HISTORY OF BOWMANVILLE
Part 24
By Mr. J. B. Fairbairn, P. M.
There can be no doubt as to the Christian life of James I. Steele to whom I am about to refer. After the failure of Mr. Brown, the property was made over to the Montreal firm already alluded to. Looking at it purely from the human side, if this change in the proprietorship had not taken place, how different might have been the trend of his after life. He was chosen as the most suitable person to do the work and was sent to Bowmanville to look after their interests and keep the business together till a sale of it could be made. I cannot say how long it was in his custody. When it did pass into other hands he decided to resume his former connection with the dry goods trade and started here. It is seldom that anyone bred to the wholesale where goods are sold in large quantities, can come down to the smaller operations involved in selling by retail. On the other side, it works directly the other way. Some of the most prosperous men in the Dominion have built up and now con
trol great establishments starting from small beginnings, perhaps commencing their efforts in some obscure country village.
Mr. Steele first opened up in a building then owned by Jno. D. Fee, a person who was mixed up largely with the interests of the town in the fifties. I think he pulled down the old frame which Mr. Brown had previously occupied. The business did not grow as he desired; indeed, he was not cut out for such a calling. Without question he was one of the most straight and upright men I ever knew. It wold be impossible for him to descend to anything mean or tricky. In all matters connected with his dealings with others, he was fair and liberal. Firm as a rock in holding to and advocating what he thought to be right in private and in public life. He moved down into the old Bowman brick stand, the late Allan Lockhart being then the lessee of the grist mill. It was out of the way for the general public and after a short trial he gave it up, eventually closing his connection with that branch of trade when living in one of our western towns to which he had removed with hope
of getting on more rapidly than he had done in Bowmanville. His tastes inclined more to an outdoor life and he determined to change his occupation for one more congenial. British Columbia as a new field for enterprise had been opened up to a certain extent and thither he went, commencing a small ranch. His idea was to raise an improved grade of cattle. He took quite a number of thoroughbreds out with him and no doubt he was among the first to introduce such new strains of stock as to largely enhance the value of their herds now and then in existence. He took two of his brothers with him, William and Thomas.
The former I believe is still carrying on the business that was founded by them. James Steele was the eldest member of the family which was quite large. Through the death of his father and the changed circumstances consequent upon it, a great responsibility was thrown on his shoulders and nobly he met the issue. Unselfish, he was willing to make any sacrifice for their comfort. He was in my estimation the beau ideal of a strong, able, good man. Their father was a resident of Northumberland County. He was well up in public affairs, taking much interest in the municipal council of the United Counties. He had quite a polemic turn of mind and sometimes wielded a caustic pen. His knowledge of municipal law and political matters was extensive. One of his sons, John, was in the Bowmanville branch of the bank of Montreal. He was a good official and well liked by the customers of the bank and loved by his intimate associates. He afterwards was in business at Oshawa being in
partnership with his brother, Mr. R. C. Steele Bros.. He died comparatively young. Mr. R. C. Steele has by his skill and pluck become one of the prominent men in the city of Toronto, being at the head of the well established house of Steele, Briggs & Co., the great seed firm commanding a trade all over the Dominion. No friend of my younger days do I recall with greater pleasure, at the same time sorrow at his early demise, than James I. Steele.
Another link in the wonderful chain of circumstances evolving from Mr. John Brown’s attempt to run a mill, emerges in the arrival in Bowmanville in 1859, of W. R. Brock, who was born in the Royal City of Guelph in 1836. His father was an Englishman of fine attainments and was not long in this rising town before he took a high position in the business and social life of the place. He was a pioneer in that section of Ontario. Unfortunately he was cut down by an accident in the vigor of his manhood, when out shooting on the river near his home. He was killed through some mischance in handling the weapon he used. He only lived long enough to make a will and say farewell to the dear ones composing the family circle. This changed the course of the stream on which Mr. W. R. Brock had started on the voyage of his life. His father having a desire that he should follow one of the learned professions, the law was chosen as the one most suitable and the one most in accordanc
e with his own desire. He was at the time a student in the office of Ferguson Blair, one of the first Barristers practising in that city, but in consequence of this dreadful calamity he found it would be in the interest of the other members of the family to change his plans. He did so and abandoned his prospects of becoming a follower of Blackstone. Turning his attention to commercial pursuits, his first effort in that line was in his native town.
