The Legacy of John Waldie and Sons: A History of the victoria Harbour Lumber Company

The Legacy of John Waldie and Sons

A History of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company

The Legacy of John Waldie and Sons

A History of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company

Kenneth A. Armson

&

Marjorie A. McLeod

Copyright © Kenneth A. Armson 2007

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Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Armson, K. A., 1927-

The legacy of John Waldie and Sons : a history of the Victoria Harbour

Lumber Company / Kenneth A. Armson & Marjorie McLeod.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-55002-758-7

1. Waldie, John, 1833-1907. 2. Victoria Harbour Lumber Company--History. 3. Lumbering-Ontario--History. 4. Victoria Harbour (Ont.)-- History. 5. Lumbermen- Ontario-Victoria Harbour--Biography. 6. Businessmen--Ontario--Victoria Harbour-Biography. I. McLeod, Marjorie II. Title.

HD9564.C34V53 2007 338.7’634980971317 C2007-902991-4

123451110090807

Front cover. Forest © Ont. Ministry of Natural Resources; Portrait of John Waldie courtsey of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and the Huronia Museum.

Back cover. Author photos © K. Armson.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and The Association for the Export of Canadian Books, and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishers Tax Credit program and the Ontario Media Development Corporation.

Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

J. Kirk Howard, President

Courtesy of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and the Huronia Museum.

Portrait of John Waldie in

St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Victoria Harbour

"Let us act, not talk, and we as lumbermen will

continue to saw wood and keep our axes sharp."

— John Waldie, March 2,1902

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Figures

List of Tables

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter I

WHO WAS JOHN WALDIE?

Chapter II

THE LUMBER INDUSTRY JOHN WALDIE ENTERED

Chapter III

THE VICTORIA HARBOUR LUMBER COMPANY 1886-1907

Chapter IV

THE VICTORIA HARBOUR LUMBER COMPANY 1907-1927

Chapter V

WHERE DID THE LOGS COME FROM?

Chapter VI

THE VILLAGE OF VICTORIA HARBOUR

Chapter VII

THE VICTORIA HARBOUR LUMBER COMPANY 1927-1942

Chapter VIII

THE WESTERN WALDIE LUMBERMEN

Epilogue

Appendix 1

Records of Timber Cut by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company

Appendix 2

Records of Timber Cut by Schroeder Mills and Timber in Blair and Mowat Townships, 1917-1926

Appendix 3

List of Quit Claims and Other Property Agreements between Victoria Harbour Lumber Company and Other Parties, 1909-1939

Appendix 4

Amount of Dividends or Special Payments by Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, 1907-1942

Appendix 5

Alligator Tugs Purchased or Used by the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company

Appendix 6

Botanical Names of Tree Species

Appendix 7

Brief Biographies: Other Notable Pine Lumbermen of the Time

Notes

Index

LIST OF FIGURES

Frontispiece

Portrait of John Waldie in St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Victoria Harbour. Courtesy of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church and the Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 1-1

Agnes Waldie Laidlaw and John Scott Laidlaw. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-2

John Waldie’s store in Burlington. From the Illustrated Historical Atlas of County of Halton, 1877.

Figure 1-3

John Waldie, c. 1859. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-4

Mary Ann Thompson Waldie. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-5

Waldie family plot, Greenwood Cemetery, Burlington. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 1-6

Sarah Jarvis Waldie. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-7

The Waldie Gates, 75 Park Road, Toronto. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 1-8

Jessie, Mollie, and Lillie Waldie. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-9

Robert Stanley Waldie. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 1-10

Lieutenant Charles Percival Waldie. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 2-1

Typical Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest. Courtesy of the Algonquin Park Museum.

Figure 2-2

An alligator tug and drive crew, Parry Sound. Courtesy of Archives of Ontario Acc.# 3924 S2318

Figure 2-3

Advertisement for alligator tugs. Courtesy of the Canada Lumberman and Woodworker.

Figure 2-4

Filing room of William Waldie and Sons, Castlegar, British Columbia. N.B. Double cutting band saws and circular saws. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 3-1

Timber mark VH on timber hammer (mirror image). Courtesy of John Haegeman, Espanola.

Figure 3-2

Mill No.1 and planing mill, c. 1890. Photo by H.L. Gardiner. Courtesy of Archives of Ontario Acc.# 2375 S5399

Figure 3-3

Mill No.2., c. 1890. Photo by H.L. Gardiner. Courtesy of Archives of Ontario Acc.# 2375 S5400

Figure 3-4

Tug Charlton. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 3-5

Tug Reginald. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 3-6

Tug Superior. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 3-7

Waldie yacht Siesto at Victoria Harbour. Courtesy of Tay Heritage Collection, Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 3-8

Boom of logs at Goodcheer Island, Georgian Bay. Note VH carved on boom log. Photo by John Andras.

Figure 3-9

Mill No. 3, c. 1901. Photo by H.L. Gardiner. Courtesy of Archives of Ontario Acc.# 2375 S5401.

Figure 3-10

Waldie cottage at Shanty Bay, Lake Simcoe. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 3-11

Waldie Brothers mill at Spragge. Photo by Lyle Marcellus. Courtesy of Lynx Images Inc.

Figure 4-1

Advertisement for the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company Limited in the Canada Lumberman and Woodworker, January 1924.

Figure 4-2

Men around campfire, Whitefish camp. Photo by H.L. Gardiner. Courtesy of Archives of Ontario No. 6780.

