December 1, 2000 Darlings play outstanding role in area history

When J.R. Booth decided to move into Lake Nipissing and its rivers, he needed someone to build and manage the operation.

His choice of Tom Darling (1845-1914) proved to be an excellent one.

Tom Darling came to Canada in 1878 from Edinburgh, Scotland, and quickly worked his way up to being a locomotive engineer in Booth's Ottawa operation. Booth saw Darling's intelligence, drive and leadership skills. Darling worked with Booth's senior staff, especially Robert Booth, Booth's cousin, and A.W. Fleck, who was married to Booth's daughter Gertrude, to develop the operation.

Darling oversaw the building of the village of Wisa Wasa in the bush, the jackladder, the Nipissing and Nosbonsing Railroad, the Booth steamboats, the various logging operations, and the staffing of the whole organization over almost 30 years.

Darling had to deal with numerous problems, such as bad weather, economic depression, fires, mechanical breakdowns, strikes and various staff problems.

His personal life included the death of his first two wives, and the raising of his daughter Helen from the first marriage, and David and Elspeth from the second.

His third marriage to Emma Murphy produced two daughters (Florence 1891 and Eva 1895) and six sons (George 1882, John 1884, Victor 1887, Alexander 1888, Adam 1892, and Gordon 1898).
 

The Tom Darling family at home at Wisa Wasa about 100 years ago. Back row; Victor, Jack, Emma, Tom (holding Gordon), and Eva. Front Row; Elspeth, Florence, Alex, Adam, Dave, and George.

Besides dealing with business and family, Tom also acted as a school trustee, postmaster, municipal councillor and Reeve, and pillar of the church.

Stories are also told of how, in the absence of a doctor, Tom sometimes took care of the medical needs of his family and the lumbermen. When his son Jack had a serious slash in his leg, Tom went to the barn, got a horsehair, boiled it, and successfully stitched the boy up.

On another occasion, he stitched a worker's ear on after it had been ripped off in a mill accident.

There is no definitive Darling family history, but there are enough of Tom and Emma's family left locally to provide insights.

Pat Wilkinson, daughter of Adam (Amo), Stan Darling, son of John (Jack) and John Diegel, grandson of Gordon, have been particularly informative.

Hartley Trussler wrote several "Reflections" columns in the Nugget about his visits to Wisa Wasa and about the Darling family in the early 1900s.

The 1901 North Himsworth census indicates that Tom Darling was the highest paid individual in North Himsworth and his son David-who Hartley Trussler calls his "right-hand man"-was also making a good living as engineer on the locomotive, etc.

All of the Darling daughters married. Helen (Nellie) Watts moved to Nova Scotia and Eva married George Deagan, of the downtown North Bay shoe store family, and as Hartley Trussler states, was "one of the gallant noblewomen of the city."

Elspeth (Eppie) married Harvey Porter, of the well-known Porter store family of Powassan, and moved Elk Lake to start a general store there. She and her youngest child both died in the 1918 flu epidemic, and were buried together.

Florence married Bill Moore in Kirkland Lake, and became the family photographer.

David married Henrietta Morrison, the daughter of George Morrison the Callander postmaster and Reeve from 1887-1914. Henrietta's brother Ken was the Reeve from 1922-1945.

When the Booth operation began to taper off Thomas Darling, with his sons David and Jack, opened the Darling and Sons sawmill on Callander Bay.
 

Darling sawmill 1909

Jack married Katheleen Scarlett, whose family were also Powassan merchants. Kathleen's brother was a doctor in Callander who, when he moved to Hamilton, sold his business to Dr. Roy Dafoe for $500.

When Jack moved to Burk's Falls, he sold his house in Callander to Dr. Dafoe, which is where he was practising when the Dionne Quints were born. It is now the site of the Callander Bay Museum.

Stan Darling, Jack's son-who became "Mr. Burk's Falls" -served on local council for over thirty years and spent twenty one years, from 1972-1993, as Muskoka-Parry Sound federal Member of Parliament.

Stan was born in the house mentioned above in 1911.

At age 89, Stan is helping the local Conservative candidate in the upcoming election, and visits his office regularly in the real estate and insurance office now run by his two sons.

Stan's office walls are covered with cherished photographs and awards, including a photo of a 1983 Darling family reunion and a Distinguished Service Award, presented to him in May 1999 by the Prime Minister.

Stan's 1995 biography The Darling Diaries makes interesting reading on the life of this remarkable man.

George Darling moved to North Bay and became a conductor on the CPR. His son Gordon, while working in a bank, met Ken Thompson who was starting a radio station, and went to work for him. Thompson became the billionaire Lord Thompson of Fleet. Gordon went to Hamilton and worked for the Ken Soble operation and eventually ran it. He was honoured as Canada's "Radio Personality of the Half-Century" in 1950.
Victor Darling was the "best known ship captain on Lake Nipissing" in the first half of the century, including his position as the first captain of the Chief Commanda in 1946.

Adam (Amo) "was a saw filer for the Gordon Lumber Company in Cache Bay and married Mabel Judd, daughter of one of Booth's foremen on the Sturgeon River. Amo's middle name was Fleck, after A.W. Fleck who was Booth's senior manager from Ottawa.

Alex went to Ottawa and had a career with J.R. Booth.

The youngest son, Gordon, enlisted as a teenager in the First World War, where he was gassed and suffered for the rest of his life. He eventually owned Darling Island, where the Wasa Lily houseboat was made into a cottage and where he spent a lot of time.

His daughter Susan Dell is a well-known professional figure skater and coach. Gordon's middle name was Himsworth, after the township where his family made such a contribution over the years.

When Booth was done at Wisa Wasa, Tom and Emma Darling moved their house across the ice to Callander, where it remains today. They later built three houses in North Bay at First Ave and Sherbrooke, but Tom died in 1914 before they could move in. Emma lived at 141 First Ave until her death in 1920.

Their deaths ended a major contribution to the life of the area, and left a legacy of good memories and a strong family.