Railroads in Muskoka-Part 3
Transcription
Railroads in Muskoka-Part 3
Real Muskoka STORY The Issue 89 Spring 2014 Marjenca Water Management Hotel Launches Railroads: Part Three published quarterly by the Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society In This Issue: Features: Pursuing Provenance: The Marjenca Story Rod Brazier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6–9 Water Management: Lake Levels, Dams & Flood Control Jack McIrvine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10–11 HOTEL LAUNCHES OF MUSKOKA: Part One Diane Purchas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12–13 Columns: On The Horizon Ann Curley. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE Rick Terry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT John Miller. . . . . . . . 5 Jr. STokers Page Austen McMurchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Extras: Railroads in Muskoka — Part Three: Costly Pursuits — Chasing the Transcontinental: 1879–1888 Rod Brazier. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14–16 Photo Essay: Porthole to the Past 2014. . . . . . . . . . . . . Back Cover On the cover: Photo of Marjenca by Peter Little. Unless otherwise noted, all historical photos appear courtesy the Archives Department at MBHC. Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society The Real Muskoka Experience Muskoka Steamships 185 Cherokee Lane Gravenhurst, Ontario PIP IZ9 Phone: 1-705-687-6667 • Toll Free: 1-866-687-6667 Fax: 1-705-687-7820 Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre 275 Steamship Bay Road Gravenhurst, Ontario PIP IZ9 Phone: 1-705-687-2115 • Fax: 1-705-687-9408 About Us: Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society: General Manager: John Miller Operations Manager: Ann Curley Sales Director: Cathy Tait Sales & Marketing Manager: Kait Irvine Comptroller: Molly Rivers Volunteer Coordinator: Pat Durrant Please direct membership emails to: [email protected] Regarding our cruises, kindly email: [email protected] Board of Directors: 275 Steamship Bay Road Gravenhurst, Ontario PIP IZ9 www.realmuskoka.com Charity Registration #13261 7770 President: Rick Terry Vice President: Jim Lewis Treasurer: Dan Cornacchia Membership Chair and Secretary: TBA Directors: Norma Bandler, Rob Clark, Bill Garriock, Gary Getson, Dunc Hawkins, John Lee, Rick McGraw, Blair McMurchy, Stan Meek, Hank Smith, Mary Storey, Murray Walker Muskoka Steamships Directors: President: Rick McGraw Vice President: Blair McMurchy Secretary: TBA Treasurer: Stan Meek Director: Rob Clark The Real Muskoka Story: Editor & Publisher: Mary Storey [email protected] Submissions are most welcome; they may be edited for clarity and brevity. Editorial & Design: Ellen Carnahan Advertising: Mary Jean Cline [email protected] 1-705-687-2960 www.realmuskoka.com Mission Statement: The Muskoka Steamship & Historical Society preserves, educates and promotes the traditions of the steamship, boat building and resort era in Muskoka. The Real Muskoka Story Issue 89 • Spring 2014 3 Pursuing Provenance: The Marjenca Story The Boat Marjenca is a 1938 24' Greavette Streamliner currently owned by the Little family of North York and Lake Joseph. The name “Marjenca” is a composite derived from elements of the given names of a number of Little family members. In 2005 Peter Little wrote a history of Marjenca based on the information available to him at that time. And, as is the case with many classic boats, the tale of Peter’s “pursuit of provenance” is one worthy of the most intriguing “who done it” novels. The following is a summary of his efforts, findings and conclusions, supplemented with additional information that has come to light since he penned his history. Note: For purposes of consistency and clarity, I will refer to the boat as Marjenca throughout the article, although a variety of names have applied over the years. A Provenance Scenario The starting point for our story is a scenario, pieced together from the information available to, and uncovered by Peter Little. The resolution of the Marjenca mystery was the result of Peter’s investigation and challenging of the elements of this scenario. Peter’s father, Arthur John “Pete” Little purchased Marjenca (then named Chatelaine) in 1985 from John Aird, who told Arthur that Marjenca was originally owned by a Norwegian pilot by the name of Heyerdahl (owner #1). Heyerdahl had been stationed at “Little Norway,” the Norwegian flight school established at Muskoka Airport during WWII. The story was that the boat was shipped to Norway after the war, and spent a number of years in salt water before returning to Canada when Heyerdahl’s marriage to a Gravenhurst girl broke up in about 1951. (Nice that she got the boat!) The former Mrs. Heyerdahl apparently sold or consigned the Streamliner back to Greavettes, who resold it to the Root family of Toronto (owner #2), who traded the boat on a new Greavette a few years later. The boat was then owned briefly by the Knowles family (owner #3), who later traded it on a Greavette Shearliner. Marjenca was then purchased by the Trench family of Toronto and Walker’s