the Story Of Magog

Two years later, 1855, the prominent citizens of the Outlet, led by Mr. Moore, decided that the settlement was deserving of greater recognition and a more dignified status, the settlement having gained a total of 200 souls. At a meeting in the schoolhouse, presided over by the eloguent Mr. Moore, an unanimous resolution was passed that the Municipality of Magog should be formed. The new name, Magog, was adopted - and another milestone reached.

Where the name came from is obscure. Perhaps it was taken from a local Indian dialect as is popularly believed. Perhaps it was from the Biblical reference to Gog and Magog, a king and his nation, referred to in the book of Ezekiel. Magog also appears in British folklore as the name of a mythical giant captured by the first king of the Britons. It is possible that some influential citizen of the Outlet may have persuaded the townsfolk to transer a memory of this fascinating legend to the New World.

Time moved on. Moore was now wealthy, but past successes only whetted the appetite of the redoubtable leading citizen of Magog for greater accomplishments, including a greater Magog. The stage coach line, now regular and soon to be daily, and a new steamer on the Lake, had helped the municipality immensely. But Moore's civic pride was constantly irked that Magog should be in such a distant third place to Sherbrooke and Waterloo. He had known the basic reason ever since 1852 - their rail connections with Montreal.

Hemlock bark, of all things, was what brought Magog its railway. For some time the Canadian tanning industry had been rapidly growing , and calling for larger and larger supplies of hemlock bark, used in processing hides into leather. There were great limits of hemlock in the district and Moore had to stand by and watch them being cut, the logs barked, and the bark carted to Waterloo or Sherbrooke, where the settlers were spending the cash received from the tanneries. That meant direct loss of business from customers whom Moore had long considered his own. A railroad would not only be good for Magog, but also for his business.

The hemlock development fascinated Moore. He had long been convinced that what Magog needed most was a railroad. Now, with his won business, the lumber shipments, hemlock and the growing wealth of the community, he felt sure the time was ripe. Moore's influence in the surrounding country was widespread. Although he had not yet attained political office, it was conceded that the controlled votes of Magog and the Hatleys, and so he approached his good friend, the sitting Member, Hon. C.C. Colby, with the railroad proposition.

Together they formed a company, and in 1878 built the Magog and Waterloo Railroad. Stockholders were invited to a free trip to Waterloo, and a banquet, which was all they ever did receive for the money invested.

Chapter V

Cotton Comes to Magog

In a very short time, Moore found that the railroad could not be made to pay, and, faced with this problem, he began looking around for more tonnage. Eventually he decided that in addition to lumber and its products, he required an industry that would furnish a daily tonnage.

While on a political tour of the country, he came in contact with an Englishman, by the name of William Hobbs, who owned and operated a small cotton mill at Coaticook. Mr. Moore decided Magog needed a cotton mill. But as he began to gather statistics about it, he learned that there were already too many cotton mills in Canada, the majority of which were not paying. However, in gathering this information he learned that there was no calico printing plant in Canada. He decided that there should be one, and that Magog was the proper place for it to be located. So, again with the assistance of his friend Colby, he formed, in 1882, the Magog Cotton and Print Co., and persuaded Mr. Hobbs to come in with them.

Mr. Hobbs went to England, secured some capital and gave stock in the Company as payment for machinery. Magog had the only calico printing plant in Canada.

By this time Lake Memphremagog had become known as a summer resort. Sir Hugh Allan, the Molsons, and other wealthy Montreal families, bought land and erected buildings. Large hotels were built at Magog, Georgeville, Gibraltar Point, and Owl's Head. The south end of the lake was patronized by New Yorkers, and the north end by Montrealers. These developments, plus the erection of the plant for the print works and cotton mill, brought cash into circulation in the community and the barter of one commodity for another partically stopped. Magog became the envy of the counryside.

Moore took full advantage of the opportunities offered. He sent clerks around the lake soliciting orders, which were delivered by boats. He operated delivery rigs in town and to points not met by the boats, and built up a profitable business which, if invested in securities would have made him a very wealthy man. But Moore had by this time only two main ambitions in life. The first was to represent the County of Stanstead at Ottawa. His obstacle here was that his friend, Colby, held the position, and Moore was loyal to his friends and country. The second was to build up a thriving community out of his native town. Politics cost him large sums of money, and cost him his investments in local industries - a big fortune for those days.

