Town Origins - How it all began...
|
21 December, 2014
By: Chad Martin It is generally believed that the coming of the railway is what created the "Town of Palmerston", or at least it caused the flood of people looking to make their riches. However, I'm sure you all know me well enough by now, and you know I'm not one to take that simplistic reason as the go to purpose for our community origins. With the 21st of December, 2014 being the 140th Anniversary of the Town of Palmerston becoming officially incorporated I decided to write about the founding of Palmerston. While the railway was certainly a major contributor to the community development, we can trace the origins of Palmerston to much earlier than 1874, in fact, almost 20 years earlier. The actions of a few people, some savvy business wheeling and dealing and a tiny bug should get most of the credit for what we call Palmerston today. If you take a look at Palmerston on a map and take away all the buildings, all the roads and all the development of the last 160 years you would see nothing but a vast overgrown forest covered with small creeks, some swampy land and little else. Even the Native inhabitants of Southern Ontario over the last 10,000 years avoided the area. The forest was simply too dense, hunting was ample, however traversing the area was extremely difficult and time consuming. The area was generally avoided unless trying to travel the shortest route from one lake to another. When the Queen's Bush was surveyed and opened up for settlement by the Canada Company in the 1850's Minto and Wallace Townships were two of the last areas to be settled. This was simply because it was one of the furthest away and most difficult areas to get to. When the flood of settlers came into the area they battled against non-existent roads and extremely dense forests. How any of them were able to coax out a small harvest in the first few years is nothing less than a miracle. The core group of settlers in what became Palmerston were Irish born immigrants known as the "Simcoe Settlers", these people were from Simcoe County near present day Barrie, land in Simcoe County had filled up quickly so the younger generation of settlers quickly jumped at the opportunity for their own patches of land to the south. After a few years of what must have been massive brush fires, endless tree chopping and pulling up stumps the pioneers were able to expose a wonderfully fertile farm land. Within the first few years of farming the area, Southern Ontario had become known as the bread basket of the Canada. Wheat being the most profitable crop to be grown. The settlers were scrapping out a meagre existence while living in almost total isolation, money was very scarce, but their wheat crops kept them living the dream of owning their own land. Until 1858... William Johnston wrote this in his History of Perth County 1825-1902; "From a statement made in March, 1859, we are afforded an insight into pioneer life in a dark period of its history. A failure of crops in 1858 was followed by great hardship and distress in many backwoods homes throughout Perth County. In a township so recently settled as Wallace, where the contest with poverty was at its crucial point between success and failure, losing a year's labour fell on a struggling pioneer with crushing effect." The crop failure was caused by a very dry summer and a tiny bug known as the Wheat Midge, a resilient insect that to this day can devastate entire crops. As Johnston mentions above, this midge was disastrous for the already shaky settlements. The just recently formed Township governments were forced to apply to the County for relief to keep people from starving. For some reason the Township of Wallace, while expecting to receive its full allotment, only received a fraction of what was needed. The Reeve at the time, Freeborn Kee and his fellow councillors were livid with the County government based in Stratford. Over the next few years Wallace Township held a bitter grudge against the County. Led by Kee and John McDermott, who were both a part of the Simcoe Settlers, the northern townships watched Stratford and the southern townships benefit from the rapid expansion of the Grand Trunk Railway. The Grand Trunk ran its line from Stratford to Goderich; all points in between were lucky enough to experience the economic boom. While the railway brought prosperity to the area the northern parts of Perth County still struggled to even get minimal aid for building basic roadways. |
The earliest known reference to "Town of Palmerston" - Oct. 1874
Earliest known Newspaper,
|
In 1860 Wallace Township applied to the Legislative Assembly of Canada West to separate from Perth County and be annexed by Wellington. Wallace was originally designated in error as a part of both Wellington and Perth County. When the clerical error was discovered the township was put in Perth, this was the grounds Wallace based their argument for separation. The application was denied, for a while at least Wallace was going to have to suffer within Perth County.
