Smith and Chapple hold 'very interesting event' as guests march into Town Hall basement led by Reeve Frank Edwards

The guests at a very interesting event "marched" into the basement of the Town Hall led by Reeve Frank Edwards in February, 1945, according to a story in the Chapleau Post.

The Post reported that "upwards of a hundred guests" attended as Smith and Chapple Ltd. entertained their staff and other guests at a dinner and party.

The event marked an anniversary of the takeover of Smith and Chapple by D.O. Payette and Arthur Grout in 1930 and the program stated "that they have finally been able to clear off their indebtedness to the previous owner."

The guests enjoyed a "splendid" turkey dinner"  with Mr. Payette proposing the Toast to the King (George V) and the singing of the National Anthem which at the time was 'God Save the King'.

In his comments Mr. Payette said that as president of the firm he was greatly honoured to have the guests present to mark "another milestone in the life of the firm", paying off the indebtedness.

Mr Payette

He added that since Mr. Grout and he had taken over the firm "they had carried on largely through the assistance of the Royal Bank, also noting that they always endeavoured to give the customer that they could. 

Mr Grout

He also announced that Mrs. A.J. Grout and Earle Sootheran had been appointed to the directorate of the firm.

Mr. Sootheran proposed a toast to "our good friends" the Canadian Pacific Railway with A.A. Dumphy, the Superintendent replying that this occasion was a real milestone in the history of Smith and Chapple.

Mr. Dumphy recognized that the Great Depression had been tough but he had never seen a store the calibre of Smith and Chapple.

He added that the CPR would build a power house for $300,000 and that its monthly payroll was over $100,000 a month.

Arthur Simpson, publisher and editor of the Chapleau Post, in proposing a toast to "Our Community" congratulated the firm on its remarkable growth commenting that Mr. Grout "dreamed Smith and Chapple from the rising of the sun until the going down of the same. "

Mr. Simpson also paid tribute Reeve Frank Edwards and those who served t he town during the Great Depression. They could not be overlooked, he said.

"The town is full of honest to goodness good people who never fall down on anything worthwhile,."

In reply Reeve Frank Edwards paid tribute to the work of Mr. Payette as Fire Chief, a position he held along with being president of Smith and Chapple. As a result of Mr. Payette's efforts, insurance rates had dropped considerably.

He also paid tribute to Mr. Grout's business ability and he was pleased to add his best wishes for the continued success of the business.

Tbe toast to "Our Future" was proposed by Len Beeston, a department manager.

Moving pictures shot by Mr. Grout of a Winter Carnival were shown as part of the entertainment. Mrs. Lauretta Veit and Miss Thelma Midkiff sang duets.

"Afterwards bingo was played and just after midnight the guests formed a ring and sang Auld Lang Syne, closing an event which will be long remembered by those present."

My thanks once again to Margaret Rose (Payette) and Bobby Fortin for kindly loaning me the Richard Brownlee papers.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Ian Macdonald on distinctive face of Smith and Chapple successfully adapted to the many different eras of retailing concepts in the Chapleau region.

Note: Ian Macdonald shares the story of Smith and Chapple in Chapleau. Ian is professor emeritus and retired head of the departmnent of architecture at the University of Manitoba. Thanks Ian. MJM My email is mj.morris@live.ca


By Ian Macdonald
Commercial retail activity is a significant part of the cultural heritage of a community through speaking to the way people bought and sold goods and services. Communities along the height of land, compared to other Northern Ontario communities, remained comparatively remote except for the railroad until the 1960’s.


Image: McNamara shop interior

The region became progressively less isolated when Highway 129 from Chapleau to Thessalon on Lake Huron was opened in 1949 and Highway 101 connecting the community with Timmins and Wawa was finally completed in 1967 including the Highway 651 connection from Highway 101 to Missanabie. Goods and services until then were provided almost exclusively within the community itself. Mail order outlets facilitated catalogue shopping but for the most part, businesses were independent and mostly family owned enterprises which extended in many cases over several generations. Competition was thus not only spirited but also very very personal.


