When I was growing up on Rochester Street, Herb and Dot Townend and their two boys lived beside me and were good friends of my family. I recall the night that Gerry was injured while working in one of the town woollen mills, Bates and Innes I believe, during the evening shift. Gerry later joined the army and had an excellent career in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, attaining the rank of Master Warrant Officer. His eldest son Guy attended RMC and followed his father in the Signal Corps.
I also remember Reverend Dawson and his wife, who was at Stonebridge Manor at the same time as my mother.
Long-time sports columnist died Christmas Day
Carleton Place Almonte Canadian GazetteWednesday, January 4, 2012
A Carleton Place man who was well-known in the town simply as “Chatter” died on Christmas Day.
Gerry Townend, who penned a sports column for the Carleton Place Canadian community newspaper for nearly 30 years, passed away peacefully at Carleton Place and District Memorial Hospital after being in declining health for some time. CLICK
My grandmother was born Mary Scott, daughter of William Scott Sr. of Fallbrook,Ontario. She married my grandfather Richard Reynolds who was a lumberman. They both emigrated to Michigan in the early 1800s and a few years later they returned to Ontario in May of 1889.
The family settled near St. George’s Lake ( Oso Township) and my grandfather went to work at Allan’s Mills near Glen Tay. ( read- Allan’s Mills— Lanark County Ghost Town) Saturday was part of the work week in those days and it was very hard to spend time with family and he tried to find something closer. The new mill at Glen Tay opened up and it was busy which made housing very scare. However, they found a home that no one wanted– a haunted one. Rumour was in the area that this particular house was ‘badly haunted” but her grandparents decided to rent it, haunted or not. They lived in that house until 1883 when they moved to the toll house on Scotch Line.
When I moved to Glen Tay with my husband and family in 1961, my mother, Elizabeth Jones, with the help or Mr. Guy Leonard was able to show me almost exactly where the toll house once stood. It was on the west side of the straight stretch of the road just before the Y where the Scotch Line separates from the paved road. The road past Dr. Allan’s farm was referred to by my mother and Mr. Leonard as Kingston Hill. The toll house had been a light coloured, two storey frame building sitting very close to the road with a twin stile between the house and the gate. The gate itself was a wooden one with a box of stones on the back end to make it easier to operate.
The gate was to be closed as much as possible on the weekdays and when closed must be attended. It was left open for funerals or when there was no one around to attend it. The toll was 5 cents for a single horse vehicle, ten cents for a team and walking was free through the turnstile.
The first 7 dollars collected monthly went to the local council and anything over that was my grandmother’s wages beside the rent-free house. If the gate was closed at night, a lantern was lit, and placed on the gate post. This was left to my grandmother whether she wanted to stay up and tend to the gate. One story was told how a gypsy caravan paid their toll at night and went quickly up the Kingston Hill with a stolen neighbour boy. In short time riders from all points rescued the boy from the gypsies.
A travelling medicine road show came through the gates once and they told her to tell everyone about the show that was going to be right near Mr. Kelford’s home. Many people came to see the show and hear the music. However, the main event was a trained bear and that very evening he became angry and killed his trainer on the spot. The women and children ran from the place and someone shot the bear. The body was loaded into a wagon and they buried the man and the bear side by side in the grove of trees across from the road from the turn off.
There were weddings and loads of young people going to the dances in Stanleyville going through the gate. Some would tell my grandmother they would pay her on the way back knowing full well she would be in bed by the time they came back. But sometimes she would stay up and wait for them if there had been a good bunch going. She also told of an Irishman who kept a general store in Stanleyville but drew his wares from Perth. She recalled that most times he was the worse for wear on his trip after frequenting the drinking establishments in Perth. One trip made at Christmas that year a case of hard candy was spilled and a path of bright candy lay on the snow. My mother remembers picking them up and having the most candy of her young life.
Sometime in the mid to late 1890s my grandparents sold the toll gate and settled in the village of Crows Lake. As my grandmother grew near to the end of her life she would cry out sometimes and call in a clear voice you could hear her say,
“Open the gate Mrs. Reynolds!” and we would know that in her dear confused mind she was once again the keeper of the toll gate on the Scotch Line.
Editor’s Note- It has been reported that there was a second toll gate on the Scotch Line just past Rogers Road.
