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Drink, Temperance, and Thrift
"It is of no avail to preach temperance and teetotalism to these people. The drink habit may be the cause of many miseries; but it in turn, the effect of other and prior miseries. The temperance advocates may preach their hearts out over the evil of drink, but until the evils that cause people to drink are abolished, drink and its evils will remain."
from Chapter 26, The People of the Abyss by Jack London, (MacMillan, 1903). The entire book my be read via the web site at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/writings/People of the Abyss/
The Sons of Temperance Hall stood on the main street in Kettleby from the 1850's until 1968, when it was relocated to Pioneer Village in Toronto.
History of Temperance
It is reported that the first temperance societies were organized in New York and Massachusetts, USA. Individuals who were concerned with the adverse effects of alcohol, formed "Temperance Societies" in order to promote the temperance lifestyle. It is not surprising that members came from the more conservative and evangelical church denominations.
Leading up to the Prohibition Act in the USA, were active societies that were against alcohol in any form, often picketing and rallying outside saloons. Music was written, parades were held, and finally, Prohibition Acts were passed in many States. While Canada never became a "dry" country, the Sons of Temperance societies flourished here as well. They had much fodder, as I remember being told that there were "more taverns between Kettleby and Newmarket, than houses!" It is understandable then, that a Sons of Temperance Hall was built in Kettleby, and that the Children of Peace, an off-shoot of the Quakers, formed a league of their own.
"No story of Kettleby would be complete without mention of the famous 'Sons of Temperance'. The organization dealt with many social problems and hardships resulting from excessive drinking. At this time the mills ran twenty-four hours a day, and the two taverns in the village did a booming business. In the face of this drunkenness and revelry, some of the residents began to think that life in the village was getting a little out of hand. In the 1850's the Total Abstinence Society succeeded in building a Temperance Hall. The Society which at one point in its history was 225 members strong (the largest membership in Ontario at the time), held 'bees' by which it erected the sturdy building....The Temperance Hall was used for practically all the meetings of the community, social, public, religious, and political, which could be conducted on a teetotal basis. It held its last meeting in 1938. The Hall was purchased about 1940 by the Women's Association of Kettleby United Church".
(from Elizabeth McClure Gillham's book, Early Settlements of King Township)
(from History of the Settlement of Upper Canada with special reference to The Bay Quinte, by Wm. Canniff, M.D., M.R.C.S.E., Dudley & Burns, Printers, Victoria Hall, Toronto, 1869). Total abstinence or teetotalism was unkown when Upper Canada was first settled. The first temperance society ever organized was at Moreau, Saratoga County, New York, in 1808.
One of the first temperance societies formed in Canada was in Adolphustown, on the 4th January, 1830. On this occasions the Rev. Job Deacon, of the Church of England, delivered an address, after which a respectable majority and three out of five magistrates present, adopted resolutions condemning the use of ardent spirits, and unitedly determining not to use or furnish drink for raisings, bees, and harvest work. At the same meeting a temperance society was formed and a constitution adopted under the title of "The Adolphustown Union Sabbath School Temperance Society." They pledged themselves not to use ardent spirits for one year.
The formation of the Sons of Temperance in Kettleby (provided by Jim Hunter, great-nephew of J.M.Walton; written by his mother in 1936.)
Sons of Temperance 1915--- 60th Anniversary
Front row: Lorne Bogart, Walter S. Bogart, Carl Proctor, Hattie Love, Bertha Carey, Elias Hilborn, Luke Gibbons, George Chappell, Harvey S. Watson, Alfred Hambleton, Leila Starr, Edgar Starr, J. M. Walton.
Second Row: Watson Elliott, Mrs. F.C. Walton, Jessie Davis, Mrs. M.A. Ramsden, Mrs. W.G. Proctor, Ethel Hambleton, Ena Bogart, Mrs. B.B. Terry, Mrs. Martha Hilborn, Mrs. Morley Proctor, Mrs. J.M. Walton, Mrs. Fred Skinner, Florence Hunter, Mrs. W.C. Bogart, Mrs. Addie Starr.