General store buildings in those early days were simple and straightforward with gable or shed roofs. They were generally one and a half or two storey structures with the sales floor on the main floor. Granite bedrock in most locations lurked only a few feet below ground level forcing the main floor to be two to five feet above grade if basement space was required. Second floors were typically residential and occasionally commercial office space depending on the building location. Internal organization of the stores were mostly symmetrical with a clearly defined main entrance located on the main axis and recessed to form an entry alcove. This allowed for increased window area and larger displays.

Shop areas had high ceilings and the front façade included large plate glass display windows. Long counters were located on one or both sides of the main customer circulation area and business was mostly conducted over the counter. Timber construction was predominant for both structural and decorative purposes with little option but to use local labour skills and resourceful use of materials. The store front, however, was different and was seen to be one of the main factors in establishing a competitive edge in a highly competitive market.

Image: Beamish and Smith store

The importance of the store front in commercial retailing is best illustrated in one of the first stores built in Chapleau by James McNiece Austin in Chapleau in the 1890’s on the north east corner of Birch and Young Street. The original business had been established on a site 100 feet to the east by T.A.Austin in 1885 and sold to his brother, James McNiece Austin in 1888 who operated the business for five years before selling out in 1903 to R.A. Beamish and Stuart Smith. This new enterprise became known as Beamish and Smith and lasted four years before it was acquired in 1907 by the partnership of Stuart Smith and V.T.Chapple and became Smith and Chapple.

The original store building facing Birch Street was approximately thirty feet wide, a hundred feet deep and typical of most general stores of that era. The structure was of rudimentary wood frame construction with a flat roof slightly sloping south to north. The plan organization of the building was symmetrical around a glazed double door main entrance. It was similar to most other commercial buildings in the newcommunity with the exception of the Birch Street store front that incorporated enough architectural features to fill a history text book.


Image: architectural drawing of Smith and Chapple

The Birch Street store front was consistent with established principles associated with highly urban areas like London, England where the shop is usually part of an established urban streetscape rather than a single free standing corner building on the Canadian frontier. These architectural features included overly large wood panelled corner pilasters to establish physical separation from neighbouring buildings and supported a bold and complex cornice at roof level. Bold cornice detailing was also an established way of providing clear definition between the shop front and the upper floor. The store also had the advantage of a large blank wall surface facing Young Street that allowed for additional signage. Entrance to the store was a recessed glazed double door that provided a strongly defined entrance alcove and additional plate glass display area.

Image: Smith and Chapple original storefront

The store had changed owners three times before it became Smith and Chapple in 1907. There were no changes to the architectural features of the original store front during these changes in proprietorship. The name of the respective owners was simply repainted on the second-floor wall facing Birch Street and minor changes were made in the signage over the plate glass display windows.
Image: Smith and Chapple 1915 Expansion

V.T. Chapple who is recorded as being the most energetic and ambitious of the Smith and Chapple partners, tripled the size of the original store with a building expansion in 1915. The expansion was effectively the double replication of the original building which faithfully maintained and repeated the same distinctive features of the original.

Image: Smith and Chapple final Expansion

The store would be further expanded one more time during the depression years with the addition of a butcher shop, groceteria and basement level snack bar and shop. This renovation included removal of most of the distinctive architectural features of the original building. Decorative ornament was eliminated and the building surfaces were smoothed out to give a more “modern” appearance and a large Smith and Chapple sign would stretch over the entire length of the building facing Birch Street.

Image: Village Shops exterior image

The store remained this way until 1987 when it was acquired by the Bignucolo family who renovated the building and rebranded the business as “The Village Shops” . This renovation, responding to more open and contemporary retailing principles, Included removal of Interior walls and partitions and conversion of second floor commercial retail space to eight apartment units.

 Image 8 Village Shops interior image

This venerable old building is one of the few early commercial retail buildings that has endured the ravages of time and successfully adapted to the many different eras of retailing concepts in the region.


Ian advised that Images in this article are from the Vincent Crichton Sr. Chapleau Historical Photo Collection are published with the kind permission of Dr. Vince Crichton Jr.
Photos 7 and 8 of the Village Shops are provided by Lucy Bignucolo

D.O. Payette jokingly referred to business partner Arthur Grout having first dime from memorable moment when they took took over Smith and Chapple Ltd. in 930

After being involved in "active business" in Chapleau for 44 years, D.O. Payette decided to retire as president of Smith and Chapple Ltd. on January 28, 1949.

