THE ARKELL  STORE 

 

Sometime after 1840  David Darby erected a building intended for a hotel at Arkell, but when he could not get a license to operate it, the building was used as a store.  In December 1857, Mrs. Halley and her son, from Ponsonby, were the proprietors This store became a residence which was still in existence in 1966, one lot away from the “Arkell General Store” which was built beside it.   

Henry Willoughby built the new store on rear concession  9, part of lot 7, in the village.. The general store always accommodated the Post Office, which was originally secured for them by David Stirton, their M.P.  A Public meeting, held in the school, chose the name “Arkell” for the new office, granted in May, 1863, and Willoughby was the first post master. He was also storekeeper from about 1862-1870, when his business was abandoned because, it was said, he was too lenient with credit. H. Willoughby resigned from the post office early in 1866, and John Coleman him followed, until he left the community in August 1867.  In 1864, Mr. & Mrs. William Watson , who had emigrated to Eden Mills from Aberdeenshire in 1856, came to Arkell, and took over the store and post office in February 1868.

During this horse and buggy era, the mail was delivered from Guelph to Arkell and Eden Mills by a carrier with horse and buggy. William Woods of Guelph drove the mail for many years.

 Until 1929, with the exception of a few years when it was leased, a member of the Watson family held both positions in Arkell -  Mr. & Mrs. George Watson, 1875-1912  and Barnett Watson, off and on, until his death in 1929.  Mr. and Mrs. Lindsay Gordon served during World War I, and  Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hume filled in between Barnett Watson’s last two appointments 1925-1928. Mr. and Mrs. George Crawford, 1930-1933;  Mr. and Mrs. William Whyte, 1933-1936 and 1939-1940;  Mr. and Mrs. Burt Coulson, 1936-37;  Mr. and Mrs. Charles Whyte, 1942 1944;  Mr. and Mrs. Albert Coulson, 1944-1952;  and Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Coulson 1952-1982; Mrs. Lucy Murray, 1982; Jack Chung was the last postmaster when it closed in December 1986.  The storekeeper and family have always lived n the addition to the business quarters. 

Arkell General Store, like others, was a meeting place, especially so when the men gathered in the evening to visit and chat, while seated on chairs, or on the side pine counter, or on old barrels and nail kegs.  Here, the art of conversation progressed, stories were told and problems pondered over. The coal and wood stove, with the mica window, radiated warmth, making the  men folk content to talk on and on, until the storekeeper called, “Time to go, time to go” and proceed to gather up the coal oil lamps from the wooden counters, from the walls and the lantern from the stoop. Then to draw the shutters, and, in later years, the blinds, until another day dawned. 

The “stoop” or verandah, was often occupied by men and boys on summer evenings.  Since each farm had one or two hired men, there were additional men in the community.  The stoop offered no comfort.  Just a plain hard board floor, with not even a hint of a back rest, caused the legs to dangle to the ground. Eventually, the stoop could not accommodate more men, so the overflow moved to the village green, an island of grass, in the centre of the four village cross roads. The constant use of the roads by horse and buggy outlined the island, which continued to exist until the advent of motor cars. Their raucous chorus of songs such as “I am a Wild Cowboy” or “She was Always Chewing Gum” often kept the village awake.

In the 1800's, whisky was plentiful and was sold in gallon crocks in the Arkell store, with the reminder to the customer, that partaking of whisky on the store premises was forbidden. A customer disregarding the rule and looking for a cup, picked up a child’s shoe which was for sale, and poured in his drink!

After school hours the numerous, noisy, troublesome children bothered the storekeeper;  to remedy the situation the carriage whips for sale were placed on a loop close to the door so that the keeper frightened the children with a good crack of the whip.  Although never allowed into the store, the children did perform a useful function. If they called after school, the postmaster would call out their names and send the weekly papers, such as the Guelph Mercury or Guelph Herald, the Montreal Witness and Farmer’s Sun, were sent home to their parents and neighbors.

Many customers traveled a distance to the store by foot horseback, horse and buggy, sleigh, cutters and team and wagon to get to it. As a result, hitching posts were deemed a necessity. Two wooden posts were located at convenient spots, one at the front, and one at the side of the store. A rope, a ring and a snap secured the horse to the hitching post.  There was even a choice of steps to the stoop, from the side, and front of the store, and close to the hitching posts. 

About 1915, when cars were becoming the vogue in Arkell, a gas pump was installed by the storekeeper on the corner of the Arkell road, quite close to the store. It was operated by a hand crank, with one gallon of fas to each turn. An Anglican minister damaged the pump with his car, because, excited, he backed up, took another try at the pump, and completely demolished it. The first telephone in the community was installed in the store and was a great convenience for all.

Many items of merchandise were displayed on shelves, counters and in glass cases. Added to the necessities of tea, spices which were kept in individual small drawers, flour, blackstrap, rice, raisins, and dried cod fish, were the bolts of cloth, cotton worsted, printed goods, overall material and thread. Such brands of soap as Comfort, Wonder and Surprise, coal oil, grease, hardware, farm tools, turnip, mangle and garden seeds, school supplies, stove pipes, brooms, window glass, putty, boot black, straw hats, shoes, rubber boots, rubbers, work and dress gloves, paint, wire, barrels of salt, bags of salt for land use, and a good supply of patent medicines.  Shoes were a popular item.