| Samuel &
Catherine
in Toronto 1877 |
Samuel and Catherine moved
to Toronto in 1877, first living on the outskirts of town at 22 Borden
Street, and then moving to a home near the corner of Bloor and Spadina.
In those days there were no housing developments on that corner, only farm
land. Walmer road had some houses to the west, near Seaton Village. A kilometre
and a half east was the village of Yorkville, and south down Spadina was
Toronto.
Histories: second half of 1870's |
| Sam held a number of short jobs while living in Toronto's countryside
-- he was a teamster, contractor, and even a gardener for a few years,
before he hit upon an idea for a business.
In the city, although indoor plumbing and sewage existed, it was very rare. Most people had a privy or outhouse. And these pit toilets were mere feet from the main house, crowded into backyards who size acomodated row housing. Unlike the farms outside town, city dwellers could not conveniently move the them around by filling one hole and digging another. They had to be cleaned out, or as the local jargin put it, they had to be "excavated". This is what Sam chose for his new vocation -- he was to be an excavator. Yet, to distinguish himself from people who just dig holes, cellars and roadways, he called himself an "odorless excavator" -- a popular euphemism, appropriate for that Victorian Era. It went well with other phrases like dry earth closet, night soil and manchester pail system. In 1879, if you were glancing through the "yellow pages" of the day, known as the City Directory, you would see the first advertisment for privy cleaning: City Odorless Excavating operating out of 9 Queen Street East, on the site of the old Armstrong Foundry; proprieters -- William Berry and Edwin H. Cooke. Histories: 1880's |
|
| Sam becomes
excavator 1881 |
No doubt, Sam had gained some experience
in oderless excavating, as this was part of a general contractor's repetoir.
In 1881 he and a friend, James James, openned their own company called
Excelsior Odorless Excavating. They rented an old hair dressing salon at
50 Adelaide Street East, to store their tools and material. This eastern
quarter of Toronto was called Cabbage Town, so named for the vegetables
grown by it's Irish Famine-escapee residents, and the poorest yet most
privy-rich neighbourhood in the city.
Sam acordingly moved the family closer to the shop, to 63 Duchess St. (now Richmond St. E.) just west of Sherbourne. |
| S.W.Marchment
& Co. 1883 |
The first few years were not easy. James left Excelsior and returned
to his previous work as a collector. Sam moved the business closer to downtown
at 19 Adelaide St. E. and took on other contracting work in addition to
the excavating. City Odorless Excavating faired no better. Berry left to
form his own business on Victoria St., leaving Cooke who later sold his
remaining half to Sam and went into the lumber business.
By 1883 S. W. Marchment & Company operated out of 9 Queen St. E. where he would stay and build his business with little competition for the next 10 years. Sam eventually dropped the name Excelsior, and was in the city diretory under excavators and/or oderless excavators. His contracting business grew on the side also, and his men were building homes north of the city. |
Here is Sam's first advertisment, from the 1887 issue of the R.L.Polk
& Co. Toronto City Directory, back page:
 Continue with Sam as his family story
takes a bad turn |
