A History 1825-1982
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Tillson burg: A History 1825-1982 J.I. Cooper and John Armstrong I. Public School r 2. Sons' Musk 1h11 3. C.M. Church 4. Presbyterian Church 5. Church of En!!-land 1,. M. E. Church 7. Baptist Church 8. Catholic Church 9. Canada Southern Station 10. G. W. (B. N. & P. B.) Railway Station II. Exhibition Grounds 12. Woolen Mills, John Waterhouse 13. Queen's Hotel, D. Merrill & Son 14. Roy al Alfred, Alex. Cowan 15. Mathison House, A. Mathison 16. North Amer' n Hotel 17. Markel Buil��g 18. Holly Wat erworks 19. Til1 sonburg M' mer al Springs Stove Work Waller Bross, SawMi.11 n d Sash and Blind Fac�o ry sm1th . Bros 23. "Observer". 0 rfice 24. Luke._« So n's Brewery 25. E.D. Tillson• s Sa w Mill 26. E.D. Tillson', Planing Mill E.D. Til110 n 's F1ouring Mill E.D. Tillson's Oat Meal Mill E.D. Tillson's Split Pea Mill TILLSONBURG: A History 1825 - 1982 By J.I. Cooper and John Armstrong To facilitate research of this nature in the future, we would kindly urge Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data individuals with historically significant photographs to give them to the Tillsonburg Museum, or provide them on loan so that copies can be made. Cooper, John Irwin, 1905- Tillsonburg : a history, 1825-1982 Photographs researched, selected, edited, captioned and laid-out by Matthew Scholtz. J.I. Cooper arranged for some of the pictures, and provided guidance ISBN 0-969-1722-0-6 for all of the pictures in Chapters 1-XXV. 1. Tillsonburg (Ont.) - History I. Armstrong, Town maps showing streets and the downtown redevelopment area are used John (Gary) 1933- II. Tillsonburg District by permission of C.J. Demeyere Ltd., Tillsonburg. Chamber of Commerce. III. Title. FC3099.T54C6 1984 Map of recommended town boundaries in Chapter XXVIII is used by 971.3'46 C84-099248-3 F1059.5.T54C6 1984 permission of Norman Pearson, London, Ont. Preface and chapters 1-XXV Copyright© 1983 John Irwin Cooper Photo of "HMCS Tillsonburg" in Chapter XXIV courtesy of Public Archives of Canada/DND/PA-115209. Photo by A.F. Tigerstedt. Chapters XXVI-XXVIII Copyright@ 1984 John Gary Armstrong Drawing in Chapter I is used by permission of the Public Archives of Canada. P blished by the Tillsonburg District Chamber of Commerce, Box 113• T1llsonburg, Ontario. N 4G 4H3 Contents Introduction Preface Page II III The Setting and the Settler 1 The Village in the Valley IV 5 Recoil and Recovery V 9 VI "Lumber is the Chief Business of the Place" 13 The Oil Mania 17 VII War, Peace, and W.S. Law VIII 21 Edwin Delevan Tillson 25 IX Incorporation, 1872 X Mills 27 Workin' on the Railroad all the Livelong Day XI 31 - Neither Dark nor Satanic 35 XII The Achievements of the Victorian Age 41 XIII They Never Had It So Good XIV 49 Blue Serge Establishment 57 Government by Shopkeepers XVI 63 Women and Children - Last 67 XVII xv A Paradox, A Paradox 75 XVIII The Years of the Car 81 XIX xx Tillsonburg in the First World War 85 The Brave New World of the 1920s XXI 93 The Enthusiasms of Msgr. O'Neil 99 XXII Tobacco Town 103 XXIII It's an Ill Wind ... 107 XXIV The Drab Decade 111 XXV Tillsonburg in World War II 117125 XXVI Towards the Hundredth Year XXVII Tillsonburg Centennial Year Photo Album XXVIII 135 The Challenge of the Second Century 153 The Town Centre 179 Appendix : Mayors of Tillsonburg 201 : List of those in the Tillsonburg area who served in World War I and II. Index The Authors Introduction It is a privilege and a pleasure for the Tillsonburg District Chamber of Ontario Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers' Marketing Board; their assistance in Commerce to publish this history of our community. arranging for the typing of Dr. Cooper's manuscript is greatly appreciated. In September 1980, the executive of the Chamber became aware of the Our appreciation also is extended to Mrs. Rita Corner, curator of the need for an up-to-date history of our growing community. Ellen Eff's Tillsonburg District Museum, who so kindly surrendered so many valuable Hamlet on the Otter has long been a valuable and standard source for local photographs into our care for inclusion in this book. Mr. Bill Pratt of the history research, but its narrative concludes in 1915 and it has been out of Tillsonburg News also played a crucial and patient part in the assembling of print for some time. Changes within the community since 1915 had been the photographs. Pictures relating to the Town's centennial year (1972) were significant and in need of recording. made possible by Mrs. Helen Shearing, who caringly and painstakingly Having decided to assume responsibility for the publication of a town assembled, collated and organized a vast number of centennial pictures, history, the Chamber was very fortunate in finding within