St Marys Ontario

In the preceding chapters we have in our imperfect way given a record of the early settlement of the township of Blanchard, but this in itself would be incomplete without any reference being made to the town of St. Marys, which, as if under the wand of the enchanter, had sprung up sixty years ago.   In the year 1843 was completed the gristmill (now owned by the Carter family), at the point where the main street of the town crosses the River Thames.   This enterprise has been entered into by Mr. Ingersoll at the suggestion of the Canada Company, and for which he received a grant of a certain portion of land as a remuneration for his outlay in its construction.   This convenience was of the utmost importance to the settlers, and formed the nucleus of the future town.   In 1842 a sawmill has been completed where Water Street crosses the stream, a short distance above its confluence with the river.   Queen Street, east and west of the Thames, still presents to the emigrant a primitive aspect, and the ingenious hand of man had as yet made no impress on the old forest trees that still stood on that now imported thoroughfare.   At the corner of Queen and Water streets the first settlers has eroded the only business places which then composed the rude hamlet, and exposed such wares for sale as would be required in a new country.   In 1841 Mr. George Tracey has erected the first building of any description ever built in St. Marys. This dwelling was on what is now Church Street, and appears to have been a stage in advance of the shanty, as it contained two rooms, and had an upstairs, which was reached by a ladder constructed of two poles, between which were the rungs.   Mr. John Ingersoll, son of Thomas Ingersoll, opened the first general store in St. Marys, on the corner of Queen and Water Streets, in 1842.   The next store was opened by Mr. Cruttenden in 1843, and the first dram was sold by William Carroll in a log shanty on Water Street, opposite the sawmill.   The influx of settlers and the rapid improvement of the Township of Blanshard created a great demand for the class of goods required in new settlements, and the hamlet in the valley of the Thames made great progress.     Millner Harrison  , who was a man of strong and robust frame and overpowering energy, had arrived, and entered into projects which by his prudence and foresight let to a fortune.   T. B. Guest had also become a citizen.   James McKay was early on the scene, and assisted, in 1841, to prepare the site for the new sawmill.   Amongst the old pioneer business men who had located in the town, besides those already mentioned, we find the Messrs. Hutton, Whelihan, Moscrip, Barron, Flawse, McCuaig, McDonald, and Dunn. Mr. Long, the present respected treasurer of the town, is also one of the old pioneers of St. Marys, and succeeded Mr. Steel, of Brantford, whose manager he had been in the St. Marys business.   Mr. Long carried on his store in a long, low building extending from the corner on Queen Street back along Water Street, and on which spot is now the large stone structure occupied by John Woods.   He did a large business with the new settlers in the township, and divided with Mr. Harrison the trade in potash, which was then the only article of merchandise produced on the farm for which money could readily be obtained.

In 1843, when Mr. Cruttenden arrived, came also Mr. Nicholas Rogers, who began teaching the first school ever opened in St. Marys.   Mr. Rogers is still hale and hearty, and he seems to recall vividly many of the events that occurred in the woods nearly sixty years ago.   At that time no building had been erected in the town where the young idea could be trained, and the old pioneer teacher taught the little school in his own house. Of the appliances used at the present day to train the young mind Mr. Rogers had none.   History is not silent, however, regarding his school management, as it avers that while he was a good- hearted man he was inexorable in the enforcement of his scholastic regulations, even to the most liberal and rigorous application of the taws for any infringement.