Tag Archives: Hendershot

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Delbert Quick House (1920)

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Categories: 1920s, Tags: , , ,

110110 Division Street South

In June 1900 Charles Arthur Quick purchased J.H. Smart’s “Mammoth” store, located on the northwest corner of Division and Main, for $4,000. Unfortunately, eight months later it burned to the ground. Quick rebuilt on the site, and opened his grocery and dry goods store in the summer of 1901. Charles retired in 1917 and the business was carried on by his sons Delbert, Drayton and Stanley under the name C.A. Quick and Sons. Delbert had been working in B.C. learning the trade, but came back and married Myrtle Ballah in 1916 and they had this home built in 1920. In addition to running the family store, Del was very active in community organizations, served on Town Council and was on the committee responsible for bringing a high school to Kingsville.

Serious Fire

The Smart Block Goes Up in Smoke

Chas. A. Quick who Owned and Occupied the Building is a Heavy Loser

The Kingsville Reporter, February 28, 1901 p.1

The Quick block is beginning to take tangible shape. A gang of men are at work, and by this time next week it will be the scene of considerable activity. The building will be 128 feet long by 32 wide, solid brick, two stories high. There will be four stores in the block, two facing Main st. and two facing Division st. The second story will be used for residential purposes. Mr. Quick is not certain just when the building will be ready for occupation, but it will be finished as fast as workmen can lay material together.

The Kingsville Reporter, April 4, 1901 p.5

Del. Quick has purchased the Loop lot, formerly the Duggan property, on Division street south, and will erect a home on it for himself.

The Kingsville Reporter, September 25, 1919 p.5

ESSEX HIGH SCHOOL BURNS
A Complete Loss – Will Rebuild

Early on Tuesday evening last Essex High School took fire in the furnace room, and in a short time the building was reduced to a mass of ruins. The blaze is thought to have originated from an overheated furnace.

Some 40 students from this town go to Essex every morning.

The Kingsville Reporter, February 17, 1921 p.1

An option has been secured on the Mrs. Harris property, north side of Main street east, for a high school site.

The Kingsville Reporter, March 17, 1921 p.5

Organized effort towards the erection of a High School in Kingsville, is being made, and the various steps required before plans can be procured and tenders called for are being taken. In addition to passing the by-law electing Kingsville into a High school district, the County Council, last week, appointed H.C. Layman, R.H. Pickard and W.T. Conklin county representatives on the new High School Board, while the town appointed W.A. Smith, Del Quick and C.W. Hendershot.

The Essex Free Press, April 1, 1921 p.7

Longtime Businessman Delbert Quick Passes

Delbert Quick of 110 Division St. South, Kingsville, passed away on Saturday, Nov. 8th at Leamington District Memorial Hospital at the age of 89 years.

Mr. Quick was born in the Kingsville area where he resided all his life. He was retired and former owner of C.A. Quick and Son Department Store in Kingsville for many years. He was a member of Epworth United Church , Kingsville; a former member of the Kingsville High School Board, Kingsville Town Council and Hydro Commission; an honorary member of the Lt. Col. F.K. Jasperson (Ont. 188) Royal Canadian Legion and a member of St. George’s Lodge No. 41, A.F. & A.M.

Mr. Quick was a past president of the Kingsville Board of Trade, an organizing member of the old Kingsville Horticultural Society and an ardent hunter.

