John Frothingham

 

John Frothingham (June 1788 – 22 May 1870) was a Canadian merchant. He established British North America's largest wholesale hardware house, Frothingham & Workman. He was President of the City Bank of Montreal from 1834 to 1849, and a generous contributor to Queen's University, McGill University and Montreal's Protestant schools. The house he purchased in the 1830s, Piedmont (demolished in 1939), was one of the early estates of the Golden Square Mile. In 1890, its ten acres of grounds were purchased for $86,000 by Lords Strathcona and Mount Stephen, on which they built the Royal Victoria Hospital.

In 1788, Frothingham was born at Portland, Maine. He was the son of The Hon. John Frothingham (1749-1826), a graduate of Harvard University who became a Judge of the Superior Court of Massachusetts and kept a summer house at Portland. His mother, Martha (1763-1834), was the daughter of Samuel May (1723–1794), a prominent merchant of Roxbury, Massachusetts. He was a first cousin of Samuel Joseph May.

 

From an early age, John was employed in his uncle's, Samuel May's, hardware firm in Boston. In 1809, he was sent to Montreal to open a branch there. Following the War of 1812, Americans tended to be discriminated against both socially and in business, and he suffered a few early setbacks. However, Frothingham re-established himself by setting up his own hardware business in partnership with his younger brother, Joseph May Frothingham, who died in 1832.

In 1836, Frothingham went into partnership with William Workman, and their firm became the largest hardware and iron wholesale house in British North America. By 1853, Frothingham & Workman had moved to larger premises and started to manufacture some of their own merchandise.

Frothingham promoted and invested in a wide variety of business interests that were being formed during the expansion of Montreal in the 1840s. Among others, these included, Montreal Board of Trade, the St Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad, the Montreal Stock Exchange and the Canada Inland Steam Navigation Company. He was also associated with the British and Canadian School of Montreal and the Montreal Horticultural Society.

His principal business interest outside of his hardware firm was the City Bank of Montreal. Founded in 1831, it was the only bank since 1817 to have successfully broken the financial monopoly held by the Bank of Montreal. The initial capital had been supplied by investors from New York and Frothingham was associated with the bank from its origins, along with several other prominent Montrealers, who in opposition to the Scots-Quebecers were almost all English Canadian, French Canadian or American. Frothingham held a substantial quantity of the bank’s stock and he was a director of the bank for about sixteen years, before serving as the bank's President from 1834 to 1849. He resigned in 1849 after the bank sustained heavy losses and was succeeded by his close friend and business partner, William Workman. Frothingham took no interest in politics.

 

In the early 1830s, Frothingham had purchased Piedmont House from Louis-Charles Foucher, one of the early estates of the Golden Square Mile. The house stood among orchards and formal gardens and was approached by a long tree-lined drive. He purchased the house in the hope that the country air would cure his ailing wife. When Parliament met during the winter at Montreal, Piedmont had been used as the Governor Generals residence. The house was situated on the McGill University and was demolished in 1939.

Having retired from business in 1859, Frothingham lived quietly at Piedmont. Frothingham was a Presbyterian and a generous contributor to Queen's University, McGill University and Montreal's Protestant schools. His papers and diaries are kept at the University of Toronto.

 

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The Past Whispers
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Montreal Southern Counties Railway line: Canada‘s first commuter electric trolley line

 

Prior to the construction of bridges to the South Shore, it was difficult, and at times, impossible to cross the St. Lawrence. During the summer, people had to travel by boat. One would cross over to Longueuil often by passenger Shull rowing boats. From there, one could board passenger trains to the United States or take stagecoaches to other locations. The same would be true for the shipping of trade goods on and off the island of Montreal. During the winter months ...travelers and goods would wait until the river froze over before crossing on well marked paths across the ice. Those who wondered off these paths risked plugging through thin ice and a cold death.

 

The South Shore of pre-Victoria Bridge had few inhabitants who mostly lived in small villages along the river. Opened in 1859, the 1.9 mile long Great Victoria bridge was the first to span the St Lawrence River, and was first used only for train traffic.