In the mid-1850s the Scotch Line Road Company established a toll-road from Perth westward along eight miles (12.9 Km) of Bathurst Concession-1, the town line between the Townships of Bathurst and North Burgess. The Scotch Line toll-road later came under the sole proprietorship of Brockville businessman John Wardrope (1816-1893) click here
The Tay Valley township comprises the communities of Althorpe, Bathurst Station, Bells Corners, Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke Siding, Brooke, Christie Lake, DeWitts Corners, Elliot, Fallbrook, Feldspar, Glen Tay, Harper, Maberly, Playfairville, Pratt Corners, Scotch Line, Stanleyville and Wemyss.
Originally settled in 1816. Stanleyville is now a quiet little Hamlet with a small number of homes, farming and a big church.
Was there a Hazelton’s Furniture Ware House in Stanleyville?
The photo below of a Hazelton Furniture store, provided by a local contributor, is thought to have a Stanleyville connection, according to the caption. Specifically, the caption reads:
“My great-aunt Evelyn Dooher (1888-1974) wrote on the envelope containing this tintype photograph: “Hazelton’s Furniture ware room Canada about 1870”. Mother always kept this. I think they were cousins as she had pictures of the Hazelton girls.” Evelyn’s mother was Mary Ann (McParland) Dooher (1861-1939), who was born and raised in Stanleyville, near Perth, Ontario. If this photo was taken in Stanleyville, I wonder if the church to the right rear of the store could be St. Bridget’s.” —From the Perth & District Historical Society
well that is wrong –Karen Prytula said-
Hi Linda
I answered the question about the Hazelton furniture store a few years ago. It is in Newboro, not Stanleyville. See caption below the pic. It is right beside the church as you can see the church in the background on the right. I came across this information when I was doing some paid research for a McCann family in Ireland. [image: image.png]
Bye for now Karen Prytula
Church of St. Brigid Stanleyville
Circumscription: Metropolitan Archdiocese of Kingston
I found this gem today and thought it was a good one for TBT. This is the Almonte Gazette staff in the mid 1990s – from left Gena Gibson, me, Debora Dekok, June Dalgity, Kerrine Lyons and Jeff Maguire. I believe this was the staff photo for our Christmas supplement. Good times!
When you talk about the Almonte Gazette that once rolled out every week, chances are the name of Joan Dalgity might come up. One would say she was the chief cook and bottle washer that kept that paper going as she was known to be the editor, reporter, photographer and sometimes even the advertising manager. For 18 years she worked there and finally in 1999 she decided to retire.
Would she miss dealing and chatting with the local merchants and figuring out who was who in the photos that rolled on to her desk nameless? As an avid curler and golfer she had no issues handing over her position over to Marjory McBride as advertising manager. McBride was no novice having built up the Arnprior paper’s weekend edition and also did advertising for the Carleton Place Canadian for a year.
One time editor Joe Banks gave June her initial job at the Gazette as he knew she would be great even though she didn’t think so. One incident that stuck out in her mind was when a summer storm drove the paper’s staff down to the basement under the Gazette’s office. One could imagine that the terrors that old basement might have held was far more scary than the tornado that was supposed to be rolling through.
June Dalgity retired December 17, 1999 and sadly passed away in 2005
With files from Debora Dekok 1999
-This photograph around 1912 features Arhtur and Catherine Weatherdon and their daughter Agnes. Agnes was known to Almonte residents as Agnes Brown, mother of local residents June Dalgity and Art Brown- MIssissippi Mills fire chief. Photo thanks to Lucy Connelly Poaps scrapbook
Corey LoganThere wasn’t a sole in Almonte who didn’t know her and didn’t love her! Amazing how one woman could be loved that much- pretty incredible.-You were definitely blessed with an amazing mom. She sets the bar pretty high
Mariel VaughanYour mom was such a nice person and had a great laugh! Maria has great memories of hanging out with “Nora and June” when she visited Almonte. She is missed by many.
Karen BiscegliaLoved knowing her and working my very first job with her!!! Beautiful person…lots of laughs at the “Supe”!
Jane YoungAs soon as this picture appeared on my screen I smiled…..June was so special.
