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eit CS ER SR sib TEE Ett a SS IR LE sis ss Sa SERGE Ss Sa This article was originally researched and written by William Brock for the Port Perry Star's 1971 Centennial edition. by WILLIAM BROCK Every town owes its pros- perity in some part to individual men who at crucial stages, took it upon themselves to lead their fellows onto a path of develop- . ment which their superior wis- dom and foresight saw lying open. They often had to use their own private fortune to ride roughshod over the opposition of the more cautious element in their communities and like feu- dal barons impose prosperity on all. Frequently their efforts were not fully appreciated by their fellows, especially if they prospered themselves as a re- sult of their vision. N One such man was Joseph Bigelow. Bornin 1829, one of ten sons of Hiram Bigelow of Simcoe County, he moved with the fami- ly to Lindsay in 1844. His father ran a successful flour milling business there. In 1851 Joseph and his twin brother Joel moved to Port Perry where they opened a general store under the name 'J. & J. Bigelow." Joel soon moved on to Whitby and later to Chicago where he had a distin- guished career in business and real estate. Joseph Bigelow was identi- fied financially and otherwise with every important improve- ment in the Port Perry and Scu- This large three-storey building, destroyed in the fire of gog district during his active years. He was the first postmas- ter in Port Perry from 1852 to 1869. In the late fifties, he took over a woollen factory and plan- ing mill which J. C. Bowerman & Co. operated on the site of the old railway engine sheds about where the sand beach is today. He added the manufacture ot barrel staves and continued un- til the property was expropriat- ed for the railway in 1870. The mill was moved to John and Pax- ton Streets where it was eventu- ally demolished. In 1853, Ste- phen Doty had built a mill on Scugog Street just west of the bridge. Doty installed inferior equipment and did not do well, so he sold to Joseph Bigelow who rectified the situation and ran it for some years. There he cut all the wood for the fencing of the railway right-of-way to Whitby. In 1862 a branch of the Roy- al Canadian Bank opened in Port Perry with Mr. Bigelow as manager. He retired from this phase of his busy career in 1868 to give more attention to his business which was greatly ex- panded by the construction of the Royal Arcade, a three- storey commercial emporium unlike anything ever seen be- fore north of the ridges. It was operated until some time before the fire of 1883. It is thought that Mr. Bigelow sold the 'Ar- cade' in about 1882 to satisfy a bank credit squeeze which ac- companied a business recession 1884, was known as Bigelow's Royal Arcade. It was occupied by a number of businesses which included the Royal Canadi- in that year. At any rate it was Mr. Blong who owned the Ar- cade when it was burned. Shortly after the building of the Arcade, construction be- gan on the Port Whitby and Port Perry Railway. Joseph Bigelow was its chief instigator and advocate for he was con- vinced that such a link with the Grand Trunk system would be advantageous to the business of the town. It was due to Bige- low's persistence and financial backing that the railway be- came a reality at so early a date. When it was completed, he and his colleagues, Thomas Paxton, C.E. English and James Dryden withdrew most of their investment and passed control to Mr. James Austin, President of the Dominion Bank, Toronto, James Michie a merchant of Toronto, and James Holden of Whitby. This led to many rumours and accu- sations on the part of his fellow townsmen and investors, who even charged that he was against pushing the railway on to Lindsay as many wished to do. He didn't say he was against that, but he probably knew that it would do Port Perry no good. At any rate he can hardly be blamed for selling out his inter- est to protect his own fortune. He had invested more than he should have, just to get the rail- way built. Once it was complet- ed, and the town along with himself was able to enjoy its commercial benefit, there was obviously no reason why he should continue to bear a risk that others were willing to as- sume. An editorial on the sub- ject in the Port Perry Standard, First Reeve of Port Perry was a man of action and vision May 23, 1873 concluded - "We hope the croakers will now end their abuse. These gentlemen have shown by their willing- ness to retire, what we have al- ways contended for, that it was not the CONTROL they want- Please Turn to page 42 MR. JOSEPH BIGELOW COUNTRY STORE -- UNIQUE GIFTS -- A Shopping Tradition Since 1976 The ORIGINAL Village Gift Shop & 3 i RN an Bank, Hardware store, clothing store, law and dentist of- fices. (idea $b dd vianaaeds i i TR PE SIE FN MIN Sd Sg WUE WF A A A ERE T6 aie FER SARS EVR pa vWF dS I A BYR RE ENT IT Orr Troon rrrrrees ' 4 REE AR PAAR RAR AR IAP RR PR PPT a FRY er 2 Ss Ad A Fy Ed AE EY AN a dd EL |