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Heritage Foundation - Exeter & District, Exeter, ON (2026)

02/18/2026

Khiva – A Busy, Non Temperance Corner in the 1880’s
In the earliest years of the settlement of Stephen Township, it was not a trivial thing for someone who was living in Offa to make the long journey north to Friedsburg or vice versa. After all 6 ½ miles over rough roads by horse or by foot in the summer, or by horse drawn icutter in the winter was a task not to be winked at. For some readers who are wondering where this stretch of road is, I can assure you that probably you have driven that route many times, commencing at Mt Carmel, formerly known as Offa and ending at Dashwood, which was called Friedsburg in earlier times. The roads are much better now and the cars much faster, but in those pioneer times, it only seemed right that there should be at least one watering hole somewhere between the two hamlets. After all, a hardworking horse needs to be lubricated. William Holt recognized the business opportunity, erecting a log tavern originally on the southwest corner of Crediton Road and the Bronson Line. Receiving its license in 1869, the primitive hostelry soon enjoyed quite a large patronage. Huge amounts of lumber were being produced by the Ratz sawmill just west of the Holt’s tavern, and also by another sawmill in Slabtown (now Shipka). Considerable amounts of produce and grain enroute to mills and markets, along with the increasing traffic from Crediton brick and tile yards running at maximum capacity, Mr Holt soon outgrew his premises.
On the north side of the Crediton Road, a Mr Joseph Lorentz had established a blacksmith business in 1877. He erected a house and shop but after two years Lorentz sold his property to Mr Holt. William Holt Jr added a large frame addition to the Lorentz home and soon converted the entire structure into hotel space. One of Holt’s sons had trained as a blacksmith taking over the Lorentz business. Semi weekly mails were brought from Centralia in the late 1870’s. The Khiva post office, granted in 1878 was located in a room at the rear of the hotel’s side verandah. Valentine Ratz became postmaster for a time but he was destined for greater things. According to the Stephen Township history book, for many years on New Year’s Day, the polling booth for the municipal elections was held in the hotel.
In a 1946 London Free Press interview, a reporter met with John Ratz at his farm home just west of the crossroads. At an advanced age, he was able to recall most of the happenings in connection with the growth of the pioneer community. His family had arrived from Germany in 1827 and settled on the present site of Waterloo. Jacob Ratz had become an outstanding lumberman in Wilmot Township. Realizing the bush lots near Kitchener were disappearing quickly, the family headed westward into Huron County where it had been told, large tracts of untouched forest were still for sale by the Canada Company. Acquiring several hundred acres, the family soon built their famous sawmill between Khiva and Shipka. The mill was a combination of several barn style buildings with frames of heavy squared timbers. The central point of the operation was the high metal smokestack which could be noticed for many miles in any direction. Two small frame homes stood near the mill and were occupied by the men who were engaged as labourers. One of the houses had been the original dwelling of the family until a larger home could be built. The Ratz mill flourished for many years and helped greatly in creating traffic to keep Khiva and Shipka thriving. This writer has in his collection, an original invoice made in favour of James Handford of Centralia. The heading reads “Khiva, Ont. March 24, 1903” “John Ratz – Manufacturer of Lumber, Flooring, Hoops, Etc. Etc Terms Cash”. For the whopping price of $21.32, the price of two 2x4’s today, Mr Handford purchased 1546 board feet of products.
John’s brother Valentine, who had served as post master of Khiva, later was prominent in municipal and industrial affairs. For fourteen years or more, he was elected reeve of the township, served as warden of Huron in 1886 and upon moving to Parkhill was nominated by the Liberals to contest the riding of North Middlesex, winning a recount majority by 62 votes. In 1909, he was elevated to the Senate of Canada.
At home in Khiva, Barney Cunningham had taken over the hotel in 1898, serving as postmaster until the introduction of rural mail delivery ended the hamlet’s depot. The local bushlots had been turned into fertile farmland, eventually closing the sawmill and just prior to the 1946 London Free Press interview, the tall smokestack crashed to the ground in solemn finality. About the same time, the old dilapidated frame hotel was finally pulled down for salvage. Its disappearance severed practically the last link with this tiny hamlet which, like many others, originated, made some progress, declined and gradually passed from the scene. That is except for an attractive little private sign erected by a proud "Khivaite” who refuses to allow the romance of yesterday to disappear entirely. Good job Patrick!

