535-03 Page 14l2
James McIntyre, of Ingersoll,
who wrote verse 50 to 75 years
ago in this region and was
known to many as the "cheese
Poet" for his many odes on that
product of his county, can be
credited In these times with pre
serving some record of early
sights in Western Ontario.
The following lines, written
by, McIntyre in 1888, refer to a
Beachville signpostof that day.
r
"STRANGE WATER
WHEELS AT BEACHVILLE:
- ^'
Beachville
• > _
•
Signpost; Beachville
erly along the edf
street 3 chains, 53 links to "� Wrl !
hams, 53 li h
!lo
rand
i
tree from bac'f
/
L9 6Aoet O f
Poet
//
Ingersoll
Ingersoll
'then N 72 degrees 40 E 8 chmns
Tole Told 73 links more or less along the
,����/�y
+r ,1 v a. VVV
1 S/ f l
;north edge Hook street art
p�,
f
about
Elm tree about 18" in diameter
m er
_
Of
*Bridges
r
B 1 I d
�'`
g es
standing on the edge of the river'.
Thames aforesaid, then following'
(l
Au
said river down stream to the
000 vv
CO'rV. G,
By M. E. Cropp
place of beginning."
4w ow
An early traveler through West-
Rebellion Leader
ilk a 3 - / g7.t',
/J
+,
ern Ontario wrote there was no.
Among the early business men
was Cornelius Cunningham, wagon
! '
bridge anywhere on the Thames in
maker, who operated here for sev-.
PLa -4 o<^n"f /ry
1827.7. This, of course, except the:
eral year prior to the Rebellion
of 1837.IIe hanged in
/pj&s •$er .6'es-k_ '
Indian to bridges. There was a
g g
waa 1839
y
v(
log bridge at Beachville, probably
In London jail as a leader of. the
rebels,
from pre -pioneer times. A map
James Fuller had a smith's shop
q�
among the "Simcoe Papers" in-
on the south side of the river in
sf ° f r``•• '
dicates that Governor Simcoe,
1819,
I
crossed this log, in 1793.
Calvin Martin operated a saw -ill
d
9
Under the date 1848, in the diary
m below the present site of the
C.N.R. station. This was aban-�
ri
of Col. Alexander Light, who
doned and part of the machinery
settled east of Beachville in 1833,
washed away by 1850,
to
is found the following entry:
Samuel Canfield o erated a
P
1
1846 Contract
sawmill at a very early date.
"Account of District moneys ex-
Mill Site
a
pended by ly. Light,' district coun-
Another mill site which was
abandoned as long as anyone can
seior for North Oxford, 1846.
remember is on Foundry Creek,
t
"Entered Into contract with A.
behind Charles Reeve's home._
1 is
Carroll, West Oxford, to build good
In 1832 there was a Methodist
wh
Church here, and in that
substantial bridge at Beachville
.year
!i
Beachville became a regular stop
for £79-5 shillings. Mr. Scott's dls-
on the stage route between Niag�in
Sutherland's Gazette for 18!
r r
/•
trict counselor to pay in ratio to
ara and Sarnia.
'Class distinction was very mark
moneys received by each town-
Bych theta was Prejby in
those days. Harry Marl
�• w.
I
ship."
18eriar
Church (Free Kirk), ,-by 1855 a
Baptist and In 18s8 land" ibrought a mason from the C
Invented by John Cross, a La-
borer, while working there.
It Is the cause of a good deal
of curiosity on the part of trav-
elers passing along, and observ-
Ing wheels revolving In the river,
evidently driving some maehin.
ery which they cannot discover
conveniently, as ,they are driv-
ing pumps low down in the
quarry beds. Good building stone
as well as atone for the perpetual
kilns (the kilns were always
burning) are obtained convent.
- - I
This entry y
y was made b Cal
wa.
bought by "The United Church Country to build his home,
ant to two lines of railway de-(
Light's son, William. William was
of wM
'.England and Ireland." That wa;ryas later destroyed by tire.
pots and sidings. l
a lieutenant in the Oxford Militia
.the site of the present An Ircar,
g One of Beachville's oldest bull
r r •
during the Rebellion of 1837. He
IChurrh.
1 s
rose in military .rank until in 1863---
•----rugs is the home and shoe -rape
Here in the river you ¢e8ery r
he became commanding officer of
shop of Wilfred Vale. It was by
Wheels revolve to keep. quar. r
the Oxford Rifles. He. was also
by Warren Henry, a large la
ries dry; _ t _
Elsewhere
inspector of schools for North Ox.
owner here in the 1830's and
such pumps are i
ford for several years beginning
drove b steam, (J
in 1844.