In an article prepared for the Chapleau Post, Mr. Payette begins with a joking reference to his business partner "Art Grout has the first dime Smith and Chapple took in that memorable morning of January 29, 1930, when we took over from V.T. Chapple."

In an article prepared for the Chapleau Post, Mr. Payette begins with a joking reference to his business partner "Art Grout has the first dime Smith and Chapple took in that memorable morning of January 29, 1930, when we took over from V.T. Chapple."

Mr Grout

Apparently that first dime was set on a card bearing an appropriate description and kept by Mr. Grout. I wonder where it is today, some 88 years later!

Mr. Payette became president and Mr. Grout vice president.

Mr Payette

He relates that when they first took over the store business was "good" but as the "grim hand" Great Depression took hold  in Canada, Chapleau did not escape.

Railroad workers with 25 years experience lost their jobs, and the "lumbering industry practically ceased to exist".

The partners needed to find new customers quickly. At about this time, gold claims started to open, and "considerable propserity" was being achieved. They decided to do their best to get  business from this source.

Aircraft were landing at Chapleau on their sway to and from claims.

Mr. Payette relates that one morning when a plane landed on the Kebsquasheshing River at Chapleau, Mr. Grout raced to the waterfront and assisted with the landing, then brought all the passengers to the store. He told them "If we haven't got what you want, we'll get it."

In due course several flight services operated out of Chapleau, and their store started taking deliveries by canoe and  delivering  byplane to the mining camps filling orders from prospectors.

Let me digress for a moment. In 1930 my father Jim Morris was attending Chapleau High School, and would go and help the pilots load and unload planes. My grandfather Harry Morris told me that he was also learning to fly planes, but did not tell my grandmother Lil (Mulligan) Morris. Nonethelesss she knew he was taking flying lessons from the bush pilots. Mothers always know!

Mr. Payette said that despite adversity ''sweating blood, hiding our fears" by 1937 business started to improve.

By the start of World War II in 1939, they were adding a two story building to the east side of the men's wear department to include a meat and grocery department, two apartments, and snack bar. 

Mr. Payette wrote that business was good during the war years, and by 1945 they had paid off Mr. Chapple.

In 1949. he told Mr. Grout that he wanted to retire. Mr. Grout at started at the store at age 14, and noiw would become the owner.

A period of "real expansion" started after Mr. Grout took over as president.

Mr. Payette explained that up until then main street had been essentially one-sided with most businesses on the north side with only the Algoma Dairy at Birch and Young street and the Regent Theatre at Birch and Lorne. In between was a high board fence and behind it were CPR cottages facing the shops.

The new building housed various departments of Smith and Chapple over the years.

In conclusion Mr. Payette pays a trubute to Arthur Grout as "a man of inestimable ability and energy. Our partnership traversed the years with harmony and good fellowship."

Mr. Payette was not only involved with Smith and Chapple over the years, but was very active in community activities. By 1906, he appears in a photo of a Chapleau hockey team and he later managed teams. He also played in the Town Band and was bandmaster. In the 1930s, he was referred to as "the catalyst" behind the founding of Chapleau winter carnivals. 

He also served as fire chief, member and chairman of the high school board, manager of the Chapleau Memorial Arena, member of the Knights of Columbus, choirmaster at Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church member of the Chapleau Rotary Club, and he also golfed and curled..

I am an alumnus of Smith and Chapple Ltd. having worked in various departments while attending Chapleau High School and Waterloo Lutheran University now Wilfrid Laurier University. It was a great place to work. My mail is mj.morris@live.ca

Bill Payette was presented with Estwing Golden Hammer prestigious award for 50 years service in hardware industry

Bill Payette, a member of one of Chapleau's pioneer and most involved families in community life, was presented with an Estwing Golden  Hammer in recognition of his 50 years of service in the hardware store industry. 

