Pearl and Edythe Gidley

This picture was taken during a Taman-Gidley family reunion. All of the people here have personal connections to Blyth, but in this article I want to draw special attention to two sisters: Pearl and Edythe Gidley. Pearl is the second person from the right, and Edythe is the fourth person from the left.

Although these ladies are no longer with us, a portion of their life stories have been depicted on the stage of the Blyth Festival this summer (2010). The title of the play is "Pearl Gidley". The playwright, Gary Kirkham, was intrigued by Pearl's story which we brought to his attention when he was visiting our Repository of Blyth History. Gary has been generous in expressing his thanks to us, but the creation of this marvelous drama is the product of his genius. The production has received rave reviews from many sources including the Globe and Mail and the Kitchener Record.


Without giving away the story, I will only say that it deals with a period of time when the two sisters shared a home in the village, and take in boarders for income. Pearl who had been an accomplished pianist, has stopped playing some years before as the result of a traumatic event in her life. Edythe has given up some of her personal plans in order to look after Pearl.


The above picture is only one item of many that have come to us from relatives of the Gidleys. We have been in touch with William Emigh of Victoria BC for several years, a close relative of theirs. He is intensely interested in Blyth even though he has never lived here, but because his ancestors and relatives lived here, loved the place, and contributed much to the development and well-being of the community, Blyth holds a special place in his heart.


We asked Bill, on behalf of the playwright, for permission to use Pearl's actual name in the play. His response was that "Pearl would be deeply offended if her real name were NOT used!"

That response is very significant. It is part of a complex web of intersecting events, people, places, pictures, and surprising coincidences.

Some time ago, Bill told us about a portrait of John Taman, a Blyth pioneer and Pearl Gidley's grandfather. The portrait was in possession of Peter Fleck who, like Bill, was a descendant of John Taman. It was hanging in Peter's beautiful Jackson's Falls B&B in Prince Edward County, which was up for sale.

Bill and Peter discussed at length what should happen to this historic picture. Bill suggested that since John Taman and his descendants were so involved in the life of Blyth, that it would be appropriate to return the picture to Blyth. He further suggested that it could join the many other family artifacts which he had already sent to Brock and Janis Vodden. Peter agreed completely.

Sadly, soon after Bill conveyed this message to us, Peter was killed in a car crash. His wife, Nancy, very graciously offered to send the picture, deliver it to us, meet us at Stratford, or invite us to Milford to accept it, whatever we preferred. We chose to go to Milford to meet Nancy and receive the generous gift.

Pearl's name comes up frequently in the early Blyth Standard papers. She is either being announced as successfully passing a music examination or as performing as accompanist for some musical event. As a child, she was a prodigy; as an adult, she was a very versatile musician. She played all types of music - classical and popular. We learned that she could pick up any piece of music that she had never seen before and play it as if she had studied it for hours. Her sight reading skills were phenomenal.

Pearl and Edythe's father was a tailor. His shop was in the north half of the building which now houses the administration office of the Blyth Festival. The stage where the Blyth Festival has been presenting the play with her name as title for the past month is the very stage where she had accompanied countless musical programs. Many of these concerts and cantatas were mounted in Blyth and in other communities to raise money to pay off the debt for Blyth Memorial Hall. Pearl would be surprise to know that she was supporting the venue that would tell her story - almost a century later.

Since word got out that this play was in development and then into actual production, we have had many new contacts with relatives of Pearl as well as people who remember her when she lived in Blyth and later when she was a resident of Huronview, a local Home for the Aged.

A rumour going around stated that Pearl lived to be 103. I am afraid that we made the quite unjustified error of believing this with out checking first. The inscription on Pearl's tombstone tells another story. Her years show 1889 - 1986, a span of 97 years.

Last evening we attended the final performance of "Pearl Gidley", the third time we saw this play. It was to me even more moving than the first time, possibly because it was the final performance and the end of another great season of the Blyth Festival.