Point (owner #4) in about 1959. The Trenchs eventually sold the boat in about 1983 to John Aird (owner #5), from whom it was purchased by the Little family (owner #6) in 1985. The Investigation In his efforts to validate — or not — details of Marjenca’s provenance, Peter Little began to follow the ownership trail. To that end, he spoke with members of the Trench family (owner #4), who informed him that the information about their boat having been owned by Heyerdahl, having been shipped to Norway and back, and purchased and resold by Greavettes came from Oscar Purdy, who was for many years General Manager of Greavette Boats in Gravenhurst. Peter has a 1986 letter to his father from Oscar Purdy in which Oscar affirms the Heyerdahl provenance of Marjenca, as well as the ownership progression from Heyerdahl (#1) to Root (#2) to Trench (#4) to Aird (#5). It was in subsequent personal conversations with Oscar in 1995 that Peter heard about the Knowles family (#3) ownership of the Streamliner. 6 Issue 89 • Spring 2014 The Real Muskoka Story In 2001, Peter made contact with a Peter Heyerdahl in Toronto (whom I’ll now refer to as Peter H to distinguish from Peter Little). Peter H turned out to be the stepson of Sigurd Heyerdahl, who had in fact owned a Greavette Streamliner that had been to Norway and back. Peter H’s mother, Liv Smith (a Norwegian native herself) already had Peter when she married Sigurd Heyerdahl while he was stationed in Canada; Liv and Peter moved with Sigurd to Norway after the war. Scenario Inconsistencies In the course of his conversations with Peter H, Peter was shown a picture of the Heyerdahl boat. Peter observed that the wheel of the boat was a mid-1940s Ford or Mercury, and that the instruments were configured more in keeping with later Greavette models. Peter H also told Peter that his memory of the boat was that it had 3 cockpits, two in front of, and one behind the engine. The Little’s Marjenca is a twocockpit model with horizontally arrayed instruments. Additional discrepancies between the existing scenario and Marjenca’s attributes also existed: Marjenca’s serial number — 24385 — identifies her as a 24' boat, built in 1938, and that she was the 5th boat built that year. Since Sigurd Heyerdahl didn’t arrive in Canada before 1942, he could not have been the original owner of this boat. However, the possibility still existed that he purchased the boat during his stay in Canada. Marjenca also sports a chrome monogram of the letters WBK mounted on the side of the boat near the stern. Peter has pictures of the boat nearing completion in Greavette’s shop in 1938, and this chrome monogram is clearly visible. If, in fact, WBK are the initials of a person, they obviously weren’t Heyerdahl’s. After hearing from Oscar about the Knowles’ ownership of Marjenca, Peter contacted members of the Knowles family, who confirmed that their boat had been in Norway. However, they had no knowledge about or familiarity with the WBK monogram; further, their boat was a three cockpit model. As Peter Little writes in his 2005 history, it seemed pretty clear that a Greavette Streamliner went to Norway — but it wasn’t Marjenca! New Information Since 2005, additional information has come to light regarding Marjenca’s provenance. The Archives at the Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre holds extensive Greavette records of boat ownership; three records in particular have shone a new light on the early days of Streamliner 24385: In the 1938 records, we find the boat carrying the serial number 24385. It records the boat owner as Dr. W.B. Kendall (WBK) of Gravenhurst. While it doesn’t provide much information about the boat itself, it does describe it as a Van Patten outrigger design. Interestingly, it also records that ownership of the boat was transferred to a Chas Neilson of Toronto in 1939. There is a second record in the name of W.B. Kendall: it shows that Dr. Kendall purchased another 24' Greavette in 1939 (SN 24392). The Real Muskoka Story Issue 89 • Spring 2014 7 Finally, the mystery of the Heyerdahl boat is resolved when we discover a 1946 record of a 22' Greavette (SN 22464) built for a S.C. Heyerdahl of Oslo Norway. The record also includes a full shipping address, suggesting that this is almost certainly the boat that made the trip to Norway and back. Provenance Found The records confirm that Marjenca’s first owner was Dr. Walter Bingham Kendall, long-time Physician-in-Chief of the tuberculosis sanatoria in Gravenhurst (see attached biography.) The chain of ownership of Greavette Streamliner #24385 now seems clear, from the Trench family through to the Little family (approx. 