01/20/2026

January 1898 – A Typical Week in this District
I am finding as an aspiring writer of local history and nostalgia that sometimes it’s difficult to find a story that would be of interest to the local readership. At those times I remember the old verse from school days, “Head thick, brain dumb, inspiration won’t come. Bad ink, poor pen, Best wishes. Amen!” However, I choose not to give in to my lack of inspiration. Instead, here are a few tidbits from both the Exeter Times and The Exeter Advocate from the first week of January 1898. I hope you enjoy them.
Two Runaways from Hensall, and they were not horses. Fred Bonthron and Robert McLoy, 16 and 18 years of age “becoming possessed of progressive ideas which could not come to pass in Hensall and which no doubt required a broader field for action” on Monday morning around 3:00 a.m. set out in search of more fertile lands. They were quite independent about it, as they used their own legs as a means of locomotion. In a short space of time, they made good headway and early in the forenoon they reached Lucan. Hensall was thrown into an excited condition but by good use of the telegraph wires and telephone, it was soon manifest that they had boarded a train bound for London from the Lucan station. The two adventurers were captured in the city and arrived back in Hensall the same night, not seeing near as much of the country as they had desired. It was noted that neither of the lads had appropriate cause to leave their good homes. They should have settled down in Lucan if they were looking for excitement.
Fire & Shenanigans in Lucan Biddulph – on the front page of the very same edition the Biddulph correspondent recorded that “on Monday night last the residence of Patrick Quigley of the 5th Concession was totally destroyed by fire. The origin of the blaze was a mystery, but the cause may be disclosed at the inquest.” (We know the Donnelly’s couldn’t have been the instigators as they had been dead for 18 years). The “Irishness” of the community was further made evident by a ruckus at the township council’s nomination meeting. The correspondent reported that Mr John Kennedy, a Mr Galligar and Patrick Towley were all up before a London justice of the peace on Monday of last week on a charge of assault and battery. Apparently the boys had been sampling the local grog on the way to the political meeting and were somewhat disturbed upon the nomination of another of their township neighbours. But as honourable Irishmen, they acknowledged their guilt and were released by paying a fine of $1.00 and costs amounting in all to $20.00. It was considered a exorbitant loss as that money could have been used to buy a keg of whiskey in preparation for the next political gathering.
Accident near Granton The Hensall lads who walked to Lucan were fortunate that they boarded the London Huron & Bruce train for the city instead of the Lucan train bound east of the village. “An accident in which a large amount of rolling stock was completely demolished occurred at Fish Creek Bridge two miles east of the village of Granton. Three freight trains were following each other closely heading west. Train #1 got stalled on the heavy grade a mile east of the station, and had to cut, and take the train through in two sections. Train #2 was signalled OK and came to a standstill over Fish Creek. The brakeman of the second train jumped and ran back to signal #3 but before he could get to the sharp curve at the top of the grade, the third train came thundering down. The driver and fireman, seeing that a collision was inevitable, and after trying to check their train, jumped into the ditch. The engine struck the rear end of #2 just east of the bridge, throwing the van and one car into the creek. The impact almost completely demolished the engine and nine cars. The van took fire and burned up. There was no loss of life.”
The Fifth Annual Meeting of the Winchelsea Butter and Cream Association a headlin,e in the same edition proved to be much more peaceful than anything that was happening in Lucan Biddulph that week. There was a good attendance and the meeting held in Elimville Township Hall was very satisfactory for all concerned. The directors were all re-elected. Nearly 94,000 lbs of butter was manufactured from the 17th of May until the 30th of November according to the report in the Elimville column that week. The total proceeds of the product during those months was $16,543.99. The patrons were paid $12,152.46 from the total amount. The tubs, salt and paper cost ½ cent per pound, so that the cost of production was less than 2 cents a pound. The factory would continue to run all winter and next summer the intention is to double the 1897 output.
To end on a spiritual note, the Greenway (formerly Boston) correspondent reported that the new Boston Methodist Church, which had been built at a cost of $3575.00 was dedicated the previous Sunday and formally opened for divine service. The church is a beautiful structure within and without, 40’ x 40’ in size with a full basement having an 11 ft ceiling. Rev. S Bond, President of the London Conference, preached from Psalm 87, a sermon “rich in thought and full of Holy Ghost power.” In the afternoon two preachers ministered at the same time, one in the sanctuary, one in the basement, both to overflowing crowds. The collection on Sunday amounted to four hundred dollars while at the tea meeting on Monday another one hundred and twenty five dollars was realized. Both the sanctuary and basement are lighted by gas, making the building a model of convenience and beauty. No mortgage was needed as the entire project had been paid in full.
Back to Hensall town, another couple of runaways but these were the four legged kind. “On Saturday last a team of horsed belonging to D McNichol bolted from the train station at break neck speed, racing down the street. Had it not been for a rig in front of the Foss Store which turned their course, they would have crashed through the store’s plate glass window causing considerable damage and perhaps death to the animals.”
All in one week January 1898! Who said Pioneer life was boring?