By 1863 now under the leadership of John McDermott as Reeve of Wallace, a joint plan was proposed between Normandy, Carrick, Wallace and Minto Townships to form a new county separate from Wellington and Perth. The new county would be named "Palmerston". At the time it was seen as not only a sense of prestige but of economic importance since to be the County seat. The opinion of the time was that railway companies were very attracted to setting up shop in a County centre. Rapidly growing cities such as Guelph and Stratford had certainly proven that. The want of being the county seat was the ultimate downfall of the ambitious plan. Mount Forest, Harriston and Listowel all wanted the illustrious stature and the plan was eventually dropped for lack of agreement. Despite the failure of this plan McDermott and the Township council put their focus on doing whatever was necessary to attract a railway to their area. A railway in theory would solve all of their problems and bring prosperity to the remote farm settlements.
As early as 1856 the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway Company (WG&B) was enacted by Parliament to build a line from Lake Huron to Toronto. However due to financial constraints it wasn't until the mid-1860's the Great Western Railway (the primary competitor of the Grand Trunk) began supporting the WG&B, and announced plans to have a main centre of operations based in Guelph. The Great Western Railway was looking to grow its operations to the western side of the province so it could capitalize on the potential seen in ports along the Great Lakes. With its new financial support the WG&B actively promoted itself throughout the three Counties as the way for the established communities to truly prosper. However, small railway companies like the WG&B, while supported by the Great Western, were still working on shoestring budgets and desperately needed financial support from the areas they intended to build through.
By December of 1870 the WG&B had built lines up to Alma, via Fergus and Elora. The company was still actively working on acquiring bonuses from towns and villages along their intended path. Listowel was seen as the logical stopping point for a hub station that would contain workshops and multiple branch lines. Due to the central location of Listowel, lines could be extended easily to Wingham, Owen Sound, Southampton, Stratford, London etc., the potential for the community was enormous. But perhaps with a bit of misguided judgement and even arrogance, Listowel declined providing a bonus expecting the WG&B to locate there purely based on its location. Ultimately Wallace Township contributed $25,000 and Minto $70,000 in bonuses to the WG&B.
It was sometime around this point (1868-1870), a few ambitious people began pushing the WG&B to come to a point in either Wallace or Minto Township. These people also happened to have a bit of a grudge against Perth County and were looking for any way to bring a railway to them. With Listowel taken out of the running for the central hub the opportunity arose for a few other areas to be considered. Dryden, Trecastle and Teviotdale were all possibilities. The established communities each had post offices, mills and a population base that could support the initial construction.
It's not exactly known how or when the talks began but there were likely four main players who were to benefit the most from the proposal put to the WG&B. John McDermott, still as Reeve of Wallace operated a saw mill in Dryden, Freeborn Kee (past Reeve) was the postmaster in Trecastle and Thomas McDowell and William Thompson (brothers-in-law) who happened to have large amounts of land half way between McDermott and Kee. As a researcher, the convenience of this fact makes it seem unlikely it was representatives from the WG&B who approached these four people. Instead it was likely the other way around, as they all had the opportunity to earn a lot of money off of a railway hub being built right in their backyards. Suspicions would certainly be raised if McDermott or Kee were to be selling their land to the railway, so McDowell and Thompson were ideal candidates.
Sometime in late 1870/early 1871 the WG&B purchased land from both Thomas McDowell and William Thompson. On the 20th of April, 1871 it was announced that a new station would be built on the site of lot 19 of Concession 11 in Wallace Township. It is said that Dryden and Trecastle "disappeared" overnight as everyone moved to the new railway centre. Approximately 12 acres of land was initially purchased. McDowell and Thompson quickly began dividing up the surrounding area with town lots. Thompson expanded his hotel, while McDermott began building a flour mill. The boom had truly begun! By the end of 1871 the railway had officially reached Wallace Station (Palmerston). Buildings were popping up everywhere, in 1871 the town population had grown to 150 people. It was at that time William Thompson was announced to be the first Stationmaster of the newly named Palmerston station.