Third Row: J.O.McCarthy, Walter Hambleton, Jessie Elliott, Martha Jamieson, Walter Dunning, Mrs. Walter Dunning, Mabel Elliott, Agnes Seymour, B.B. Terry, Dolly Heacock, Rachel Borden, Gladys Bogart, Alma Magill.
Top Row: W.G. Proctor, Elmer Terry, Mrs. Charles Rowntree, Mabel Chappell, Artemas Hambleton, Morley Proctor, Frances Clunas, Mary Walton, Wm. Ramsden, Mamie Love, Wm. Hilborn, Alberta Baker, John Lewis.
(identification courtesy of Jean Archibald Babcock)
from Chapter 26, The People of the Abyss by Jack London, (MacMillan, 1903).
The entire book my be read via the web site at http://sunsite.berkeley.edu/London/writings/People of the Abyss/
The Sons of Temperance Hall stood on the main street in Kettleby from the 1850's until 1968, when it was relocated to Pioneer Village in Toronto.
History of Temperance
It is reported that the first temperance societies were organized in New York and Massachusetts, USA. Individuals who were concerned with the adverse effects of alcohol, formed "Temperance Societies" in order to promote the temperance lifestyle. It is not surprising that members came from the more conservative and evangelical church denominations.Leading up to the Prohibition Act in the USA, were active societies that were against alcohol in any form, often picketing and rallying outside saloons. Music was written, parades were held, and finally, Prohibition Acts were passed in many States.
While Canada never became a "dry" country, the Sons of Temperance societies flourished here as well. They had much fodder, as I remember being told that there were "more taverns between Kettleby and Newmarket, than houses!" It is understandable then, that a Sons of Temperance Hall was built in Kettleby, and that the Children of Peace, an off-shoot of the Quakers, formed a league of their own.
(from Elizabeth McClure Gillham's book, Early Settlements of King Township)
Total abstinence or teetotalism was unkown when Upper Canada was first settled. The first temperance society ever organized was at Moreau, Saratoga County, New York, in 1808.
One of the first temperance societies formed in Canada was in Adolphustown, on the 4th January, 1830. On this occasions the Rev. Job Deacon, of the Church of England, delivered an address, after which a respectable majority and three out of five magistrates present, adopted resolutions condemning the use of ardent spirits, and unitedly determining not to use or furnish drink for raisings, bees, and harvest work. At the same meeting a temperance society was formed and a constitution adopted under the title of "The Adolphustown Union Sabbath School Temperance Society." They pledged themselves not to use ardent spirits for one year.
The formation of the Sons of Temperance in Kettleby (provided by Jim Hunter, great-nephew of J.M.Walton; written by his mother in 1936.)
Sons of Temperance 1915--- 60th Anniversary
Front row: Lorne Bogart, Walter S. Bogart, Carl Proctor, Hattie Love, Bertha Carey, Elias Hilborn, Luke Gibbons, George Chappell, Harvey S. Watson, Alfred Hambleton, Leila Starr, Edgar Starr, J. M. Walton.
Second Row: Watson Elliott, Mrs. F.C. Walton, Jessie Davis, Mrs. M.A. Ramsden, Mrs. W.G. Proctor, Ethel Hambleton, Ena Bogart, Mrs. B.B. Terry, Mrs. Martha Hilborn, Mrs. Morley Proctor, Mrs. J.M. Walton, Mrs. Fred Skinner, Florence Hunter, Mrs. W.C. Bogart, Mrs. Addie Starr.
Third Row: J.O.McCarthy, Walter Hambleton, Jessie Elliott, Martha Jamieson, Walter Dunning, Mrs. Walter Dunning, Mabel Elliott, Agnes Seymour, B.B. Terry, Dolly Heacock, Rachel Borden, Gladys Bogart, Alma Magill.
Top Row: W.G. Proctor, Elmer Terry, Mrs. Charles Rowntree, Mabel Chappell, Artemas Hambleton, Morley Proctor, Frances Clunas, Mary Walton, Wm. Ramsden, Mamie Love, Wm. Hilborn, Alberta Baker, John Lewis.
(identification courtesy of Jean Archibald Babcock)