535-03 Page 41Move t New Home That's 95 Years Old
r hville Public LibraryAbandons
By MAIWORIE E. CROPP Ing, held In January, 1902, the the board and was also ap- Meetings of the library
One of Beachville's oldest board was increased to nine pointed secretary - treasurer. board were held semi -month -
,buildings, which has served members, to include James Glover Cropp was appointed
Dundee, John Smith, H. Mor- librarian to complete the term ly, and activities such as sup -
successively since 1844 as P
Presbyterian Church, Wesley- gan, M. S. Canfield and Adam Following librarians were: pers, teas, concerts, ball games
an Methodist Church, Royal Hoskin. At this meeting it William Lucy 1902.6, Herbert where the members sold
Templar Hall and public It- was decided to rent the Temp- Wilton 1907, Percy Karn 1908- chocolate and Ice-cream, and
ary, is now being alien• Tara Hall for a library, The 9, Wallace Turner 1910.11, and rail excursions to Port Bur-
' oned. librarian's salary was set at William Allot 1912-15. well, Port Stanley, Port Dov.
25 cents a week, and the care- er and Niagara Falls were ar-
On Dec. 28, id t a fee er taker's salary at 3 a month. The first lady librarian was
$0 cents was $ ranged as a means of interest -
pat a register In 1903 the librarian's and appointed in 1915. Mrs. Henry In the
e declaration of the establish- Edwards held office for 14 g Public, and raising
caretaker's duties were com- of a public library in the years until her death in 1928
villa money for books. In 1904 the
village of Beachville, Oxford blood at $3 a month.. board sold 181 adult tickets,
and was responsible to a large
County. The first board of ' • '" degree for creating and keep- and 51 childrens' tickets on
dir tore, appointed on that The first librarian was Dr. ing up public interest in the an excursion to the lake. They
consisted of John Down- W. J. Beasley,a librar took along a band and hired
>a appointed in y. a tug-of-war team from Em-
John Hacker, George January, 1902, with James Mrs. Newell Fordon fol- bro to
e r; James Collier and Dr. Dickie as assistant. In May lowed Mrs. Edwards, and was Put on an exhibition.
Beasley. The team was paid $37. A
j, Y• D 1Be J. E. Fordon replaced librarian for 30 years, until boat was hired for $13 from
qst,, a first general meet- Dr. Beasley as a member of September, 1959. Ca t ' B
the
excursionists for ides.
a'
Former Library
The building known in 1901
as the Templars Hall, and
Sold for $1 000
which housed the library un-
i
til the present time, was
BEACHVILLF, The former
located originally west of
t'
library building was sold for
Frank Lilliwhite's home, near
the mill dam,
a=
$1,000 to Alfred Vanderkooi, of
on what is now,
the
Beachville, at a meeting of vil-
CPR right of way. It was
-^°�.;
.loge council. �0 �Y — q 0 s-
in use in 1614 as a Presbyter! -
,,,,,,.�, krit
Council accepted the highest
an church. About 1a the
bid for the building, w h i c h
Presbyterians built a
Prnew
served as a Presbyterian
brick church on the hill
church, Methodist church and
across from the mill.
s-
meeting place or the Royal
In 1866, the Wesleyan
Templar Lodge before it be-
Methodists, without a church
came a library 60 years ago.
since the organization of their
congregation in 1846, bought
the present library lot from
-
q
.James Evans for $70, and
moved the old Presbyterian
frame church to its present
site. They then added about
frN s„
one third to Its original length.
iv.
It was their place of worship
x
until 1891 when they built the
brick building which is now
it
the United Church.
In use since 1844, the buil4ing housing Beachville
public libkary is being
In 1896
abandoned.
the Methodists sold
the old frame church to the
(U4 y/ks--LLU _c{ i 1 "cu. ,d
Building in Use Since 1844
Royal Templars lodge. In 1902
space was rented from them
for a library. Members of
long standing can remember
when the books were housed
in the room at the back.
In 1929 the two surviving
members of the Temperance
Hall, Henry Fordon and Rob-
ert Bowie, deeded the proper-
ty to the village of Beachville
for one dollar, on condition
that it be used for library
purposes.
In 1931 extensive renova-
tions were undertaken, Mrs.
Fred Canfield being at that
time president of the board.
There were then 2,400 books
on the shelves.
In March, 1957, the library
became a free public library,
with the council agreeing to
support the library by a per
capita tax of 50 cents from
the village. Increased income
enabled the board to extend
their services to a. heartening
degree. In 1959 council raised
the per capita tax to one dol-
lar.
• 4 M
Now the 118-year-old build-
Ing'is being abandoned as a
library. Some years ago one
half the ceiling fell in. Then
the floor started to sag. 1
amination found the bee
ready to crumble in the ha
In January this year the
brary board requested
newly incorporated villi
council Ito prepare a room
the town hall for the libra
The hall was originally
West Oxford Township B
and was built in the year
Confederation. It is 95 ye;
old but is a sound brick bui
ing. Unusued for some yea
it is being divided into t
rooms, the front for a tour
room, and the back for t
library.
New home for Beachville library is the renovated town hall, built in 1867,
LEFT — Oxford Silos and
Concrete Products was
one of three new indus-
tries to launch produc-
tion in Ingersoll last year.
The others are Moto -
Mower Inc. and the On-
tario Turkey Growers'
Co -Operative. The silo
firm is located on High-
way 19 and manufac-
tures prefabricated con-
crete silo and commercial
storage bins.
71AW . )-I- t `t d �
Ojcf k 44; /b e n c 4 cn
iiL..tktL C+v L' 7i 2 . rticaa+�r�,
West Oxford Township,;,
To Have New Indnstryy�u
West Oxford Township will
have a new industry in the earn
ing year, Stanley Campbell of
Campbell Construction announc
ed last week they have acquir-
ed 8 1/2 acres of land on Con-
cession 2, opposite the former
site of the "Big Cheese". The
company will be known as Bell-
Ca�mp�corporation Limited, "—
wFic will manufacture grain
dryers and elevators used in the
feed, seed, and fertilizer indus-
try.
Grading of the property is
now underway and a building
costing an estimated $30, 000
will be constructed as soon as
architects drawings are received,
Mr. Cam;bell said it would
enable his company to triple thei
production ,
1
V