In 1872 McDowell had opened a shingle and stave factory to meet the high demand for building materials, as well in January of that year he was given complete control of operating the Public market and livestock fair by Perth County. McDermott bought a second saw mill that was opened a year early by Henry Cousins, to essentially control the production of materials for the building of the railway. Thompson had a block of business buildings built on what was becoming known as "Main St." By this point McDermott was still Reeve of Wallace, Thompson was on the Township council and Kee was making a healthy living as a retailer in the new Thompson Block of buildings.
1873, the population of the unincorporated village was 350 people. In September of that year Thompson and McDowell were recorded as selling over two dozen town lots in less than two weeks. Business was certainly good!
The challenge now was to continue the boom of business and capitalize on the growth of the railway. By 1874 the WG&B had completed its line all the way to Southampton and plans were in the works to extend a line to Owen Sound, Listowel and Wingham. To keep the momentum going and due the rapid expansion of inhabitants within the community now referring to itself as Palmerston after the station, they needed to take control of their destiny. To do this they needed to be incorporated as a village. A group led by McDermott, Thompson, Kee,(all of who mysteriously were not involved with Wallace Township Council for this one year) and McDowell, went to Stratford to apply for incorporation as a village in Perth County. County records do not have any mention of the meeting that took place. It is most likely the request was either denied or withdrawn.
It is difficult to track exactly what happened between 1873 and 1874. The community atmosphere must have been extremely hectic. The census taken in 1873 counted roughly 350 people within Palmerston. A census taken in November of 1874 put the population at 1,693! This significant jump took the community from a possible village to a full town, yet it hadn't been officially organized in that capacity as of yet. The earliest reference available is in October of 1874 where Palmerston was no longer being referred to as a village but instead as a town. This explosion in the population likely explains why the request for village status was denied, it simply wasn't practical. The oddity is that in December of 1874 a group of seven businessmen led by McDowell, McDermott and Thompson travelled to Toronto and appealed to the Private Bills Committee of the Ontario Legislature to incorporate Palmerston as a town in the County of Wellington.
Why the shift from Perth to Wellington was made is not known. Whether it was out of spite towards Perth County for the denial of village status, or from the years of animosity between Wallace Township and the County. Or quite possibly it was a business move to be in the same county as the Great Western and WG&B railway centre in Guelph. It does seem logical considering there was no easy connection to Stratford via road or rail at the time. Guelph could be easily reached via the WG&B in a matter of hours versus what could be a full day of rough travel to get to Stratford.
One other possibility is the failure of another new County endeavour which started in 1873. This time led by representatives of Harriston, Palmerston and Listowel. This new county known as 'Blake County' was to be made up of Minto, Maryborough, Arthur, Wallace, Howick, Turnberry, Normandy and Egremont Townships. Once again the illustrious illusion of being a county seat was highly sought after, Listowel also desperately wanted a railway connection which to this point had none. Squabbling for the coveted county seat once again caused the endeavour to fizzle out. Palmerston would finally have to choose either Perth or Wellington for the time being.
Officially on the 21st of December, 1874 Palmerston was incorporated as a Town in the County of Wellington by Act of Parliament. (aside: Palmerston records 1875 as its official year of founding due to the 20th of January, 1875 being the first meeting of the newly formed Town Council.)
The group of seven founding fathers returned triumphantly to the new town and work on holding elections began in earnest. By January 7th the ballots had been set according to the Palmerston Progress. Thomas McDowell won the seat of Mayor by acclamation. Of the seven who made that long trip to Toronto a month earlier, only one (Hugh McEwing) did not get elected. McEwing lost to William Thompson in a bid for Reeve. Freeborn Kee reappeared as a town councillor and John McDermott retook his seat as Reeve of Wallace.
They must have felt like kings in their new little empire, up to this point the group of Simcoe Settlers had been very successful in their business and political endeavours. The new town was continuing to grow rapidly. By 1880 the population had reached 2,500 people, some predicted Palmerston would reach the status of city in no time and be an active competitor with the likes of Hamilton.
