EARLY STORY OF VILLAGE OF FONTHILL (by Mrs John McClellan, 1929)

[History of the Village of Fonthill, 1944]

An interesting story of the pioneer days of the village of Fonthill, covering 100 years as given by Mrs McClellan at the Women’s Institute meeting in May 1929.

Fonthill has never had any special history that I know of, so I can only give you some idea of what it used to look like when I  was young, and a short sketch of some of the people who used to live in the village. I can remember a good many years back, and I have heard a great deal about Fonthill from my grandparents. I do not know just when the village was first settled but I think about 1829. When my grandparents moved into the village in 1849 there were very few houses. They lived at the top of the hill where Mrs Turner now lives, and there was no other house until you came to grandfather’s shop which occupied the spot where Dr Emmett drives into his garage. There were no  sidewalks; they ploughed up the hill through deep dust in the summer and I suppose mud in the spring.

The first sidewalks were built of boards laid crosswise and nailed down, and after a time they became rotten and were some menace to pedestrians, and many a time I have been bumped on the shin by some one stepping on the loose ends. There were no good roads either, just common dirt roads, nothing like the fine pavements you have now.

Right at the peak of the hill where the two roads cross there stood an observatory-it was quite high and commanded a beautiful view of the surrounding country. Mother(Mrs Dr Emmett) used to take people up once in a while, for which she received the sum of ten cents; she once had the pleasure of taking Jenny Lind up to see the view. I wish I could give you a picture of the centre of the village as I remember it; where the bank now stands stood the old registry office, built in 1829, and right behind in place of Mr Minor’s garage was a plain old brick building which, I think, was the educational building. These offices were in Fonthill, but of course as Welland grew more important they were moved there. Directly west of the registry office stood an old building which was one of the stores of the village. It was kept by Danson Kinsman. There were six to eight steps leading from the sidewalk to the door, and inside it was so dark you could scarcely see what you were buying. On the verandah which ran around two sides of the store, there was a rack built which held long bars of iron, lots of them, which made tons of iron, but what they were for I could not tell you; west of that was the shoe shop of Geo. Gamble; he made calf-skin shoes for most of the children of the village and vicinity. I can just see the children wearing those shoes now. His shop was sometimes called “The Gas House,” and there  the men of the village and some from outside the village gathered for arguments and debates of all kinds. I have heard the men who frequented the Gas House had a jackknife which was carried by the man who could tell the biggest yarn, until some one could beat him, then the visitor would have it for a time. Then next where Mr Reeve’s store stands was another low old shabby building which was used for a store, and untertaiking establishment, and once for auction sales, I believe. On the opposite side of the street, about where the printing office is, stood a very large building that was our concert hall, where entertainments of all kinds were held. It was three stories high, I think; on the ground floor was the public library, which, needless to say, was not as good as the one you have now; the second storey at one time housed the high school of Fonthill, or as it was then called, the grammar school. I believe it was considered a very good school with Henry Delamatter for teacher. He was a brother of Ira Delamatter, whom some of you may remember, The third storey was the lodge room of the Masons, who had a very flourishing lodge here at that time. Next to the concert hall, where Mr Minor’s house now stands, was a harness shop kept by Henry Hunt, who was also the village barber, cutting hair for ten cents, and also librarian. He had a telescope on his work bench at the back window of his shop through which we could see the boats coming across the lake from Toronto, and of course that was a wonderful sight to us. My grandfather, John Gore, was cabinet maker and undertaker. He had a large shop and warehouse which was a veritable treasure house for the Emmett girls. In the basement there was a large wheel, about six feet high, which turned his lathe upstairs, and which was turned by hand at that. The coffin boxes were also upstairs, in which we used sometimes to play hide-and-seek.

The first school house I do not remember but I quite well remember the second one, where I received my education and also a good many whippings for the teachers certainly believed in that form of punishment when I was young. The three school houses all stood in the same place- the third one being the present one. The store now occupied by Ernest Kinsman has been in the Kinsman family as long as I can remember. Danson Kinsman was postmaster for twenty-two years, the Fred Kinsman took it and he had the position for thirty-nine years. Before they had it, John Price was the postmaster.