He owned originally a block ri
And here by current of the
Early Details
fining south from the village bri
stream. i
Much information may be
ypart of Beach
Much of the earl to the highway, and west appi
• "
I.
Easy It the water tattles,
gleaned from the early County
villa has disappeared.
pp ared. The villa mately as far as Charles Suck
And leaves dry the
Registry .Books. In 1831 there was
grew originally in the vicinity o nan's home.
. beds of f
quarries;
still no bridge over the creek on
the present mill, the first one o "Fine Shoe Store"
f
Continuous at perpetual kiln,
Water street, which runs past
Charles Bucbannan's barn, In 1831
this site beingbuilt Abraha
X When James Taylor, ma:
You withdraw lime and with f
there is mention of the present
Beach in 1831. The last'of a m shoemaker,. came to work
stone fill."
mill pond Itt 18'9 1 t
of buildings which stood between
.v. _ ._AJ 1 __ L
Bridge Built at Beachville in 1$46--'
l his oriage, tseacnvute's tirst -good" one, was built in 1846. Prior to that time o
bridges were known in that area. The story of the bridges and other early vlll
tails are described elsewhere on this page,
., a o was bought
/ from R. Martin on Church street the mill and the mill dam, on who'
Warren Henry in 1847 he descril
this building as "a fine shoe stoi
' for a Roman Catholic Church and is now the right of way of the Cal
He stated that in those days a g(
burying ground. This is where nadian Pacific Railwa was de
the homes of J. Smith and Mr. R ''.
shoemaker got from $1.30 -to'$:
Faber now stand. A ma molished in 88778 when the railwaj
for making a Pair of shoes,
87f1 Beachville for 1shows this through. This row included E
1862 he. got $1.76 a pair. Th,
church still serving the commun- 'tavern, a Presbyterian churcF
were no eight -hour days, and me
ity.. It was later burned, and the (Free Kirk) which was moved ii
bodies in the
a night found him sewing
cemetery moved t 1866 to become the Wesleyan Methi
In er8 1 , The first Rom g Catho-
building shoes by the light of 4
odiat"Church and later the preseni lie mass in Oxford County was
low candles.
celebrated n O'Neil's Blacksmith public library, a large house, f`
'shop in Be0hville
About 1864 the first coal oil la;
in 1835, tannery and a store, all belongins
was demo' nstrated in the villa
Im 1839 all the streets on the �- ----- _ -_--�- -'
in John Buchannan's Tin Shop
south side of the river are in 'to George Burton, the latter colt
The The replacement of custom -ma
tioned in the Registry Book. In 'nected with a three-apartrnetil
g y
shoes b y factory -made was v
1840 the Bank of Upper Canada dwelling, two small cottages, an(t
gradual. Many people preferred 1
bought a lot here. During this in front of the mill, a hardware
hand made product. But by I
Period there is much mention of and a storage warehouse b�I
these were a thing of the past.
_ the "Farmers and Mechanics :store
1848 House
Building Society," the "Building longing to the miller, Williar-
Warren Henry built the L
Society of the District of Brock," ', Hook the Elder. e
dwelling house on the street r
and the "Western Building So- Across Street r
ning north to the bridge, in I
- ciety of .the District of Brack," Facing these, on the other aid(
This was a one -storey building r
and the "Western Building So- {
the. street, w once a disc.
incorporated into the home ofof
ciety." ;
S. McLelland. Soon after, he 61
Property Described I!, tillery, a general- :store owned bj
his own home, now part of
Descrintions of property in the William Hook, another by Abra
home of Arthur Pearson.
l early Registry .Books are inter- ham Beach, after whom Beachville
Buildings put up at this date.
Jesting. In 1859 the property now was named, a blacksmith shop, and
easy to locate. They are the i
�belonging to Harley Cousins was a drug and tin shop owned b�,
with lower floors raised only a,
c sold by Cornelius andVandes to Robert Beath. There was also a
l Harry Fargo Martin and described
three inches above the _1'm;
Originally they, had no
the
thus: - beautiful cobblestone house, with
people coming direct from the
m
"One half acre, part of the cobblestone stables and well, owned
Country were not used to ee
norther] by Harry . Martin, one of Beach -'except
y part of Lot No. 8 com-'
five "Gentlemen,"
in cities.
villa's as listed
ing on to the east side of Zorra
—
street and at the water's edge of
the River Thames,
-
thence south- _
`f�-<.