After his marriage the youthful pair removed to Toronto, he having taken a place in the dry goods house of Scott & Laidlaw. While in their employe he met James T. Steele who was on the lookout for a suitable assistant, having a knowledge of that branch of trade. An arrangement was entered into by them, he accepting the offer. So it happened that for some four years he entered into and became an important factor in the rapidly increasing business of this place.
Notwithstanding, Mr. W. R. Brock’s short connection with Bowmanville I am fain to associate him with the other West Durhamites who have gone out from this famous county and are benefitting many portions of the Dominion and United States as well, numbers of whom are swelling the ranks of the industrious successful workers in every branch of the industrial world. Mr. Brock never was what might be called robust, yet possessing a marvellous constitution, both biry and enduring, he has outlived hundreds of his compeers who seemed to have ten chances to his one of a long life. Being restlessly energetic having a large mental equipment, he was not long here before he became recognized as one who would make the best of the present world. He had a singular power to rapidly analyze and size up correctly any business problem. Ever on the lookout and quick to take advantage of any opening opportunity, he could not but get on. With the highest sense of honor and generous beyond measur
e he rapidly gained an entrance into the confidence of the general community. I cannot more properly describe him than by using the word intense. Whatever he put his hand to do he threw his whole soul into it. Fired with a praiseworthy ambition to make a high mark in his future career an to catch Dame Fortune’s golden smiles, he assidously waited upon her; even when working for others he did it with the same untiring energy and fidelity as he afterwards did for himself. He could not act the part of a time-server.
I have no doubt very many throughout this section remember him well. Though only living here a short time, he got to be widely known among all classes of people in Darlington and the adjoining townships. A good many of the farmers in Mariposa – a township which was even at the early date a storehouse of wealth – came here during the winter season to sell their grain and purchase what they might require of different kinds of stores. Leaving home in the morning they would arrive here in the evening, transact their business and start back the next day. Port Perry and Lindsay were not long in becoming alive to the necessity of counter acting this tendency on the part of the citizens of that township to come so far to do their trading. Hence a keen cmpetition arose. They determining to control the commerce of this rich section that lay at their own doors. Our merchants had no other way of meeting the exigency that arose then by sending out men to contest it on their own ground. Large qua
ntities of goods were regularly sent there and disposed of, an immense amount of wheat was purchased at a good price giving a great momentum to all kinds of trade. This grain was teamed out to the front, supplying our grist mills with material with which to carry on the manufacture of flour. Large numbers were employed in this way at good wages for themselves and team. It was no doubt a hard way to "raise the wind" but they did not seem to mind it. Mr. Brock took part in the work, representing his employer out there in that new and rough emporium. Many a hard drive he took in reaching the scene of operations. It was necessary for him to leave at 4 a.m. to enable him to get out in time. It was no joke to face the storms and cold of such a long, tedious drive and many a time in crossing Lake Scugog they encountered high gales and intense cold, nearly as bad as a blizzard in the north-west. But worst of all was the wretched accommodations that existed in the shape of a house of entertainm
ent. It was no Dilmonico. Fortunately they were a merry lot of young fellows who were compelled to stay in the caravansary. The late Charles Fisher, John Murdoch and many others made things lively at Hoover’s, Mr. Brock himself being a good hand at the game. I have heard some of them related with great gusto their adventures in that notorious spot. Mr. George Kerr, who is at present, the agent of the Western Bank in the interesting village of Pickering, bought grain out there for the late John Burk, used to tell a good one about a toothsome dish he got at Mallory’s sheban shop which he kept at Ceasarea and which they were obliged to patronise for meals in going to and fro; he dubbed, it resurrection pie. He declared that a drawer in the kitchen table was used as a receptacle in which all kinds of odds and ends that would accumulate during the week were deposited, occasional bits of yarn, etc., not coming amiss. This material by the deft constructive genius of the cook was ma
de into a pasty which frequently adorned the table ---- on Saturday.
