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Daily Journal - Record Centennial Edition, Friday, Sept. 1, 1967 Oakville's Founder Col. William Chisholm: Oakville is unique among the towns of Ontario in that it owes its birth and early survival not to natural settlement, but to the vision and determination of a ·ingle man -- Col. William Chis holm. Most towns in the province grew up around a tavern, black smith shop or mill that had been established to serve the farm ers in the area, but such a haphazard beginning was not for Oakville. Oakville was conceived in the mind of Col. Chisholm as a ready-m ade village, with streets, blocks and lots surveyed right from the beginning. He carried his plan through, saw a town established at the mouth of The Sixteen, and kept it alive in its early years through his generos ity and dynamic leadership. FOUGHT IN 181* Chisholm, the son of a Scot tish immigrant, had fought in the War of 1812, and after the w ar had becom e the leading m er chant in the district around the west end of the lake, dealing m ostly in timber and barrel staves. His general store was a profit able business, because a " store keeper" in those days was also im porter - exporter, banker, and, in Chisholm's case, shipowner. He had his own shipyard on the shore of the Bay, and was the owner of five lake schooners by 1827. He also took an active part in public affairs, serving from 1820 to 1824 as m em ber of the House of Assembly for the East Riding of Halton. In 1823 he was appointed one of the parliament a ry com missioners to supervise the province's first canal project, the Burlington Bay Canal, and later petitioned for the construct ion of a canal between L a k e Ontario and Erie. W h e n the Welland Canal was finally built, he was named one of the com missioners. KNEW AREA About 1820, the year the Mis sissauga Indians surrendered to the crown their reserves along the Twelve and Sixteen M i l e Creeks, Chisholm was actively engaged in buying timber and staves throughout the area be tween Burlington Bay and the Credit River. It was undoubtedly his exper ience in the building of canals that led him to the realization that the mouth of The Sixteen could be easily made into a har- H ere is the .story of the birth of Oakville, and of the man who drove himself to financial ruin and death in his effort to keep the little village alive. own leather Went Broke Building Port Chisholm and his fam ily for 50 after bad the com pany went years, during which time he hop bankrupt. ed to collect enough in tolls to The banks foreclosed near the repay the cost of construction. end of 1841, and all the property its m em bers had m ortgaged, in cluding Chisholm's 960-acre town RISKS LOSS site with streets all surveyed and It was a risky venture, and many lots sold, went under the Chisholm knew it. He had en auctioneer' s ham mer. ough experience as a shipper and canal builder to know the FOUNDER DIES lake storm s had a habit of wash ing away m ost things built along Two days after the notice of the shore. But building the harbor was Chisholm's first concern if he ever wanted his town to becom e " a place of some im portance" in the colony, since at any time of the year other than spring flood the creek would admit noth ing deeper than an Indian canoe. The bottom was dredged with a horse - powered dredging m a chine mounted on a scow, and the pier base built of wooden cribs filled with stone and an chored to the bottom by piles. In spite o f the optimistic en It was an involved undertak thusiasm of its founder, Oak ing, but not prohibitively expens ville was not always the pro ive. If Chisholm had been con gressive and progressing town tent with just the building of a it has been in recent years. In harbor, he probably could have fact, the very act o f official settled back into the prosperous incorporation seemed to signal life of a successful shipper. a dip into developm ent doldrums. the sheriff' s sale appeared in the Hamilton Journal Express, Col. Chisholm w as dead at age 51. With Chisholm' s untimely death his little village lost the dynamic leader who had spurred its early growth, and who had dominated the town' s com m ercial, social and political life from the begin ning. The editor o f the British Colon ist, an Oakville paper, reported: "I t Is with feelings of the deep est regret that I convey to you the painful intelligence of the death of Colonel William Chis holm, of this place. He expired at his residence here, of inflam mation of the brain, after an ill ness of 38 hours, on