Tag Archives: Davey

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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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William Davey Block (1908)

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Categories: 1900s, Tags: , ,

16-18 Division Street South

William Melord Davey was born in Lockport, New York in 1859. His parents came to Canada and settled in Colchester when he was three years old to take up farming. William left the farm at the age of 11 or 12 and came to Kingsville to learn the trade of bricklaying. In May of 1880, he married Osea Wright and together they raised three sons and three daughters in Kingsville. A successful mason for many years, William changed careers in 1908 when he built this “brick block” and opened a restaurant with lodging rooms on the second floor. After William’s death in 1913, the restaurant had a series of managers including Robert Lamarsh, Maria Sherman, John Kinnee and Laura Longland. The building was converted into a garage in 1918 which was occupied first by the Fox Bros. and later the Cox Bros. Bon Jasperson purchased the garage in 1930, hired the Oxley Bros. to renovate the building and The Maple Sweet Shop moved in, offering to “Serve Meals to the General Public with the usual courtesy.”

Wm Davey has opened up a restaurant in his new building which he erected on Division st south. It is well lighted and heated and has a very commodius dining room, about 25 feet wide by 30 long. Everything is neatly arranged and comfortable. Upstairs has a hall extending the full length of the building and there are 7 or 8 bedrooms, bathrooms and snug little sitting room at the front. The rooms are all well lighted and airy. We understand he intends to take boarders as soon as he has everything in shape. He furnishes meals and lunches at all times.

The Kingsville Reporter, December 24, 1908 p.5

The Queen’s Hotel Kingsville

MRS. LONGLAND

Who wouldn’t enjoy one of those well cooked and fastidious meals at the new Queen’s Hotel, Kingsville. The boys on the road that know quality and taste and when the palate is appealed to said it was “queenish.” They said, “Now we will call it the Queen’s Hotel.” Mrs. Longland is known as the Queenish dish server of dainty things. She just knows how to take care of wedding parties in a delightful way. We owe the Queen’s Hotel the right hand flourish in Kingsville.

The Kingsville Reporter, June 14, 1917 p.1

To Rent

FLAT – nine rooms, in good condition, central location. Apply Cox Bros., Division St South

The Kingsville Reporter, November 1, 1923 p.1

Oxley Bros., contractors, have charge of the work of rebuilding the block on the west side of Division St. that Mr. Bon Jasperson bought from Cox Bros. The building is cement block, but a fine red brick front is being put on and the downstairs will be used for two stores and the upstairs for offices.

The Kingsville Reporter, April 10, 1930 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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James W. King House (1882)

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Categories: 1880s, Tags: , , , , ,

86 Division Street South

Designated in 2006

James Workman King was the oldest child of Col. James King, after whom Kingsville was named. Born in Michigan in 1835, he came to Gosfield with his mother and father as an infant. He attended high school in Port Clinton, Ohio where he met his future wife, Harriet Smith. In 1881 James hired his father-in-law, Sylvester Smith, to oversee the construction of his new brick residence which was completed the following year. Local craftsmen who worked on the house included Messrs. Bruner, Davey and Brimner. James and Harriet had six children: Fannie, James, Angeline, Gertrude, Mabel and Abby and they celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary at this home in 1911. Harriet died in 1912 and James followed her two years later. The Kingsville Public School Board purchased this home from Angeline in 1921 to be used as a high school, but sold it a few months later to Albert Eastman, Manager of the Windsor, Essex & Lake Shore Railway.

The Passing of Mrs. James W. King

The many friends here of Mrs. Jas. W. King were greatly shocked to hear of her unexpected death at the residence of her daughter in Walkerville, on Friday, Sept. 6th. [. . .]

The deceased was lady of a singularly sweet and lovable disposition with a heart overflowing with warm affection for those in trouble or who needed a mother’s care. Her hospitable door was always open and she seemed never so happy as when her friends were enjoying with her the happiness of her home. For over fifty years she and beloved husband, now left to mourn her loss, lived an ideally happy married life.

Bereft in the evening of life of his life companion, our hearts go out in sympathy not only to the family but particularly to the husband whose loss is irreparable.

The Kingsville Reporter, September 12, 1912 p.1

The Late Jas. W. King

James Workman King, after an illness extending over nearly two years, passed away at his home here on June 9th last. Deceased, a couple of years ago, suffered a paralytic stroke, from the effects of which he never fully recovered. He was able to sit up and be taken around in a wheel chair and was only confined to his bed a few days before his demise.

Mr. King was a son of the late Col. King, and was born at White Pigeon, Mich., Nov. 10th, 1835. Col. King moved to this place when James was young, and formed the nucleus of what is now the town of Kingsville. [. . .] He was a man of sprightly disposition, loved the company of his fellows, and in latter years was an enthusiastic bowler, member fo the Kingsville Bowling Club, and during his illness, was frequently wheeled up the green where he could watch the game. He was a member of the church of England and a faithful attendant up to the time of his sudden illness.

The Kingsville Reporter, June 18, 1914 p.1