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3 The West & Peachey Partnership, 1878

While working for the Jacksons in Simcoe, John Ceburn West had been building a nest egg for himself with the intention of establishing his own business. The many sawmills in the county were busy and this meant steady work for foundries and others involved in the installation and maintenance of their equipment. With the land rapidly being cleared of its forest cover, farming was coming to the fore, and the demand for farm equipment and its maintenance was providing meaningful jobs for those with a mechanical bent. To West, the economic climate seemed favourable. On January 8, 1878, he leased the Simcoe Iron Works, a small, old foundry located on the northwest corner of Colborne and Young streets in Simcoe, and owned by Silas Montross and Donald Fisher of Fisher’s Glen on Lake Erie.

Within a few weeks West formed a partnership with James Peachey, a young man with a machinist’s background who had recently arrived from Brantford, Ontario. This alliance proved most successful and was destined to last for the next forty years, terminated only by the death of the senior partner. It was said that in all that time these two friends never exchanged a harsh word, nor did they have any major differences of opinion during their long business career together.

James Peachey was born in Hamilton, Ontario, on May 29, 1856, the son of Abraham Peachey, a native of England. The Peachey family moved to Brantford, Ontario, in 1860 when James was still a child. When he was seventeen years old, James Peachey was apprenticed to Charles H. Waterous. His firm, which later became the Waterous Engine Works of Brantford, would become one of Canada’s leading producers of industrial and farm steam engines, as well as a leader in the production of sawmill equipment.¹

Having successfully completed his four-year apprenticeship, James Peachey moved to Simcoe in 1877, where he met and became friends with John West. Less than a year later he joined with West to establish the firm of West & Peachey, an enterprise that prospered from the very beginning. On May 26, 1881, James Peachey married Annie Weeks in Brantford, and in due course they had a family of seven children. James Peachey was an energetic, quiet-spoken, community-minded person who, like West, became one of Simcoe’s most respected citizens, a man who was extremely dedicated in everything he did.

A photograph of James Peachey, John West’s partner, believed to have been taken circa 1882.

Courtesy of Norfolk Historical Society, File 14, Neg. 6-7.

From early advertisements, it can be noted that the firm of West & Peachey was prepared to execute all orders in machine-work castings, turnings, and related repair and the like. They also offered to build many agricultural tools and implements and supply parts for such implements. Among those tools and implements offered were hand and power straw cutters, cultivators, field rollers, corn huskers, power and hand corn shellers, ploughs, and plough castings. In addition, they offered to build pumps and tuyere (a constriction in the spout to increase the water pressure) pump spouts, iron piping, saw clamps, box and coal stoves, iron fencing, and cresting. The firm proudly advertised that they had exclusive Canadian rights to the use of the celebrated diamond iron, a new iron-making process that produced a more durable product, resistant to wear, which they used in the production of quality plough points and in the building of metal shoes for bobsleighs and cutters.

Peachey’s association with Charles Waterous was no doubt instrumental in their firm becoming agents for the Waterous Engine Works in Brantford, enabling them to sell the popular, portable Fireproof Champion steam farm engine. The arrangement was a coup for their budding company, as this portable steam engine was first put on the market by Waterous in 1877. That same year Waterous had received two first prizes at the provincial exhibition for this product, which was rated by experts at that time as the best overall portable steam engine. The engine could boast of having the best spark arrester on the market, a big selling point, and also of having the best boiler. The Waterous Champion Engine came in two models. The 12-horsepower engine proved the most popular; the firm offered it for sale at $850. This price was soon lowered to $750, which was the price that was advertised by West & Peachey. The second model was a Champion 10-horsepower engine selling at $725. The commission for each sale on either model was $50.

One of the portable steam Waterous engines, shown here mounted on a wheeled, horse-drawn carriage, is being used to thresh wheat.

Courtesy of Archival Collections, University of Guelph Library.

