1 Forsyth Street

See "Sweet" Family below

The original Sweet's bakery at 1 main street, next door to Dr. Jones' house, now the merkely residence

The tedious labor of dough-mixing is performed economically and quickly by the electric motor.Work done is considerably more thorough and more sanitary. The mixture is assured to be uniformly and completely worked, without the attention of a skilled operative or baker.

This photo, on the right, shows the original wooden structure that stood on the lot prior to Sweet’s building a red brick structure.

After the fire at 1 Main Street, in 1920, William Sweet decided to rebuild but in a different location. He built a new red brick building measuring 28 ft. by 80 ft. on the southwest corner of Forsyth and Madoc Streets, known as 1 Forsyth Street. The new building was officially opened on September 5, 1921 and was called "William Sweet and Son Bake Shop".

On the northwest corner of Main and Madoc Streets stood a small wooden frame building owned by Mr. Wilkinson, one of three shoemakers in Marmora at the time. A fire in 1920 destroyed the frame building that had been built in 1875. At the time of the fire, owners William Sweet and his wife, Emma Froats had been operating a bakery and retail shop in the building since 1896.

Prior to the installation of electricity, Mr. Sweet mixed his dough using a two-horse power gasoline engine installed on June 14 1906. But the Marmora Herald, dated May 23, 1907 reported:

"The new electric dough mixer lately installed by William Sweet is proving highly successful and effects a great saving in time and labour. Formerly it took over an hour to mix the dough by hand, but now it is done in ten minutes."

But the Sweets did not stop there. On May 14, 1908, the Herald continued their praise:

"William Sweet is building an addition to his bake shop. The new part will be fitted in an up-to-date manner for an ice cream parlor. A new electric ice cream freezer is to be installed during June, 1908."

That same year, son, Arthur Sweet joined the staff at the bakery, and by May of 1914, according to the Marmora Herald, they purchased "a very attractive new delivery wagon." It included a box for bread at the back and a place for cakes in front.

Sweets bakery load pan, sent by Beverly sweet Janzen.jpg

In August of 1921, the Herald reported

"The oven is completed and has been in use for some time. It is of modern construction and is operated by a furnace underneath which will burn either coal or wood Compared with the former method of bakery, when the fire was made right in the oven and had to burn out and the ashes be racked out before the bread could be placed in the oven, it represents a big saving in time."

After the death of William Sweet from typhoid, on April 11, 1922, less than a year after the official opening of this building, his children Arthur (1887-1975), Frank John (1891-1955) (both of whom suffered typhoid that same year) and Jennifer 1903-1975) ran the bake shop until 1953. The Marmora Herald reported that the long hours and the expansion of the business after the war, led to impaired health for all three, leading to the decision to sell.

(Pamela Armstrong : Until a couple of years ago we had the double doored ice box from Sweet's Bakery, It was huge, had glass doors in the bottom two doors the two top doors where the ice slabs went had milk glass inserts in them. It was solid oak and very heavy. We had to reinforce the floor in the dining room to hold it,. It was a beauty. It had resided in Bill's parents cellar for 50 years and she kept her preserves in it. When we inherited it, it took four men and a block and tackle to retrieve it from the basement. We had it for about 27 years and finally had to sadly sell it. It fetched $3,000.00 at auction. Just thought some may be interested in this little bit of trivia.)

SCROLL DOWN TO THE END OF THE PAGE TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE SWEET FAMILY

Late in 1953, the bake shop was sold to Charles Kelly (1896-1950) who, along with Claude Reginald Nichol (1916-1978) and his wife Helen Madeline Kelly (1917-2000) operated the bake shop until 1959.

In 1959, the Kelly Bake Shop was purchased by the Cassidy Furniture and Funeral Services of Tweed who had set up shop in Mr. Noonan's furniture store next to the TD Bank. In November of 1972, Thomas Cassidy added a large cement block, two level structure at the rear of the existing red brick building and later vinyl sided the whole structure. The new funeral service addition was opened on April 17, 1974, with the preparation room and storage facilities in the basement..