12/14/2025

This is a column written for the TA in November 2021:
The Forgotten Flax Industry in South Huron
It’s November 15, 2021 and we are slowly easing towards another Canadian winter. This year, owing to prolonged periods of rainfall and extremely wet fields, the harvest is not yet past. Hundreds of acres of corn are slowly being combined, sometimes leaving deep ruts in the soil. Large gravity wagon and tractor trailers make their way to the elevators in Hensall and Stephen Township, to off load the heavy crop for drying and storage. The seasoned farmers of South Huron have experienced similar challenging harvests and they have always withstood the pressure. One result of a fall like this is that much of the planned wheat crop will probably be
sown in the spring. The old timers would “grin and bear it” and proclaim “it will all come out in the wash.”
One of the crops that was once prominently grown in South Huron was flax. As Upper Canada was being settled, European nations were encouraging the pioneers to organize a marketing plan
and grow the much needed product for trans-Atlantic markets. Before the War of 1812 almost all farmers in Upper Canada grew flax for its fibre which was used in the making of grain bags,
towels, household linens and coarse clothing. Despite appeals by officials to increase their acreages, entrepreneurs were reluctant to erect flax mills. One of the problems that discouraged the growth of flax was the invention of the cotton gin in 1793. The cheaper production of cotton soon did away with the American market for flax and h**p. However, as settlers arrived in Huron County by the 1880’s, a local market along with a cry from the very active linen industry in Ireland, prompted a resurgence of interest in the flax trade. James Livingston of Baden, Ontario, the owner of what we know now as Castle Kilbride, built his empire not so much by the
production of flax but mostly from the rendering of the seed into linseed oil. At one time Livingston owned 18 scutching mills, 6 in Michigan and 12 in Western Ontario. Around this time two men by the names of Paton and Dorward, perhaps inspired by Livingston’s
great success, erected a mill on the Lake Road just west of the junction we now know as Highway 4 and Dashwood Road. Acreages were rented from local farms from the 1880’s until 1930. Although flax was not a hard crop to grow, in the early years the process was extremely labour intensive. The flax had to be pulled by hand, tied in sheaves, stooked and the pods combed off to provide seed for the next year. When the stalks were dried they had to be “retted”, that is spread out in the weather until the leaves rotted off. Then they were carried to the flax brake, a heavy wooden machine in which they were so broken up that the woody
portions separated from the fibre. After this followed the operations of “scutching” to remove the woody remnants from the fibre, and of “hackling” which was combing out the tangled fibres. The oftener the crop was combed with the progressive degrees of fineness, the finer the thread would be. It was hard and hot work.
In July 1894, the pullers walked off the job and went on strike. J Sweitzer had purchased the mill around 1886 and ended the labour unrest with a small increase. A near relative, Samuel Schweitzer had built a flax mill in Shipka in 1888. The crop played a substantial role in the township’s industrial economy at the turn of the century. In 1910 the Shipka mill burned down to the ground. Upon rebuilding, Schweitzer sold the enterprise to the Ontario Flax Company who
ran it for a time, eventually closing it down and selling the building for farm use.
The Kellerman brothers bought the Exeter mill in 1910 and according to Joe Wooden’s History of Exeter, in reckless abandon they raised the pay for a 12 hour work day (7:00 a.m – 7:00 p.m.)
to 25¢. In 1920 the mill burned down and was rebuilt in 1921 by the Ontario Flax Company who sold it two years later to Owen Geiger, who operated it until it closed in 1930.
According to a contributor to the Usborne History book, the flax on his father’s farm was pulled by Indigenous workers. The flax company hired three Indian families who arrived in a Ford
Model T touring car. They set up 3 tents at the edge of the field and cooked their meals over an open fire. The men, women and older siblings all pulled flax while the writer, then a youngster,
enjoyed playing with the smaller children. By the turn of the century a horse drawn flax puller that resembled a binder, increased productivity and cut down on labour. However, the flax
industry was coming to a slow end. Markets dried up and more advanced tillage equipment opened the gate for easier crops with more profitable returns. Bruce Walker in his “Barefoot Boy from Francistown” credited his child labour experiences in the flax mill as a vital character builder in his life. Perhaps many parents today may see benefit in it’s return if only for that reason.