The consensus of many theatre folks is that this play will be seen on many stages in the future. Although we adore it because of its "localness", it will endure because of its deep, universal themes. In the words from the play, "It's what we do!"

Brock Vodden

Richard Sellars: Blyth's Famous Poet

Visitors arriving at Blyth by the GTR passenger train between its first run in 1876 and 1911 were almost certain to be greeted by the stentorian voice of Richard Sellars offering local transportation for persons, luggage, or freight. Chances are also that the greeting would have been delivered in poetic meter and rhyming couplets.

Richard was a truly unique and memorable character.

Richard was hired by the Commercial Hotel (in 2010, known as the Blyth Inn) to drive their horse-drawn bus to transport their hotel guests to and from the Grand Trunk Railway station. He was also hired by the Canadian Express Company to handle incoming and outgoing freight items. He was known as a "drayman".

Sellars is, without a doubt, the most quoted Blyth character of all time. We can read reports of what other people talked about or what they wrote about, but we seldom come across verbatim quotations of the words that came from people's lips. How Richard said things was just as memorable as what he said.

The London Advertiser was a paper that operated for just a few years in the 1880s. A substantial article about Blyth's Richard Sellars appeared in their edition of December 8, 1882. I will quote the complete article below:

"Blyth Babblings"

The Blyth Poet

The thriving village of Blyth boasts among its fifteen hundred inhabitants of a real live poet, Mr. Richard Sellars, town carter. He has now over fifty hymns, yielding an average of six verses each, which he intends ere long to publish in pamphlet form. The hymn book opens with the following verse:

Lord, visit this habitation.

Now to this house bring salvation.

Thous knowest it is just what they need,

For these poor souls did Jesus bleed.

His description of the Phillipian jailer is considered by some a fine effort:

When Paul and Silas went to preach

The word of God at Phillipi

So that they their hearts might reach.

The power was given from on high.

"'What must I do,'' the jailer cried,

Who kept the jail and held the key.

''My guilt is such I cannot hide,

Can Jesus save a wretch like me? "

Mr. Sellars is happy as the day is long. Everywhere he goes in an out among commercial men, wheat buyers, reeves, councilmen, he has a complete and sometimes a whole verse ready for every case. He rarely greets an old acquaintance in prose, as he has any amount of poetry at his command. A few evenings ago, seeing a London gentleman coming off the train, he sang out:

"Good day, Mr. Case;

You've got back to this place."

One day he forbade a pugilistic encounter on the platform by remarking:

There's no use wanting to fight, sir,

For Pat Kelly is king of Blyth, sir.

Wishing to purchase some chicken feed for his poultry on the road from the station, he hailed one of the wheat buyers:

Hello! Mr. McMillan,

How much wheat for a shillin' ?

An old friend at the station, departing for the North-west, he addressed with tears in his eyes as follows:

You're going to Manitoba

That cold but happy land,

For the hardships of Canada

You can no longer stand.

One day an old lady stepped on a piece of orange peel outside Southcott's tailoring shop, and rested suddenly on the sidewalk, which gave the poet an opportunity to getting out the following:

There was an old lady of Blyth,

Who slipped and fell on her side.

"This vile orange peel

My fate will yet seal"

Said this heavy old lady of Blyth.

from the London Advertiser December 8, 1882

from the Repository of Blyth History - Janis & Brock Vodden

Another account of Richard Sellars fame

In 1900, a former Blythite, J.S. McKinnon, wrote about his childhood memories of Blyth. He included the following references to Richard Sellars:

At one time the transportation of passengers and freight between the village and the station was the vested right of Richard Sellars, and for years, Sellars, as he was familiarly called, was one of the best known citizens and characters in the community.

As well as being Bussman and Drayman, he was known as "The Blyth Poet". Four times each day the most familiar sound on Queen Street was Richard Sellars calling out "All aboard for the train going north - Wingham, Lucknow, Kincardine" or "All aboard for the train going south - Clinton, Exeter, and London". Richard could make a rhyme about anything at any time or place, and as a passenger would be stepping into his bus, he would say something like the following:

"It will cost you a dime

And the train is on time."

