The record, 31 mai 1988, Supplément 1

1_____tel uecara Tuesday, May 31 2 — Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 Magog’s centennial: Life during summer of 1888 THE VILLAGE In the summer of 1888 — exactly one hundred years ago — Magog stood at a parting of the ways.On the one hand, it still moved much as it always had to the music of running water and the steady plod of horses’ hooves — there were still five blacksmiths in town (John Perdue, Francis Grenier, Baptiste Payette, Remi Palurday and Edward Paquette), a saddler (Charles Renaud) and a harnes-smaker (Joseph Dupuis).H.L.Knowlton dealt in hides for leather and P.D.Longeway ran the livery stable.Besides the horses, most people in Magog also kept a cow or two, a few pigs and chickens so that on warm and windless days the village would have been redolent of manure and outdoor privies.There were dogs and cats and children in the streets and on dry days merchants still found time to stand in their shop doors smoking pipes in the sunshine.“During wet weather,” John Pe- ters wrote in his memoirs, “mud on Main Street was 8 inches deep.Common sight to see husband pick up wife — hoopskirts, bustle and all — and carry her across the street.Worth watching on windy days.” But Hoyt and Atwood, Hoopskirt Manufacturers, were gone from Magog and the scream of steam whistles repeatedly insisted the machine age had come, that a village once run by water was now being driven by steam, that the independent village craftsmen were being displaced by machine-minders and factory hands.Steam boats and steam trains had brought prosperity and population — it was now around 2,000 — and the old creaking water-wheel powered mills, and the rickety bridge without handrails that graced a thousand parlour walls, were gone forever.The Village of the Outlet was swiftly being replaced by the Town of Magog.THE MILL The largest employer was the Magog Textile & Print Works, ca- pitalized at a million dollars (when a million was worth something) and employing 200 hands.Even so, it was expanding that very summer by installing new machinery to increase the workforce to 500.It would soon turn out eight to ten million yards of printed cloth annually In June, 1884, it had been the first mill in all Canada to print cotton cloth.The town had encouraged its creation and exempted it from taxes for 15 years.Stanstead granite had been barged up from Ce-darville for foundations, window and door sills, and the William Hobbs Cotton Mill in Coaticook had been bought out.Hobbs became Vice President and General Manager of the new plant and went to England to buy machinery and hire skilled operatives.“Wages ran 9 cents an hour for general labor,” Peters recalled, “12‘/2 cents for carpenters, ISVz cents for machinists.” Printers and Engravers received the highest pay and these — along with management — were all English.J.K.Ward was the President, W, J.Pullen Secretary-Treasurer, R.B.Lindsay Cashier and David Whe- Les mm Galeries Orford Inc.well Superintendent.Master Mechanic was J.E.Perdue, Fireman Robert McFerlane, and the foremen were Wiliam Boyd, A.Chalk, J.A.Donigan, E.B.Taylor and Robert Smith.Unskilled labor was mostly French Canadian and they earned as little as 40 cents a day for ll'/i hours, 75 cents a day on the average, and fines were levied for spoiled work.Hours ran from 6:30 in the morning when the workers were expected to be at their machines, to 6 o’clock at night, halfday Saturdays.In 1882, a Royal Commission had visited 465 mills and factories across Canada and found 2,000 children below the age of 14 working in them, 173 below the age of 10.A new Royal Commission on the Relation of Capital and Labour was gathering testimony during that very summer of 1888 and learning that girls as young as 13 and 14, boys as young as 10 or 11, were working in cotton mills.This encouraged Premier Mercier to revise Quebec’s Factory Act in 1890 to ban boys under 16 and girls under 18 from working in mills that were ‘unhealthy and dangerous’.tM.: [Ill] M34I21 1700, RUE SHERBROOKE - MAGOG, Bernard Epps Even then, parents desperate for another wage to feed enormous families, often lied about their children’s ages.