1959 to present.) However, questions remain: How did the stories of Marjenca and the Heyerdahl boat get intermingled over time? The answer most likely lies with Oscar Purdy’s memory (not surprising, considering the number of boats Oscar would have dealt with over the years, and the time elapsed between his Greavette days and the Little family’s inquiries.) It would seem he confused the Heyerdahl boat for the Marjenca when he recalled the Knowles family briefly owning the boat. And while It does seem certain they DID own the Heyerdahl boat, the fate of that boat beyond their ownership is unknown at this time. What is the chain of ownership for Marjenca beyond the sale to Chas Neilson. Peter Little has noted that growing up he was familiar with the Neilson family (of Neilson Dairies) who had a cottage near Port Sandfield. Peter also has a record from the Muskoka Boat & Heritage Centre archives showing that Charles Neilson purchasing a new Greavette Streamliner in 1952. While it may be that Marjenca was a trade-in on this new boat, this cannot be confirmed at present. However, we do know that the Trench family purchased the boat in about 1959; so, assuming the Neilson family had Marjenca for at least one year, there’s a gap in her story between about 1940 and 1959. As the Little family’s experience illustrates, ascertaining provenance of a classic boat can be a journey of mystery, full of wrong turns, dead ends and misinformation. Similar to family genealogy, success depends on perseverance, patience, and sheer problem solving skill. However, the satisfaction that comes with revealing the layers of life experience of these treasured craft — priceless! Marjenca’s First Owner Dr. Walter Bingham Kendall (1876–1947) Physician, leader, entrepreneur and boat enthusiast, Dr. Walter Kendall served over 30 years as physician-in-chief to Gravenhurst’s tuberculosis sanatoria. Born in Bradford, Ontario in 1876, by the age of 21 Walter Kendall had worked in the insurance industry, been a pharmacist’s apprentice, owned his own pharmacy, become a pharmacist himself, and was lecturing at the Ontario College of Pharmacy. In 1902, having decided to pursue a career in medicine, he entered Trinity Medical School in Toronto, graduating in 1906. 8 Issue 89 • Spring 2014 The Real Muskoka Story Following graduation, Dr. Kendall sold his drug store, married, and completed graduate studies in Glasgow, London and Dublin. On his return to Toronto, he assisted Dr. William Dobbie — a classmate from medical school — who was by then physician-in-chief at the Toronto Free Hospital for the Consumptive Poor. Here Dr. Kendall developed an interest in tuberculosis, and on Dr. Dobbie’s recommendation, he was appointed to head the Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium (MCS) in 1907. The following year he became physician-in-chief to both the MCS and the Muskoka Free Hospital. Dr. Kendall was an early and enthusiastic supporter of the “Open Air Cure” for tuberculosis, which advocated that patients should spend most of their time outdoors, breathing the fresh, clean Muskoka air. On Dr. Kendall’s watch, pavilions and cottages were built or modified to allow the “outdoor” treatment to be extended beyond daytime hours to include sleeping in the open air — year round! Structures would have no heat, and little protection from winter snows or summer insects. As recounted in “Curing Tuberculosis in Muskoka,” Reverend J.B. Lindsell, an Anglican Church chaplain to the Sanatoria after 1915, remembered the open air accommodations. He recalls that it was generally felt that if patients could survive the winter in these conditions, their recovery was almost assured. (It should be noted that Dr. Kendall followed his own prescription, sleeping outside in a screened-in porch every night at his home, even into his retirement years.) Dr. Kendall’s affinity for the outdoors extended to the lakes as well, and he arranged for patients to enjoy cruises on Lake Muskoka during the summer. He was so convinced that time spent on the water contributed positively to patients’ physical and emotional health that he would often employ his own boat for this purpose. When, in 1909, William Thompson of Orillia donated the 30', 35-passenger launch “Idler” to the institution, Dr. Kendall ensured it was well used. His Annual Report that year showed that Idler was in operation for 17 weeks, and carried 4,444 passengers. Over the next few years Mr. Thompson generously donated two more “Idlers” to replace boats lost to fire. Under Dr. Kendall’s lengthy leadership, Muskoka’s sanatoria experienced great change and great challenges: the introduction of new treatments, such as pneumothorax, thoracoplasty, the “Sun Cure” and the “Gold Cure”; World War I; the rebuilding of the Muskoka Free Hospital following the devastating fire of 1920; the Depression of the 1930s, and more. Dr. Kendall suffered a stroke in 1938 at the age of 62. The National Sanatorium Association forced him to retire in 1939, although he remained a consultant to the Muskoka Hospital until about 1945. He lived out his retirement — with his second wife Lucie — in Gravenhurst, where he was highly involved in the community. Dr. Kendall was the first President of the Gravenhurst Rotary Club, and an Elder of Trinity United Church (to which he also donated the first pipe organ.) And always the entrepreneur, Dr. Kendall was part owner of a fox farm, and an investor in Greavette boats, of which he was especially fond. Dr. Walter Bingham Kendall died of heart failure in 1947 at the age of seventy-one, leaving an inspiring legacy of leadership, care and commitment. —Rod Brazier, Archives Volunteer For additional reading on the history of tuberculosis treatment in Muskoka, please see Andrea Baston’s well-researched Curing Tuberculosis in Muskoka, Old Stone Books. 