Dipping into the past…

April 22, 2015 · 0 Comments

125 YEARS AGO
Thursday, April 24, 1890
• he people of Shelburne and those living in the neighbourhood of Silk’s School House, Melancthon, were horror-stricken this (Thursday) morning by the news that Thomas Morrison, a farmer, had drowned his three youngest children and then taken his own life. When found, the bodies were lying in a back kitchen after having been immersed in an adjacent rain barrel. The children’s mother had left home last evening to go to Laurel by train to make a short visit with friends. The tragedy was evidently committed early this morning. It was about 7 a.m. that a neighbour, Mr. Robert McLean, was made aware of the awful affair by the two oldest and only surviving children, Sarah and Alexander, who said they could not find their pa, and that Arabelle, Thomas and Willie were lying in the old house “with something white on their faces.”
• Mr. George Island, of Orangeville, general agent for the Patterson Manufacturing Co., met with a fatal accident at Orangeville station on Tuesday morning last. He had just arrived in Orangeville on the Owen Sound train, and was standing talking to Conductor Hazzard and D. R. Decatur of Shelburne. He left them and crossed the track just as the Credit Valley train came in. It struck him and knocked him down, both legs being cut off below the knees, and other severe injuries inflicted. He died about 9 o’clock the same evening. Mr. Island was one of the old residents of Orangeville and was well known throughout the county.
• A large number of new books have been purchased for the library of the Shelburne Mechanics’ Institute, and a new catalogue is being prepared which will contain all the books of the library. It is expected tp be ready for issue about May 1st. The Mechanics’ Institute is a credit to the town and we are glad to learn that it is in a flourishing condition. Those who are not already members should hand their names in to the secretary, Mr. A. Smith, before the first of May, which is the beginning of the Institute year,
• Says the Shelburne Free Press: With this issue the Free Press completes the 15th year of publication. Since it made its first appearance on the 6th of May, 1875, many changes have taken place. Shelburne, then a mere hamlet, with a few scattered houses, is now a large and important business centre. The Free Press has kept pace with its growth in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. Thanks to the liberal patronage of its many friends, The Free Press has now the best equipped office in this district, and a circulation larger than any other paper in the County of Dufferin. Our constant aim during the coming year will be to merit a continuation of this generous support which has heretofore been accorded to us, and for which we now return our most sincere thanks.
• A meeting of the creditors of Jesse Ketchum, leather dealer, Orangeville, was held in Toronto on Thursday last, when a compromise of 75 cents on the dollar was accepted. The assets are about $10,000 and liabilities $15,000.
• An Owen Sound deputation accompanied by three local MPs interviewed the Minister of Militia at Ottawa on Thursday last, to urge that the summer camp of No. 2 Military District be held this year at Owen Sound, instead of at Niagara as heretofore. The deputation pointed out that by changing the location of the camp as desired, corps from every part of the district could be conveniently massed at Owen Sound and a better opportunity would be afforded of drilling the Port Arthur and Manitoulin companies. A good site was promised and every convenience that the town could afford. The Minister, in reply, requested the deputation to forward a written application to the department and he would then call for an official report on the matter and see what could be done.

100 YEARS AGO
Thursday, April 22, 1915
• he provincial government has appointed a Provincial License Board of Commissioners to take sole control of the administration of liquor license laws as of May 5, 1915. The premier, in selecting the board, endeavored to make it as representative as possible and without regard to the politics of the nominees. Mr. Flavelle, the chairman, is a brother of J. W. Flavelle, of Toronto, and has been in commercial life in Lindsay.
• At its meeting Tuesday evening, Shelburne Council passed a motion granting permission to R. W. Brett to erect a gasoline pump in front of his place of business on Owen Sound Street, “he to assume all responsibility in case of accident from it being so placed.”
• The first step in the organization of the Speakers’ Patriotic League for Central Ontario, was taken at a meeting at Government House, Toronto, on March 2, at which an organizing committee was named with instructions to complete the organization as speedily as possible. A public meeting was held on March 25, at which the league was formally organized with His Honour the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario as President. The purpose of the league is to educate public opinion as to the pressing needs of the Empire for men and money, and as far as possible, to coordinate and stimulate all the various activities now working to this end, and to augment the various patriotic funds without establishing any new funds. The campaign will be carried on as the needs of the military and relief situations dictate.
• The CPR line in Melancthon cuts a strip off the rear of Lots 241, 242 and 243, range 1, owned by William G. Hendry. The strip abuts the farm of W. and T. E. Davis on the Back Line, and was claimed by the Davis Bros. by right of possession for a number of years. Mr. Hendry sued in Dufferin County Court to establish his ownership in January. Judge Fisher, who heard the case in Orangeville, reserved decision at the time, but judgment has just recently been given in Hendry’s favour with costs against the defendants.

75 YEARS AGO
Wednesday, April 18, 1940
• ith about one-half more entries and a much better quality of grain than last year, the annual Seed Fair, held at Grand Valley’s Carnegie Hall, on April 10, was very successful. The fair was to have been held on March 27, but owing to road conditions it was impossible to have it. While the roads were not very good on the 10th, those present were enthused about the improvement made in the exhibits. The project is sponsored by Dufferin Crop Improvement Association, which was organized in May, 1939.
• Clarence White, awaiting trial on April 29, on charges in connection with the Patterson Bros. store robbery in Shelburne, and assault on Night Constable Alex Petch, broke out of Orangeville Jail Tuesday afternoon by forcing the bars of the washroom window, climbing to the roof and making a precarious way to the outside wall, where he dropped 18 feet to freedom. A widespread search is being made.

50 YEARS AGO
Wednesday, April 21, 1965
• ohn Dolmer, president of the Ontario Farmers’ Union, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Pearson requesting an appointment to receive a planned mass delegation of farmers. Farmers from across Ontario, along with expected strong support from the western provinces, will make the trip to Ottawa with a petition carrying thousands of names in support of a brief that demands parity price levels on basic volumes of each farmer’s production, through the application of the Agricultural Stabilization Act.
• David Archer, president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, says the average Ontario family will face a cost of $300 to $500 a year, or at least a full month’s wages, as a result of the proposed Ontario Medical Care Insurance Plan. Addressing a dinner meeting of the Dufferin-Simcoe NDP in Orangeville, Mr. Archer said the suggested premium is $175 per family for medical care alone, to which the cost of hospital insurance at $78 a year must be added.

10 YEARS AGO
Thursday, April 21, 2005
• anet Rosenstock, a Liberal Party media representative and member of the Dufferin-Caledon Riding Association, said Wednesday, in an interview, that she expects the government of Paul Martin to fall on May 19.
• Dufferin County councillors are not saying how much a settlement with Jim Hewitt, the former CAO/Clerk/Treasurer, will cost taxpayers. Councillors received the minutes from a special meeting on April 6 at their regular meeting last Thursday night, which included a motion directing the Toronto law firm Thomson Rogers to proceed with a settlement agreement. Council approved the minutes without discussion, and in so doing ended four years of legal wrangling and a wrongful dismissal suit. Mr. Hewitt was dismissed in January 2001, amidst allegations of mishandling of funds — allegations that an audit later proved were unfounded. During question period last Thursday, freelance journalist Wes Keller asked councilors how they could settle a lawsuit involving public funds without revealing how much it was costing. “That is not always the case with special circumstances,” Warden John Oosterhof responded, saying the amount “is not always divulged.”
• An application from the Mel Lloyd Family Health Clinic in Shelburne was one of 52 approved for funding as a family health team by the Province last Friday.