Between 1875 and 1880 the Town Council led by McDowell was very liberal in granting bonuses to multiple industries and railways looking to locate in Palmerston. In August of 1878 $15,000 was given in bonuses to both the Georgian Bay and Wellington Railway, and the Stratford and Huron Railway Company's. In 1877 Listowel was finally connected to Stratford and any chance of drawing the town into the Great Western sphere of influence was lost. Thus prompting the bonus given in 1878 to extend the Stratford Huron Railway lines from Listowel to Palmerston. It is also around this time the writing began to appear on the wall in regards to the strength and influence of the Great Western Railway.
The Grand Trunk was buying up smaller companies and their lines as they went bankrupt. The competition for the smaller lines like the Stratford Huron was too much and they simply couldn't support themselves alone. The Grand Trunk was quickly taking over most of Ontario and as the wind blew, the Palmerston Town Council opted to look for greener pastures.
On the 17th of June, 1880 a group once again led by McDowell and McDermott, left Palmerston for Stratford to apply for separation from Wellington County and return to Perth. It was recorded in the Committee minutes that a member of the Palmerston delegation claimed "...they felt they had not had fair play from Wellington, while they saw that the affairs of Perth were more economically conducted. He hoped they would get fair play and fair encouragement from their old County of Perth." The report was accepted unanimously, however for unknown reasons the negotiations collapsed and Palmerston remained in Wellington County.
This seems to have marked the end of McDowell, Thompson and McDermott in politics. None of them returned in any capacity, each went their separate ways in business. Thompson went to Toronto to operate a hotel, McDowell became an insurance agent in Palmerston and McDermott continued to farm with his sons in Wallace Township.
As likely foreseen the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway along with the Great Western were absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway in 1882 and the growth of Palmerston settled and stabilized, never to go much further beyond a community of roughly 2,000 people. The 10 years of amazing prosperity between 1870 and 1880 must have been a whirlwind for those involved. To see a backwoods farming area turn into a bustling centre of commerce almost overnight would have been a sight to see. The fact that actions of that little wheat midge set in motion a series of events that led to a few people making it rich in a short period of time and the creation of a tightly knit community that still stands proud today, is quite a testament to history.
Happy 140th Birthday Palmerston!
By 1863 now under the leadership of John McDermott as Reeve of Wallace, a joint plan was proposed between Normandy, Carrick, Wallace and Minto Townships to form a new county separate from Wellington and Perth. The new county would be named "Palmerston". At the time it was seen as not only a sense of prestige but of economic importance since to be the County seat. The opinion of the time was that railway companies were very attracted to setting up shop in a County centre. Rapidly growing cities such as Guelph and Stratford had certainly proven that. The want of being the county seat was the ultimate downfall of the ambitious plan. Mount Forest, Harriston and Listowel all wanted the illustrious stature and the plan was eventually dropped for lack of agreement. Despite the failure of this plan McDermott and the Township council put their focus on doing whatever was necessary to attract a railway to their area. A railway in theory would solve all of their problems and bring prosperity to the remote farm settlements.
As early as 1856 the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway Company (WG&B) was enacted by Parliament to build a line from Lake Huron to Toronto. However due to financial constraints it wasn't until the mid-1860's the Great Western Railway (the primary competitor of the Grand Trunk) began supporting the WG&B, and announced plans to have a main centre of operations based in Guelph. The Great Western Railway was looking to grow its operations to the western side of the province so it could capitalize on the potential seen in ports along the Great Lakes. With its new financial support the WG&B actively promoted itself throughout the three Counties as the way for the established communities to truly prosper. However, small railway companies like the WG&B, while supported by the Great Western, were still working on shoestring budgets and desperately needed financial support from the areas they intended to build through.
By December of 1870 the WG&B had built lines up to Alma, via Fergus and Elora. The company was still actively working on acquiring bonuses from towns and villages along their intended path. Listowel was seen as the logical stopping point for a hub station that would contain workshops and multiple branch lines. Due to the central location of Listowel, lines could be extended easily to Wingham, Owen Sound, Southampton, Stratford, London etc., the potential for the community was enormous. But perhaps with a bit of misguided judgement and even arrogance, Listowel declined providing a bonus expecting the WG&B to locate there purely based on its location. Ultimately Wallace Township contributed $25,000 and Minto $70,000 in bonuses to the WG&B.