Surviving are his widow, Margaret (nee Mandley); one son, Lloyd Arthur of Brockville; one daughter, Della (Mrs. Harrold Hayford) of Naperville, Illinois; two step-sons, Fred W. Young of Maples, Ont. and Kenneth E. Young of Richmond Hill; 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

The Kingsville Reporter, November 12, 1975 p.1

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Russell H. & Ethel Pickard House (1911)

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Categories: 1910s, Tags: , , ,

31 Division Street South

Russell Howard Pickard, a graduate of the Ontario College of Pharmacy, moved to Kingsville in 1907 and purchased the Corner Drug Store from William Warner. Three years later, R.H. married Ethel, the middle daughter of Darius and Ellen Wigle. In 1911, it was announced that “Ex-Mayor Wigle has commenced operations on a new house for his daughter, Mrs. R.H. Pickard, on the corner of Pearl and Division streets [. . .] Wm Davey & Son are doing the brick work.” In addition to operating the Corner Drug Store in Kingsville for over twenty years, R.H. also owned “Pickard’s Drug and Dollar” stores in Windsor and Walkerville. R.H. and Ethel had one daughter, Pauline, who married Patrick O’Heron, managing director of the Pickard 5¢ to $1.00 Stores in Windsor. Pauline and Pat lived in this home and in 1962, O’Heron purchased the business of Webb & Co. and it was renamed “Pat O’Heron, Clothier.”

Another Change

Owing to overwork and close attention to business, Mr. Warner of the corner drug store, had begun to fail in health, and as a consequence he decided to sell out and take a few months’ rest. His successor is Mr. R.H. Pickard, a graduate of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. Mr. Pickard spent some four years at the business in Toronto, but for the past year has been with Mr. Stillman, druggist of Essex. He comes highly recommended. While sorry to see Mr. Warner leave town, we are glad he has sold to a man who will make a worthy successor. Mr. C.S. Miller will remain with Mr. Pickard for some time.

The Kingsville Reporter, April 11, 1907 p.4

Change of Business

I wish to announce to the people of Kingsville and surrounding country that having purchased The Corner Drug Store from Wm. Warner, conducted for years by Mr. Miller, we will endeavor by close attention to business courteous treatment to both old and young, and with our complete stock of drugs, drug sundries, patents, stationery (sic), school books, fancy china, etc., hope to secure the hearty support and liberal patronage given to my predecessors.

Our prescription department will be in charge of a qualified dispenser, and by handling nothing but the best of drugs, we will be in a position to dispense your prescriptions to the satisfaction of yourself and your physician. Mr. Miller has kindly consented to remain with me.

R.H. Pickard,

The CORNER DRUG STORE

The Kingsville Reporter, April 18, 1907 p.5

H.C. Layman Purchased the Building Occupied by Royal Bank

A short time since H.C. Layman druggist, purchased the brick block, south side of Main street west [15 Main Street West], from the Dr. Wigle estate. With the purchase of the Wigle block at the corner of Main and Division streets by R.H. Pickard and W.M. Webb, all the real estate holdings of the late Dr. and Mrs. Andrew Wigle are disposed of and the places are in the hands of Kingsville business men.

The Kingsville Reporter, September 29, 1927 p.1

Pat O’Heron Purchases Webb and Company Firm

One of Kingsville’s oldest business establishments changed hands as of January 1st when Pat O’Heron purchased the Webb & Company business. The firm will be known in future as Pat O’Heron, Clothier.

Mr. O’Heron is well known in Kingsville, having resided here for 21 years. He has been in the retailing business for the past 16 years, and is managing director of the Pickard 5c to $1.00 Stores in Windsor.

“Pat” as he is popularly locally known was a radar technician with the R.C.A.F. for five years, two of them overseas, during the last war. He is the clerk of the session of Epworth United Church and with Mrs. O’Heron enjoy twin daughters.

The original firm of Webb & Company was established in Kingsville in 1909 by F.R. Webb, father of the late Morton Webb who combined the business for a number of years under the name of Webb and Hendershot. Changing the firm name back in the early 1920’s to Webb & Company, the late Morton Webb eventually sold his interest in the firm to his son-in-law, Hugh Secord, who has operated the business since 1946.