Bill, the son of Mr. and Mrs. D.O. Payette, started his career in 1939, when his father, the president of Smith and Chapple Ltd., had him help out in the toy department for the Christmas season. Bill was 13 at the time.

For the next two summers, he delivered parcels from the store by travelling around Chapleau on his bicycle, which he had paid for by the end of the first summer.

In 1941, his father suggested he leave school temporarily to work in the store as help was difficult to find because of World War II. 

Bill was required to help out in various departments including the funeral service, and subsequently became manager of the hardware department, a position he held until Smith and Chapple Ltd. closed on May 7, 1987.

He joined the staff of Collins Home Hardware on May 11, 1987, according to a newspaper report.

Accompanying Doug Collins to a Fall buying market and  a semi annual shareholders' meeting of Home Hardware, Bill was presented with an Estwing Golden Hammer in recognition of his service to the industry. The presentation was made by Walter Hachborn, president of Home Hardware.

According to an article in the Watertown Daily Times the Estwing Golden Hammer is a "prestigious industry award" which "celebrates individuals who have provided exceptional service in the field of hardware and home improvement services for more than 50 years".

Always community minded, Bill was a member of Branch No. 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion, The Loyal Order of Moose, Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church and the Knights of Columbus. Bill also served several terms as a member of the Chapleau Board of Education.

Bill is front right

He was also a long-time member of the Chapleau Town Band. For many years, his father served as the bandmaster.

Bill married the late Juliette (Morin), and they had four children: Anne Marie, Joan, Patrick and Michael. William Payette died at the age of 80 on December 1, 2006.

My email is mj.morris@live.ca

"If we haven't got what you want, we''ll get it," Arthur Grout tells mining industry in 1930s

names below

As D.O. Payette was retiring as president of Smith and Chapple Ltd. in 1949, he wrote an article sharing insights into the store's history during the years since 1930 when he and Arthur Grout were partners.

It covers a lot of subjects but given recent news about the potential mining development by Goldcorp which will have an immense  effect on Chapleau, I decided to share Mr. Payette's story on how gold mining and prospecting affected Smith and Chapple in the 1930s.. 

Just as Mr. Payette and Mr. Grout took over the business from V.T. Chapple, the Great Depression hit, and they were looking for business.

It so happened that the Swazey Gold Claims had just been opened not too far from Chapleau. In the 1920s there was considerable prospecting in the area.

"We had to do our best to get business," Mr. Payette wrote.

He pointed out that there were some airplanes flying to and from the claims and many landed on the front river at Chapleau.

"One morning Art Grout saw one of these planes overhead. He quickly got rope, stakes, and an axe and beat it down to the lakeshore to assist in the plane's landing. Passengers were escorted to the store, a tour and sales pitch rendered, and my partner said: 'If we haven't got what you want, we'll get it"'.

Result: The store managed to get a fair amount of business from this source.

As an aside before going any further, my father, Jim Morris, learned to fly planes from these early bush pilots. My grandfather Harry Morris told me my Dad would tell his parents he was going down to assist in unloading and loading planes. Partly true, but he was also going on flights with these early pilots, and learning to fly the planes.

He thought my grandmother, Lil (Mulligan) Morris didn't know, but she did -- Mothers always know!

Back to Mr. Payette. As time passed, Chapleau became a busy place for several flight services, "outstanding among them was Eclipse Airways."

my Dad 1930s

Smith and Chapple also had workers travelling by canoe. taking orders from prospectors with delivery on mahy occasions by plane.

Canoe travel was actually quite common, and other Chapleau merchants , including Edgar Pellow, used it in their business --- a story for another day!

The Kinty Gold Mine opened near Bret Lake about 30 air miles from Chapleau. Mr. Payette and Mr. Grout believed it would be a "prosperous town"  and built a few log cabins on the shore of Bret Lake -- one a store with living quarters for the shopkeeper, one for cooking and dining, and one as sleeping quarters for travellers and prospectors.

Then bad breaks --- the mine decided to establish a townsite some distance from their location. By 1933 the mine closed.

Mr. Payette wrote they were stuck with stock but managed to survive, although for the rest of the depression there were few prospectors still in the area.

