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"Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice I Sketches of Scugog is a historical column written by local resident and historian Paul Arculus and published in the Port Perry Star the first issue of each month. ® LJ ® PRINCE ALBERT - PART 2 As a result of last month's article on the beginnings of Prince Albert, I received a number of phone calls from interesting people. One call was from Bill Carnegie who lived for 50 years in the magnificent home built by his grand- father, Joseph Bigelow on Cochrane Street. We talked at length about the two articles about Prince Albert which appeared in W.H. Smith's books in 1846 and 1851. In the 1846 article, Smith stated, that with a population of about 200, Prince Albert had "....a Methodist church, five stores, two taverns, two asheries, one blacksmith, one wagon maker, two shoemakers, two tailors." In the 1851 book, Smith states; "Prince Albert, which contains about 300 inhabitants, appears to be a busy little place, being at a sufficient distance from Oshawa and Whitby to enable it to com- mand a thriving trade of its own...it has been settled about eight years and con- tains two tanneries and three asheries and a Post Office. There is no church at present in the village, but one is now being built by the Methodists." There is an obvious discrepancy bet- ween the two descriptions regarding the 'Methodist Church. Bill and I agreed that this was probably due to the surveyor's interpretation of "church." In all likeli- hood, the 1846 "church" was merely a place of assembly, probably a barn or someone's living room. By 1851, the con- gregation was large enough to warrant the construction of a building to be used exclusively as a church. Another phone call was from Pat Boyd who has been actively interested in local history for many years. She phoned to tell me of a booklet in her possession Sketc by Paul Arculus ". second largest === 2 === =' GREAT REDUCTION: IN TUF. PRICY. OF . FURNITURE ! AT THR Prince Alberta ManchesterFactories E72 OF {<3 + Common Chairs » . - 46c Flush Top do. . - 50¢ Bent Back do. . 8 70¢ 2 Slat and Spindle do. - - 76¢ _11_And all other Cabineiwar€ at very low prices. 0 COFFINS of asery deseviption kept constantly on Rand. The best Hearne in North or South On- CD x A. : \ario.. Charges as ORY A cheap as the cheap- ™ ; esl. WH. PARK: em July 13, 10¢0. » . tince Albeit and Manchester. J=l==l== === * - W.H. Parks' operated two factories, one at Prince Albert and another at Manchester. Furniture manufacturers usually had undertaking as a part of their business. This was partially due to the fact they were the best cabinetmakers around and included caskets in their woodworking projects. FOR FIRST CLASS CUTTERS & SLEIGHS ! €O 10 THF ° Where you "will 'find "the largest and béat "ssorment of Cutters and Sleighs, which, for style, amlity of material, waorkmanshyp and PRICE, cannot be equaled in the County. Call ind examine for yourselves. Repairing done wilh neatness and dispatch, "= qe Blackemithe eupplied with: Weed -worke. (§ - Ml Werk Warranted. Prince Alben, Nev, 17, 1068 JAMES CMANRY. > I : oud Emany and White started their carriage building business in Prince Albert in 1842. They later parted company, each operating his own carriage building shop in Prince Albert. There were five business which built carriages or wagons in Prince Albert. The longest surviving was that of James Emany. He later relocated his Ontario Carriage Factory in Port Perry and continued in business until well into this century on the site now occupied by the Liquor Store. ---- ES HISTORICAL b which contained some poems about Prince Albert and its residents. Unfortunately this booklet has lost its cover but the contents are clear and well preserved and it is obvious from ~ the material of the poems that this was published in 1858. My thanks to her for making this material available. I am taking the liberty of printing, in its entirety, the poem written about Prince Albert. Unfortunately, we don't know the name of the author, but we do know that the poem was published in this 1858 booklet. PRINCE ALBERT "Let the Queen and Powers above, Bless the namesake of her love, In holy bonds select her own, Flesh of