“The Magog Hosiery Company,” said the 1888 Eastern Townships Business and Farmers’ Directory, “is also an important industry.giving employment to about 50 women and girls, and turns out a large quantity of first class work.” There were a number of smaller factories besides — the Magog Steam Cariage Factory (L.K.Drew, manager) did not make steam-powered carriages but made carriages by steam-power.There was a steam saw mill and a steam grist mill (George Ayer, Prop.) and a steam sash and door factory.THE RAILROAD On June 1st, 1888, the Canadian Pacific Railway formally took possession of the old Waterloo & Magog and steam trains whistled into the little station several times a day from Montreal and Megantic.The W&M had brought rails to the village in 1877 but it had lost money every year and when the CPR offered to buy it out for about 45% of the value of its shares, its directors had no choice.Canadian Pacific directors let it be known they were quite prepared to build a rival route and drive the W&M out of business anyway.In fact, a section of the new CPR Short Line was being laid that very summer north of the Magog River because the old W&M tracks south of the river were judged unsuitable.When the new section was finished in November, 1888, the old route was closed, the W&M, wrote Derek Booth, had been “a highly speculative, shakily financed, marginal branch line operation; it was a dream.” On June 6, a violent windstorm blew down some 2,500 feet of the new 50-foot-high trestle over the Missisquoi at Eastman (it collapsed again in 1907) and traffic had to be rerouted for six months over the old W&M line.Construction gangs on the Short Line and the trestle were largely Italian and — construction workers being the Jvormancf Vhicoijnc, druggist Les Galeries Orford 1700 Sherbrooke St.Magog, Que.J1X 5B4 (819) 843-1115 Happy 100th Anniversary to the town of Magog! We are proud to be serving your community.QUALITY CLEANERS «ttioïlïî 1000 Sherbrooke St.Magog 1404 Gall West St.Sherbrooke *>tr Sanitone ¦ ¦ ¦ The first bridge over the Magog River at Bolton at the Outlet, as the town of Magog was then called.From a print circa 1837.CONGRATULATIONS FOR YOUR 100th ANNIVERSARY! Jts been a privilege to serving the Magog population.UmmicH ALAIN BRODEUR See next page Magog: ‘a rip-roaring, wide-open town’ votes its self ‘wet’ in 1888 From last page same everywhere — there was sometimes trouble in Magog."It was a rip-roaring, wide-open town,” wrote John Peters, "with an old man of 140 lbs.as Bailiff for a police force.” Actually there were two bailiffs in Magog in 1888, M.A.Chamberlain and F.X.Gamanche, and booze was not the problem it had once been.Under the Scott Act, Stanstead County had been dry’ for four years until it voted itself ‘wet’ again in 1888.Richmond voted itself ‘dry’ that year and Brome County was also ‘dry’.Sherbrooke remained steadfastly ‘wet’ but the Women's Christian Temperance Union held its 5th provincial convention there that summer and boasted of membership in almost every township.There was a billiard parlour (N.Lepine) in Magog but, besides the two hotels (Park House, William Jamieson, Prop, and Union House, under Napoleon and Zephirin Allard, the village’s social life revolved mainly around the two schools and four churches.Father Charles E.Millette shepherded the Catholic community — French, Irish and Italian— Rev.M.Lidstone the Methodists, and Rev.C.P.Dow the Millerite Church of the Advent.The Anglican minister was the Rev.James Hepbui n and John Peters remembered; “I have seen Rev.Hepburn of the Anglican Church hold service in the morning, snowshoe ten miles to Georgeville, hold service in the afternoon, snowshoe back and evening service in Magog.” Mrs.Hepburn, Eva Susan Tuck, was pregnant that summer of 1888 and on September 15 gave birth to a baby boy.He was christened Channel Galbraith and.although born in Magog, he grew up in Richmond where his father was transferred soon after to become Archdeacon Hepburn, Honorary Brigadier, Military Cross and Commander of the British Empire.THE LAKE “Magog is a favorite summer resort for tourists,” said the 1888 Directory, “the romantic scenery and pure bracing air attracting many people hither from all parts of Canada and the States.Lake Memphremagog is one of the most beautiful and one of the most romantically situated sheets of water upon the continent.” Excursion trains ran out from Montreal on summer weekends bringing holiday makers to the lake.They could be let off right on the wharf beside the steamers Mountain Maid and Lady of the Lake.The schedules of both boats were adjusted to meet incoming and outgoing trains.Steam had first come to the lake in 1851 when the Jenny Lind was launched.