When a train would be coming from Londesborough and it would whistle at the boundary [Blyth Road in 2010], and the passengers would be getting ready to take the train - Sellars would say

"The train is coming 'round the bend

To take you to your journey's end."

Richard Sellars and his horse, Old Kate, were certainly conspicuous figures on the streets of Blyth in horse and buggy days.

Taken from Blyth: A Village Portrait, Susan Street editor, pp 57-58

About Richard's Life

Richard Sellars was born in Yorkshire, England May 17, 1855 to Richard and Maria Sellars. The family emigrated to the United States in 1860, but his parents both died of a fever shortly after their arrival, leaving Richard as a five year old orphan. He was taken in by an uncle who was living in Cedar Rapids, Pennsylvania.

On the very day that Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States, November 6, 1860, Richard and his uncle entered Canada from Detroit, Michigan and travelled directly to Exeter, Ontario. Richard grew to manhood in this new home. As a young man, he moved to Blyth and took up his career as drayman and bus driver. We believe that he was employed by the hotelier, William Hawkshaw, who owned the Commercial Hotel around this time. Hawkshaw had lived in Exeter. We assume that he and Richard knew each other prior to Richard's move to Blyth.

On May 4, 1876 Richard married Christiana (Christine) Coulter, 18, also of Blyth. She was daughter of William and Mary Jane Coulter who had retired to Blyth from Morris Township. The young couple were married in Mitchell in the Bible Christian manse by William Hopper. (Marriage registration #008909). We have no explanation as to why they went to Mitchell for this occasion.

Richard is registered in the Blyth assessment rolls as owning three lots in the McCaughey Survey (Plan 170) Block D, lots 7, 8, and 9. These lots are located at the south west corner of Dinsley Street and Morris Street. Lots 7 and 8 face onto Dinsley and lot 9 faces onto Morris Street.

Richard wrote a few lines about a John Carter for the Huron Expositor of Seaforth on February 14, 1879 saying "He bade good bye to his friends and his debts a few months ago, and went to live with Uncle Sam". Not poetic, but well put.

In the 1901 census, the Sellars household was made up of Richard, 51years and his wife, Christine, 40, and four sons Wesley, David, Russell, and Whitfield. As well, Christine's mother, Mary Jane Coulter was living with them.

Richard died at his home August 27, 1911, only 56 years of age. The probable cause was given in the death registry as apoplexy (stroke). The death was registered by his son, Whitfield.

The following obituary was found in the Blyth News section of The Huron Expositor for September 1, 1911:

One of the old residents of this town passed away on Sunday, in the person of Richard Sellars, the well-known drayman and poet. He has been at that business ever since the Grand Trunk Railway came through here. He will be greatly missed by all. The funeral took place on Tuesday afternoon and was largely attended. He leaves a widow and five sons. The boys have all scattered, but three of them were at the funeral, Albert, and Russell from the States, and Whitfield and wife from Toronto, They have the sympathy of the whole community in their sad bereavement. It will be hard to get another man who will be so obliging and careful to fill his place.

In a later blog article, I will share with you a complete poem of 50 verses which Richard wrote about the Donnelly affair - a contemporary piece of great interest!

Special Request

If you happen to have any poetry by Richard, or if you have a photograph of him, or any related memorabilia we would love to add a copy or the real thing to our collection. You can respond to this blog.

Other Blyth Characters

A few years ago, some of us old timers were reminiscing about the odd, colourful,and memorable characters we knew when we were younger. I raised the question of why we don't have any such people around the village any more. Doug Whitmore responded with another question: "Brock, have you looked in a mirror lately?"


Brock Vodden
August 28, 2010

Blyth circa 1910

CULTURE DAYS IN ONTARIO

September 24 -25 - 26, 2010

These are CULTURE DAYS throughout Ontario.

