood hand-picked two other recent graduates, W.T. White to National Trust from the city assessment office, 6 and in 1905, Edward Peacock to Dominion Securities from a teaching post at Upper Canada College. 7 The latter two were later knighted, and all three were among the honorary pallbearers at Wood's funeral, 36 years later, as testimony to the enduring friendship and admiration that he inspired among his associates and protégés. 8 The importance that these Methodist businessmen attached to the value of education was also translated into an enthusiastic support for its institutions -- Victoria, U. of T. and others whose stewardship had been entrusted to them or 5 whose service to society they considered worthwhile. For the group's patriarch, George Cox, and certain of his older contemporaries such as Hart Massey and William Gooderham, support for Victoria College began while it was still in Cobourg, and in the throes of an acrimonious debate on two contentious fronts:- the merits of moving to Toronto; and of federating with the University of Toronto U. of T.). The alternative was what many of them might have characterized as the "Queen's University" option: a small, denominational college clinging to a traditional niche while avoiding the risk of moral contamination from a large, urban population.

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