(Jenny Lind, the ‘Swedish Nightingale’, had had her triumphant North American debut The George B.Kent general store about 1905.atUKO.H.k I \ 1 The house built by Alvin H.Moore at 12 Merry St.South, near where the Bank of Montreal now stands.Moore married Ralph Merry Ill’s great-granddaughter Julia Merry around IS60 and organized a meeting in 1855 to change the village name from the Outlet to Magog.He ran the town’s general store after buying it from Ralph Merry V, Ralph Ill’s grandson.CONGRATULATIONS MAGOG! HAPPY TO BE PART OF YOUR COMMUNITY! E! QuéNord Nobel Industries / Industries Nobel QuéNord Inc.1900 St-Patrice St.East, Magog Tel: (819) 843-8771 Magog lUOth Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 — 3 The house built in 18N by Magog's first settler, Ralph Merry III.The Merry house is still standing at the corner of Merry and Main streets in Magog.Mallette Benoit Boulanger Rondeau Chartered accountants — Professional services in auditing and in administration — Offices in all major cities in Quebec We go beyond the numbers.Le Etoupe to talk business Mallette 295 Principal St.W.Magog, QC, J1X 2A8 843-6596 ¦1 I I j i m Best wishes on your 100th Anniversary! You deserve a break today 3065 King W.— Sherbrooke — 563-2664 975 King E.— Sherbrooke — 563-0585 33 Merry St.— Magog — 843-8585 Heureux de participer à la croissance de la communauté de Mogog et des alentours.Félicitations! Happy to participate in the growth of the Magog community and of its surroundings.Co^WOnS' Service Technique Quebecor 1426.Boulevard Industriel Magog Oc / J1X 4V9 / T»l (•*•1 843 1641 Division ds Groups Quebecor inc.inaid's See next page 4 — Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 By the lake: Magog home of steamboats From last page in September 1850, then went on tour under the capable management of P.T.Barnum to become the rage of the age.) Her name was changed to the Mountain Maid soon after and she was later purchased by the Waterloo & Magog and comletely refurbished to haul both passengers and freight the length of the lake.New wharves were built and a system of nine lighthouses to aid navigation in poor visibility.She was joined by the Lady of the Lake in 1867, sold to the Connecticut & Passumpsic in 1885 to operate from its terminus in Newport, Vermont.On July 11 that summer drove the Lady of the Lake aground on East Shoals near Magog.The Mountain Maid rescued the 150 passengers aboard and the lightened steamer was floated off next day without any real damage.THE PEOPLE Magog’s mayor that summer wasA.H.Moore, proprietor of a general store, resident director of the Magog Textile & Printing Company and Justice of the Peace.L A.Audet was the town’s secretary-treasurer, clerk of the commissioners’ and magistrates’ courts, commissioner of the Superior Court, notary public and insurance agent.The Directory listed 183 farmers of 1888, another bad windstorm See next page Jacques Degré lawyer from: Pelletier Gagnon Menard Degre 852 Principal St.W 356 King W, #401 Magog J1X 2B6 Sherbrooke J1H 1R4 Tel: Off.(819) 843-8442 Tel: 819-564-2446 (819) 843-2643 Proud to be serving Magog and its vicinity! rHudon& Viçineux%_ Quincaillerie Hardware 471 Principal St.W., Magog Tel: 843-3530 Sam/inae Rental — Sale — Linen Maintenance and Sanitary Products Commercial — Industrial fy, we I with 761 Maisonneuve St.Magog, Que.— J1X 2N8 (819) 843-5336 «üf ;Jpwi ÜÜÉ* ' .*.