Mr. Brock’s vision of the future expansion of the Province of Ontario was correct. No pent up Utica contracted his sight, and if not the whole continent at least the wide, long and fertile field of Ontario loomed up before him a a grand opening for business enterprise. With unbounded faith in it and himself he could not be held in leash by his then environments, and when the time came he moved into a larger sphere in which to exercise his great business talents. He went to Montreal and through the kindness of our venerable friend and citizen Mr. Thos. Paterson and the good offices of the late James Dakers, Esq., then Secretary of the Montreal Telegraph Company, he obtained a situation with the firm of Ogilvy & Co. He travelled for them for some years and in this, as in all else to which he put his hand, he brought to bear his untiring and wonderful discrimination. It soon told in a rapid extension of their trade. They opened a branch in Toronto under his management.
His subsequent career in that city is a matter, not of local, but of provincial interest, and when the history of Ontario is written he will occupy a prominent place in it.
It is generally looked upon as infra dig to say anything laudatory of a man during his lifetime. I do not myself sympathize with that view, holding the belief that if a man’s course of action has been such as to become a fitting example for others in the race, it should be held up as a stimulating force in helping them to win the prize. I need not trace the different changes of the business with which Mr. Brock’s name has been identified. Suffice it to say, he is now one of the millionaires of Toronto, the rich, flourishing metropolis of the Province. But what I esteem of far more importance is the vast amount of good that he has done and is now doing for others. If it is true that the man who plants a tree is to some extent a patriot, the same axiom applies with equal force to other spheres. His services have been very valuable to the country generally in helping to originate and carry on the many manufacturing industries now in the working population employment. Indee
d he was among the very first to encourage the making of woollen tweeds and fabrics of a similar kind. He was identified with the Waterloo Mills soon after they were started and no doubt to his management they owe their prosperity. In this age of combination when such large amounts of money are invested in chartered companies of all kinds, they being managed and controlled by boards of directors, it is of vital importance that those placed in charge of such grave trusts should be men of high character. It has too often turned out that many of them were mere figure-heads, only seeking the emoluments of the office. I am glad to see by a statement latterly published in the News, that Mr. Brock is associated with a large number of those corporations such as banks, loan companies, etc. I know he will not consent to occupy any place of responsibility unless he can give it full attention and where the savings of thousands of people embracing all ranks and conditions are concerned, it is of supreme moment
that the very best men attainable should be gotten to take charge of such institutions. It must be a matter of gratification to the shareholders to have one of his long and wide experience to help in safe guarding their funds.
Mr. Brock has not failed in passing through his scene of anxiety and labor of which he has had his full share to cultivate the higher side of his nature, finding time in the midst of all his manifold cares to travel extensively. He has spent months at a time in England, France, Italy and other European countries, once visiting the oldest city in the world,Damascus. I have heard him say that he never returned from those extended trips that he did not, on crossing the boundary of Ontario, bow his head with reverent gratitude to the Disposer of all human events, for as much as he was born in Canada, a son of Ontario and a resident of no mean city.
To Bowmanville and its environs his affections still cling. He says himself in a note I had from him recently that his memory fondly goes back to this place and the happy time he spent in our lovely little town. It comes to him as a delightful dream. The friendships he formed are a sacred tie that binds him to West Durham. In politics he is an ultra Conservative, at the same time tolerant to those who differ from him. My knowledge of him is thorough, arising from an intimacy of over half a century. We are brothers-in-law.
Next - Bowmanville and Darlington History Part 25
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