Avery B. Kinsman had a carriage shop and blacksmith shop where Mr Schelter runs his feed business. He used to make  buggies and wagons of all kinds which were used in this part of the country. There were no factory made buggies, wagons or furniture in those days. There were  no automobiles either, and the boys and girls certainly enjoyed sleighriding on the front hill. It was not so dangerous then as now when the cars run so often and so fast.

There were quite a few Nova Scotians settled in Fonthill, but I do not know which one came first, but nearly all came from the same part of Nova Scotia. Danson and Avery  Kinsman, Mrs D’Everardo, Robert Randall, grandfather of Miss Ella Brown, and John Gore were all early settlers from Nova Scotia.

Another man who was closely connected with the early history of Fonthill was Dexter D’Everardo. He it was who had all the trees planted on the streets, which are one of the chief beauties of Fonthill. He helped to start the Fonthill Nurseries, which are now famous all over the continent. He was a very eccentric man and lived on top of the hill in a large rambling house with a great fireplace in the living room, and beside it was a huge wood box, in which we could stand upright when playing hide-and-seek. His bedroom was next to the living room and in it there was not one window opening into it to let in the outside air. Imagine that if you can, and he lived to be an old man.

The Baptist church was the first church in Fonthill, being built in 1846, the old one being replaced by the present one in 1909.The Methodist church was originally built by Universalists, but they never held services in it, and it was sold to the Methodists, who had previously held their meetings in the Hansler Schoolhouse. The English church was built in 1862, being replaced a few years ago by the present one.

The first physician I can remember was Dr. Frazer. He was a gruff old Scotchman and had his office on the corner opposite Dan Haist’s; he was an old batchelor and he and old Captain Gray, who was a very small man owning a very large cat, which was always associated with him in everyone’s mind, kept bach at the back of the office. The next physician was my father, Dr. Emmett who cam to the village about 1865. His father brought him to the village, started him in business with $4.00 in his pocket. He used to make his calls on foot, then he bought a small white horse and rode horseback, but he had lots of stick-to-ativeness and he made good, as some of you no doubt know. There is some difference in the way the young people start out in life now. They know very little hardship, do they?

The first newspaper started in the village was called the Welland Herald, established in 1854 and was owned by a joint stock company with Dr, John Frazer as president, and was Liberal in politics. It was afterwards sold to A.G. Hill, a barrister of Merrittville (now Welland) and moved to that village, and changed the name to the Welland Tribune-and which is now The Welland Evening Tribune. The “Acorn” with the motto, “Tall oaks from little acorns grow” was the second venture in the newspaper line (conducted by Osmer Stone and Dan Hobson) but the oaks didn’t grow very tall, as the acorn withered away for the want of healthy support. Afterwards there was one called “The People’s Press,” of which there was an account in the Welland paper a short time ago.

We also had an evaporator in Fonthill at one time. I believe it did business for about two years,the factory was in a large square building where Mrs Dougherty now lives.

The Grove, as we used to call it, was a picnic ground for Fonthill and vicinity. There is not much of it left now( it is the hill on George Berg’s property behind Fred Davidson’s house) There used to be swings and tables built on top of the hill; then at the foot of the hill near that little bungalow behind Mr Bravin’s, there was a pond  dammed and a small bath house build on the bank, just cold spring water, too, but the people used to go there and bathe. In upper Fonthill across the road from Dr Frazer’s there lived the village tailor, James Lay, another old Scotchman who always wore a Scotch cap and was a great check player.

In the corner of Mr Haist’s lawn there was a tavern. As they called them in those days, kept by Mr Scallen, and down in the village where the Village Inn now stands was another tavern kept by Tom Smith.

There were many English people settled in Fonthill, too;in fact it was named by one of them from its resemblance to Fonthill Abbey in England. There were  Albert and Harry Oxley, Fred Giles, Mr Willett, James Harris-some of their descendants are living here yet.

One night forty-one years ago the residents of Fonthill were wakened by the awful cry of “Fire”. With no fire equipment whatever, the men and women fought the fire till daylight with pails, carrying water

to save what they could. But what a scene of desolation, five buildings burned, among them the concert hall, and three weeks later another fire broke out on the night of the 24^th of May, and five buildings on the opposite side of the street were destroyed. It seemed as if Fonthill was completely gone. Really it was a blessing in disguise, for out of the ashes came a far nicer village, a village of which we are all proud and justly so.