her flesh and bone of her bone. Let her that wears Great Britain's Crown, Bless the new and growing Town; Where three nimble stages hail With passengers and daily mail; Two churches where the clergy bless, Village Schools and printing Press; Buildings in Commercial form, And Dwellings for the village swarm, Shops and Hotels bright array, In ornamental paintings gay." The pamphlet then proceeds with verses about each of the businessmen in the settlement. It is plain to see that by 1858, Prince Albert was a busy community; Three stage coaches per day was a significant communication system for that time. Prince Albert's Grain Merchants The fact that Prince Albert had the ain market in Canada was due to the large numbers of people who entered into the grain buying busi- ness. Most communities such as Uxbridge, Markham and Stouffville had one or two major buyers. Prince Albert has several. In addition to T.C. Forman, George Currie and A. Ross, mentioned last month, other businessmen ventured into the grain buying businessin - Prince Albert in the 1850s and 60s. They included Abner Hurd's son Prosper, J.H. Brown, Joshua Wright, Robert Perry a son of Peter Perry, J.B. Warren, and A. Farewell. The great grandfather of Bill Brock of Brock's Department Store in Port Perry, early in his business career was a clerk at the Currie and Ross store in Prince Albert. Ironically, after Port Perry's disastrous fire of 1884, it was Mr. Ross who built the present building now occupied by Brock's Department Store. When Mr. Brock first set up busi- ness in Port Perry, he occupied premis- es on the north side of Queen Street. Another unique feature about Prince Albert's grain market was that, in spite of the huge volumes of grain handled, it never had a grain elevator. Here the buyers stored their purchases in barns - and all the grain was handled by shovels. The seasonal nature of grain buying, meant that the buyers had to have oth- er sources of income for the remainder of the year. In the case of T.C. Forman and George Currie, they each ran gen- eral stores. Prosper Hurd was a car- penter, Aaron Ross ran a shoe shop, Brown was a painter and Wright was a tanner. At a later date, Currie and Ross joined to operate one store. Other Merchants Arrive Once Prince Albert had become a cen- tre for farmers to bring their grain to sell, other services and businesses sprang up. In addition to the grain buy- ers, the Canada Directory of 1857 lists the following businesses in Prince Albert; 7 shoemakers, 6 carpenters, 5 carriage or wagonmakers, 4 black- 'was on a direct road link es of Scugog 3 smiths, 4 saddleries or har- nessmakers, 4 tailors, 3 painters, 2 hotel keepers, 3 general stores, 2 tanners, 2 millwrights, 2 chemists, 2 bakers, a grocer, a sur- ns GROCERIES & LIQUORS Wholesale and Ratail, .At Prices. that cannot fail to give satisfaction, veyor, a tinsmith, a mason, a watchmaker, a plasterer, CIVHE vndersigned. has now on hand a Jorge Sivek of GROCERIES, GROUKERY, a butcher, a dentist and a 1q 'GLASS\YARE, CODFISH; HERRING, FINNOI HADDOCK, WHITE FISH. cabinetmaker. This was an extremely energetic and prosperous community! Pat Boyd's 1858 pamph- let has poems dedicated individually to each of these people with the exception of the painters, CA call from all is wont respecifully ioticiitd by * Prine Albert, Doc. 11868. Largest Stock of Liquors - Eves braught into the County of the very esr ananne, which will be sold at the . LOWEST - POSSIBLE FIGURE, er Wines, Brandy, Porter end Ale for medics) putposes constantly on hand. Ld A. smcLae. the bakers, the surveyor, the dentist and the butcher. Prince Albert; The County Seat? Even in 1850, Prince Albert had gained such commercial prominence that Abner Hurd petitioned the government of the day to have the seat of Ontario County established at here! His proposal was duly con- sidered, as was an 1851 proposal by the area busi- nessmen to amalgamate Albert, Borelia and Port ' Perry to form one village Tn which would be named "Ontario." In 1852, the larger settlement at Whitby was declared the county seat, principally _ because of its harbour facil- ities and the fact that it Crystal. Commpba with Toronto. The Press Arrives Prince Albert continued to grow to such an extent that James Holden moved to the community to begin LE DAWSONS © . JATE WLLON'S.