Ballycroy

History

Photo of store
The former general store
©Jeri Danyleyko

Ballycroy got its start in the 1820s with the arrival of a large group of settlers from Ireland. One of these new arrivals was an enterprising young man named William Beatty. Impressed with the waterpower on the Humber River, and encouraged by the government’s willingness to fund construction of a millpond, he decided to open chopping mill. The Beatty mill turned out to be a big success. Shortly thereafter William’s two brothers, Samuel and Henry, arrived to join him in the business.

Over time the Beatty brothers expanded their mills into a busy and prosperous operation. Upon completion, they owned a sawmill, shingle factory and, reportedly, a flour mill. A new mill replaced the original mill after it burnt down in 1850. Ironically in 1861 they became a supplier to the Hamilton & North Western Railway (H & NW later CN). The railway chose nearby Palgrave for its new station, completely bypassing Ballycroy. The mills operated until well into the 1930s.

Following the success of the mills, other businesses began to move in. By the early 1870s Ballycroy was a booming, if somewhat alcoholic, community of around 200 residents. Its offerings included two general stores, a law office, a millinery shop, post office, doctor, veterinarian, two churches and blacksmith.

Another of Ballycroy’s early settlers was Daniel Small. Small first arrived in Ballycroy around 1828, where he built a home to raise his young family. His son Peter, born in 1835, figured prominently in Ballycroy’s history. Another son Patrick became active in township affairs and served as a member of the district council. Daniel Small remained in Ballycroy until his death in 1890. Unfortunately Peter left in the 1870s, following a series of tragic and unexplained incidents.

In addition to usual small town merchants and tradespeople, Ballycroy was also home to four tavern/hotels and a liquor store. This did seem rather excessive, considering there were only 11 taverns and two liquor stores in the entire township. Ballycroy was also a busy stopping place of sorts and it’s possible that many of these taverns doubled as inns.

Despite Ballycroy being a predominantly Irish Catholic community, that didn’t stop the Methodists from trying to make inroads. They built an Episcopal Methodist church in the early 1840s. It didn’t last long. The Silver Creek Orange Lodge eventually took over the building in 1846. The lodge had one saving grace. It quickly turned into a catalyst for a legendary series of brawls, some of which lasted for days and undoubtedly fuelled by business at the taverns,

The Fehely Hotel/bar was the most notorious of the four hotels. Alternately run by brothers John and Thomas Fehely, both staunch Catholics, it was more of a flop house than a hotel. The second floor consisted of one long room where patrons, after passing out in the bar below, could sleep off the mind-numbing effects of Fehely’s hooch. There was no foundation beneath the building and the insulation consisted of wood shaving, typical of construction during that period.

The freezing cold winter temperatures and almost total lack of insulation might, to some degree, explain the excessive inebriation of Fehely’s clientele. The Fehelys and their patrons would lie in wait on the nights when the Orange Lodge meetings took place. The Orangemen would meet at McClelland’s store across the street and depart in a group. Lone stragglers walking past Feheley’s bar had to fend for themselves in less than tranquil company.

Peter Small set up Ballycroy’s first post office in 1856 at the age of 21. In 1862, local merchant John McClelland took over the post office when Small expanded into other areas of business and politics. Small appears to have been a very astute businessman who was slowly building a little empire in Ballycroy. By the early 1870’s he owned a hotel, a millinery shop, general store and a small racetrack. From 1867 to 1875 he served as reeve of Adjala. Following McClelland’s death in 1872, Small once again served as postmaster, this time until 1876.

Small’s hotel eventually grew to become the toast of the town. Renowned for its excellent food and fine liquor, His famous ‘January Ball’ annually attracted visitors from as far away as Toronto. The racetrack operated quarterly on the first Tuesday of January, April, July and October and included betting, trading and sales.

Tragedy struck on April 29, 1875, when Small’s hotel caught on fire and burned to the ground. Small, who along with his family, was living in the hotel at the time, managed to toss his wife and seven children out the window, thereby ensuring their survival. Small’s three milliners, Bridget Burke, Mary Ann Fanning and Margaret Daley, who also lived in the hotel, were not so lucky. Tragically, flames trapped the three young women and all lost their lives.

As it turned out, Small held a total of $21,000 in mortgages on the hotel, a veritable fortune in those days. By comparison, the average rural dwelling cost about $1,000. Although arson was suspected, it was never proven. Whether due to Small’s political and business dealings, or simply a case of sheer bad luck, is impossible to know

There is a certain amount of credence to the arson theory, thanks to an eerie coincidence two months later. Fire struck the outbuilding in which Small and his family were living after the hotel fire. Although everyone managed to escape, they lost many of their possessions. Whatever happened, Small certainly appears to have made one or more particularly vindictive enemies. The Small family remained in Ballycroy until 1879 and then packed their bags for good and moved to Toronto. For a time Small operated Small’s Hotel in Toronto and later went on to become a Divisional Court bailiff. The loss of Small’s business empire was a huge financial setback to the community as a whole.

The Ryan and Richard Beamish hotels were far more sedate. The Adjala Council, which did not have a permanent meeting hall, would meet regularly at Beamish’s hotel. Another fire put an end to that in 1878. Although incendiary in origin and quickly extinguished, Beamish went into a panic and sold the business to Thomas Bird. Bird remodelled the hotel and began promoting the business to commercial travellers. James Gormican in turn purchased Ryan’s hotel. William Cook, a tailor who had been doing business in parts unknown, returned to Ballycroy. He quickly set up shop in the old millinery and began offering made-to-order suits in the latest ‘New York Fashions’.

Far more successful than the unlucky Peter Small was John McClelland who operated the general store across from Small’s hotel. Although McClelland was a devout Protestant living in the heart of an Irish Catholic stronghold, he seemed to get along well with everyone and ran a successful business. His large home, attached to the store, doubled as a hotel. The second store, above the store, served as a meeting hall, available for a variety of social functions. John was only 50 when he died, leaving his young wife to run the business and raise their two sons.

McClelland’s oldest son, Robert, eventually took over the store and took in a partner, I.E. Cobean. McClelland and Cobean operated on the ‘cash system’, offering a discount of 10% to all individuals paying cash on sales over $3. This was a novel approach in the days when many businesses functioned on the barter system and it seems to have worked. The partners were able to offer higher prices to the local farmers as well as expand their business and open a second, identical store in nearby Palgrave. McClelland moved to Palgrave to run the new store and Cobean remained in Ballycroy. The Hamilton family later bought the store and ran it for many years.

The 1875 fire that had destroyed Small’s hotel and a number of other buildings took much of the heart out of Ballycroy. In 1877 the H. & N.W. Railway chose Palgrave over Ballycroy thereby forcing many of Ballycroy’s businesses to relocate. The temperance movement, that took hold in the late 19th century, finished most of the hotel business. Road realignments which completely bypassed Ballycroy dealt the final blow. The Orange Hall closed in 1943 after being classified as dormant. Following that was the post office, which closed in 1951.

A handful of residents continue to live in Ballycroy. This once bustling community sits on a narrow, winding laneway, lined with several tastefully restored Victorian homes. A walk up Ballycroy’s main road is much like taking a walk back to an earlier piece of time. It’s quite remarkable that such a quiet, serene place could continue to exist just a stone’s throw from a major metropolitan city.

Many thanks to the Ballcroy Area Rural Conservation Alliance (BARCA) for the additional background information.

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