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Vol. 5 —= No. 29 pr Thursa 1 REMEMBER Jim Bell IMPORTANT MEN IN COLBORNE’S PAST D. L. Simmons One cannot think of the Col- borne of the 1890 or early 1900 period without seeing in memory the stocky form of one of Col- borne’s richest men. Daniel Lewis Simmons, an early U.E.L. settler in the district, was a big man. Broad face always topped by a ‘wide Senator’s hat. Usually, he had a tooth pick stuck in his mouth on which he chewed inces- santly. I often wondered how many he used in a day. Broad shoulders and corpulent figure with a heavy gold watch chain stretched across the vest of his dark suit. Large feet with black square-toed shoes which he set down sola In fact, everything about D!'L. ‘was solid. He was a| man of many interests. Apples, nursery stock, and building were some of his activities. He built a five-family terrace on Percy Street, He also built the older homes on Simmons Street which was then called Danville. He and Mrs. Simmons were both mem- bers and ‘regular attendants of the Methodist ‘Church to which they presented 'a fine pipe organ. The name of'D. L. Simmons will al- ways be remembered in Colborne. W. Li Payne, M.A,, LL.B. One of the prominent. lawyers of the district, he was always in- terested (in the welfare of Col- borne, A|man of rather imposing presence, tall and erect, always well dressed, he would draw at- tention in any group of people. As well as an efficient lawyer, he was somewhat of an historian, having written the history of the early Methodist Church, Colborne, and the 1923 Centennial Book of the same church. I remember the family well, There were two boys and two girls. Ernest, the older boy went into law with his father. Hector studied Architecture and practised ‘in Detroit. Lillian, the older girl, married an author, DeLacy Amy, who had a number of books published. The younger girl was handicapped by being crippled. She was a fine student. I remember her in school, always ‘near the head of her class. I al- & -in Colborne. Thos. had a store on most forgot to mention Mrs. Payne. She was a dainty little woman and looked like a little girl beside her rather pompous appearing husband. Robert Coyle, Sr. One could not go into the his- tory of Colborne very far without coming into contact with the Coyle family. It was a family of boys, five of them and all were apple men. The Tom Brown block on the corner of Perey and Church Streets was built by Robert Coyle, Sr. He was also Reeve for some time. The big brick house by the High School, now the town offices and Community Hall was | built by Robert Coyle, Jr. Ben’s home was on King Street E. and is now occupied by Bernard Fox. John, or Johnnie as he was always called, lived on North Street, now the home of (Mrs. Cracknell. Jim built the house where Gordon Monroe lives and lived there for some years. I do not know very much about Dave. He was the youngest of the family. The Coyle family is pretty well gone. There is still Mrs. B. Smith on Church Street and Mrs. Gordon Hay on King Street E,, both daughters of Johnnie Coyle. Dr. Willoughby was another notable Colborne'resident. He was the Conservative M.P. for this rid- ing for a number of years. An- other big man with a jolly laugh and his “Be Gad’’ was as familiar as his face. Everyone knew Dr. Willoughby. Peterson is another old name the south side of King Street for a long time. He was an ardent churchman. There is a memorial window in the United Church in his memory. He was Superin- tendent of the Methodist Sunday School for a great many years. Another Peterson that I am think- ing of was Martin. He owned and lived in the big house on Kelwood for a number of years. Another apple man, he made periodic trips to the Old Country in the interest of Canadian apples. There are. many more names that I would like to call attention to but space does not permit it this time. Perhaps at some later date, I may call attention to some of them.