Figure 4-3

View from loading wharf showing mills, booms of logs and yard engine. Courtesy of collection of Marjorie McLeod.

Figure 4-4

General view of lumberyard, Victoria Harbour Lumber Company. Courtesy of collection of Marjorie McLeod.

Figure 4-5

A wide board at the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company. Courtesy of collection of Marjorie McLeod.

Figure 4-6

Dr. Norman Bethune (centre) at Martin’s camp, Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, Lake Panage, 1911. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada, No.C 56826. Frontier College collection.

Figure 4-7

127 Bloor Street West, Waldie House, 1930-1931. Courtesy of Victoria College Archives, #91.004P/1.

Figure 4-8

No. 2 yard engine, Victoria Harbour Lumber Company. Courtesy of collection of Marjorie McLeod.

Figure 5-1

Map showing general locations in the Georgian Bay area from which the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company obtained timber.

Figure 5-2

Advance growth of eastern white pine several years after a ground fire in an older pine stand. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 5-3

Copy of portion of Sudbury Crown Timber Agent’s ledger showing data given in Table 5-2.

Figure 5-4

Sleigh load of large logs. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 5-5

Map of Blair and Mowat townships showing the timber berths of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company and the areas of Camps 3, 4, 6, and 8 of the Schroeder Mills and Timber Company, 1921-1924.

Figure 5-6

Cut in eastern white pine, Stand No. 11550 (2004), in area cut by the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company in about 1890. Note stumps and advance growth of pine. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 5-7

Skidway of pine logs in same area as Figure 5-5. This forest is sustainably managed by Westwind Forest Management Inc. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 5-8

On marked tree note short distance between branch stubs below red paint and much greater above (see text). Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 6-1

Victoria Harbour Lumber Company offices. For a period the Bank of Toronto had its offices in the lower left part of the building. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-2

The Royal Victoria Hotel and Staff House, built in 1902. Note man on roof of verandah holding rifle. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-3

St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, donated by John Waldie in 1905. Photo by K. Armson, 2004.

Figure 6-4

The Victoria Harbour Mercantile Company Store, wholly owned by the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, built in 1902. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-5

Victoria Harbour Library, built by the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company in 1916. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-6

Felling eastern white pine near Victoria Harbour in about the 1870s. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-7

Horse with William Fox in Victoria Harbour. Fox looked after the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company’s horses. Was this one of the unmanageable horses Waldie bought? Photo from The Visible Past by Adelaide Leitch, courtesy of Simcoe County Archives.

Figure 6-8

Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Wardell in cutter in front of houses (saltboxes) built for company workers, many from Quebec. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-9

Saltbox houses, 2004. Photo by K. Armson.

Figure 6-10

Girls on Jephson Street with skates. (Left to right) Eva Reid, Pearl Gilmour, Mae Reid, and Addie Vent, c. 1918. The house directly behind the girls was that of Jerome Duckworth, manager of the company’s operations in Victoria Harbour. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 6-11

The Jerome Duckworth house on Jephson Street, 2004. Photo by K. Armson.

Figure 6-12

Aerial view of Victoria Harbour showing three mills of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company. Courtesy of Huronia Museum, Midland.

Figure 7-1

Silver tray presented to Austin Cosgrove after sixty years of service to the Waldies. Courtesy of John Waldie.

Figure 8-1

1910 postcard view of Edgewood mill. Planing mill (left of centre) still under construction. Note elevated platforms for lumber carts. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-2

Later view of mill showing lumber piles. Note railway car next to planing mill. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-3

Whatsun Lake flume. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-4

Tug ELCO 2 and barge loaded with firewood to be used by the tug. Note houses across river and railway trestle. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek

Figure 8-5

View of mill showing pond. Cabins for single men (centre left) are in front of houses for married workers. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-6

Waldie mill in 1927. Note beehive burner and fuel wood in foreground. Area of past forest fire in background. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-7

Jack ladder, probably in the 1930s. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-8

Information sign on Waldie Island Trail. Note triangular William Waldie and Sons WWS mark. Courtesy of Walter Volovsek.

Figure 8-9

Old lumber cart from Waldie mill. Photo by K. Armson, 2005.

Figure 8-10

View of old pilings for Waldie mill wharf. Photo by K. Armson, 2005.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 5-1

List of Crown timber locations of the Victoria Harbour Lumber Company, by year acquired and area.

Table 5-2

Number of pieces and volumes by certain contractors as in the original ledger, together with calculated average volume and estimated small end diameter per piece.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This work could not have been undertaken without the assistance and cooperation of many people and organizations. In particular, two great-grandsons of John Waldie — John Waldie and John Lownsbrough — have been very supportive. The photos and company documents together with their recollections were major sources of information. Professor Mark Kuhlberg has been unfailing in providing advice and help, particularly in our archival searches. Jamie Hunter of the Huronia Museum in Midland has been a constant and enthusiastic supporter of our endeavours. Walter Volovsec was a major source of information for Chapter VIII and provided a tour of the site of the Waldie mill at Castlegar. Leo Lariviere most competently drafted the maps in Chapter V. We want to formally recognize the following institutions and persons for their generous assistance:

National Library and Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Diane Duguay; Archives of Ontario, Toronto; City of Toronto Archives; Robarts Library and Archives, University of Toronto; Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library; North York Library; Huronia Museum and Huron/Ouendat