The first step made by the Magog Cotton and Print Company was to secure the site occupied by the Dominion Textile Co. Ltd., paying in stock of the company, $500 for the land intact as the mill property now is. Then the industries using water power above the site selected were bought up, along with any land on the south side of the river that would be flooded through the building of a dam. When work on the dam and dyke got under way, it was learned that Ralph Merry had taken it for granted, in 1798, when he bought the land along the river, that the water rights went with it, but the British American Land Company stated they secured from the Crown the right to regulate the flow similar to those of all other power owners on the Magog River. Today this river ranks second as the most full developed water flow in the world, with only about seven feet of unused head between Lake Memphremagog and the St. Francis River.

At last, in June 1884, the company turned out the first piece of Canadian calico print. Success for this venture seemed assured, but opposition came from an unexpected quarter. Buyers in those days had their own sense of touch and the reputation of the manufacturer's products. It was this second factor which was harming the Magog business. The quality was as good as the English goods, but the "old country" stamp was missing. Why, they reasoned, should they risk buying an unknown brand made in Magog, when the tried and tested British goods were stacked beside them.

Mr. Samuel Carsley, who operated the largest department store in Montreal at that time, become president. In a very few years the Company was in financial difficulties. Goods, as they were packed, were locked into a warehouse to which only the bank had access. Often from June until fall delivery in November and December, the employees were not paid in cash. Under certain conditions, an order for necessities could be secured on Moore's store, but rumors spread to the effect that this was a deliberate scheme of Moore's created to stimulate his own trade. Moore, on the other hand, a director of the cotton company, knew there was little likelihood of any return for the stock. This proved true when the company was sold to the Dominion Cotton Mills Company about 1899.

1887, Moore arranged to sell the Magog and Waterloo Railroad to the Canadian Pacific Railway, to be used in forming their trans-continental line. After the C.P.R. had laid out their road from Saint John to Montreal, it was found that the survey called for the line to pass seven miles to the north of Magog, with a spur line going into the town.

Moore called upon the C.P.R. officials, pointing out a condition of the deed of sale whereby Magog was to be on the main line. He was told that a heavy grade in the vicinity would make this a much more costly proposition than was originally realized, and he was eventually offered a larger sum for the Magog and Waterloo Railroad, with this clause omitted.

It is certainly to Moore's credit, that despite his recent financial reverses, this offer did not tempt him. He stood firm in his conviction that the best interests of the town would be served if the C.P.R. passed through, and in so doing the man who had put Magog on the map made certain it would stay there.

Chapter VI

Moore, Politician and Financier

It was only natural that Moore's greatest ambition was to represent Stanstead county as Federal Member at Ottawa. It has been commonly agreed that he could have carried the constituency in the past with relative ease. He remained absolutely loyal to the Hon. C.C. Colby, however, and as long as his friend was in office Moore refused to even consider a nomination.

In 1898, however, with Colby no longer politically active, Moore ran, and was elected. This was the pinnacle of A.H. Moore's career. It was, to him, the culmination of 40 years of labour and devotion to the community he loved. Starting from a poor, almost primitive settlement of 200, he had seen banks, stores, power plants, lumber mills, cotton mills, and railroads spring up under his magic touch. Now with a population of 3,500, Magog's future looked increasingly biright. But his happines was short-lived becasue in the next general election, through the vote of the citizens of Magog, he was defeated. This was the reward he secured from his fellow citizens for taking them from an unknown hamlet to a thriving industrial community, known throughout Canada because of the products it manufactured. This defeat broke down the ambition and every other desire of Moore. He eventually went into liquidation and died despondent in 1911.

Mr. Moore was a financier. In using his initiative, energy, brain and wealth, he created railroads, power plants, industries and communities. In doing so he created for himself more wealth than any other local individual, but the proportion he secure din comparision with the totral secured by his fellow citizens was a very small fraction. Many of the things he created still live in one form or another, and, despite ups and downs seem likely to continue to grow through the centuries.