11/05/2025

Telephone Service in Exeter: First Phone Service in Exeter 1889 or “One Ringy Dingy, Two Ringy Dingy” Lily Tomlin
Once telephone service was established in the larger centres like London and Toronto, plans were soon made to move out to the towns and villages and eventually up and down every road and concession. On July 26, 1874, Alexander Graham Bell, a brilliant young inventor from Brantford, shared with his father the concept of the telephone. Two years later Bell’s Double Pole membrane transmitter and Iron Box Receiver was used to perform the world’s first long distance call from Brantford to Paris Ontario. By 1880, Bell Canada was incorporated and nine years later Exeter got its first exchange. Only eleven patrons signed up initially. The rugged work and long days of the phone crews blazing trails and stringing wire had finally paid off. Those first customers were soon proudly cranking their brand new Blake telephones. All of them being commercial and retail businesses, they envisioned with great anticipation, the boom that the telephone would bring to their businesses. They included Thos. Acheson of the Central Hotel; Bisset Bros Hardware; Ed Christie Livery; Elliott & Elliott Law Office; F.W. Hawkshaw of the Commercial Hotel; R Hicks Jeweller; Levett & Hutchins, Grain Merchants; London, Huron and Bruce Railway Station; James Pickard General Merchant; W.H. Verity and Son Foundry; and finally J.A. Drayman Gillespie of Carling Street.
The first office was set up in a rear room at the R. Hicks Jewellery Store. Those who had no phones of their own, began to congregate at the small office, peering at the unfamiliar switchboard and carefully evaluating the merits of having a phone in every home. Many were soon convinced of the thirteen year old invention’s usefulness and the villagers began to take advantage of the ability they now had of going to the jewellery store and having Mr Hicks place a call for them to some far away destination. For fifteen years, Robert Hicks or an employee manned the switchboard from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on weekdays, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) and from 2:00 – 4:00 on holidays. As Exeter grew and prospered, the village moved into the 20th century with nineteen local telephones.
And so in 1905, Arnold Marchand purchased the jewellery store and the Exeter exchange. He had managed the telephone exchange in Port Elgin for ten years prior to moving here. He was assisted by his daughter Mrs Ida Sanders, who reminisced that while she would assist a man in making a call, her father would assist the caller’s wife in choosing some new earrings and a brooch to match. Apparently the two services worked well alongside one another. For several years the hard working linemen continued to expand the lines in the neighbouring townships, working in those early years from horse drawn wagons and sleighs. The number of farmer’s lines were steadily increasing so in 1908, Dr Hugh Hyndman organized the Thames Road Telephone Company, connecting with the Exeter exchange.
The following year, the Kirkton and Exeter Companies began connections here as well at St Marys, Mitchell and Granton. The telephone was becoming so important to business and residential customers, Mr Marchand began offering 24 hour service in June 1911. The following year he installed Exeter’s one hundredth phone and a third independent company from Hay Township was connected to his switchboard. In 1914 Marchand retired and sold both the jewellery and telephone business to James Lawson. The new owner separated the two enterprises by purchasing the Carling Block from this writer’s great grandfather George Bedford and moving the expanding switchboard business one door south of his store. Jeweller Lawson soon hired his cousin George Lawson who had returned to the area from Saskatchewan, having homesteaded, taught school and having learned the telephone business while out west. Cousin George became manager of the system in August 1928, for a time running the switchboard himself with the help of one operator but soon recruiting his wife Jenny Yearley and their daughter Olive (Garnet) Hicks.
When the New York Stock Exchange crashed the following year, even the telephone business in Exeter was deeply affected. Many subscribers on the local exchange could not pay their bills and despite bringing in coppers and postage stamps, eventually the local office lost many customers. Some rural subscribers removed their phones in the early years of the Depression era and went “phoneless” for several years. Things eventually took an upward swing and by the advent of WWII, over 300 phones were functioning again. In 1942, Bell erected lines to provide service to the RCAF station at Centralia. Towards the war’s end, the Exeter office came into corporate ownership under the direction of Mrs W.H. Chambers as local representative. “Old Faithful” George Lawson continued as night operator until his retirement in 1946.
In the Times Advocate December 11, 1952, Mayor W.G. Cochrane is pictured making the first call on Bell’s new “crankless” or common battery system. No longer would it be necessary to turn a crank to notify the operator that a person wanted to place a call. “Months of preparatory work were climaxed in a few busy moments on Wednesday morning, when Exeter’s 1200 telephones were simultaneously converted from the magneto to common battery.” The switchboard was disconnected, the old office was closed and all of the new equipment, including a service/sales department was housed in Bell’s new building. Eighteen operators, under the direction of Chief Operator, Mrs Willa (Ray) Wuerth, would keep the lines moving. Another note suggested that with eighteen females working the system, “a ladies parlour has been well equipped”. In 1954 Miss Mary Wells had taken over the reigns of telephone life in Exeter. By 1962 she witnessed another vital improvement to the local exchange when “the most modern of dial phones would go into operation, bringing the world to her customer’s fingertips and the whirl of a dial away.”
This story explains why there was a large pile of wooden crank phones and parts in the shed at my neighbour’s farm. The Frayne boys had taken part in the many changes to the phone system over their tenure as owners of the Thames Road Telephone Company. Antique hunters often visited their home to buy one of the relics from the past. A very long and interesting path has been traversed from the switchboard in the Hicks Jewellery Store to the cursed cell phone I carry in my pocket, seemingly 24 hours a day. I suppose there is a price to progress.