its own bringing them together into an album now in the Tillsonburg Public Library. community two historians who were more than capable of researching and A final note on the photographs. The photographs included in this history telling our story of growth and development over the past number of years. are intended to be representative, and not comprehensive. A complete The Chamber is indebted to Dr. John Cooper and Mr. John Armstrong, for pictorial history would require far more pages and would, in any case, never the expertise that they shared in the gathering of the raw material and the be all-inclusive, since there are many periods within the town's history for weaving of the fascinating story of our community. Aside from the research which pictures are not readily available. and writing of most of this book, Dr. Cooper devised the plan for the history, as well as encouraged the additional participation of Mr. Armstrong in contributing the two concluding chapters that would bring the book up to Ron Charters the presenL Gerry Found The Chamber would also like to thank Mr. Ed Story and RJR-Macdonald John Lessif Inc. (Leaf Division), whose interest and financial support made the first step Pat Mooney - the research - feasible and possible. Financial support also became Matthew Scholtz, Chairman/Editor available from the Town's Bicentennial Committee and the Ontario History Book Publication Committee Government, which had made funds available to the Committee to celebrate Tillsonburg District Chamber of Commerce Ontario's bicentennial in 1984. In addition, we would also like to thank the 7 July 1984 ii Preface Tillsonburg, a History, is the story of a community of action. The A number of citizens have given me insights into particular phases of emphasis is on development, and on the forces that have made for Tillsonburg's history; Grant Brown, Sidney Card, Miss E.W. Dean, Miss Ellen development. Details, regarding persons and institutions, have been cut to Eff, J.C. Eichenberg, Mrs. Charles Fisher, Mrs. D. Hevenor, George Hollier, the bone so that the reader may see clearly the successive stages of the the Reverend W.D. Jarvis, Charles Laister, James Leathong, John S. town's growth. The centennial of Tillsonburg's incorporation as a town (2 Morrison, Lloyd O'Grady, Harry Saelens, Mrs. Wilfred Scott, the Reverend March 1972) is the point to which earlier events lead, and from which later James Taylor, E. V. Tillson, Jack Weston, H.A. Wade, Harold Winter, and the events may be dated. Mr. John Armstrong, teacher, town councillor, and late Preston Williams. mayor, has kindly undertaken to evaluate developments from the centennial To persons outside Tillson burg, I am indebted to Frederick H. Armstrong, and thus to bring Tillsonburg into its second century. Edward Phelps, and J.J. Talman, of the University of Western Ontario, Colin Read of Huron College, Jack Van Loon of Hamilton, Gerald Elder of Sarnia, I have to thank the many persons whose assistance has made the Leonard Coles of Ingersoll, Gerard Vandenbussche and the Reverend Joseph composition of this history a pleasure. My first thanks go to the officers and Vasarhely both of Delhi, and George E. Tillson, Shortsville, New York. members of the Chamber of Commerce. They originated the project and Finally, I must acknowledge the editorial assistance of my daughter, M.C. have put me on the trail of obscure pieces of information. Equal thanks are Cooper of New York. due to Kenneth Holland, clerk-treasurer of Tillson burg and to his staff at the The following archives have given generous assistance, Historical Records, Town Hall for the use of the municipal records, to James Hornsby, Bell Canada, Montreal, Canadian National Railways, Montreal, Canadian superintendent of the Department of Public Works, for access to maps and Pacific Railways, Montreal, Baptist Historical Collection, McMaster surveys, and to Mrs. H. Shearing, curator of the Tillsonburg and District University, Hamilton, Archives of the Diocese of Huron, London, Archives Museum's Historical Museum ' for use of the valuable objects in the of the Presbyterian Church in Canada, Toronto, and the Archives of the collection. United Church of Canada, Toronto. J.I. Cooper, 1983 iii BIBLIOGRAPHY The "No! s" accompanying each chapter giue the sources of information used, usually with a critical comment. 2 A general _cla sification o_f sources may be helpful: (a) D scr1pt,ue works, directories: gazetteers; atlases. Fisher and Taylor, Gazetteer and General Business Directory of Oxford County (Toronto, 1874). Holland and Rose, Oxford County Gazetteer and General Business Directory for 1870·71 (Toronto, 1870). John Laue/I, Canada Directory, 1857-1858 (Montreal, 1857). John Laue/I, The Province o Ontario or 18 71 (Montreal, 1871 J.