--SIGN. OF, TYE. PESTAL &_MORTER, . PRINCE ALBERT ! In ol) 1s depsrimente s{ Toronto PERFUMERY, " ITE STORE . Wholesale and Retail > QOD ey : the villages of Prince TD ainTs anus AD ung nRUGS, 'CHEMICALS, DYE STUFFS. -CINES, snd every thing connected with thy tinde) for quantity, quality and price. STATIONBRY s the moet seliable PATENT MEDI- Pijess, ininding a choice sasaimpat sl shesp Album. = An plegent and choco variety. , Traseee, Shoulder Brages, snd Surgical Instrumente of every make. = | Hard's Anticostive: Food. for -Infanis. The 'Royal Unyivalled Washing rhe as Bivndsol Fale Biandy, Fahad Shay Wises, Gor, Old Rye, and Liquor was readily available at that ime. Other than the many taverns in the area, the common places to buy liquor were, as these two |- advertisements show, the grocery st ) to notice the wording of the ads: Mr. Sinclair notes "...for medicinal purposes ONLY." These businessmen were reacting to an extremely active and vocal Temperance society which flourished in at this time. Another factor of interest is that Mr. Dawson regarded Prince Albert to be "North Ontario." This refers to Ontario County, however, a brief look at the map of Ontario Cty. will show that Prince the middle of the county. stores and drug stores. It is interesting bert is almost exactly in publishing a weekly news- paper. In spite of a severe economic recession, the first issue of the Ontario Observer appeared on Dec. 12, 1857. In this first edition, in recognition of the commer- cial significance of the com- munity, Holden made the ~~ PUMPS! PUMPS! Who would draw water by hand when Pumps JE --v------" -- Jy ---- foe ---- CAN BE HAD IN PRINCE ALBERT. HE Subscriber begs to call the attention of the inhabitants of Prince Albert, Borelia. Port Periy; end thp surrounding ebuntry. that he 10:pragared to supply them with WOODEN PUMPS, of any length, and of a superior manufact bl promise that; "The state of *.* Any part of the country supplied at short fotice. Apply. HAP nes quut gas to the Toronto and New York Prince Albert, January 26, 1859. (rf) Prince -Albert. Markets will be transmit- | ted to us by telegraph up to Robert Sims typifies the many businesses here in the 1850s and 60s. Bishon of going to Prince | Avery wag Sia main business centre for Port Perry, Borelia and On Jan. 27, 1859, The Ontario the fair in their community. Port Perry Observer reported; "Prince Albert has been unusually enlivened by the arrival of an astonishing number of teams bringing in an immense quantity of wheat. We now have no less than six extensive buyers of wheat..." There were also several less extensive buyers. It was at this time, 1859 that Prince Albert assumed its role as the second largest grain market in Canada! In the period from 1851 to 1861, the number of acres of wheat in Reach Township alone doubled from just under 5,000 acres to 10,000, while the bushels, of wheat almost tripled from 77,000 to just under 200,000. Almost all of this was handled at Prince Albert along with wheat from all the neighbor- ing townships. The First Fair In September, 1858, The North Ontario Agricultural Society held its first exhibition at Prince Albert. These fairs became so popular that by 1866, Port Perry and Manchester offered cash bonuses to the society in order to have won that year and thus held its first County Fair. This was the first time that it had not been held in Prince Albert. Accompanying this article is a series of advertisements which appeared in the Ontario Observer during the period of its economic dominance of the area: during the 1850s and 60s. These ads give us a vast amount of information about the community at that time. They have been selected from literally hun- dreds of such advertisements that appeared on a regular basis until the demise of the community's economic base. This demise did not begin until construction of the railway was well underway in the late 1860s. Once this began, virtually all the Prince Albert business moved to Port Perry. Symbolically, the newspaper, Ontario Observer, was one of the last enterprises to leave Prince Albert, but we'll save that story for later. Next month: More on Prince Albert, its churches and its homes. --