He wrote: "We struggled on, cutting expenses, sweating blood, laughing at our own mistakes, hiding our tears until the advent of 1937, and a ray of light appeared."

As World War II began in 1939, the railway and ,lumber industries picked up again, and business was good through the war years.

1949

In 1949 though Mr. Payette decided to retire and Mr. Grout took over as president. The staff photo above was taken at a party near Mr Payette's retirement.

I was delighted to read the article in the Chapleau Express about the meeting that Goldcorp held recently with the municipality, and the planning that is underway for Chapleau to become at least in part a "mining town." My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Names of staff 1) Ad Andrews, 2) Grenville "Bob" Murray  3) Bob Warren, 4) Earle Sootheran, 5) unknown, 6) D.O. Payette, 7) Norm Veit, 8) Joe Shannon, 9) Tom Godfrey Jr., 10) Blanche Payette, 11) Dorothy Bain, 12) Zetta Murray, 13) Viola Nolan, 14) Helen Lapp, 15) Dick Lapp, 16) Gene Bernier, 17) Ted Soucie, 18) Keith (Mac) Macdonald, 19) Fred Matters.

J.T. Serre known for 'happy, jolly, good natured manner' at work and play in Chapleau

J.T. Serre, who arrived in Chapleau in 1886, was well known for the "happy, jolly, good natured manner"  he always maintained.

When he arrived Chapleau consisted mainly of a group of box cars in which lived a number of families as well as 'Old Chapleau' about where the Lady Minto Hospital was located on Queen Street, and where Richard Brownlee had his barber shop in a tent.

It didn't take these early pioneers long to lay out the community on the "other side" of the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks.

Mr. Serre first worked for the CPR but the Hudson Bay Company was looking "for a smart young man who could talk French and English",  so he moved there, according to a Chapleau Post article in 1930.

"Telesphore was everything on that job. He rassled barrels of pork, kegs of molasses, bags of flour, cases of salt pork and bags of beans around until an ordinary fellow would have been glad to call it a day. But not him".

Chapleau party Mr Serre standing on right

The article noted that after the work day, which ended when the manager said it did, Mr. Serre, along with the rest of the young bloods of the town" enjoyed a good time, and would head to the "Indian reservation, and there they danced to the music of an accordion or a fiddle until the wee small hours."

Mr Serre on right

The reservation to which the article refers would have been what is now generally referred to as the Memegos Property on the Nebskwashi River where the Hudson Bay store was located before moving into Chapleau. Just imagine, they would walk along the CPR tracks in the pitch dark, and cross the river about where the Highway 101 turnoff is to Timmins today. And return home!

In 1891 Mr. Serre started working  for J. McN. Austin and as hardware became more important, he was put in charge of that department. By 1905, when it became important to have someone as an undertaker, he took a course and assumed this position too.

After joining what soon became Smith and Chapple Ltd. he became hardware manager there.

 Top items in the hardware department included rifles and shotgun shells, toboggans, axes, canoes, tents, and tin and iron cooking wares. 

one department

He saw changes in the store from "flickering old coal oil lamps, acetylene lamps, then unsteady electric light to fine lighting equipment" by about 1930.

"From the old cast iron stove in the middle of the store on to the hot air furnace then to the modern hot water electric blower, thermostatically controlled blower now installed."

The article also noted that in the early years of business no one ever saw an apple, orange, grapefruit, any fresh vegetables, ice cream and other items seen in the store by 1930 or so.

"Fast freight trains coupled with good refrigeration played a great part..." in bringing them to Chapleau.

I wonder if anyone today can find Mr. Serre's name inscribed in the cement in the cellar of what is now Chapleau Village Shops.

The article notes that "some cement work was being done in the cellar of the main store ... and this young fellow scratched his name in the fresh cement and it's still there (circa 1930)" Maybe Lucy Bignucolo could take a look!!!

T.R. Serre, became known as the "Grand Old Man" of the store in work and play. 

Thanks again to Margaret Rose and Bobby Fortin for loaning me the Richard Brownlee Papers. A treasure of information about Chapleau.  My email is mj.morris@live.ca