Hope Mill, Thessalon, circa 1915

Hope Lumber Co. was started by Edgar B. Foss of Bay City and named for his daughter Edith Hope Foss. It was my understanding that Messrs. Mitchell, White and Gratwick of Tonawanda had financed the construction of the mill and took over ownership from Foss although he tried to regain title to it. James L. Crane was also from the Tonawanda area, but I question your claim that the firm had been sold to Crane as early as 1920. The sale of Hope Lumber interests to Crane was not reported in the Canada Lumberman magazine until June 15, 1930. In 1922 The Hope Lumber Co. purchased a 300 square miles of timber berths on the Onaping & Spanish rivers, for which a sawmill was established at Little Current in 1923. Logs for that mill were railed from points on the CN and CP to the Algoma Eastern Railway. In 1928 the Little Current mill was relocated to a point on the CNR near Westree. J. L. Crane was manager of the Hope Lumber Co. at that time, but I have not found any information that would suggest he was in any way an owner until 1930.