Charles W Collins active in Chapleau community life established retail business associated with family name in 1928

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In 2018, the Collins name will have been associated with retail business in Chapleau for 90 years, but its founder Charles W. Collins, also played an active role in many other aspects of community life.

Mr. Collins was the son of Mr. and Mrs. P.J. Collins who arrived in Chapleau in 1909. With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, soon thereafter many Chapleau boys enlisted in the armed forces, and a plaque in St. John's Anglican Church notes that he was one of 42 church members who were  in the forces by 1916.

Let's go back to 1885, and a few years beyond for a moment. Alexandre Langis arrived at 615.1 on the Canadian Pacific Railway with a contract from the company to clear the land that would become the townsite of Chapleau.

After completing the contract Mr. Langis stayed with the CPR but left to start a business with one E. Jackman at 4 Birch Street West at Young and Birch Street. The building happened to be owned by my great-great uncle Patrick Mulligan. He had established Murrays and Mulligan, General Merchants, on that site in 1887.

An Albert Desjardins came to Chapleau in 1908 from Montreal and bought out Mr. Jackman so the name was changed to Desjardins and Langis.

In 1909 they relocated to the southwest corner of Birch and Lorne streets which for a short time had been the site of the first Roman Catholic church.

Later, Harry Wolfe, who was the son-in-law of Mr. Langis, purchased the interests of Mr. Desjardins, and in 1924 the store became known as Langis and Wolfe.

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In 1928, Charles W. Collins bought out Mr. Langis and the store became known as Wolfe and Collins. The Collins name has been associated with ownership of a  store at that location ever since.  In due course Mr. Wolfe left the business and Fred Matters became a partner, and the store became Collins and Matters. When Mr. Matters left it became Charles W. Collins Stores Ltd and now the fourth generation of the family is in the business.

They have been Mr. Collins followed by his son George, his granddaughter Susan,  his grandson Doug, and now his great-grandson Joshua. Over the years other members of the family have also been associated with the store.

No other name has been associated with a locally owned business in Chapleau in its entire history for as long as Collins has.

Charles Collins was also active in the community, and by 1950 he was chair of the board of Lady Minto Hospital and encouraging its members to accept the need for renovations. The hospital had opened in 1914.

 At the annual meeting of 1952, Mr. Collins, and D.O. Payette, secretary, presented plans which would also include a nurses' residence. 

Mr. Collins urged the board members to go on record as supporting the project "100 percent" which they did.

By 1955 the renovations including the nurses' residence had been completed. The sun parlours on the east and west ends of the hospital located on Elm Street, across from Queen Street.

Of all the improvements perhaps the most important was an elevator that became a reality through a generous gift from the W.E. Mason Foundation. Mr. Mason was a great supporter of Northern Ontario and founder of the Sudbury Star newspaper.

The kitchen had been moved to the basement with all new equipment described as 'the last word in cooking convenience for large scale service.

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As the 1950s began, Chapleau installed a sewage system while Mr. Collins was president of the Chapleau Board of Trade, (Chamber of Commerce). Mr. Collins was also supportive of the Chapleau Memorial Community Arena opened in 1951. 

Mr. Collins was also a member of Branch Number 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion, a charter member of the Chapleau Rotary Club, and St. John's Anglican Church where he served on the advisory board for many years.

Over the years renovations were undertaken at the store.

After Mr. Collins retired, and his son George became president, and 30 years ago in 1987, the company bought Pro Hardware, which had been part of the Smith and Chapple Ltd. complex. 

My email is mj.morris@live.ca


PHOTOS
1930s Staff of Collins and Matters: Back row left to right: Fred Card, Fred Matters, Charles W. Collins, Herbie Vezina. Front row left to right: Olive Vezina, Beth Inges, Gertrude Currie (Curry)

Launch of Chapleau sewage system project 1950: Dr. D.W. Lougheed, Arthur J. Grout, Cecil A. Smith, Unknown, W. Steed, R. Thrush, B.W. Zufelt, Ernest Lepine, E. Brunette, Jack Shoup, Richard Brownlee, Dr. G. E. Young, Clyde Fife, D.O. Payette, Charles W. Collins.

Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick 'genealogist extraordinaire' spent countless hours assisting friends with search for ancestors

Just over 40 years ago now, Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick with her sister Betty, started a project to identify all their ancestors.

Over the years, it took them on trips to England and the Eastern United States as they researched their families. They scoured literally thousands of documents on their journey seeking their roots.

They were the children of the late Elsie (Hunt) and B.W. 'Bubs' Zufelt, and in the interests of full disclosure, before I go any further, I am their cousin. My mother, Muriel (Hunt) Morris and their mother Elsie were sisters. Anne was born in Chapleau, and raised there along with her sisters Betty and Joan, now deceased, and Leslie.

Her father served as Reeve of Chapleau from 1948 to 1955.

A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from  Anne advising me that she had been hospitalized but was home, and as she told me about her illness, commented "I hope I'm not depressing you"  -- so typical of Anne, always thinking about the other person.

Zufelt family: Betty, Elsie, Bubs. Front Leslie, Anne, Joan

In her email, Anne mentioned our grandmother Edythe Hunt, our 'Nanny', the unshakable lady who was back in England when World War II broke out, joined a nursing unit and stayed until almost the end of the war when she returned to Chapleau. Nanny was an important person in our lives.

