Welland History .ca

The TALES you probably never heard about

Georgian Bay Lumber and coal Co, Mr. W. L. Rice

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

One of the principal industries of Welland is that of the Georgian Bay Lumber & Coal Co., and planing mill property of Mr W.L. Rice, located near the Michigan Central railroad, a spur from which extends to the plant. This business has been conducted by Mr. Rice for the past fifteen years, and the property is admirably situated as regards shipping facilities, for, aside from rail transportation, it is bordered by the Welland Canal, with convenient wharf facilities. The property  comprises some three acres in the total. Mr Rice not only deals in all kinds of lumber, dressed and undressed, but also bill stuff of every description, all of which is manufactured from the products of the forest secured from his own possessions in Northern Ontario. He also deals in coal in quantities to suit patrons, he having facilities for the storage of a thousand tons. Located upon the plant, in addition to a convenient office building and several storage sheds, is a modern planing mill, operated by a 30 h.p. engine, and equipped with the builder’s finish of every character, for outside or inside work, doors, sash and blinds. Mr Rice not only deals in purposes, including moulding, sheathing, mantel and stair these goods, but manufactures them to order. In addition to all this, Mr. Rice is a builder and contractor, and many of the fine residences, not only in Welland, but in the surrounding towns, are evidences of the skill and handiwork of himself and his workman. Mr Rice furnishes employment to from twelve to fifteen hands. He is also prepared to contract for and erect any character of a building, and to furnish plans and estimates, if required. In fact Mr. Rice is one of Welland’s live and progressive citizens and business men, and the lumber yard and mill plant, of which he is the proprietor, is of very essential importance to the building interests of welland and its contiguity.

Chantler Bros,’ Model Farm

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

Just 4.5 miles from Welland, in the south end of Pelham, the fruit township, is Chantlers’ magnificent farm. It is the model farm of the Niagara Peninsula and, in fact, it is a community within itself. A great farm of 200 fertile acres; a post office, a store, a blacksmith shop, a saw mill, a railway station,–all under the name of Chantlers. It is  an immense place built up on modern and progressive ideas by Chantler Bros., and now managed by Mr Elwood Chantler. The success which has been accomplished can only be realized by a visit to the farm and the many buildings upon it. An elegant modern residence of thirteen rooms, and surrounded by a pretty lawn and shade trees, faces the road. About it are five immense barns, mills, a store, graineries, shops, and other buildings; all a part of the departmental business. One hundred and seventy-five acres compose the main farm, and some 25 acres are two miles distant. The soil is fine, sandy, black loam, rich and productive. Every acre of the 175 is under highest cultivation, and not a stump or boulder is to be found any place. Large buildings fine fences, clean fields, and a general aspect of prosperity is noticed everywhere. There is  probably no farm so large and so wealthy in appearance as this. As an agriculturalist, Mr Chantler has shown an ability and success that has been marvelous. Probably in no way can this be better shown than by mentioning that in one season alone 6,700 bushels of potatoes, 250 tons of hay, and a completement of grains, was taken off this farm. For years the land has been richly fertilized, and by studied efforts the fields have been steadily improved, until they have reached the highest standard of excellence. Space will not permit a description of the farm and its many buildings, but a few figures may give an idea of its magnitude. There are five barns, the largest of which is 50×100 feet, and the smallest, 30×50. These are used for various purposes. A grainery is 28×32; a corn crib 150 feet long, that has held 5000 bushels of corn at one time; a saw mill, 320×50; an engine house, 19×21, and a blacksmith shop 28×30. There  are eight acres of apple orchard. Mr Chantler, prior to 1900, had the assistance of his brother, Julius A. Chantler, in the management of the farm, but since the latter’s death he has carried on the place alone. This valuable property is offered for sale.

Dr. J.C. Cowper

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

Dr. J.C. Cowper, whose office and handsome residence is on the corner of Muir and Young Streets, is a native of Owen Sound. He obtained an elementary education in the public school of that place, and took an advanced course in the Welland High School, to which town he had then removed. Upon leaving school in 1883, Dr. Cowper studied the drug business in connection with Mr J.H. Burgar and subsequently graduated from the Ontario College of Pharmacy. Later he attended Toronto University and graduated therefrom in 1892 and from Victoria College the same year. Here then entered practice in Birmingham, Ala., and was appointed resident physician of the Charity Hospital of that place. Returning to Welland in 1894, he again assumed practice and has continued therein since, and is considered one of Welland’s most popular and enterprising citizens.

Dr. J.W. Schooley, M.D.

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

Morally and ethically, the medical fraternity are debarred from the public notoriety accorded public officials or benefactors in general but as this volume is simply and purely a resume of the town of Welland and its denizens, professionally or commercially engaged, it may not be out of place to say that Dr. J.W. Schooley, whose handsome residence is on Division Street, with convenient office located therein, is a native of Welland county, and acquired an elementary education from its public schools, with an advanced course in the high school. Subsequently he attended the University of Vermont at Burlington, from which he graduated in 1862, and was a graduate of Rolph’s School, or medical department of the Victoria University of Toronto in 1863, since which time he has, with but little exception been in practice in Welland. The  doctor has always evinced a very active interest in educational interests, and was for two years an instructor in the High School at Drummondville, and has been chairman of the High School Board of Welland, as also a member of the Public School Board, and is at present health officer of the town. Dr. Schooley is also a member of the Examining Board of the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons and is one of Welland’s most popular citizens, ever ready to aid in the town’s welfare.