It was sometime around this point (1868-1870), a few ambitious people began pushing the WG&B to come to a point in either Wallace or Minto Township. These people also happened to have a bit of a grudge against Perth County and were looking for any way to bring a railway to them. With Listowel taken out of the running for the central hub the opportunity arose for a few other areas to be considered. Dryden, Trecastle and Teviotdale were all possibilities. The established communities each had post offices, mills and a population base that could support the initial construction.
It's not exactly known how or when the talks began but there were likely four main players who were to benefit the most from the proposal put to the WG&B. John McDermott, still as Reeve of Wallace operated a saw mill in Dryden, Freeborn Kee (past Reeve) was the postmaster in Trecastle and Thomas McDowell and William Thompson (brothers-in-law) who happened to have large amounts of land half way between McDermott and Kee. As a researcher, the convenience of this fact makes it seem unlikely it was representatives from the WG&B who approached these four people. Instead it was likely the other way around, as they all had the opportunity to earn a lot of money off of a railway hub being built right in their backyards. Suspicions would certainly be raised if McDermott or Kee were to be selling their land to the railway, so McDowell and Thompson were ideal candidates.
Sometime in late 1870/early 1871 the WG&B purchased land from both Thomas McDowell and William Thompson. On the 20th of April, 1871 it was announced that a new station would be built on the site of lot 19 of Concession 11 in Wallace Township. It is said that Dryden and Trecastle "disappeared" overnight as everyone moved to the new railway centre. Approximately 12 acres of land was initially purchased. McDowell and Thompson quickly began dividing up the surrounding area with town lots. Thompson expanded his hotel, while McDermott began building a flour mill. The boom had truly begun! By the end of 1871 the railway had officially reached Wallace Station (Palmerston). Buildings were popping up everywhere, in 1871 the town population had grown to 150 people. It was at that time William Thompson was announced to be the first Stationmaster of the newly named Palmerston station.
In 1872 McDowell had opened a shingle and stave factory to meet the high demand for building materials, as well in January of that year he was given complete control of operating the Public market and livestock fair by Perth County. McDermott bought a second saw mill that was opened a year early by Henry Cousins, to essentially control the production of materials for the building of the railway. Thompson had a block of business buildings built on what was becoming known as "Main St." By this point McDermott was still Reeve of Wallace, Thompson was on the Township council and Kee was making a healthy living as a retailer in the new Thompson Block of buildings.
1873, the population of the unincorporated village was 350 people. In September of that year Thompson and McDowell were recorded as selling over two dozen town lots in less than two weeks. Business was certainly good!
The challenge now was to continue the boom of business and capitalize on the growth of the railway. By 1874 the WG&B had completed its line all the way to Southampton and plans were in the works to extend a line to Owen Sound, Listowel and Wingham. To keep the momentum going and due the rapid expansion of inhabitants within the community now referring to itself as Palmerston after the station, they needed to take control of their destiny. To do this they needed to be incorporated as a village. A group led by McDermott, Thompson, Kee,(all of who mysteriously were not involved with Wallace Township Council for this one year) and McDowell, went to Stratford to apply for incorporation as a village in Perth County. County records do not have any mention of the meeting that took place. It is most likely the request was either denied or withdrawn.
It is difficult to track exactly what happened between 1873 and 1874. The community atmosphere must have been extremely hectic. The census taken in 1873 counted roughly 350 people within Palmerston. A census taken in November of 1874 put the population at 1,693! This significant jump took the community from a possible village to a full town, yet it hadn't been officially organized in that capacity as of yet. The earliest reference available is in October of 1874 where Palmerston was no longer being referred to as a village but instead as a town. This explosion in the population likely explains why the request for village status was denied, it simply wasn't practical. The oddity is that in December of 1874 a group of seven businessmen led by McDowell, McDermott and Thompson travelled to Toronto and appealed to the Private Bills Committee of the Ontario Legislature to incorporate Palmerston as a town in the County of Wellington.