Wednesday evening last, and has left a blank not in the hearts of his own family alone, but of all who knew him. " From the moment that his death was known in Oakville, till his remains were consigned to the dust, business was suspended at the stores, and other places of resort, and one sensation of gloom and sorrow seemed to prevade all the Inhabitants of this neighborhd. the Owen Sound Settlement is no more. I mean Colonel Chisholm --he died a week ago today deep Interest he took In it, and with a fit of apoplexy in a very all connected with it -- the kind few hours sickness. Let the in ness of his disposition -- but habitants go in mourning from most of all, the warmth of his Arthur to Owen Sound, for never heart, had endeared him to all will another man do what Colon who were acquainted with him." el Chisholm would have done." founder of this place; and the And it was not only in Oakville that his death was mourned, be cause the Colonel, an avid pro m oter of im migration and settle ment all over the colony, had extended his beneficial influence into m any other parts of Upper Canada. And what would Chisholm have done for Oakville if he h a d lived? It might be that he would have insisted that the town de velop along other lines than sim ply as a port. If he had lived to accom plish his dream of turn ing Oakville into the province's leading industrial centre, it is certain that the com ing of the railw ay would have brought the town even greater prosperity, instead of casting upon it the shadow of econom ic stagnation. "Colonel Chisholm was Oak Spent Years In Doldrums HELPED NORTH OTHER PLANS But he had m ore in mind fo i The Sixteen than just to widen its mouth into a harbor. He D ynam ic m erchant created new town wanted his young town to prosp er as a grain and lum ber cent bor for lake schooners; and his Sir, Your most obedient humble re, and he knew it would never experience as a merchant and servant, W. Chisholm." becom e one until the pow er of shipper in the area, fam iliar with His politeness apparently paid The Sixteen was harnessed for the growing settlement to the off, because two months later grist and saw mills. north, convinced him of the com a public sale of 968 a cres was And so he launched his illm ercial possibilities of such a announced, 960 of which were fated Oakville Hydraulic Com harbor. bought by Chisholm for $4.25 pany in partnership with a few On May 2, 1827 he wrote the per acre on term s of 25 per other prosperous citizens, the ob following letter to the secretary cent down. When he had paid ject being to build a dam large of Governor - General Sir Pere the final instalment the total enough to feed a num ber of millgrine Maitland: price for the town amounted to races. $4,116. But The Sixteen was too deep The name of " Oakville" for the to build a dam of the type Chis POLITE LETTER new village is reputed to have holm had in mind, and after Sir -- Being desirous to pur been suggested by Chisholm' s in years of throwing good money chase the tract of land situated timate friend Robert Sullivan, on the 16 Mile Creek. . .called some say after the name " White the Indian Reserve, for the pur Oak" given to Chisholm by the PIONEER FAMILY pose of building and improving Indians because he dealt sq ex thereon, should it be the intent tensively in barrel staves. Capt. Hugh Pullen, retired na ion of the governm ent to dispose Chisholm next petitioned the val officer, purchased land " on of the same, I beg permission to request that you would be government for permission to the outskirts of Oakville" in William McCranpleased to bring the subject und build a harbor, which would re 1873 from er the consideration of His Ex quire dredging and the construct ey. Many decades later, Adm ir cellency the Lieutenant Governor ion of a pier and m oles. The act al Hugh Pullen, a descendent, A t ION F or His E xcellency's pleasure passed granting this permission took charge of the RCJN'» m ade the harbor the property of lantic Command* thereon. I have the honor to be, C O L . W IL L IA M C H IS H O L M In 1857,when the town was in corporated and named its first council, population was m ore than 2,000. In the succeeding four years, the figure had drop ped to 1,450, and only a decade later the town was hard-pressed to keep its census hovering at the 1,000 m ark. Population did not again begin to clim b until the early 1900'6. M ajor reason put forw ard for the slump in the town population and prosperity was the advent of the railroad. A s shipment o£ com m odities by rail