The Kingsville Reporter, January 4, 1962 p.1

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Frank R. & Julia Webb House (1909)

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Categories: 1900s, Tags: , , , ,

59 Division Street South

Charles Warren Hendershot moved from Petrolia to Kingsville in 1896 with his new wife, Katherine Webb, to open up a “Dry Goods, Gents’ Furnishings” store in the Grenville Block. Within a year, he purchased the house at 53 Division Street South from Dr. Andrew Wigle and opened another branch of his store in the Wigle Block. In 1909 Katherine’s parents, Frank R. and Julia Webb, returned to Kingsville from Blenheim and had this house built by the Oxley Bros. on a lot purchased from the Hendershots. Charles also sold Frank his Wigle Block business, which Webb ran until his death in 1922. Martha, the widow of George A. Grenville, purchased this home in 1913 and she lived there for 25 years until it was sold to Fred O. Graham.

Mr. F.R. Webb has sold his store business in Blenheim and will remove here as soon as his new house is ready for occupation. We welcome him back to our town and hope that in the future he will not make the mistake of trying to find a better town to live in, because such a town is not yet in existence.

The Kingsville Reporter, October 1, 1908 p.5

Mr. F.R. Webb has purchased the C. Hendershot & Co.’s stock of clothing and furnishings and took possession on Saturday last. He is inaugurating a clearing sale at which people may depend on getting good value for their money. In another column will be found Mr. Webb’s announcement for this week. His terms are cash and one price to all and money back if purchase not satisfactory.

The Kingsville Reporter, 28 October 1909 p.5

Mrs. Grenville moved last week to her home opposite the Methodist parsonage which she purchased from Mr. F.R. Webb. She has some improvements put on the house in the form of a fine verandah at the rear, and has now one of the most cozy and comfortable homes in Kingsville.

The Kingsville Reporter, May 22, 1913 p.5

Barrister W.A. Smith and family will occupy Mrs. Grenville’s home on Division street south for the winter months taking possession January 1st.

The Kingsville Reporter, December 19, 1918 p.5

Mr. Lockwood and his bride, are occupying the Mrs. Grenville home, Division street south, for a few weeks.

The Kingsville Reporter, April 29, 1920 p.5

W.T. Conklin has rented Mrs. Grenville’s home on Division St. south and moved into same on Thursday last. Mrs. Grenville will spend the winter in St. Petersburg, Fla., leaving here shortly after Christmas.

The Kingsville Reporter, November 3, 1921 p.5

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Conklin Building (1901)

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Categories: 1900s, Tags: , , , , , , ,

Corner of Division St S and Main St E

The lifetime motto of David Conklin (1854-1952) was “Do what you have agreed to do, but be careful what you agree to do.” His father died when David was six years old and he was raised by his uncle Simon Wigle, from whom he “acquired his early knowledge of timbering.” Early days included forest clearing and led David to own a very successful lumber mill. Other investments included farming and commercial properties like the Conklin Building. David purchased the vacant lot on the south-east corner of Division and Main from J.W. King in April 1901 for $1,600, and the brick block was completed by December. The building was designed by architect John A. Maycock and D.H. McCay was the superintendent of construction. Shortly after completion, Molson’s Bank moved into the corner section and “the dry good establishment of C.W. Hendershot” occupied the L-shaped store which had entrances on both Division and Main.

The contracts for the new Conklin block have been let, DH McCay does the carpenter work, Wm Maycock and Wm Davey do the brick and stone work, and Ed Kennedy the plastering.

The Kingsville Reporter, May 23, 1901 p.4

In the year 1922, under the pastorate of the late Rev. Joseph Hibbert, Epworth Memorial Hall was erected for the purpose of accommodating the growing Sunday School and meeting the needs of the increasing social demands made upon the church.

At the same time the Memorial Hall was in course of erection there was installed in the church the splendid Casavant Organ, the gift of Mr. David Conklin and his son, William, in memory of the the late Mrs. Wilhelmina Conklin, wife of Mr. Conklin and mother of William.

