Previous Name: Schmittsville

History of Wellesley Village

Wellesley Village Streetscape, ca. 1918 DHC 985.050.127

Although settlement in Wellesley village began no earlier than in other communities of Wellesley Township, it would become the largest centre of business and industry in the township. Its earliest settlers consisted of a small number of squatters who arrived sometime before 1843, when the township was officially surveyed and opened for settlement. Until this survey had taken place, settlement was marginal, and none of the squatters had more than a tenuous hold on land that they could not yet call their own. However, once the township was surveyed and land placed on the market, settlement occurred quite quickly over the next several decades. Because Wellesley village was founded along one of the few significant tributaries of Smith’s Creek (now the Nith River) in the township, it would hold an advantage in terms of industrial development. The majority of settlers in Wellesley village were of German heritage, most of them Lutherans. In fact, for the duration of the nineteenth century, the majority of settlers were German speaking. Originally, Wellesley village was named Schmidtville (or Smithville) after its founding settler John Schmidt (or Smith). However, when a post office was opened in the village in 1851, the village was renamed Wellesley.^[1]

John Schmidt (Smith) was the first squatter to arrive in Wellesley village. He later developed the dam and mill site that had first been established by James Ferris in 1845.^[2] Ferris’ mill was the first of the community and one of the first in the township. It has been suggested that Ferris’s mill initiated the first significant development in the community. ^[3] In 1848, Smith improved the dam and mill, later providing power for a number of other mills in the community.^[4] Although Smith later sold this property, he and family members would involve themselves in a number of businesses ventures within the community.

From as early as 1839, a number of other squatters took up residence in Wellesley village, including John Gerber, Christian Kennel, John Greenwood, and John Stahle.^[5] Christian Burgher was another who arrived in the area early in 1843 before the township survey had been completed.^[6] Burgher built a log cabin and cleared five acres of land, quite possibly in anticipation of acquiring the property after the survey had taken place.  Some other early settlers included Robert Freeborn and family, the Mckees, the Dewars, and the Trussler family.^[7]  In 1844, the first lumber of the village was cut by way of a pit saw. The sawmills of Ferris and then Smith soon followed.^[8] By 1848, eight buildings existed in the community.^[9] These first settlers set in motion development in the community which no doubt attracted further settlement.

In 1855-56, the Doering brothers laid out Wellesley village for settlement and sold lots to incoming settlers.^[10] In the same year, using power from the dam that had been built by Wellesley founder John Smith, they also established a sawmill and one year later a flourmill.^[11] Other settlers established a number of hotels: prominent Wellesley citizen John Zoeger opened the Wellesley Hotel; brothers Louis and Peter Smith (brothers of John Smith) opened the Albion Hotel and the Royal Hotel (1856); and Hugh Freeborn built the Queen’s Hotel in 1853.^[12] The Livingston’s of Baden also began small scale flax growing in the area.^[13] It has been said that Wellesley village was served by a number of “stores and shops, a tailor, a shoemaker, harness maker, wagon and machine shops, flax mills, knitting and carding mills and a brewery.”^[14] In 1851, Wellesley village received the first post office in Wellesley Township.^[15] Initially, mail was run by horse from Berlin, Petersburg, and St. Agatha once a week.^[16] A short time later, mail runs were increased to twice a week. In 1856 when the Grand Trunk Railway was laid through Wilmot Township, mail runs were made from Baden three times a week, and eventually daily.  The Wellesley Post Office also housed the telegraph office and later a library.  Administrative offices for the township were located a few miles distant in Crosshill.

Ottman Family’s Butchering Bee, Wellesley Village, ca. 1900. DHC 980.023.004

The most influential settler of Wellesley village was John Reiner. Reiner was a German born businessman who immigrated to Upper Canada in 1852.^[17] After spending time in both Upper Canada and the United States building barns and houses, he landed in Wellesley in 1866. He immediately began the construction of a woollen mill. He added to this mill annually and within a few years had bought a flourmill that had been previously built and run by the Doering brothers.^[18] Moreover, Reiner later built a sawmill, a stave and heading plant, and a section of a general store. Eventually he constructed thirty-two structures in the community.^[19]  As well, Reiner organized the Wellesley and North Easthope Agricultural Society for which he donated land and constructed a society building.^[20]

Reiner Bros. Retail Price List, 1929. DHC 999.240.001

By 1869, Wellesley village reached a population of about 400 inhabitants,^[21] becoming a lively centre of business within Wellesley Township. A substantial amount of industry had developed in the community including flax mills, rope manufacturers, a planning mill, a sawmill, and flour mills.^[22] Moreover, a wide variety of shops existed in which a number of tradesmen found employment. Such shops included carpenters, butchers, a soap and candle maker, a brewer, tailors, cabinet and wagon makers, a painter, a cooper, a bookseller, and a saddler.

At this same time, Wellesley village was home to a number of churches and schools. For example, a frame building for the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church was established in 1854.^[23] Although this church was destroyed by fire in 1876, a brick church known as St. Paul’s Lutheran was built in its place. A Swedenborgian frame church was also built in the community in 1858.^[24] This church served mainly the English speaking members of the community since the remaining population generally spoke German.^[25] This church was used for many years until it was taken over by a Zion Mennonite congregation which purchased the building in 1965.

The first school in the community was built in 1848.^[26] It was a log school which was destroyed by fire in 1849. It was immediately replaced by another log school which was used until a new stone school was erected in 1859.^[27] In 1898, the stone school was replaced by a two-storey brick school, and then was the village’s Community Hall until 1966.

Wellesley Village Children, ca. 1920 DHC 985.050.010

Although Wellesley village was an active centre of trade in the township during the nineteenth century, it was distant from railway lines; partly for this reason, its growth remained marginal compared to that of communities elsewhere in Waterloo County served by railway transportation.  Supplies and produce had to be sent by horse drawn wagons and sleighs to nearby railway centers elsewhere in the township or county. By 1890, Wellesley village had reached the height of its nineteenth century population, about 800.^[28] By the early twentieth century, its population remained relatively the same, with small industry and small scale trade the mainstay of its economy. ^[29]