increased, business of the port of Oak ville declined steadily and the econom ic influence of Oakville dwindled. In the early 1600' s, as confederation heralded a new era for the country as a whole, Oakville glum ly watched the Bank o f Toronto clo'se its branch here, saw several merchants board up their doors and win dows, and watched a number of fam ilies m ove aw ay to find other means of livelihood. Although officially a town, Oak ville for half a century after (1869 was in reality hardly m ore sleepy country village. He was especially helpful to the settlers in the Owen Sound area, and m ade several trips on behalf o f the governm ent to re port o f the progress of the north ern centres. BUSY HARBOR William Miller, who was to becom e first reeve and m ayor Oakville' * harbor at the of Owen Sound, wrote to his mouth of the Sixteen was the brother at Sydenham: second in Ontario to be im prov ed for com m erce, the 1827 deep " Dear Brother -- I send you a ening com m encing just one year few lines to let you know that after the completion of the har we are all well, but alas, the bor at Kettle Creek, now Port father, protector and friend of Stanley. OAKVILLE'S C AN AD A M AN PO W ER C E N T R E p ro u d ly e n te rs C a n a d a 's second h u n d re d y e a rs , g ro w in g in im p o rta n c e , y e t re ta in in g its v ita l c o m m u n ity s p irit. A s an in te g ra l p a rt o f c o m m u n ity life , th e C a n ad a M a n p o w e r C e n tre has c h a n g e d to m e e t th e c h a lle n g e o f th e m a n p o w e r needs. T h r e e o ffic e s to s e rv e th e e m p lo y e rs an d th e la b o u r fo rc e , an in c re a s e d s ta ff o f m a n p o w e r c o u n Does your nose work overtime Contact this man now at if mea to be a hundred s e llo rs , liaiso n w ith th e s e c o n d a ry schools, a n d c o n s ta n t c o m m u n ic a tio n w ith in d u s tria l an d c o m m u n ity g r o u p s th ro u g h th e O a k v ille E m p lo y m e n t C o m m itte e a re ju s t som e o f th e w ays w e in d ic a te o u r in te re s t in th e e c o n o m ic w e ll b e in g o f O a k v ille . T h e C an ad a M a n p o w e r C e n tre is lin k e d to a C a n a d a -w id e sy s te m , w e h a ve th e e x p e rie n c e an d th e o rg a n iz a tio n to p u t a t y o u r s e rv ic e , a n d th e in itia tiv e to m e e t n e w c h a l len g es in C a n a d a 's second h u n d re d y e a rs . C A N A D A M A N PO W E R CENTRE 130 G e o rg e S tre e t. 845-389 1 OAKVILLE C A N A D A M A N PO W E R CENTRE M a le C a s u a l L a b o u r O ffic e BOB B L ^ T S 131 B ro c k S tre e t 845-389 1 MILTON He sells d U u m u u ic C A N A D A M A N PO W E R CENTRE P est O ffic e B u ild in g 878-2562 OAKVILLE Humidifiers The low cost of installing » Drumatic Humidifier in your home will be more than offset by the comfort realized by your family. Constant colds and sore throats and nasal passages are common in homes without proper humidity. Electrical shocks bounce off door knobs and furniture falls apart when a dry condition exists. Drumatic humidifiers are installed directly on your furnace and automatically circulates properly humidified air to every room in your home. Controlled by a humidistat mounted on a wall in your living area. Call your Drumatic man now! - r :"# A s w e Canadians reach our hundredth birthday w e pause for a moment, to lo o k back. W h a t d o es a hundred years represent? In terms o f nations and businesses such as ours, one hundred years is barely a beginning. Unlike the individual, collectively w e gain strength with age. W e enrich the experience o f years with the technology, the vigo u r and the imagination o f each new generation W h a t does it mean to be a hundred? It means that many hardships and disappointments have been endured and overcom e. It means hard w ork and grow th and achievement, ft means a hendr®d < human effort and exp etia ac* cm which to build o o r future. The Bank o f N o v a Scotia, estabfehed 135 years ago, has shared m this experience and contributed to o ur grow th as a nation. T o d a y w e pause to give thanks to those w h o have go n e before os. They have made cm incalculable contribution to w ho* w e are to d a y and what w e can be. W e have reached o ur first century os a nation, and now, let us m ove forward together to the next milestone. Manufactured by the Wait-Skuttle Company, 359 Davis Road, Oakville, Ont. THE BANK OF NOVA SCOTIA FSTABUSHtO 183? CANADA M ANPO W ER CENTRE Department of M anpow er and Immigration FUELS 595 SPEERS RD. O AKVILLE, ONTARIO t