Passenger lanes opened following renovations in 1897 and were rededicated as the Victoria Jubilee Bridge. This would easier access route change both the industrial and social migration direction as the South Shore became the first off-island suburbs
Montreal residents often escaped the summer heat by taking a day trip to the countryside, or owning a weekend cottage, on the South Shore of the river. When land on the island of Montreal began to get more expensive and further away, developers started looking off the island for cheap farmland and building a tramway link into the industrial heart of the city. With Montreal's industrial heart now based along the Lachine Canal and the Glenn Yards, it was an easy leap for workers to begin looking to move to the South Shore.

South Shore tramway development began with the newly formed Montreal Southern Counties Railway line. MSCR was Canada‘s first commuter electric trolley line would allow easy access into the city for work, and a means of returning home to the calm and cleaner air of the country in the evening.

 

A little train line that would open up the South Shore
Owned by then Grand Trunk Railway and later the Canadian National Railway, Construction of the M&SC began in 1906 with completed sections being opened for regular passenger service as follows: between Montreal and St-Lambert commencing on November 1, 1909; extending to Montreal South (Longueuil) on May 30, 1910; Greenfield Park and MacKayville on November 1, 1912; Richelieu on June 28, 1913; Marieville on September 28, 1913; St. Cesaire on May 3, 1914; By 1916, the M&SCR would be able to take passengers as far as Chambly and later reach into Granby.

The tramway would run from D'Youville Square at the bottom of McGill College Street in Old Montreal across the Victoria Bridge over into Saint-Lambert. From the switching station in Saint Lambert, one could board a trolley train to either Montreal South or get a connection to as far away as Granby.

The early residents were first generation Canadians often from Great Britain who had located in Pointe-St. Charles to work in the Glenn rail yards or in the many factories and plants that lined the Lachine Canal. Many were higher paid trades’ people who had learned they could purchase cheap land in the countryside far away from the smoky industries of "the Point" and still be able to commute to their jobs in less then an hour. The South Shore with its promise of home ownership became an attractive destination.
The better off folk took root in the towns of Saint-Lambert and Montreal South which were closest to the city. Further down the rail line, Greenfield Park and MacKay Ville became home to the trades- people who were mostly British immigrants from the Midlands. They brought with them their passion for gardening. By the 1930s, a majority of the population of the communities of Saint-Lambert, Montreal South, Greenfield Park, MacKay Ville, Croydon, East Greenfield, Brookline and Pinehurst were English-speaking.

 

During the warm summer afternoon Montreal day trippers would take the MSCR out to spend the afternoon playing baseball in the fields , swimming in the creaks that surrounded Saint Hubert and in those days the GREENFIELDS of Greenfield Park.

The typical trolley cars used by the M&SCR during its fifty-year run were purchased second -hand (even third) and were already well past their prime… Early passengers had few comforts, however later trains featured toilets and the every so often working heaters for those winter commutes. M&SCR – was nicked named the Montreal & Suffering Counties Railway ...

However despite their discomfort the MSCR would serve as the main public transit system for almost fifty years ... With trains serving as the centre point for a dozen small communities. By the 1950’s with more private cars and better access to the Jacque Cartier and Victoria bridges passage use was dropping off. By 1955 CNR who now owned the Victoria Bridge announced plans for improved two way lanes for automobiles and would no longer allow the MSCR to use the tracks along the Bridge .. This was the final nail in the coffin for the little train line that brought so much to Montreal’s South Shore. So on October 10,1956 the Montreal and Southern Counties trolley line would have its last run.

 

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The Past Whispers
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William Notman 1826 - 1891

Notman was born in Paisley, Scotland, in 1826, and moved to Montreal in the summer of 1856. An amateur photographer, he quickly established a flourishing professional photography studio on Bleury Street, a location close to Montreal’s central commercial district.



His first important commission was the documentation of the construction of the Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence River. The Bridge opened with great fanfare in 1860, attended by the Prince of Wales and Notman's camera. The gift to the Prince of a Maple Box containing Notman's photographs of the construction of the bridge and scenes of Canada East and Canada West so pleased Queen Victoria that, according to family tradition, she named him "Photographer to the Queen."