07/21/2025

Gidley Street---The last vestige of one of Exeter’s early families is a street that bears their name. It stretches
from a palatial 2 story brick home on the west side of Marlborough Street and travels east 5
blocks to its’ end at the Exeter High School. Much of the land that Gidley Street passes through
on the west side of Main Street was once owned by the family. Thomas Gidley came from
London, England in 1852 to the bush of Upper Canada. According to a story in the Times-
Advocate upon the death of Harry Gidley in 1944, “Thomas Gidley had been a cabinet maker and
a member of the cabinet guilds in London England, and it is on recent record that he had
repaired the London City gates.”
Thomas and his father began to clear bush on Lot 21, Conc 1 Stephen Twp. They built a
primitive log cabin to escape the harsh elements of the boreal forest. This dwelling was located
in the center of what would become the village of Exeter. As Thomas prospered, he was able to
construct the large solid brick home that is situated at the west end of Gidley Street, adjacent to
the railway, and reminiscent of an American southern plantation mansion. Ted and Donna Jones
were the proprietors until recent years.
Thomas and his wife had three sons, Richard, Charles and Samuel. The capital to build his home
however, was not made in his small farming enterprise. As settlers flocked into the area,
Thomas no doubt realized the need for sturdy, finely crafted furniture. His 7 year apprenticeship
in his native England was about to pay off. A factory was established on the lot now occupied by
the Holtzman Foodland Store. Gidley and his 3 boys worked together for several years turning
out tables, chairs, cabinets and specialty pieces, which eventually found their way across south
western Ontario. Several local labourers and craftsmen were employed.
Charles Gidley built a large stately home on William Street in the 1860’s. Access to this splendid
brick, 2 storey was from Main Street. It is located directly behind where the Gidley factory was
located. Doug and Val Gould raised their family here over the last few decades. It was built on a
triple lot, in a grove of pine and honey locusts, and continues to be a gem of our early
architecture. Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie stayed as a guest with the Gidleys on one
occasion.
Thomas Gidley entered the fray of local politics, serving as the village’s reeve from 1860-1863.
Upon his death, Richard assumed ownership of the family farm and Charles and Samuel carried
on the operations of the furniture business. In later years they added the undertaking trade to
their repertoire. A January 1879 ad in the Exeter Times, “We would call special attention to our
undertaking department, which is more complete than ever, as we have added several new
designs of late. The hearse, coffins, caskets, shrouds and every funeral requisite at the lowest
prices. Our new hearse is pronounced by competent judges to be second to none in the
province. Emblems of all different societies.” It is believed that they operated out of the main
floor of the Oddfellows block which they built after selling their factory in 1888.
According to Joe Wooden’s history of Exeter, Charles’ son Harry was best known for
management of the Opera House and his musical contribution to the Exeter Band and Orchestra.
He continued woodworking but honed down to specialty pieces which made their way from coast
to coast. The writer of this article remembers visiting the Joe Creech home in St Marys where
that Exeter old boy proudly displayed several pieces of Gidley handiwork. The writer also
cherishes a small block wood finish plane with the inscription stamped T. Gidley, Exeter.

