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Page 4 NORTH LEEDS LANTERN IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII FOCUS ON PHILIPSVILLE Massage: Philipsville today is a mere hamlet on Hwy.#42; but at one time it was a thriving and interesting community. James Philips, its founder was born in 1800. In 1823 he married Saloma Brown. By 1828 he had built the farm home now owned by Clarence Tackaberry. It was a good site for a home. The main road from one end of the county to the other ran past his home. Soon, he expected mail coaches would be travelling that road. It was in the midst of the best agricultural area in the county; and just south of his home a large creek could furnish power for mills. Soon a comm- unity grew up around his beginning and it was given the name of Philipsville in his honour. Mr. Philips built a store and tavern near his home. In the store, the merchandise consisted of dry goods, hardware and grocâ€" eries, and some articles not found in stores today - flints for starting fires, candle molds, and snuffers, pork barrels, kegs, tubs and potash kettles. These goods were given in exchange for butter eggs, tallow, lard, honey, maple sugar, vinegar and even corn, wheat and oats. The farmers had more of these than money at the time. In his tavern, travellers were served meals, provided with beds and their horses cared for. An old account book of 1828 shows that baitings were often provided for oxen. He also kept a good supply of stimulants and sold gin, rum, brandy, beer and whisky by the gill, pint, quart or gallon. The large lawn in front of his home was used each June by the young men of the district for military training for defense. Because of the many exciting contests enacted there, some wit dubbed this lawn "Bullys Acre". Other stores were built and business thrived. By 1880 Philipsville boasted of having the first cheese factory in Leeds, 3 general stores, a post office, 2 blacksmith shops, a harness shop, a cooperage, 2 cheese box factories, a potash kiln and just west of the village, a large brick kiln. Mr. w. Chase carried on this industry for years on the farm he pur- chased from a Mr. Grippen. Many fine homes in the area have been built of bricks from this kiln but after some years the depth of clay ran out and this industry ceased. Postal Service In the 1800's mail was de- livered to Philipsville by the stagecoach which passed through. Here it was sorted and mail for Harlem, Portland and Chantry was carried to these villages by horseback. Among the earliest buildings erected in the village was a residence and store built by Isaac Whaley. In 1861, George Brown purchased this property and opened the first_ post-office and telegraph office in Philipsville. After the B & w railway was built in 1888 mail was brought to Philipsville station by train and carried to the post office where it was sorted and Harlem and Chantry mail was delivered by carrier each day. Philipsville lost its postal service in 1970, after 117 years of continuous and rewarding service. This service ended in the same location where the first PostMaster was installed. Now our address is Elgin. Earl Industr It was in 1866 that Isaac Alguire built the first cheese factory in this part of Leeds. It was located just east of the village. For many years Mr. Alguire carried on the manu- facture of cheese buying the milk from the farmers and selling the cheese. This plan was later changed and the far- mers paid the manufacturer and sold their own cheeSe. It was a thriving business for we read in a clipping from a Recorder and Times of 1890, that in that season three carloads of cheese were shipped from here on the B & w railway each week. In 1892 the building was moved to a site on the main highway, but it was later destroyed by fire. In 1907 a fine brick factory was built but it too was des- troyed by fire in 1948. The cheese industry ended in Philipsville and farmers' milk was trucked to plants in Brockville and Gananoque. Another industry closely re- lated to the cheese industry was the manufacture of cheese boxes. Since a great deal of cheese was shipped to Britain these boxes had to be large and sturdy. The land around the creek below the Philips' home was the ideal site for a factory. A deed drawn in 1865 gives evidence of the sale of this prop- erty to Chester Haskin for the sum of seven hundred and fifty pounds â€" the equivalent of 85000. His son Reuben carried on the industry at this site for years employing a staff of men for at least seven months each year. He delivered boxes in large trucks to all parts of Leeds. With the end of the cheese industry, Phil- ipsville lost the cheeseâ€"box industry as well. In 1860, W. Ludbrook operated a cooperage in the village. Here he supplied the needs of the far- mers for kegs, barrels, tubs, churns, sap buckets and keelers. These were made of wooden staves held in place by wooden hoops. However, these wooden utensils were replaced by tin, steel and galvanized iron and Philipsville lost another industry. About this time Patrick Burns came from Perth. He built a fine brick home on the corner of Chantry road and on the concessions opp- osite he began the manufacture of potash. He set up a large kiln and hired men to collect hard- wood ashes from the community. From these he made potash which he shipped by the B & w railway to soap and fertilizer plants. But progress spoke again! Chemicals replaced potash and that industry ended. Farmers' Bank In 1908 an institution known as the Farmers‘ Bank opened a branch in the village. J.W. Halladay built a fine brick building for its operation but after a time the bank failed and closed and many people lost money. That building has now been remodelled into a home. Schools Neither education nor religion was neglected by the people of Philipsville. Before 1860 a small stone schoolâ€"house was built on the site occupied by the Leeds & Grenville County Road building today. One of the first teachers in this school was Thad Leavitt, who in 1879 wrote the first history of Leeds & Grenville. This school was demolished in 1872 and a frame school was built on the same site, "The Red School". But in 1911 a fine brick up-to-date school was built near the village. It served the community well but in 1966 the "Powers that 8e" closed this school and the Phil- ipsville students are bussed to Beverley Wlementary School in Delta. The Women's Institute has purchased and use the school building. Churches The Roman Catholic Church was the first to be built in Philipsville. It dates back to 186C. The land was donated by Patrick “owney and the stone for the building was quarried and drawn by volunteers. it first the church belonged to the Kitley Parish but in 1897 the Roman Catholic Church was built in ngin and since then the church has belonged to that Parish. The Baptist church building was erected in 1865, on land bought from Isaac Alguire. However, it was in 1805 that the Baptist congregation was formally organized in this area under the leadership of Abel Stevens. Services were held in the homes. On September 24, 1978, the Baptist Church celebrated its 175th birthday with a very impressive service. The church has been closed. The United Church was finished in 1874. It was originally called Episcopal Methodist Church. It was built on land donated by Delorme Philips, a son of James. A great deal of the work was done by volunteers labour and much of the material was donated. This church belonged to the Elgin circuit, but it too has been closed. Today Philipsville might resemble Goldsmith's "Deserted Village". It boasts today of one general store and a garage. There is no school, no post office, no industry of any kind 1 and two of its churches closed. 2 Progress has passed us by. However, the Leeds & Grenville Counties have erected a fine building, east of the village, . and employ at least five men for County road work.