http://www.fepl.ca/localhistory/files/original/b507528877c5b96a0acb78301cbe9165.pdf ea1c7a89e70cc880fc79a04a6c670d07 PDF Text Text • William ti. McC()r-mach. 4-lil ~iaaa..-a 13()ulevar-d f°()rt ~..-ie~ ()ntar-i() Canada L2A. 3ti~ Monday, 22 July 1996 Mr. Louis McDermott, 108 High Street, Fort Erie, Ontario, L2A 3P7 Dear Mr. McDermott: I am writing to thank you for the material you generously provided, concerning my home at 451 Niagara Boulevard. My wife and I presently live and work in Toronto, but as we began to consider retirement, we decided to find a home in the Niagara region. We wanted an old home, on the water, and our thirty years' of antique collecting mandated a large residence -- to accommodate all of our "treasures". After more than a year, we discovered the Hershey home, and it was exactly what we were after. I'm particularly interested in the history of the home, because over time I plan ~o restore the house to its original condition. Fortunately, many of the original elements of the home have survived, but I was desperately searching for any kind of photographic evidence which mignt assist. Your pictures were sensational, particularly the 1888 family portrait which not only shows the original veranda, and the carriage house, but also gives an excellent indication of the original paint scheme. You may not be aware lhat the original architect's hand-inked blueprints (from 1883) also exist, and I was fortunate to receive them in good order from the previous owner. These are real museum pieces, and provide a wonderful picture of all the home's elevations and floor plans. There is also quite a bit of detail depicting the house's fancy siding', fish scale, cresting, and fretwork, which has now been further enhanced and verified by your photographs. As a small token of my appreciation, I'd be pleased to show you these plans if you were interested, and also to provide photocopies for your records if you'd like to have them. Please feel free to phone me any weekend in Fort Erie at 994-0156. I'd be delighted to have you visit to "renew your acquaintance" with this grand old home, and you could examine the blueprints at that time. Once again, thank you for your very thoughtful consideration. Ple.ase feel,free to call me. I_ J. ;_ ·... ·/ '( L .• �,/ ~ / / J:. / • William ti. McCur-mack. 4-<'.ll ~iaear-a Euulevar-d m=urt ~..-ie~ ()ntar-iu Canada L24. 3ti2 Thursday, 15 August 1996 Mr. Louis McDermott, 108 High Street, Fort Erie, Ontario, L2A 3P7 Dear Louis: 1, _ • • I'm not sure when I might see you again, so I thought I'd mail you the copies of title search material I received from my lawyer when we purchased our house last summer. You may not find much of interest, but I did notice a few things; 1. The lot originally extended back 550 feet, but the back portion was sold to the high school, in two separate transactions, 2. The first transaction involving the property was the sale from the crown to Benjamin Wintemute in 1801. There was another crown sale in 1820 to another guy whose name I can't read -- looks like Benjamin H~ r?i i??. Any idea who this might be? If , ., " 3. There's nothing on record covering the sale of the land to the Hershey family, which is odd. I wonder if they bought it from the Wintemutes? 4. John McCausland Mann, as executor of the Hershey estate, sold to Charles Dunn on May 13, 1954. Could this be the same Mr. Mann pictured in your 1888 photo? If so he must have been very old -- if he was only 25 in 1888, he'd have been 90 in 1954. 5. The conveyance document (Mann to Dunn) is interesting because it details the dates of death of the Hershey sisters; Ruthema in 1901, Emily in 1926, Catherine in 1934, and Mary in 1935. Apparently, the sisters ultimately bequeathed the home to Mr. Mann, who continued to own it until 1953. Do you know if he actually lived there during the period 1935 to 1953? (The conveyance indicates that he was ."formerly of the Town of Fort Erie", so it appears he was not living in the house ,when it was sold). 6. There are a couple of transactions involving the sale of the western part of the property to the Bertie District High School, the first in 1955 and the second in 1962. 7. Dunn sold to Endel Are in 1959 for $25,000 and took back a $24,750 mortgage -that's only a $250 down payment! The mortgage was renegotiated in 1960, and in 1961 Dunn foreclosed on Endel Are and got the house back again. Residence: Fax: 416-251-9501+Weekday Phone: 416-255-2690+Weekend Phone: 905-994-0156 Business: Fax: 416-531-2103+Phone: 416-531-9931+Toll Free: 1-800-563-8437 Cellular: 416-399-9363 �• 8. Dunn sold to Gerald and Ellen Sherk in 1962. 9. Strangely, Sherk then sold to "The Director, The Veteran's Land Act" in 1969. Do you have any idea what this was all about? 10. In 1974, Sherk repurchased the home from Veteran's Affairs and immediately sold it to John Phillips and Mary Vamplew. Anyway, I hope there's something useful for your archives in this stuff. Again, thanks for all the information you've provided. See you soon . • ' Residence: Fax: 416-251-9501+Weekday Phone: 416-255-2690+ Weekend Phone: 905-994-0156 Business: Fax: 416-531-2103+ Phone: 416-531-9931 + Toll Free: 1-800-563-8437 Cellular: 41 6-399-9363 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Louis McDermott Collection Subject The topic of the resource Local history, Fort Erie and surrounding area. Description An account of the resource A collection of historical documents, photos, news clippings, letters, and writings, assembled by local historian, Louis McDermott, and donated to the Fort Erie Public Library. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Louis McDermott Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived FEPL-LH -Louis McDermott Language A language of the resource English Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant Included in this collection are writings, historical documents, news clippings, images, maps, and more. They were written and compiled by Louis McDermott into a series of binders. The digital collection has been scanned from these physical copies. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Fort Erie Public Library and Louis McDermott Document A resource containing textual data. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre text. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource William McCormack Letter To Louis McDermott Description An account of the resource Listed here are two letters written to Louis McDermott regarding the history of the Hershey home on the Niagara Blvd. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Louis McDermott Collection 1990s Fort Erie Louis Mcdermott Collection