(Annette Taylor : I worked in the Bakery an store for Mrs. Kelly in 1953. I would have been 13 years old. At that time, Frank Sweet was still doing the baking and I loved being in the kitchen, scraping and greasing bread pans and baking sheets. I loved watching him make chelsea buns. The smells were wonderful. Mrs. Kelly had me work in the front of the store as well where I measured and priced white and brown sugar, whole wheat and white flour and all other baking staples. Everything was sold in bulk and measured into brown paper bags. What an experience. I loved my job and I think it instilled a love for baking that I have to this day."

Wayne VanVolkenburg adds: “Another funeral director, who worked for Tom Cassidy, was Irvin Muir. This was c.1961-196?. Irv, Carol, and their three boys lived next to us on Pearce Street. Because I had my First Aid certificate, I accompanied Irv in the ambulance, picking up people.”

Mr. Cassidy sold the funeral business to the McConnell Funeral Home in 1990 and closed the furniture business in 1998. Several renters occupied the premises until 2006, when Frank Diadamo purchased the old Sweet/Cassidy building and added two commercial rental units on the main floor and apartment dwelling at the back of the first floor as well as on the second floor and in the basement.

Note the leaded glass above the picture windows

Tom Cassidy & his brother-in-law, Terrence RashOtte

Pat McCrodan writes: I worked for Tom Cassidy when he opened the store, had a Mercury Station wagon for funerals but I put a siren under the hood for an ambulance.

In 2001, Peter and Kym Donohue of Arden opened Gumbo Soup and Antique Furniture second hand store.

After 2007, several smaller entrepreneurs set up shop on the main floor of the building. They were Joanne Murphy, Maddy's Deli, (closed 2009), Robert Hausner, Marmora Copy and Business Centre (moved to Belleville in 2010) and Lori Tannahill, the Hot Spot, a small specialty restaurant & computer room.

2011 - Kathleen Haig opened Time After Time, a second hand store, which operated for almost 3 years. The building has now undergone extensive renovations to bring it up to code.

More about the Sweet family:

William (1862-1922) + Emma Hermina Froats (1869-1947)

William Sweet was the son of John Sweet (1828-1867) and Prudence Fox (1829-1901)

Emma Froats was the daughter of Francis Henry Froats (1826-1903) and Phebe Ann Secord (1830-74)

Children

1. Arthur 1888-1975 See below

1 Charles Henry & Lillian Boyter

2 Charles William & Dorothy May Killins

3 Catherine Joan & Glazebrook,

3 Gary Sweet

3 Beverly & Janzen.

1 Francis John (Frank) (1891-1955) b. in Blairton, d. in Peterborough, buried in Marmora. Married Ada Sophia Hart (1892-1969) in 1917 in Marmora. Ada Sophia Hart b. London, England, d. in Belleville, buried in Marmora. Ada’s parents were David Hart and Sarah Jane Jarvis, but at the age of 7, Ada was sent to Canada as an orphan, where she lived with a family in Edmondson.

2 Marion (Peggy) Keitha (1918-2001) b. in Thunder Bay. d. in Marmora. Married Pat Bertrand (1919-1994)

2 Wilma Jean (1925-1991)b. Marmora, d. Peterborough Married John Wesley (Jack) Williams (1926-2017)

2 William Robert (Bob) (1932 - )b. in Marmora. Married in 1957 Barbara Lee Van Steenburgh (1934- ) Bob graduated from Queen’s University as a Mechanical Engineer in 1954. His career was in the mining industry - Marmoraton Mining Co., Noranda Inc (Mattabi & Goldstream), Sherman Mine and Suncor Inc. They now live in Vernon BC.

1 William

1 Almira (Alma) Keitha (1897-1943) & George William Murie (married in 1922)

2 Marjorie Isobel (1925-2017) & George Hosegood (1924-2009)

1 Bessie & William Ernest Tinsdill

1 Jennie

For a more complete family tree, click here