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12- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, December 7, 1999 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" ot ocugos mes Port Perry's "M by Paul Arculus | wii Sketches of Scugog is a historical cold writen b f th M | n all waimlinfiin sie minis | OT UNE VIINlENNN "inthe Port Perry Star each month. N ENGLAND. a survey has resulted in land owners and developers. Her fourth William Shakespeare being voted in as the son Caleb, after whom Caleb Street was man of the millennium, with Sir Isaac Newton ~~ named and her second son Reuben, named second and Sir Winston Churchill third. after his father, both built dozens of houses As we approach the twenty first century in the in this community. Her fourth son George Municipality of Scugog, we can follow the British exam- became the owner of one of the largest Ple and take this opportunity to look back over the steamboat empir es in Ontario. past millennium to give credit to these who have All her childr en assumed responsible roles made the greatest contributions to our. community. in this community. Catherine died at the There are many candidates for a "Person of the age of 71 in 1870 and is buried in the Prince Millennium" in the Scugog area. Among the first to be Albert cemetery beside her husband. considered is Peter Perry. My personal suggestion for Scugog's citi- Perry was a man of extraordinary vision. He saw zen of the millennium goes to Joseph Scugog Village (later to be named Port Perry in his Bigelow. His father Hiram, while living in honour), as a community in a chain of communities Lindsay, was attracted to Peter Perry's view which would link his harbor at Whitby, with Lake of the potential of this community. He Huron. He bought the land upon which Port Perry now bought lot five of Peter P erry's plan in 1850. stands from the Williams family and promptly beganto He gave this property to his twin sons attract trade and commerce to the community. Joseph and Joel who both moved here in He convinced many businessmen of the advantages 1851. The following year Joseph bought the of establishing themselves here. Perry built the first ~~ adjacent lot six. This is the property upon store in what is now Port Perry and placed a trusted which Settlement House now stands. Joel friend in charge. He persuaded businessmen to left Port Perry and eventually settled in the build mills at the waterfront. He influenced Whitby United States. businessmen to finance and build, here on Lake After his arrival in Port Per ry in 1851, Scugog, the first steamboat on the Kawarthas. Perry Joseph Bigelow became identified with also convinced a variety of store keepers that his vil- every major development of this communi lage on the shores of Lake Scugog offered many ty during his lifetime. He was Port Perry's = opportunities. Without doubt, all credit goes to Peter first postmaster, a position he held from Joseph Bigelow was about 23 years of age when he arrived in Perry for seeing the potential of this community at the ~~ 1852 to'1869. Bigelow, convinced of the Port Perry to begin an illustrious business career. south west end of Lake Scugog and for laying the need for a bank in Port Perry, persuaded commercial and industrial base. the Royal Canadian Bank to become the bought fifty acres of land from Caleb Crandell, son of Peter Perry visited this first institution of its kind to open its doors. Joseph Reuben. This property was bounded by Queen, Lilla settlement and spent Bigelow was its manager when it opened in 1862. (now Simcoe), Rosa and the Reach Road. much time here planning In 1868 he opened the doors of his impressive At that time there was only one street between Rosa its future, but he was three storey emporium, Bigelow's Arcade. This stood and Lilla. Bigelow replaced it with two new streets, "never a resident of this on the site of today's Settlement House Shops. His Bigelow and Cochrane. Mr. W. Cochrane was his community. Born near Arcade was a.huge and extensive department store. lawyer. Other new streets were created: Balsam, Bay, Napanee, he moved to the He sold the building in 1882 to Jonathan Blong, a Macdonald, named after Canada's first prime minister Whitby area after his Toronto businessman. and Paxton named after his wife Elizabeth Paxton. defeat in the 1836 election Joseph Bigelow was able to implement Peter Perry's On the newly created Cochrane street he built his and remained a resident plan to bring a railway to Port Perry. Bigelow, along own imposing home in 1877. This is the elegant ital- of that community until his With his brother-in-law Joseph Paxton, was instrumen- ianate, yellow brick home at the southwest corner of untimely death in 1851. If tal in obtaining a charter for the railway and in encour- Cochrane and Macdonald. the major consideration aging local businesses and the municipality to invest In addition to owning and operating his extensive for the citizen of the mil- in its construction. Bigelow put a lot of his own money emporium on Queen Street, Bigelow was involved in a lennium is that he or she in the railway. Although his role in its creation was number of other businesses in Port Perry. He was part should have actually lived ~~ quite controversial, the first train arrived in Port Perry owner of several lumber mills, a waterfront flour mill, a in the community then from Whitby in 1871. foundry, and at age of 80 opened an evaporator which Peter Perry would not be After withdrawing from the railroad enterprise, he was used to dry apples for shipment abroad. eligible. immersed himself in local politics and became Port Bigelow was the key player in the construction of the Peter Perry Reuben Crandell, Perry's first Reeve in 1872. During his tenure, the eastern causeway from Scugog Island into Cartwright in Reach Township's first Town Hall was built and he was able to use his persua- 189]. Founder of Port Perry white settler, is fully eligi- sion on the local Board ; i Joseph Bigelow was a dominating force in the growth of Port Perry and the commercial growth of this entire region, providing employment and opportunities for many spin-off businesses. His varied career was not without controversy and scandal, particularly regarding his business practices in the building of the railway, and the fact that at one time he paid his employees in ble. He had the courage to of Education to build penetrate the unexplored bush of Reach Township in an impressive new two 1821 and to carve out the first homestead in this area. Storey school. He later moved to the sixth concession and began the Port Perry Grammar community which later became Borelia on the western School had opened its end of present day Port Perry. He developed this area doors in 1868 in a log and built many houses. cabin on the site of company vouchers, thus establishing Port Perry as a Reuben Crandell's wife Catherine is also a viable today's High School. company town. These practices were all too common candidate for Scugog's citizen of the millennium. ~~ But the one roomed in Bigelow's time, so perhaps we should not be too While still caring for their first child she accompanied structure was hope- critical of him in this respect. her husband from Haldimand County into this harsh lessly overcrowded. There is no question that the energy of Joseph Bigelow and the varied enterprises, which he began, developed Port Perry well beyond Peter Perry's dreams. They sustained this community and carried it wilderness. Seven months later she gave birth to the The name was changed first white child in Reach Township, a daughter, Lucy. to Port Perry High She later bore ten more children, all without the bene- School in 1871 and the | fitof doctors, nurses or even a midwife. She raised all new building was well into the twentieth century, providing a momen- | twelve children here in Reach Township, molding the opened in 1873. tum which enabled it to thrive where many communi- I| life and attitude of each child into adulthood. Bigelow became a ties struggled for survival and some faded into obscu- | All her children contributed to the growth of the significant landowner rity. community. Several of her sons became prominent and developer in Port Joseph Bigelow Joseph Bigelow is indeed worthy of the title of Perry. In 1868, he Prior to his death in 1917 "Scugog's Man of the Millennium"