1890s Hamilton

      Late on Friday afternoon, July 28, 1895, all three Hamilton daily newspapers had special editions printed and newsboys were shouting about the shooting that had earlier in the day. As reporters rushed to get as much information about the incident, some of the details provided would prove to be slightly inaccurate as the days passed but, basically, gunfire had broken out in a Stuart Street West Hotel, the Tremont House. The neighbourhood along Stuart street from the Grand Trunk Railway station to the area of Bay Street North was rough, and was generally referred to as the Bowery. Among the denizens of the Bowery was a gang called the Whitecaps. The Herald carried the following headline which carried most of information that was known just a few hours the incident: “Third Edition : Murder! : James Neelon Shot By Jimmy Wall : The Victim Not Likely to Recover : Shotting Affray In the Tremont House : A Row which May End Fatally : The Victim a Young Man Who Resided With His Mother On B

  During the fall of 1891 on Hamilton’s Victoria Avenue North, at Evans street, a new church had recently opened. Called the Victoria Avenue Baptist Mission. Across the street and a bit north at Barton street corner lived one of the city’s most prominent characters. Prof. Jesse Gant was a barber by profession as well as serving as the self-proclaimed spokesman for the city’s black community. Jess Gant was a loquacious, articulate man known as a singer, dancer, boxer and a frequent writer of letters to the editors of the various Hamilton daily newspapers. On October 14, 1891, the following Prof. Gant letter appeared in the Spectator: “TO THE EDITOR : Several months ago I was invited by (to my mind) some kind-hearted and Christian persons to visit them at their place of worship, a little Baptist mission not many yards from where I now live, and feeling that I would be welcome and satisfied anywhere among God’s children, I accepted their invitation and attended their meetings at diffe

Just four days before June was about to turn into July, on June 26, 1895, both the Hamilton Herald and the Hamilton Spectator carried extensive articles about the Hamilton Beach Strip. When the month of July arrived in 1895, the attention of most Hamiltonians turned towards the strip of land which divided Lake Ontario and Hamilton Bay. Already before 1895, the Beach had numerous camping areas, cottages and summer residences, hotels etc. on the Beach Strip as well as a small collection of year round residences. The spectator article focused on the changes which the Beach had undergone since the previous summer: “People who have grown used to the beach as it was last year, and for many years past, will be surprised at the change the removal of the old frame shanties opposite the Lakeside House has worked. The opening of six avenues through to the lake, and the planting of trees on each side of them is another vast improvement, and the additional park property secured adds further charm.