Within a year of its founding, their business had grown to the point that they had outgrown their limited facilities. Donald Fisher had also indicated he wished to terminate the lease and so they were forced to seek new accommodations. By December 23, 1878, the partners had purchased a large lot, bounded to the north by the Lynn River, on the northwest corner of Norfolk and Union streets for $400. (Today, the site accommodates Simcoe’s Federal Post Office and Customs facilities and a popular lawn bowling green.) By February 1879, Donald Fisher had resumed possession of his foundry and machine shop.

The next few months were busy ones for the partners as they prepared their new site and studied plans and made drawings for the construction of a modern factory to contain an efficient foundry, machine shop, carpentry shop, and design facility. On June 21, 1879, they were successful in obtaining a loan for $1,565 to finance construction from the Royal Loan & Savings Company of Simcoe.² In 1880, the first large order for machinery to be manufactured in the new factory was received. The order was for a number of Montross anti-friction car-axle boxes for the Chicago Street Railroad. The inventor, Levi H. Montross, supervised the work, all of which was carried out in the new West & Peachey shop. Influenced by this success and by their sales of the Waterous steam portable engines, the partners were also gearing up to manufacture their own brand of steam engines and boilers on site.

In August of 1881, a further major improvement was made with the installation of a large, very powerful steam engine to power all the machinery of their shop. The following year, 1882, saw another significant first for the firm when they constructed a steam-traction engine for Findlay Butler, a local threshing-machine operator, who moved from farm to farm with a mobile grain separator. Prior to this, it would likely have been powered by a Watrous portable steam engine. This was one of the first such engines ever built in Canada. The machine was thoroughly tested on the nearby farm of John Jackson, West’s former employer. Here it demonstrated the superb engineering and skilled workmanship of the firm by working flawlessly in threshing Jackson’s wheat crop at the remarkable rate (for the period) of 90 bushels per hour.

In order to improve and extend their shop facilities, including the addition of $3,000 worth of improved machinery, the partners applied to the Simcoe town fathers in March 1882 for a loan of $6,000 over a ten-year period, at 6 percent. The committee of investigation, finding the firm’s net worth to be $8,000, produced a vote by council in favour of the loan. In accordance with town policy, a bylaw was proposed and voted on by the property owners of the town in May of that year. The result was a considerable majority in favour of the loan, and led to a mortgage for the requested amount being drawn, dated November 28, 1882. The loan allowed the improvements to go forward, including the purchase of a new universal radial drill and a punch and shear from the firm of McKechnie and Bertram of Dundas. West & Peachey was now well equipped to manufacture boilers and steam engines. In the spring of 1883, they produced a 60-horsepower boiler and a 50-horsepower steam engine for Messrs. Dease and Stearnes of Essex, Ontario. At the time this equipment was touted as the largest ever manufactured in this country.

The West & Peachey foundry and factory was located on the corner of Union and Norfolk streets in Simcoe. Photo by the Moore Studio of Simcoe, circa 1945.

Courtesy of the Eva Brook Donly Museum, Norfolk Historical Society Archives, #6-3.

FIRE CAUSES SETBACK FOR THE FIRM

Their initial successes and the rosy future that seemed assured for the progressive firm of West & Peachey received a staggering setback on October 18, 1883, when fire heavily damaged the west end of the factory. By the time flames were seen licking the eaves and roof, considerable damage had been done to the wooden buildings. Thanks to the valiant efforts of the town’s firemen, assisted by many local citizens, they were successful in saving the moulding shop and the east end of the building. The steam engine, boiler, and most of their valuable machinery were also spared from the flames.

The fire, thought to have originated from an overheated stove in the pattern-maker’s room, caused a loss to the firm estimated at $9,000. All but $3,000 of this total was covered by the firm’s insurance policies. The townspeople of Simcoe were both pleased and relieved to learn that the firm of West & Peachey had survived the catastrophe and were quickly making interim repairs. Within two weeks the cheery blast of the firm’s steam whistle was calling employees to another busy day in the factory. What remained of the buildings were winterized to allow production to continue for the winter months. Meanwhile, the partners set to work designing a fireproof brick building with cement floors to be built the following spring.