07/12/2025

A story for the 12th of July: Irishtown, Flanagans Corners and finally Clandeboye
As a youngster growing up in the 60’s, a trip to London was a rarity indeed. However, two or three times a year, mom and dad would load a few of us into the Studebaker and we would start out on what seemed like a marathon trek south on Highway 4. Once a year the destination was Springbank Park where we would attend a family reunion. But usually, the reason was for a back to school shopping trip and if we were really lucky, a hamburger at a roadside diner on the way home. One of the highlights of the journey was entering into what seemed like a giant circle as we rounded the curve at the village of Clandeboye. We didn’t have any such abnormalities in the vicinity of Exeter so we exaggerated the excitement by leaning into the curve to get father around it safely. After a day of driving in 2016 from Dublin, Ireland to Tipperary County, I soon realized that it was an Irish thing to put curves in the road where they didn’t really need to be. And so for some time over the past two centuries, travellers have been negotiating that curve taking little notice of the quaint hamlet that is nestled there two miles north west of Lucan.
The beginning of Clandeboye can be traced back to May 1844, the year that Patrick Flanagan arrived from Mayo County on the Emerald Isle. Many families of Irish origin had already settled in close proximity to the sideroad bordering McGillivray Township on the west and Biddulph Township on the east. Early records indicate that the pioneers dubbed the tiny settlement the Village of Ireland or Irish Town. This writer can corroborate that story, as around 20 years ago while removing the contents of a home in Ailsa Craig for auction, I discovered a perfectly preserved ledger from a pioneer store in Irish Town. Beautiful scrolled writing revealed several entries for purchase of whiskey and sugar in favour of one James Donnelly of the Roman Line. Flanagan soon built a tavern at this junction on the London and Goderich Road, later adding a store to his enterprise. The Irishman soon became involved in local politics, serving as reeve, coroner and court clerk, but died prematurely in 1864 at the early age of 63 years. His portrait appears in an early Middlesex County atlas. His funeral procession included conveyances for over two miles. His son John rose to the challenge of carrying on the family business, no doubt catering to the pioneer needs of both the Irish settlers and also the nearby runaway American slaves at Wilberforce on the Ausable River north of Lucan.
In some of the earliest records found, dating around 1857, the locals claimed to have a wide neighbourhood population of nearly 300 and a list of 30 or more businesses. Amongst them are three hotel keepers, the same number of shoemakers, four carpenters, two tailors and four wagonmakers. Also, the village boasted three general stores, three blacksmith shops, a cabinet maker and a saddle and harness manufacturing shop. The village even had a Justice of the Peace named James Barber while George Carter served as clerk of the Division Court, Daniel Shoff was the first postmaster with the P.O. known as McGillivray.
Those who promoted the growth of Clandeboye were disillusioned and disappointed when the Grand Trunk Railway which was built in 1858 totally missed the village by a couple of miles. As a result several of the businesses moved to Marysville, later called Lucan, to reap the benefits of the railroad. Clandeboye suffered its first serious decline. Another historical account from around 1866, lists a population of about 250 with 22 people in business. There were two churches, Anglican and Wesleyan Methodist. By this time Clandeboye had its own physician, Dr James Sutton, a steam powered flour mill and a furrier establishment. Francis Jones built a substantial furniture factory, employing and training several hands. This writer personally viewed pieces of furniture built by Jones in the homes of both Ted Jones of Exeter and Joe Creech of St Marys. Both of these men were related to the pioneer craftsman and owned a few of his creations.
Two temperance lodges were established to battle the negative effects of three hotels in the village. Fraternity Division #311 of the Sons of Temperance met every Monday evening in their own hall while Victoria Lodge #5 of the American Order of Good Templars met every Thursday evening. When the London, Huron and Bruce Railway was built in 1875 along the edge of the village, it helped to restore some of its former prosperity. A county gazetteer suggests that in 1878 there were two hotels, three merchants, a lumber dealer, one wagon maker along with a weaver and dressmaker.
In recent years the construction and improvements on The Kings Highway #4 have provided impetus for a new subdivision of beautiful homes at its southern end. One historical account suggests that the name of Clandeboye was originally used only in connection to the Railway Station but was eventually adopted by the entire community. It’s hard to believe today, but when the Donnellys were driving their stages from London to Exeter, the community of Clandeboye was a bustling centre for trade and commerce. And despite the enthusiastic work of the local temperance societies, there was no need of going thirsty along the way.

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