The first Canadian photographer with an international reputation, Notman's status and business grew over the next three decades. He established branches throughout Canada and the United States, including seasonal branches at Yale and Harvard universities to cater to the student trade. Notman was also an active member of the Montreal artistic community, opening his studio for exhibitions by local painters; the studio also provided training for aspiring photographers and painters. Notman was highly regarded by his colleagues for his innovative photography, and held patents for some of the techniques he developed to recreate winter within the studio walls. He won medals at exhibitions in Montreal, London, Paris, and Australia.

Photography during the mid-19th century was not the simple process it later became. The typical tourist generally did not carry a camera and much of the Notman studio's images were taken with the tourist's needs in mind. Visitors would look through Notman's picture books and chose views, to buy individually mounted or perhaps made up into an album, and have a portrait taken as well. Street scenes in the burgeoning cities of Canada, the magnificence of modern transportation by rail and steam, expansive landscapes and the natural wonders, were all in demand either as 8" x 10" print, or in the popular stereographic form, and were duly recorded by the many staff photographers working for the Notman studio.

At William Notman's death, his eldest son and partner, William McFarlane Notman, inherited the company. When he died of cancer in 1913, his younger brother Charles assumed responsibility. In 1935 Charles retired and sold the studio to the Associated Screen News, and in 1957 the Notman Collection was purchased by McGill University. The 200,000 negatives, 43 Index Books, 200 Picture Books and assorted memorabilia were transferred to the McCord Museum of Canadian History. Notman's collection can be viewed here.




His residence from 1876 until his death, Notman House in Montreal was added to the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec historic registry on December 8, 1979.

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The Ghost of Mary Gallagher

 

Mary Gallagher was murdered on June 27, 1879 by her friend and fellow prostitute Susan Kennedy. In the years that followed the heinous murder, stories of Mary Gallagher’s ghost began to circulate around Griffintown, Quebec.  By the end of the 19th Century Mary had become something of a local legend.

The story of Mary Gallagher’s ghost began when Mary and Susan Kennedy went out for a night of drinking. While at a tavern the drunken Mary picked up a young man named Michael Flanagan.  The three left the tavern and went to Kennedy’s home where the drinking continued for hours.  At some point in time, before midnight, the young Flanagan passed out.  Then at about 12:15 AM the neighbor that lived below Kennedy said she heard loud sounds coming from above which lasted several minutes.  She would describe the noise as “chopping sounds.”  As it turned out the description was horribly accurate.

Not much if anything is known about what was going on between Mary and Susan.  The two were known to be good friends and often seen in each others company.  One idea is that over time, Susan became jealous of Mary because of Her apparent ease in picking up men as well as the money she made from prostitution.  Whatever the reason or cause was, something sent Susan Kennedy into a homicidal rage and she murdered Mary by chopping off her head.  Susan Kennedy as well as the passed out Flanagan, were both charged with the Gallagher killing.  As police continued to investigate the case however, all charges against Michael Flanagan were dropped and Kennedy faced the murder charge alone.

Kennedy was found guilty of the killing on December 5, 1879, and sentenced to be hanged. Following a re-sentencing, Susan Kennedy was sent to prison where she served 16 years for her crime before being released.  Interestingly, on the same day that Kennedy was convicted of murder, Michael Flanagan fell while working and drown in Wellington Basin.

By the turn of the century the headless ghost of Mary Gallagher had been seen several times.  Soon the legend began to develop that Mary appeared every seven years, on the anniversary of her death, near the old police station where Susan Kennedy and Michael Flanagan were taken following their arrests.  The location of Mary’s appearance may have to do with the fact that the location of the murder, 242 William Street, was demolished when the area was re-zoned and developed.

If your thinking about a trip the see the Ghost of Mary Gallagher it may be too late.  After making her once every seven years appearance many times, reports of Mary’s ghost stopped after 1928. Perhaps Mary’s headless ghost is gone for good, but if you’re in the area and want to take a look for yourself, Mary’s next scheduled visit is June 27, 2019.

courtesy – True Tales of the Unexpected

 

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The Past Whispers
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Montreal a city of ghosts

 

To the government, his name is Robert Wagenaar, but hundreds of thousands of Montrealers know him as Tootall — one of the best-loved and longest-serving disc jockeys in the city. He works today, as he did in the late 1970s, at rock station CHOM-FM.