A. Griffiths, Warden Welland County

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

Mr A. Griffiths, Warden of the County of Welland, was born in the township of Crowland, where his father, Mr. Thos Griffiths, still resides, at the ripe old age of 86 years. The subject of this sketch located in Welland in 1864, and has been actively engaged in business since, maintaining an active interest in agricultural, educational, and municipal affairs, having been connected with the management of the County of Welland Agricultural Society for several years. He has served on the Public and High School Boards, and was a member of the Town and County Council in 1895. He was Mayor of Welland in 1897. In 1901 he was elected a member of the Board of County Commissioners, and became Warden of the County the current year. He is one of the promoters of the 20th Century rink built by himself and C.J. Page in 1898. Mr Griffiths has done much to beautify the town in the matter of building a substantial class of residences, and he owns a block of land adjacent to the G.T.R. admirably situated for manufacturing purposes.

J. G. Demare, Insurance

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

One of Welland’s most popular and progressive citizens is Mr. J.G. Demare, an honoured member of the present town council. Mr Demare is an old time resident of the town, but for a period of twenty-eight years or more, he was identified with the management and construction of both the old and new Welland Canals, which required his presence elsewhere. In connection with the new canal, he had charge of placing the gates in position, and getting the canal ready for navigation, its entire length, and had the honor of taking the first boat, the “Don M. Dickinson,” through the canal. In 1881, he was made assistant superintendent of maintenance of the lower division of the new canal, retiring therefrom on account of ill health in 1898, since which time he has been successfully engaged in fire, life and accident insurance business, representing the leading companies in that line of business. He has an office in his beautiful residence on West Main Street.

T.D. Cowper, County Crown Attorney

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph Sears & Sawle, Pubishers]

The subject of this sketch, Mr T.D Cowper, is a native of Scotland, but has been a resident of Canada since early childhood, having at first settled in Owen Sound. He obtained an elementary education in the public schools, with an advanced course at Toronto, and is a graduate of Osgoode Hall law school. He was admitted to the bar in 1877, and at once established practice in Welland, and is at present a member of the law firm of Harcourt, Cowper & Macoomb, with offices on East Main Street, opposite the Court House. In public life Mr Cowper has always evinced an interest in the welfare of his adopted town, and has been for many years a member of its Public School Board. He was appointed County  Crown Attorney in January 1892, and still retains the position. He resides in one of the many beautiful residences adorning Welland’s fashionable avenue.

THE ROSS COMPANY

One of the Finest Dry Goods and Clothing Establishments in the Niagara Peninsula

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

One of the most imposing business facades within the confines of Welland, or the county for that matter, and which from its commanding location, naturally attracts attention from either side of the canal, is the two story brick building of the Ross Company, of which Mr David Ross is the chief executive. It stands on the corner of East Main and Muir Streets, and within which is conducted one of the largest and best stocked dry goods and clothing emporiums to be found in the county, and which would do justice to the business section of a metropolitan centre of much larger proportions than that of Welland. The main floor and front has recently undergone remodelling, by which the premises practically comprise one large apartment, intersected by a shelf partition separating the dry goods from that of the clothing department, affording some 4000 square feet of floor space, for mercantile purposes. Read the rest of this entry »

R. Moore & Son, Agricultural Implements

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle, Publishers]

The thrifty Canadian farmer is not slow to appreciate and adopt labor saving farm machinery, and engaged in demonstrating the necessity of this, to the farmers residing in the vicinity of Welland, are Messrs R, Moore & Son, whose agricultural implement and carriage warehouse is on West Main Street, bordering the canal. The firm need no eulogium, for both are well known as business individuals of strict integrity, alive to the interests of their patrons. The senior was for many years engaged in the flour and feed business, relinquishing that for the present avocation, in connection with his son some six years since. The firm occupy a two story building, 24×80. the lower story being devoted to the sale of farm machinery and implements, the product of the Frost & Wood Co., comprising mowers, reapers and harvesting machinery of all kinds, plows, horse rakes, cultivators and farm machine sundries; the upper story being given over to the display of light carriages and road wagons, single and double, with or without rubber tires, the product of such well known firms as E.W. Heeney of Montreal; McLaughlin Carriage Co. of Oshawa; Tudhope Co., of Orillia, and Campbell & Son of London, Ont. They are the exclusive representatives in this section, of the new Chatham giant arm farm wagon, than which there is no better made; as also of the Sharples cream separator, which for simplicity, durability and compactness have no superior, Adjoining the main building is another, 30×50, which is utilized for storage purposes. As a whole, Messrs Moore & son are one of the largest dealers in agricultural implements, carriages and farmer’s sundries in this section.

Frank Rounds, Planing Mill

[Souvenir of the Town of Welland, Issued August 22, 1902 by the Welland Telegraph, Sears & Sawle ,Publishers]

Located on North Main Street, just north of the Welland river bridge, is the office, yard and planing mill of Mr. Frank Rounds, who has successfully conducted the business for upwards of twenty years. Mr Rounds deals in lumber of all kinds, dressed and undressed, also ship timber. His yard has facilities for the storage of a large amount of timber, his business in this line embracing not only Welland and county, but extends to all parts of the Dominion, and even to the States. He also deals in builder’s material of all description. The planing mill is a large two-story structure, operated by a 50 h.p. engine and is equipped with modern machinery, and has a capacity for the cutting of a million and a half feet of lumber during the season. Custom planing is  specialty. He furnishes employment to a dozen or fifteen hands.