THE WEST-MONTROSS METAL SHINGLE

Prior to the fire the partners had been working with Levi H. Montross to design and patent a metal shingle. The patent for the West-Montross metal shingle was granted on February 18, 1884, the first patented invention that West & Peachey had a share in. The company, along with Montross, established a separate firm to be known as the “West, Peachey and Montross Metallic Shingle Manufacturers.”³

Although metal shingles were being made in the United States, theirs was the only firm in Canada manufacturing this type of shingle with srengthening ribs. The shingles were formed on a steam-operated press, with a star or a maple leaf incorporated into the centre of each that gave the square shingle an attractive, ornamental appearance. The shingles were joined together on installation by a built-in interlocking joint. The two main advantages of the metal shingles over cedar ones were their durability and the protection they gave against fire.

Once installed, the metal shingles readily conformed to the shape of the roof, were securely fastened by six barbed-wire nails, and required no repairs. Being dipped in a composition of linseed oil and iron-class paint during the production process protected them from rust. They only required repainting every six to eight years, and their original cost was little more than that of wooden shingles. Soon many homes in Simcoe were clad in the West-Montross metal shingles, and orders were being received from Nova Scotia in the east to Manitoba in the west, and as far south as Columbus, Ohio. Despite their obvious popularity, West & Peachey dissolved their partnership with Levi Montross on January 24, 1885 — barely a year after the patent was granted.

LEAN YEARS AND A NEW DIRECTION

An addition to the foundry in the fall of 1885 put West & Peachey in an ideal position to resume construction of steam engines, boilers, and a wide range of sawmill equipment. Early 1887 saw the manufacture of two steam engines. The first was built for James Marr of Port Royal, a hamlet on Big Creek, west of Port Rowan in Norfolk County.

The second was built for the Simcoe carriage makers Challen and Clowes.

At a town council meeting on March 7 of that year, a financial statement was presented regarding the firm of West & Peachey and showing assets of over $2,400 and liabilities of $500. It was obvious that their assets had declined significantly since they obtained the 1882 loan from the town. With the decrease in activity at their plant, the partners built and operated a small steam-powered excursion boat on the Lynn River and nearby Crystal Lake, intended for the enjoyment of the townsfolk. The boat, launched in 1886, was named the Little Gem.

At the completion of the summer excursion season in 1887, the Little Gem was booked for a trip to Toronto. On September 9, John West transported the vessel to Port Ryerse by team and wagon and launched her in Lake Erie. That same afternoon, despite a heavy sea, she made the 4.5-mile run to Port Dover in twenty minutes. The next day with seven passengers aboard, she left for the Welland Canal and the final destination of Toronto. However, the spring of 1888 saw the end of their excursion business when West & Peachey sold Little Gem to the local bank manager, Henry H. Groff, who housed the boat in Turkey Point.

Meanwhile business had begun to improve with an order from the Delhi Canning Factory in Delhi, Ontario, for the largest boiler ever manufactured in Norfolk County. It was installed in June 1888. In the fall of the same year, a contract to build a steam-powered pleasure yacht for use on Lake Erie was signed, but it would appear that the yacht was never built. She was to have had a beam of 9 feet and an overall length of 45 feet and be named the Queen of Simcoe. In December 1888, the firm built and installed a new railway turntable for the South Norfolk Railway in Port Rowan, followed by a second turntable, which they installed in Simcoe.

In October of that year, John West’s eldest son Simon John “Jack” left home to take a position with the Merchants Bank of Kitchener, and a promising young employee by the name of John Stalker joined the firm. This young man was destined to become the son-in-law of John West. Stalker married West’s eldest daughter Mary Jane in 1893.