Perm

History

It was 1832 when the Hugh Gallaugher family first arrived in Simcoe County from their native home in Ireland. It was not an easy journey. Like many other early settlers, they arrived in virgin land where there were no roads or even trails to speak of. The first leg of their journey took them to Mono Mills. From there they had to carry their meagre possessions across a crude log bridge, spanning the entire Boyne River.

Once they arrived at their final destination, they lost little time in clearing the land quickly and building a shelter. One of the few possessions to survive the trip was their treasured Irish linen. There were seven children in the Gallaugher family, all of whom left their mark in one way or another on the township.

By the mid-1850s the small community of Perm had grown around the Gallaugher settlement. In 1845 there was a warrant to establish an Orange Lodge in Perm. The fate of the original warrant is unknown but Robert Hunter received a later warrant in 1854. The Perm Orange Lodge No. 355 met in various homes, including a log house next to William Gallaugher’s new stone home. Lot 10, Concession 4, became the new home for the lodge building.

The Gallaugher sons and their descendants were active in local politics. Paul Gallaugher served as the first reeve of Mulmur Township in 1851 and again as reeve in 1859. Other family members who followed were Robert who served as reeve from 1887 to 91 and then as township treasurer from 1893 to 1915. Paul’s nephew and namesake, Paul, followed in Robert’s footsteps serving as treasurer for a lengthy run from 1915 to 33.

In the early days, Perm was an important centre, possibly due to Paul Gallaugher’s influence. By 1955, the community was putting plans in place to build a township hall. A committee consisting of two of the Gallaugher brothers, Paul and William, along with John Cooper took on the task of making that plan a reality. They finally completed the hall in 1857, followed by the first council meeting on May 26, 1858. During that first meeting the council divided the township into five wards. On October 24, they passed a bylaw establishing the locations for elections in each ward. After about 20 years, the hall fell into disuse.

The Methodist congregation erected the Bethel Methodist Church in 1872 on Lot 10, Concession 5. Hugh Gallaugher made a generous contribution of $500 for construction of the church. The donation was quite substantial for its time. Gallaugher put in many long hours in both time and labour to help with the building. For many years afterwards, he made annual donations of $200 to cover the costs of upkeep and maintenance. They established a large cemetery on the south side of the property behind the church. By the

There were never many businesses in Perm. Paul Gallaugher opened a general store in 1868 and added a post office in 1872. There was also a home and blacksmith shop, owned and operated by Joseph Donohue, just to the east of the church. By 1880 there was a shingle mill, operated by Robert Hughson. Other postmasters included Henry Gallaugher in 1877 and James Gallaugher in 1882. By 1884 James had entered into a partnership with J.J. Morrow, who took over as postmaster in 1885. Other businesses included a sawmill run by John Amoss and later Thomas Hunter. By the 1880s, James Tate, who remained the village smitty for many years, ran the blacksmith shop.

The distribution of school sections was confusing. They built the first log schoolhouse, measuring around 6 x 9 metres on Lot 15, Concession 3 around 1870 or earlier. The school was primitive even by 1870 standards. There were no desks, only two rows of benches. They also reportedly used the school for church services, which perhaps explains the lack of desks. Early teachers included a Mr. Black and a Mr. Burton. The official names for this school were S.S. #8, Mulmur and also the Upper Perm School. In 1884 they replaced the school with a new frame structure, built on Lot 16 and painted red. Moses Cherry donated the land. William Gallaugher and John Ireland both served as trustees.

In the meantime another log school, also known as S.S. #8, sprang up on the west half of Lot 11, Concession 3. A brick school, located on the east half of the lot later replaced it. This second school became known as the Lower Perm School. Both schools formed one section until 1917 when they split into two separate sections. S.S. #8, the Upper Perm School retained its original section number whereas they renamed the Lower School as S.S. #21.

Political distribution was equally confusing. In 1867, the township had two polling stations. This proved to be insufficient and by 1874 the council passed a bylaw dividing the township into four sub-divisions. The bylaw also stated that nominations should take place in the Perm town hall, although by that time the hall was barely in use.

In 1876 the location of Polling Sub-Division No. 4 changed from SS No. 5 to the Orange Hall on the fifth line. It moved around several times; by 1879 they were holding it in the Anglican Church at Whitfield.

In 1869, there were already proposals in place to divide the county of Simcoe. That led to the establishment of the provisional county of Dufferin in 1875. Dufferin became an official county in 1880 with the township of Mulmur joining Dufferin in 1881. The polling sub-station moved over to Mansfield and finally, by about 1900, over to the Orange Hall at Perm where it remained for many years.

Other than a few institutions such as the church, schools and Orange Hall, very little of Perm survived into the 20th century. Perm was never large and its population averaged about 50 at best. The post office closed in 1915 following the arrival of rural mail delivery. The Bethel Church lasted until 1925 when it was demolished following church union. Remnants of the foundation still exist. Fire destroyed the old Upper Perm School, S.S. #8 in 1935. A new brick structure replaced it the following year.

Today all that remains of Perm is the cemetery, a memorial stone for the church, and the Lower Perm School, which is now a private home. The cemetery continues to be well maintained.