When Michael McMullen and I were writing 'The Chapleau Boys Go To War' we referred to Anne as genealogist extraordinaire. If she didn't know a person, she was quick to discover all there was to know. She spent countless hours going over lists of names and generating new ones, and providing answers to our research requests.

With her sisters Betty, Joan and Leslie, she also did a story on our grandmother.

Anne has also been of immense assistance to me with Chapleau Moments.

She also assisted many Chapleau friends in their quests for information about their ancestors.

 She and her late husband Michael 'Mike' McGoldrick, raised their four children Jeff, Hugh, Laurie and Toby, in Chapleau but she also found time to be involved in community life.

That involvement began when she was attending Chapleau High School as a student where she participated in the annual school play and was a member of the Bugle Band of 1181 Chapleau High School Cadet Corps.

In the 1970s, during a time of great expansion at Chapleau High School and Chapleau Public School, she served several terms on the Chapleau Board of Education.

A member of the Ladies Auxiliary to Branch Number 5 of the Royal Canadian Legion, she served as its president in 1988-89. She had relatives on both sides of her family who served in Canada's armed forces, including her uncle, my father Flying Officer Jim Morris who was killed on active service in the RCAF in 1943.

She was also active in St. John's Anglican Church, starting as a choir member while growing up in Chapleau. Anne was following a family tradition in the choir where our grandfather George Hunt had been choirmaster, and Nanny, her mother and aunt (my mother) as well as her sisters were choir members. I was in the Junior Choir.

She was also a member of the Anglican Church Women.

Most recently Anne had become a major contributor to the Chapleau History and Genealogy page on Facebook, posting photos and comments about the life and times  and people of Chapleau. Her posts brought back great memories, and were greatly appreciated.

Anne and Mike retired to North Bay where she continued her passion for genealogy, but returned home to Chapleau in the Summer to spend time at 'The Camp' with her many good friends.

In North Bay, Anne sang with the Baytones and was a  member of the North Bay Genealogical Society.

Shortly after I received her email, her son Hugh messaged me that his mother was back in hospital.

On August 17, Rebecca Anne (Zufelt) McGoldrick died. May she rest in peace. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Forest fire threatened completion of Chapleau Centennial project in 1967 but 'All's well that ends well'

The  Centennial Committee was "amazed" at the generosity of Chapleau citizens and businesses, present and past, as support for its building project gave it sufficient cash and pledges received to proceed "in all haste" to complete the project by July 1, 1967.

In fact, volunteers were busy putting the roof on the building during one of the hottest May days on record with all material donated by local lumber companies including Chapleau Lumber Co. Ltd,  A and L Lafreniere Lumber Ltd., J.E Martel and Sons Lumber Ltd., K.W. Biglow, Sheppard and Morse Ltd., Island Lake Lumber Ltd (Oliver Korpela), and Domtar of Sudbury.

All material was being transported by (Tee) Chambers Cartage and Lloyd MacGillivray Cartage. The municipality had made equipment available and employees Mel Black and Maurice Marion operated it on their own time.

Donations were being received and acknowledged in the Chapleau Sentinel and perhaps Grant (Grizz) Henderson, a former citizens summed up the enthusiasm with his comment: "Let the horns blow, the drums bang, the cymbals clang, let the clan gather." He called it  a Come Home Weekend, a Centennial Old Time Party.

Good news had been received from the CPR that it would provide heat for the building to be located in Centennial Park alongside Engine 5433, that had been placed there in 1964, a gift from Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Grout.

Planning for the Centennial project had actually been underway since 1963, but got moving after the Centennial Park was established. Mr. Grout was the chairman.

And then, with apologies to the  poet Robbie Burns for modernizing his words in  'To a Mouse', the "best laid plans of mice and men often go awry..."

The hot weather continued into June and a forest fire was threatening the community by June 3.

District Forester Jim Keddie advised Reeve T.C. "Terry" Way-White of the situation and a meeting was held in the Town Hall attended by the council and other citizens as well as lands and forests personnel and Ontario Provincial Police. The decision was made to evacuate the municipality and the order was given by Mr. Way-White. The exodus began on Sunday afternoon with between 800-900 vehicles beginning the trek out of town after the signal had been given to evacuate. There were 90 boxcars in the CPR yard and a hospital train had left Sudbury to assist with the emergency. At its peak, nearly 400 firefighters were fighting the fire.

Just before the evacuation the Chapleau Sentinel had reported that if "we are not burnt out" the project would be completed on time.

On June 6, the Chicago Tribune reported that residents began "streaming back to their homes after pelting rain relieved the fear the town might be destroyed by a forest fire..." (When I Googled for dates on the fire, the Chicago Tribune story appeared right at the top)

Work resumed and "All's well that ends well", as it was officially opened on time in pouring rain, but the sun  came out in the afternoon. It was opened by Gaston Demers, MPP for Nickel Belt assisted by Mr. Grout and Reeve Way-White.

In the beginning I really did not plan to bring the weather and a forest fire into this column, but it just happened as I was reading about the Chapleau Centennial project. Still a state of emergency in British Columbia, and thanks to all who have been in touch with me. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

NOTE!!!!!                                
BRINGING MARY HOME
Mary Campbell passed away January 2 of this year and her ashes will be returning to her beloved Chapleau.
Interment will be at the cemetery on Friday, August 25 at 11am, officiated by Bishop Tom Corston. Lunch will follow at the Legion. All are welcome to bid their final farewells and exchange a few "Mary stories".

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MM