#31 - U i a®, v «rSSK «Éiï.Domestic & Farm sump pumps Pompe d'égout domestique et agricole Take advantage of our specialists' advice Profitez de nos spécialistes pour vous conseiller 25 years at your service ans à votre service Contact your local distributors.1136 King East.Sherbrooke 563-2234 Nighl emergency 569-9977 oo-rvws* «r ÉLECTRIQUE Top: The Park House Hotel at the corner of Merry St.South and Bellevue in 1880.The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1905.Bottom: Magog’s business centre:Merry St.South in 1875.The Record would like to thank The Memphremagog Library for the use of these old photographs. Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31.198$ — 5 m* mr WM%: : H ii.The Merry St.South bridge circa 1888.1888: 2 doctors, 4 general stores From last page in Magog Township in 1888 and there were extensive lumbering operations going on, mostly by Prouty & Miller of Newport.There was also a government fish hatchery “under the management of Mr.R.M.Moore, which hatches out from one to five million salmon-trout and white-fish ova annually, which are deposited in the various sheets of water in the Eastern Townships, and which are beginning to exhibit satisfactory results.” There were two doctors in town, G.O.Somers and A.G.H.Beique, but only one undertaker, J.H.Ellis, and he had to supplement his income by seling sewing machines and parlour organs W.R.Brown and V.E.Chamberlain sold agricultural machinery.The Bell Telephone exchange was operated by E.H.Guilbert who doubled as a merchant tailor.Besides A H.Moore & Co., general stores were run by L.Pratt & Co., Albert Gleason and T.Guilbert.There were three butchers in town (Joseph Deragon, Laurent Gendron and Paul Gaudreau) and just as many bakers (Hugh Comtois, F.X.and W.H.Dalpre).James Shedrick & Son, Joseph Cepilon and L.S.Fournier were grocers while A.D.Boucher ran both a grocery and a boarding house.Other boarding house operators catering to mill hands, railway workers and holiday makers were Alfred Chevalier, David Blouin, L.E.Rexford (who also sold furniture) and Mrs.Isaac Bou- So mony depend on THE RED CROSS GIVE GENEROUSLY! tin.Two other businesswomen in traditional trades were Miss Sene-cal, dressmaker, and Miss E.Chamberlain, “ladies furnishings and fancy goods.” There was one barber, Patrick Desnoyers, and just to prove that shrill factory whistles and steam-driven machinery had not entirely taken over the village, George Gould still worked as a cooper and John Gustin as a wheelwright.John Fontaine was a commercial fisherman on the lake; William McKenna, Joseph and E.F.Gauvin were tinsmiths and the Directory listed several others as ‘gentlemen’ who did nothing at all.Lawyer Tel: (819) 843-2719 9 Principale St.W.Magog, Que.J1X 2A4 The management and the personnel wish to pay tribute to the Magog population.sintra INC General contractors ASPHALT EXCAVATING PAVING MACHINERY RENTAL 569-6333 OFFICE 800 KING E.Sherbrooke J1G 1C7 569-6333 Asphalte Sintra Inc.'/'his is a picture of Lady ofthe Lake taken in 1915.the last season the boat was in operation on Lake Memphrernagog.Shown are Captain Itullock and Pilot Jack McEwan.Bullock died the following winter.Proud to be part of the Community since 1895, CIBC congratulates the City of Magog on its Centennial. CIBC Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce G.Lemire, Manager 431 Principale St.West Magog (Quebec) 6 — Magog IWHh Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 A \C/_vC> The municipal council is proud TO JOIN THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF MAGOG IN CELEBRATING THIS TOWN’S CENTENARY.THEY WOULD ALSO LIKE TO PAY HOMMAGE TO ALL THE CITIZENS WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE GROWTH OF OUR CITY AND HAVE MADE IT THE MARVELOUS PLACE WE ALL KNOW.RECORD/ROY MacLAREN Mr.and Mrs.Ernest Fields (centre), present owners speech given by historian Marie-Paule Labrèque of the Merry Home, among the capacity crowd at a about Magog’s first settler Ralph Merry III."V • THE MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MAGOG Ralph Merry III: early pioneer By Roy MacLaren MAGOG —One thing that Marie-Paule Labrèque is sure of is that Magog’s first settler, Ralph Merry III, was definitely not a United What leaves the historian puzzled is why Merry left the comforts of life in well-established Providence, Rhode Island in 1798 or 1799 to come to the wild frontier along L?ts a pleasure to paij tribute to your 100th tfbnnwersary.