2013. The Real Muskoka Story Issue 89 • Spring 2014 Muskoka Cottage Sanatorium 9 Railroads in Muskoka: Part III: Costly Pursuits — Chasing the Transcontinental — 1879–1888 1886 was a big year for rail in Muskoka — and Canada. The completion of the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway (N&PJR) from Gravenhurst to the CPR line at Nipissing Junction near North Bay finally brought rail service to north Muskoka, and created the most direct link between southern Ontario and western Canada. And in June, the first CPR transcontinental passenger train departed Montreal, arriving in Port Moody, B.C. seven days later. The N&PJR, a joint venture of the Northern Railway of Canada (NRC) and the Hamilton & North-Western Railway (H&NWR), was certainly welcomed by residents of north Muskoka. But there was also a measure of residual consternation over the ten-year hiatus in construction after the NRC- owned Northern Extensions Railway (NER) reached Gravenhurst in 1875. This was especially true in Bracebridge, which had anticipated being the northern terminus of the NER and believed there was an agreement to this effect with the railroad. North of Bracebridge there was disappointment in Port Sydney and in Hoodstown (at the north end of Lake Vernon), which were bypassed when the railroad unexpectedly changed its route and built through Utterson and Huntsville. Port Sydney recovered, but Hoodstown never did, and is now considered one of Muskoka’s preeminent ghost towns. The NRC and the H&NWR: Strange Bedfellows The controversies surrounding the delay in railway expansion and the route changes were not the only dramas associated with the N&PJR. In 1879 the NRC and H&NWR signed an agreement to merge their rail operations, incorporating the Northern & North Western Railway (N&NWR) for this purpose. In essence, it was a self-imposed shotgun marriage. Both companies were struggling in the tough economic times of the 1870s, yet both had set their sights on connecting with the forthcoming transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in Northern Ontario. It was the high cost of building through the Canadian Shield, and the near certainty that governments would not subsidize parallel projects that forced the two sides together. Somewhat predictably, it was an unhappy union. From the outset, the relationship was tinged by the long-standing rivalry between Toronto (headquarters of the NRC), and Hamilton (home of the H&NWR). And while the merger’s principal goal was forging a link to the CPR, each partner had its own preoccupations, interests and alliances that proved to be a source of ongoing friction with, and suspicion of the other. Further complicating matters was the relative size of the two railroads. In 1879 the NRC was conservatively three to five times larger in virtually all dimensions of the business: number of engines and rail cars, volume of freight & passengers carried — and earnings. The formal agreement reflected this size difference in a number of ways, including the allocation of 66.25% of the N&NWR’s net earnings to the NRC. And even though each company nominated four members to the company’s Executive Committee, the NRC controlled the Chair and 14 Issue 89 • Spring 2014 The Real Muskoka Story Secretary positions — indefinitely. Finally, the General Manager of the NRC, Frederick Cumberland was also appointed GM of the N&NWR. Given this arrangement, it is not surprising that the NRC generally behaved as though it had taken over the H&NWR! The government charter granted to the N&NWR in 1881 authorized construction of a rail line to Callander, and then on to Sault Ste. Marie, and it was on this basis that the N&NWR incorporated the North, North Western & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (NNW&SSMR). However, widespread opposition to the Sault portion, combined with the rapid pace at which the CPR was forging its own link between North Bay and the Sault, prompted the N&NWR to abandon this part of the project. The NNW&SSMR was consequently renamed the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway (N&PJR) in 1883, with a singular focus on connecting with the CPR. In 1883, four years after the NRC/H&NWR agreement, and two years after the charter was granted, everything finally seemed in place for construction of the N&PJR to begin. Sadly, the inherent animosity and mistrust between the NRC and the H&NWR raised its head once again: the two parties could not agree on how to divide the (as yet non-existent) profits of the new venture. Ultimately, it was the autumn of 1884 before these differences could be resolved sufficiently for work to actually get under way. The first train on the line between Gravenhurst and Callander ran on June 28, 1886, with Muskoka station stops at South Falls, Bracebridge, Falkenburg, Utterson, Martins and Huntsville. Interestingly, that very same day the first CPR train pulled out of Montreal