“In 1972,” he says, “CHOM moved from an office building at 1310 Greene Ave. across the street to a three-storey house at 1355 Greene. The former owner of the house had committed suicide in the third-floor back bedroom. This room became the CHOM music library. I’m not sure if a lot of people at the time were aware of the suicide, but strange incidents started to happen in the house, and people started talking about the CHOM ghost.”

Montreal actor Vlasta Vrana was a student when he boarded in a third-floor room of the Westmount house a few months before the owner shot himself. The man was, Vrana says, “going through a disastrous divorce. I was there when bailiffs arrived to take his TV. He became an alcoholic, and on the day he shot off his head, his ex-wife claimed he’d been looking for her with a shotgun.”

Years later, Tootall heard reports of objects that moved in the studio, of an apparition on the stairs. Even if a spirit was crying for leaving, this was no stairway to heaven. From time to time, people in the building would find themselves in a place where the temperature seemed suddenly lower.

“I recall meeting up with an announcer who had just finished the overnight show,” Tootall says. “He was seriously pale and shaken by the strange events that had happened on his shift. I believe water taps were being turned on and off, and his coffee cup kept mysteriously emptying. I myself witnessed, a few times, my turntable’s tone arm skipping merrily over an album, back and forth.”

In 1978, CHOM’s office manager hired a psychic. Eventually “pictures of Jesus were hung in the building and we were asked not to go into the library on a certain night.” An exorcism took place with the station’s eccentric owner at the time, Geoff Stirling, in attendance. A few years later, when the station moved back to its former home down the street, staff members held a Ghostbusters party to say goodbye.

“At 1310 Greene, we had a camera on the roof,” Tootall says. “It was controlled from the studio. And on a Saturday night in the 1980s, as I was zooming the camera around town, I looked down Greene and I saw the old house on fire. I watched it burn. The roof was already gone and I could actually see the inside of the former library in flames.

“Maybe that was the end of the ghost.” Or else, over time, it had become comfortably numb.

courtesy – Montreal Gazette

 

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©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
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Rue Rufus Rockhead

Rockhead’s Paradise was founded in 1928 at Mountain and St. Antoine Streets by Rufus Rockhead. Rockhead was a former railway porter from Jamaica who was able to draw the biggest jazz and blues names in the business during Montreal’s Sin City heyday from the 1930s to ’50s.



Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Leadbelly, Nina Simone, Fats Waller, Dizzy Gillespie and Sammy Davis Jr., among countless others, were drawn to the hot spot. While the aforementioned legends played upstairs at Rockhead’s Paradise, Rufus Rockhead and, later, his son Kenny gave then largely unknown local talent like the late Oscar Peterson, Charlie Biddle, Nelson Symonds, Andy Shorter and his dad, Andy Shorter Sr., as well as Jones, Georgette, Mason, Parris and Villeneuve their big breaks downstairs.
Some of these players would later form the Paradise Band, which became the house ensemble at Rockhead’s. In 1980, it was sold and then shortly thereafter was demolished. In the 1990's, this street was named after him in his honor.

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The Past Whispers
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John-Pierre Roy

 

Jean-Pierre Roy (June 26, 1920 – November 1, 2014) was a Canadian pitcher in Major League Baseball. He pitched in three games during the 1946 season for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was born in Montreal, Quebec.

While with the minor league Montreal Royals, Roy played with Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in the major leagues. Roy retained a friendship with Robinson's widow, Rachel Robinson.

The major highlight of his Montreal years was going 25-11 with a 3.72 ERA in the 1945 season and he compiled an overall 45-28 career record pitching with the Royals.

Roy was later a television commentator for the Montreal Expos from 1968 to 1984 and a public relations representative for the Expos.

He was inducted into the Montreal Expos Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001.

He died on November 1, 2014 at his Pompano Beach, Florida winter home in the United States, at the age of 94.

 

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©2016 Linda Sullivan-Simpson
The Past Whispers
All Rights Reserved