£o»9"‘wl,j,,nS Magog* Serving Magog population for 25 proud years CENTRE DE LA MODE 304 PRINCIPALE ST.WEST • MAGOG • 843-6229 THE QUALITY GOES IN BEFORE THE NAME GOES ON 20” Color TV Model SD1915W or S • Chromacoior Picture Tube • Duratech Chassis • Remote Control 2450 with Channel Scan and , *e1eP1jfneI,* 157 Channel Capability including 101 Cable Channels • Available in Walnut Color Finish and Slate Gray Color Finish s569 00 (Valid until June 30 or until quantities last) CUSTOmSERIES Roy Radio T.V.744 Principale West — Magog 843-2828 the banks of Lake Memphre-magog.“He was not just an adventurer or a land grabber,” Labrèque said at a recent talk about the Eastern Townships pioneer at Magog town hall.“Was he a shrewd businessman who foresaw the future possibilities of the land, was he naive or too confident in his transactions?We have no ready answers.” LaBreque’s speech was part of the town council’s 100th anniversary celebrations.Ralph Merry III was born pn March 16,1753 at Lynn, Massachusetts, the grandson of a wealthy English shipowner who had come to America early in the 18th century.Merry first moved from Lynn to Providence, Rhode Island and later moved on to St.Johnsbury, Vermont around 1792.At this time St.Johnsbury was still a primitive village in the process of being hacked out of the wilderness, and was a world away from the cultured cities of the Eastern Seaboard Merry had left.The settler was drawn by land grants available in the new townships of Lower Canada, which were being advertised in the Rutland Herald.He soon purchased large tracts in Bolton and Hatley.Merry was also extremely interested in obtaining land in Acton, but his requests for property in this area were denied by the government land committee.“I don’t know why he wanted to be in Acton, which as far as I can see was then just a cedar swamp, when he could have been here at the mouth of beautiful Lake Mem-phremagog,” Labrèque, herself an Acton Vale resident, said.When Merry arrived at the Outlet in Bolton (as Magog was then called) with his wife, children and See page 8 Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31.1988 — 7 'v'tMï Alexandre Reique at his apothecary’s shop .Alexandre Reique at his apothecary’s shop in day operates one door down about 1908 (above), and a few years later (below) the street.after Dr.Eudore C.Cabana took over.Photos The store’s motto hasn’t changed:‘Where we help courtesy of druggist Marcel Courchesne, who to- people to live to 100 or close.’ La caisse populaire de Magog-Est “On the occasion of the Town of Magog’s Centenary, the Caisse Populaire Magog-Est is taking the opportunity to salute its English members.” Guy Chainey Manager Head office 75 St-David St.Magog, Orford Co.(Quebec) J1X 2Z4 (819) 843-6591 Service counter: 1700 Sherbrooke St Magog, Orford Co.(Quebec) J1X 5B4 (819) 843-8989 T uongvatulations! QUe are proud to be part of ago g uenteniai Croupe Quebecor inc7 DIVISION IMPRIMERIE MONTRÉAL - MAGOG 1500 Sherbrooke St.MAGOG, QC J1X2T3 (819) 843-6517 Telex: 05-836248 8 — Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 Despite prosperity Merry III met with much tragedy From paf>e 6 livestock, he found an area with no roads, no schools, no police, no justice system and no medical services.It was 1798 or '99.“Adding to this, total confusion developed in the mode of land concession, complicated by politics, incompetence, greed, and sheer ignorance,” Labreque said.