Almonte Curling Club November 2, 2018 · The June Dalgity Icebreaker bonspiel is the first bonspiel of the new curling season where we gather members from our various leagues to come together for a day long bonspiel to curl, eat, laugh and just have a good ole time, just as June would have it! After the day’s event of this total points spiel, the grand winner for the second year in a row was the team of Cecil DuBois, Brent LePage and Denny Jones. Presenting the trophy are members of Junes family, Alison, Christine and John. Thank You to everyone who curled and volunteered in this it was a fantastic day, and hope to see everyone back again in 2019.
Here a super old pic of the old Almonte Gazette team .. my grandfather ran the print machine and put each letter one by one to be printed he is in the front row centre his name is Doug Lorimer just thought maybe it would be a nice share and to maybe see if anyone recognizes some of the other people to the tales of Almonte page Photo from Alicat Dixon Thanks so much!
Dr. Thomas Eclectric Oil was a pain relief remedy and general cure-all created by S. N. Thomas in the 1860’s which was sold until the early 20th century. The newer looking brown bottle in our photo was actually bought at a convenience store in the neighbourhood of our store in 2015 and has been added in to our personal collection of vintage oddities.
Sold in Canada by Northrop & Lyman of Toronto and in the United States by Foster-Milburn of Buffalo, N.Y.,
Dr. Thomas’ Eclectric Oil was a widely used pain relief remedy which was sold in Canada and the United States as a patent medicine from the 1850s into the early twentieth century. Like many patent medicines, it was advertised as a unique cure-all, but mostly contained common ingredients such as turpentine and camphor oil.
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: Minor burns. insect bites, stings, chapped hands, muscular pains, minor rheumatic pains, neuralgia, backache, aching joints, bruises and sprains. Coughs due to colds, bronchitis, false croup and simple sore throat.
Dr. S.N. Thomas Eclectric Oil This bottle is worthless!
Experienced collectors recognize this bottle as Canada’s most common antique patent medicine. It was mass produced. Read more here CLICK
11616-1905 William CLEMENT, 26, carpenter, Almonte, same, s/o Henry CLEMENT & Catherine ROGER (Rogar?), married Elizabeth GRIFFIN, 28, Almonte, same, d/o Thomas GRIFFIN & Catherine MEANERY, witn: Francis CLEMENT & Victoria LETANG, both of Almonte, 23 Aug 1905 at St. Marys Church, Almonte
There is a man who lives north of the Perth on a farm and wants to get married. He has” battled’ the cold, cruel world single handed long enough and wants someone who will share his happiness and disappointments with him.
In the classified column of Perth Courier he placed an advertisement for a wife and the advertiser is patiently awaiting the replies. He promises some girl a good home but has certain requirements which he demands.
He came here from Lanark Village several months ago and says he is a hard worker and farmer. He declares that marriage is a business proposition and that every man should have a helpmate. “Down in the village” he said, “there were lots of girls but most of them don’t want to get married and those that do are not the right, kind.” The advertiser said that he did not expect to remain here long as a man could make more money travelling around than by staying in one place too long.
In 1900 people rarely left their hometown, let alone travelled around their country, so I wonder if our farmer ever found a helpmate.
Perth Courier 1910
Clipped from The Ottawa Journal, 27 Oct 1979–McNeely Tannery-Address: 12 Bell Street Carleton Place, Ontario
Joe Scott took a poor calf skin to Brice McNeely who had a tannery on the banks of the Mississippi on Bell Street and asked what he was paying for hides. Brice told him 60 cents each with ten cents off for every hole in the hide.
“You’d better take it, Mr. McNeely, and I think I owe you something for it,” was the startled reply from J. Scott as Brice looked at the hide with more holes than Swiss Cheese.
Carleton Place Herald 1900
A well known Carleton Place gent from just outside of town was noted for being careful with his pennies entered McDiarmid’s store one morning to get a winter cap. He was shown 6 or 7 and selected one that seemed suitable. He retorted of course that it was too expensive, that he could get it much cheaper elsewhere and left.
An hour later he was back but the store clerk saw him first and whisked the 7 caps under the counter. The customer said,
“I’ve come back for the cap!”
Without batting an eyelash the owner told him that others knew a bargain when they saw it and that all those caps had sold within the hour after he had left the store.
Church
Memories of Chatter.. thanks to Lorraine Nephin- Bruce Sadler’s vintage Canadian newspapers
lindaseccaspina 