Jaunary 12, 2001 Callander lumber company crossed generations

	The John B. Smith Mill with the sorting shed on the right and incinerator (looks like a silo) on the left.

Callander’s John B. Smith and Sons Lumber Company was discussed last week with the emphasis on their Frank’s Bay operation.  This week their Callander mill on the north shore of Callander Bay will be profiled.  The map shows the location of the mill including the spur lines from the CNR and CPR lines.  The company had two large locomotives and one small engine to handle their yard work. 
 

This is a 1934 map of Callander Bay showing three sawmills including ther J. B. Smith Mill on the left with CNR and CPR spur lines to the lumber yard.

Most of the Smith lumber went directly to their outlets in Toronto. They also used their lumber in their window and door factory.  The company was also renowned for its large construction timbers, many of which were used in major construction projects across Ontario.

The Smith and Sons Lumber Co. was unique in that the leadership and control stayed in the same family throughout its 116 year existence.  Presumably its demise in 1967 had something to do with the termination of the direct family connection.  John B. Smith, whose name remained in the company name through the years, was a Scotsman who set up a retail lumber business in Toronto in 1851 and ran it until his death in 1894.

John B’s son W. J. took over until he died in 1925 when his brother Robert took over.  W. J’s son Jaffray then took over until 1950 when he died and was followed by his brother Christie. Two of John B’s sons John M. and James H. ran the Callander operation in the early years.

The company used its Patterson Township limits for 50 years before moving to Temagami and later to Marten River.  The logs from the Temagami Forest Reserve were brought from Temagami to Sturgeon Falls through Lake Temagami, Outlet Bay, Cross Lake, the Temagami River, Cedar Lake and the Sturgeon River.  The logs were then towed to Callander.

Many Callander area men worked into the logging and mill operation. Fred Bush was the manager for years and Ed McBeth was the mill superintendent.

The company’s success depended on the use of a variety of boats they owned or leased. Their earliest boat was the 17 meter tug the Sparrow which was purchased when the railway did not cross the south shore of Lake Nipissing restricting development there.  The Sparrow was lengthened and widened in 1910 and was the work horse of the company  into the late 1920s pulling twice as much as any other tug.  She could handle half-mile wide booms with upwards of 48,000 logs at one time.

The company’s flat bottomed alligator tug the Woodchuck was used in shallow water where the Sparrow could not go.  It also worked for years on Lake Temagami before Smith bought it any used it at the mouth of the Sturgeon River.  It was scrapped in 1953 when logs began to be hauled more economically by train.

The most popular boat on Callander Bay for years was the 25 meter Seagull I which ran from 1900 to 1930 with a ten man crew.  It was built by Smith and beside its towing could carry 40 passengers.  In the later part of its life it was owened by other companies but worked for Smith regularly. She was replaced by the 25 meter Seagull II in 1931 and bought outright by Smith in 1940. Victor Darling was captain of the Seagull for years and “Mac” Mason was its captain in its final years.

The city of North Bay turned down an offer for the boat as a museum attraction in 1960 much to the chagrin of history buffs.  In October 1994 a memorial to the Seagull and “Mac” Mason was established in Callander’s Memory Park.

Two other Smith boats were part of Nipissing’s steam boat era. The 22 meter Screamer had two crews that lived on-board and worked six hour shifts from 1920 to 1940.  She hauled logs from Sturgeon Falls to Callander and often had to have the Sparrow bring fuel if the usual 36 hour trip was taking too long.

The 11 meter Siskin, a diesel warping tug built in 1955 was used by Smith in the company’s latter years.

When the mill closed in 1967 because, according to C. W. Smith the company Secretary-Treasurer, “There were no more timber limits in the area.” 90 men were put out of work in the mill and many more in the bush.  It took a year to clear the yards.  A rumour had the Staniforth Lumber Co. from Kiosk building a furniture factory on the Smith site, but this proved untrue.  Reeve Leo Kervin was optimistic that the mill, which produced about 10 million board feet of lumber a year for most of its 77 years would be replaced over time by other businesses.  With its lumber mills gone Callander adjusted to the new conditions and became the diversified and active place it is today.

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