headed for Port Moody, B.C. — transcontinental travel in Canada had finally arrived! Right Place. Right Time. Right Realtor Bruce Cleland 705.646.4024 Incorporated in 1852 to build a railway between Montreal and Toronto, the British-controlled GTR expanded rapidly, principally through acquisition. By 1867 it was considered the largest railway system in the world, with control of over 1,200 miles of track, and by 1880 the Grand Trunk “System” stretched from Portland, Maine in the east, through the New England states, much of the southern areas of the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec, to Chicago in the west. Shortly after British Columbia agreed to join confederation in 1871 — on the condition that a transcontinental railroad be completed within ten years — the Federal Government approached the GTR to take on the project. The GTR declined, prompting the Government to enact legislation that led to the creation of the CPR. The GTR meanwhile focused its efforts on expanding where there were immediate sources of revenue, primarily in Ontario and the Northeastern U.S. The Real Muskoka Story Issue 89 • Spring 2014 705.646.4617 Sales Representatives We Sell Muskoka! www.clelandsmuskoka.com The Grand Trunk Railroad: the 800-Pound Railway Gorilla While the Northern Railway of Canada, the Northern & North Western Railway — and by extension the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway — were undoubtedly the most significant to early settlement and development in Muskoka, they were by no means the only railroads making inroads through Ontario. And the largest by far was the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR). Wendy Cleland Jeremy Fowler The Wooden Boat Centre of Muskoka WOODEN BOAT RESTORATIONS SALES, SERVICE & STORAGE c 705.706.4646 p 705.765.3141 f 705.765.2090 [email protected] 2 James Bartleman Way Port Carling ON P0B 1J0 www.dukeboats.com Well Fed Deli • Take Home Meals • Home Baking Corporate and Custom Catering Annettte Gillan 150 Hotchkiss Street Gravenhurst, Ontario P1P 1H6 705-684-WELL (9355) [email protected] www.wellfedinc.com Like Us on Facebook 15 Although the GTR had taken a “pass” on constructing the transcontinental railway, it was well aware that increased competition would inevitably follow its completion. To solidify its dominance, particularly of the highly populated regions of southern Ontario, the GTR, led by its cagey General Manager, Joseph Hickson, began aggressively buying up smaller railways. Between 1881 and 1890, the GTR acquired control of 15 smaller roads; and near the top of Hickson’s wish list were the NRC, the H&NWR, and their offspring, the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway. As it turns out, Hickson not only kept himself abreast of the developments and dynamics in the NRC/H&NWR drama — he was an active, behind-the-scenes player. While the NRC and H&NWR were struggling to make their tenuous relationship work, the GTR was quietly buying shares in both companies, and covertly fostering their mutual suspicions and animosities. By late 1887 the GTR held sufficient ownership positions in the NRC and H&NWR to achieve a takeover. Completed in January 1888, the union of the three companies — under the GTR banner — gave the company control of “Muskoka’s” rail line, as well as NRC and H&NWR resources and routes throughout southern Ontario. And the jewel in the crown — the importance of which cannot be overstated — was the Northern & Pacific Junction Railway: the link to the CPR and the rest of Canada. It was this connection, along with the GTR’s extensive network in southern and south-western Ontario that essentially gave the GTR control of north-south movement of people and freight in the province, a dominance that would ultimately forestall the construction of other railroads through Muskoka for another 20 years! The “Highlands” of Ontario Sometime in the mid-1880s the term “Highlands of Ontario” began to appear as a descriptor of the Muskoka, Magnetawan and Haliburton areas. While the reference to the highlands of Scotland is obvious, the originator of the term is unclear (although, not surprisingly, A.P. Cockburn — of Scottish ancestry — has been implicated.) Whatever its genesis, “Highlands of Ontario” certainly caught on. The phrase became central to railway and steamship promotional materials after the GTR assumed control of the NRC and the N&PJR in 1888. And beginning about 1886, “Highlands” shows up in reference to Muskoka in publications as diverse as the University of Ottawa Review, the Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery, and the Canadian Manufacturer and Industrial World. The takeover of rail operations in Muskoka by the Grand Trunk in 1888 gave further impetus to Muskoka tourism. The GTR’s extensive network in the U.S. greatly broadened the “reach” of the Muskoka message; by that summer, the GTR was sending three trains per day from Toronto to Muskoka Wharf to connect with the steamships of the Muskoka & Nipissing Navigation Co. And that was just the beginning. —Rod Brazier, Archives Volunteer 16 Issue 89 • Spring 2014 The Real Muskoka Story