“It is very hard with today’s imagination to understand the misery these people went through.” Coming to Bolton from St.Johns-bury was “surely a harrowing trip that may have taken several days over snow and ice,” Labrèque said.She told a story about settlers in Shipton who were bringing their family to the homestead by sled.When they stopped for the night they found two of the children frozen to death.Ralph Merry quickly built a grist and saw mill, and by 1809 had tried to mine iron.The ore was not rich enough to sustain the venture, however, but a Merry woollen mill was in operation soon afterwards as well.In 1823 Merry financed the opening of a general store, and local settlers began to move in around his holdings.Despite his relative prosperity.Merry also met with financial difficulty, and his brother Jonathon, a merchant in Boston, bought back much of Ralph-and-son s land.In Now's the time to Spread your wings I have just the car for it, 1988 Eagle Premier: • Front-wheel drive enhances all-weather traction.• Four-wheel independent suspension adds to superb handling and riding comfort.• Overhead cam, aluminum V6 engine with multi-port fuel injection for peak highway performance (standard Premier ES, optional Premier LX).• Best-in-class interior roominess;* LX model seats up to six.• Chrysler 7/115 Protechon Plan.** I nAMCIJeëgiRENAUlT O I A.POMERLEAU & FILS INC.Jean-Yves PomeHeau André Pomerleau 262 Hatley St.W., Magog J1X 3G1 843-4221 302 Sherbrooke St., Magog J1X 2R9 843-8216 'Comparisons based on 1988 competitive information as of December 15/87."Protects engine and powertrain for 7 years or 115,000 kilometers and against outerbody mst-through for 7 years or 180,000 kilometers.See dealer for warranty details.Restrictions may apply Expect the Best 1816 a large part of it was seized by the sheriff and sold.The reason the store was financed by Merry and not owned by him outright was probably because he was having problems with creditors and felt it better to have the store in someone else’s name, Labrèque said.Ralph Merry III also met with much personal tragedy.His ten-year-old son Benjamin was lost in the forest the year after the Merrys arrived in Bolton.Benjamin had been very badly frightened and was mentally unstable.He was known to have fits and remove his clothes.Search parties scouring the woods found Benjamin’s clothes but failed to find the boy himself.Two of Merry’s other sons met with unfortunate ends.Joseph died when he was 17 and Ralph IV had a crippling accident while working in the sawmill.In 1814 Ralph Ill’s wife Sarah also died.Ralph Merry III died in 1825.The Merry name is remembered in Magog through the name of one of the town’s main streets, the town beach, the federal wharf and a point on Lake Memphremagog.“Heritage seekers have a magnificent memento in the very house that he built, which is carefully preserved.Through the 19th century the Merry family has been associated with the development of Magog,” concluded Labrèque.Special guests at the speech were Mr.and Mrs.Ernest Fields and Mr.and Mrs.Garth Fields, present owners of the Merry house.RECORD/ROY MacLAREN Historian and lecturer Marie-Paule Labrèque signs Magog’s guest book under the watchful eye of Jaques Boisvert (left) and town councillor Jacques Juby.An early form of transport in Magog: the oxcart. Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31.19S8 — 9 I ^ > • ¦» ': The steeple of St.Patrick’s parish church in Magog was toppled by a storm in 1918.It was reconstructed the same year.The Magog fire department with horse-drawn equipment in front of the fire hall in 1901.rjVM | Worse powered ferry the ‘Ho-Boy’ circa 1850 POLY-KIT Canada inc Patios llilit! it mi mM Ml Components: Steel structure Prepainted aluminum gardrail Prefab lightweight concrete floor Choice of colors Variety of sizes Easy to assemble, providing exceptional durability with minimum maintenance POIY-KIT mdThesoSnte I \ lilpfr f For free estimate and brochures call We manufacture and install also aluminum gardrail for-balconies and patios already installed and pool fences.(819) 847-1955 Les Préfabrications POLY-KIT Canada inc.189 Tupper— MAGOG, Que.1-819-847-1955 & CONGRATULATIONS on your 100th Anniversary! We are happy to be serving the community of Magog.Matériaux Magog 205 Centre St.MAGOG 843-4441 (Behind Canadian Tire.) 10 — Magog 100th Anniversary — Tues., May 31, 1988 ITZrrtrn SQfLADY ¦ LAKEI The Lady of the Lake at the wharf in Georgeville.Memphremagog along with the Mountain Maid in This beautiful steamer worked the length of Lake the late 19th and early 20th centuries.Drinking ami Driving yhtfijÿSSL TAKE A STAND.$po*M>ie