Low Down Articles
Echoes from the Past
Article 3 of 111
This article first appeared in the "Echoes from the Past" column of the The Low Down to Hull and Back News.
Reprinted with permission. Search complete list of Low Down Articles.
o o o
A Lucky Fluke
In 1984 I was asked to write the 100 year old history of the Post Office at Old Chelsea. It was quite a challenge which I thought could be taken up by somebody better equipped to handle it. There being no takers for the task, it fell to me.
Where does one start, and how? How about others who had done some writing about Old Chelsea - Ed and Lid Ryan and Heather Quipp. Each had written notes and articles. Then, the Canada Post Corporation would have official records.
Tapping these sources, a mass of information built up. All that was required was to tell the story of the Old Chelsea postal service. The task was completed by the Canada Post Corporation taking responsibility for its publication.
As far as I recall it was Heather Quipp who had made a notation that it was believed that Thomas Brigham Prentiss (nephew of Thomas Brigham - son-in-law of Philemon) had run the earliest general store in the building known in 1994 as the Parkway General Store. Here is a list of owner/operators:
John Sweeney 1926-1927
The Donovans 1943-1948
Gerry Murphy 1948-1967
Donat Fisey 1967-1973
Luella Donovan 1973-1974
June Dompierre 1974-1986
Note: The blank between 1927 and 1943 indicates the postal service was moved elsewhere.
A document recently came into my hands which tends to confirm Heather Quipp's notation. This statement on an insurance policy of the Ottawa agent for the Aetna Insurance Co., No. 5374. It was for fire insurance of $100 for which a $2.00 fee was levied "on a wooden building occupied by two tenants as dwellings only, situate in the Village of Old Chelsea on the north side of the road, formerly owned by T.B. Prentiss, Esq." (the lucky fluke). The policy was addressed to John McSweeney Esq. It was dated 11 Feb. 1984.
You will note that the receiver of the policy was John McSweeney and that the name of the store owner was Sweeney. This is explained in other documents that one of the spellings was used as an alias. Further confirmation may be found in the nearby St. Stephen's Cemetery where two adjacent memorials indicate this.
Incidentally, The Historical Society of The Gatineau has in its possession the piano and grandfather clock of Thomas Brigham Prentiss which he brought with him, along with the name Chelsea (his old home in Vermont) when he came to settle in the area now known as Old Chelsea.
In time his store business was moved to a new building constructed in the newer part of Chelsea. It was building to house both the store and the family's dwelling place. Today it's called The Prentiss Homestead.