Individuals and groups across the province are inviting everyone to see, enjoy, celebrate, admire the products of their works, talent, creativity, humour, expression, whatever they do.

Huron County has organized many activities and diversions under the newly minted term, "Communitrees". All across the county! Everyone is invited to walk around, bike around, or drive around to see the huge array of interesting offerings.

A basic rule is that all of these events and activities must be FREE OF CHARGE!!!!!

To get more detailed information about Culture Days, Google "Culture Days Ontario" and you'll get many informative hits.

Janis and I will have our own little contribution to this celebration on that weekend.

We can't invite crowds to our two bedroom walk up apartment and we don't have access to a spacious lawn or garden.

So we are inviting people to make a virtual visit to us. Mainly it's an invitation for people who have questions about Blyth ancestors or acquaintances, and who have some burning interest in Blyth's history. We invite people to take advantage of these three days to send us questions about Aunt Martha, or the funeral of great grandfather Scott, or who built the Blyth Inn, or what was the first church built in Blyth, or any other questions.

How to reach us: Look us up on the Culture Days Ontario web site. To find us, just type in our postal code in a box placed on the site to enable you to find all the events taking place within that postal district. Our code is N0M 1H0. So far we are the only event within this postal code, but many other nearby events will come up as well.

You will be able to phone in your request, email us, or write us a letter. We will make a limited number of appointments for site visits for those who need extensive access to the information.

We have no idea how many people will call or what kinds of information they will be seeking. We might be flooded with calls and our mail boxes may be overflowing. Or we might have a very lonely boring three days, staring at the phone.

We may be able to reply immediately to your query, or we may need to do some digging and get back to you ASAP. For most calls we will have a simple form on which we will record your question, and your contact information. In some cases a response will come almost immediately; in other cases, it might take a few days to find your answers. We may also need to start a dialogue with you to track down elusive information.

Why are we doing this?

In part it is shameless self-promotion. We have this marvelous collection. Most people who come to us or consult us by phone or email or in person are amazed at the extent and depth of our collected information. In a few cases people have said "You know more about my family than I do!"

We are in touch with people almost every day of the year. Often we have people come here and spend several hours poring through our binders or reference cards. Some come here often.

We want this collection to be as available to as many people as possible. We hope that by tapping into the marvelous promotion created for Culture Days that our efforts may be accessible to hundreds of people who would otherwise never know about this resource.

If you know of anyone whose ancestors came from Blyth, let them know about this event.

The Repository of Blyth History

Brock Vodden

Blyth Participates in Culture Days

I thought about inviting everyone in Ontario to our home during the week-end of September 24 to 25, 2010. Then it suddenly hit me that our three and a half room apartment might be crowded even if we had a small uptake to our offer.

So, during Culture Days we are inviting virtual visits to our place - a time for all those thousands of people out there whose ancestors lived in Blyth, passed through Blyth, thought about living in Blyth, or wished they could live in Blyth to call us, write us a letter, or send us an email, asking us anything about Blyth that they always wanted to know.

Jan and I were both born and raised in Blyth, and Jan's family came to this area when it was just beginning to be settled. My parents came here in the early 1930s. Thus we have many connections with Blyth families and our memories are reasonably good. But more important than that we have resources that astound most of our visitors. We also have trouble believing the extent of our collection. Quite a few visitors have exclaimed that "you have more information about my family than I have".

It's an innocent little hobby that got completely out-of-hand. We are always months behind in our filing and indexing new information that keeps rolling in. The satisfaction we get from being able to provide family researchers with great leads, copies of documents, actual contemporary newspaper clippings, and interesting anecdotes about great uncles and grgr grandmothers, makes it all worthwhile.

We don't know whether we will get any takers in September or whether we will be swamped with calls for three solid days. At least we have this opportunity to spread the word about this collection of history that is of absolutely no interest to most Canadians, but it is of huge interest to a surprising number of very special people with Blyth connmections.