The Kingsville Reporter, August 6, 1931 p.1

David Conklin Passes in 98th Year

David Conklin, Kingsville’s Grand Old Man, passed away Wednesday afternoon, May 7th, at the Leamington District Memorial Hospital, in his ninety-eighth year. His life coincided with the life of his native town for almost a century, through pioneer days, forest clearing, lumbering, business expansion and town building, even into our more settled commercial and agricultural era. The residents of Main St. West and Division St. North have commented many times that Mr. Conklin’s car was as reliable a time-piece as an alarm clock. His time never varied as he pursued his regular and methodical routine of farming and operating his saw mill. He executed his business affairs until last autumn with regularity, precision, accuracy and efficiency. An unfortunate accident occurred last October when he was injured by a motorist while crossing Main St. West on foot. Since that event, the late Mr. Conklin was confined to the Leamington Hospital where he passed away.

Mr. David Conklin’s father, Thomas Conklin, was the only son of Jacob Conklin, and died when David was only eight years old. Left alone with four other children, David’s mother, Susanna Wigle Conklin, agreed to let David live with her brother, Simon Wigle. It was from his Uncle Simon that David Conklin acquired his early knowledge of timbering. Except for about three months when he attended school, Mr. Conklin’s education was obtained from practical experience and from his wife, Wilhelmina Fox, who had qualified as a school teacher.

Driving oxen as a boy of 10 or 12 was no easy task. There were few roads, and most bush trails involved negotiating swamps, Essex County then being probably one-third under water. Little David had not been exposed to higher religion and lived in the tough logging camps. He could remember as a little boy getting lost with his oxen in Hog Marsh, north of Kingsville, “I would cry a little, then swear a little. Eventually I got through all right.”

As a boy of 16, his uncle gave him a job of bidding on the timber in Walker’s Marsh, about 12 miles from Kingsville. Mr. Hiram Walker was at first disdainful of the boy but his respect mounted when David’s tender took the timber by one dollar.

At 17 his uncle put David in his first responsible job – foreman of a logging camp of 75 French-Canadians. His duties were varied. Not the least interesting was the Saturday night chore of rounding up the men from the bars in Kingsville, lining them up and marching them out of town, singing, to their camps a few miles distant. If left alone, the men would have wrecked the town. “They respected me,” he would say. “One reason was that I didn’t use liquor or tobacco.”

The international boundary in Mr. Conklin’s early days was ignored. He timbered in Wayne County, Michigan, along with his operations in Essex County. One of his jobs was removing timber from the site of Detroit’s present Willow Run Airport. Included was elevating timber from the near-by valleys, which others could not do, but which Mr. Conklin performed by a clever arrangement of pulleys. At this time he was earning highly skilled wages, amounting to $1.00 per day.

Leaving his uncle’s employ in about 1882 at the age of 28, Mr. Conklin entered a partnership operating a grist mill in Kingsville. The following few years saw him interested in various enterprises including the district’s first gas well. Steam power was coming into popular use by this time, and about the 1885 he returned to his first love, purchasing a sawmill three miles north of Kingsville.

Twice his sawmill burned to the ground, and each time he rebuilt. Even this years, Mr. Conklin still operated a small sawmill on the site of his original mill. Along with this, he operated six farms. Still possessing a car driver’s license despite rigorous yearly examinations, Mr. Conklin supervised these activities in person. He was ever the man who saw at once the trouble and the cure when some piece of machinery was misbehaving.

There were many serious business depressions in his time. Each of them lasted three years or more. The worst of the early ones started in 1873, 1893, and 1901. His solution in 1901 was to expand his activities, rather than to retrench. Labour and material were lower priced and easily available, and much was supplied to him by debtors as a way of paying their accounts. At this time he built two store buildings on Kingsville’s chief business street, providing accommodation for a bank and ten stores, with office and apartments in the second storey. “Be sure you are right, and then go ahead,” was his advice. “A depression time can provide opportunities as well as hardships.” Until this year Mr. Conklin still looked after these store buildings himself, even keeping his own careful accounts of his revenue and expenses without the aid of a book-keeper.