Why the shift from Perth to Wellington was made is not known. Whether it was out of spite towards Perth County for the denial of village status, or from the years of animosity between Wallace Township and the County. Or quite possibly it was a business move to be in the same county as the Great Western and WG&B railway centre in Guelph. It does seem logical considering there was no easy connection to Stratford via road or rail at the time. Guelph could be easily reached via the WG&B in a matter of hours versus what could be a full day of rough travel to get to Stratford.
One other possibility is the failure of another new County endeavour which started in 1873. This time led by representatives of Harriston, Palmerston and Listowel. This new county known as 'Blake County' was to be made up of Minto, Maryborough, Arthur, Wallace, Howick, Turnberry, Normandy and Egremont Townships. Once again the illustrious illusion of being a county seat was highly sought after, Listowel also desperately wanted a railway connection which to this point had none. Squabbling for the coveted county seat once again caused the endeavour to fizzle out. Palmerston would finally have to choose either Perth or Wellington for the time being.
Officially on the 21st of December, 1874 Palmerston was incorporated as a Town in the County of Wellington by Act of Parliament. (aside: Palmerston records 1875 as its official year of founding due to the 20th of January, 1875 being the first meeting of the newly formed Town Council.)
The group of seven founding fathers returned triumphantly to the new town and work on holding elections began in earnest. By January 7th the ballots had been set according to the Palmerston Progress. Thomas McDowell won the seat of Mayor by acclamation. Of the seven who made that long trip to Toronto a month earlier, only one (Hugh McEwing) did not get elected. McEwing lost to William Thompson in a bid for Reeve. Freeborn Kee reappeared as a town councillor and John McDermott retook his seat as Reeve of Wallace.
They must have felt like kings in their new little empire, up to this point the group of Simcoe Settlers had been very successful in their business and political endeavours. The new town was continuing to grow rapidly. By 1880 the population had reached 2,500 people, some predicted Palmerston would reach the status of city in no time and be an active competitor with the likes of Hamilton.
Between 1875 and 1880 the Town Council led by McDowell was very liberal in granting bonuses to multiple industries and railways looking to locate in Palmerston. In August of 1878 $15,000 was given in bonuses to both the Georgian Bay and Wellington Railway, and the Stratford and Huron Railway Company's. In 1877 Listowel was finally connected to Stratford and any chance of drawing the town into the Great Western sphere of influence was lost. Thus prompting the bonus given in 1878 to extend the Stratford Huron Railway lines from Listowel to Palmerston. It is also around this time the writing began to appear on the wall in regards to the strength and influence of the Great Western Railway.
The Grand Trunk was buying up smaller companies and their lines as they went bankrupt. The competition for the smaller lines like the Stratford Huron was too much and they simply couldn't support themselves alone. The Grand Trunk was quickly taking over most of Ontario and as the wind blew, the Palmerston Town Council opted to look for greener pastures.
On the 17th of June, 1880 a group once again led by McDowell and McDermott, left Palmerston for Stratford to apply for separation from Wellington County and return to Perth. It was recorded in the Committee minutes that a member of the Palmerston delegation claimed "...they felt they had not had fair play from Wellington, while they saw that the affairs of Perth were more economically conducted. He hoped they would get fair play and fair encouragement from their old County of Perth." The report was accepted unanimously, however for unknown reasons the negotiations collapsed and Palmerston remained in Wellington County.
This seems to have marked the end of McDowell, Thompson and McDermott in politics. None of them returned in any capacity, each went their separate ways in business. Thompson went to Toronto to operate a hotel, McDowell became an insurance agent in Palmerston and McDermott continued to farm with his sons in Wallace Township.
As likely foreseen the Wellington, Grey & Bruce Railway along with the Great Western were absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway in 1882 and the growth of Palmerston settled and stabilized, never to go much further beyond a community of roughly 2,000 people. The 10 years of amazing prosperity between 1870 and 1880 must have been a whirlwind for those involved. To see a backwoods farming area turn into a bustling centre of commerce almost overnight would have been a sight to see. The fact that actions of that little wheat midge set in motion a series of events that led to a few people making it rich in a short period of time and the creation of a tightly knit community that still stands proud today, is quite a testament to history.
Happy 140th Birthday Palmerston!