Mr. Conklin was active in the Methodist Church for many years dating back to the first Methodist Church on Main St. East. He was a member of the building committee for the original Methodist Church on the site of the present Epworth United Church, and has been a trustee since 1887. His lifetime motto was “Do what you have agreed to do, but be careful what you agree to do.”

David Conklin was the only remaining one of the eight children born to Thomas and Susanna Conklin. He was born November 4th, 1854, in Kingsville, on the Conklin lot east of his late residence. He married Wilhelmina Fox, daughter of Mr and Mrs William C. Fox, on February 24th, 1875. His wife predeceased him on March 20th, 1922. His survivors are: William Thomas Conklin, his only son; three grandchildren, Mrs. Manly Miner (Lucile) of Kingsville, William David Conklin of Kingsville, Mrs. Russell Skitch (Nora) of Toronto; seven great-grandchildren, namely: Mrs. Robert Stoffes (Wilhelmina Miner) of Detroit, Annetta, David, William, and Janet Conklin, of Kingsville, Russel and William Skitch of Toronto; and one great-great-grandchild, Suzanne Steffes [Stoffes?] of Detroit.

The Kingsville Reporter, May 8, 1952 p.1

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Dr. Andrew Wigle House (1887)

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Categories: 1880s, Tags: , , ,

53 Division Street South

When this house was completed in 1887, it was described as “one of the handsomest houses in town” and “being different from any other in this part of the County.” It was built by Samuel Forster for Dr. Andrew Wigle, local dentist and businessman. Dr. Andrew, his wife and adopted daughter lived in this house until 1897 when they moved to the corner apartment in his newly built block on the south-west corner of Main and Division streets. The new owner was C.W. Hendershot, a merchant of “clothing and gent’s furnishings” with a store in the new Wigle Block. Hendershot sold this home in 1910 to H.P.D. Evans, manager of Molson’s Bank, who kept it for five years and then sold it to Christopher Brien. A “wholesale merchant,” Brien commuted by rail and ferry from Kingsville to his Detroit business every weekday, except during the winter months. Brien eventually moved back to Michigan and sold this house in 1927 to Dr. Hudgins, Kingsville dentist, who then moved his practice from the Wigle Block to his new home on Division Street South.

Andrew Wigle, our popular dentist, has been the happy recipient of a special invitation to the Michigan State Dental Convention at Ann Arbor. Some of the most eminent men in the state will be present. We congratulate our fellow citizen on having been thus honored. Mr. Wigle’s reputation and business is becoming so extended that more help is needed, and lately much pressure has been brought to bear on him to again open up a large establishment in Detroit. The matter has his consideration. We should be very sorry to lose so valuable a citizen.

Amherstburg Echo, April 1, 1887 p.6

One of the handsomest houses in town, and which is just about completed, is that of Andrew Wigle, on the corner of Division and Mill streets. In design it is very handsome, being different from any other in this part of the County. The fire proof metallic shingle is a first-class innovation, while the finish of the bay windows is admired by all who see it. The work of construction has been under the supervision of Samuel Forster. The mechanical part was performed by Freeman Bertrand.

Amherstburg Echo, September 30, 1887 p.6

Old Resident Passes

[ . . . ]Dr. Wigle was one of the best known and most highly respected residents of Kingsville. He was probably the oldest practicing dentist in Ontario. Outside a few years spent at his profession in Detroit, he spent his days in Kingsville. He sold out his practice a few years ago and even yet his old customers from far and near would come to him for work. [ . . . ] The doctor was in his 86th year, but did not look that old. He was slightly deaf, but otherwise was in full possession of all his faculties. He was a life long Methodist and for a number of years a local preacher and trustee of the church. His friends were legion but his enemies few. He was a fine spirited man, and in every sense of the term, a Christian gentleman.

The Kingsville Reporter, July 3, 1924 p.4