Margaret (Beattie) Eaton
Margaret Wilson Beattie was two years old when her parents, along with three brothers and a sister, moved to Woodstock from Toronto in 1844. Her father, Joseph Beattie, opened a general store on the northeast corner of Dundas and Riddell Streets, currently the site of Scotia Bank. He sold the store to young John White in 1860 and the family moved to a house, which is now vacant but still standing behind Haight's Garden Centre .
Eaton left school at the age eighteen and was apprenticed to a dry goods merchant. He slept under the store’s counter—convenient for someone who had to work from early morning to late at night six days a week. During his apprenticeship, he learned much about the business of buying and selling and that the honesty taught him by his mother was the best policy for a merchant. In addition, he learned empathy for all who worked long hours for little reward. When his apprenticeship expired, he received only one hundred pounds sterling for five years’ work.
Eaton immigrated to Upper Canada in 1857 to join his brother James, who had started a store in St. Mary’s, near Stratford, Ontario. He remained there until 1868. During an open-air meeting, he heard a Methodist minister preaching the Gospel. In 1861, Eaton met Margaret Beattie while attending St. Mary’s Methodist Church.
After first seeing Margaret in 1861, an entranced young Tim Eaton often rode his horse to Woodstock's Chalmers Church on a Sunday just so he could sit and admire her.
Margaret and Tim considered those St. Mary's years -when their family of eight was started -as their happiest. That was despite the deaths of three of their children in infancy. Edward, the heir-apparent, succumbed to diabetes at 37.
When the Eaton brothers split the business -Robert took groceries and James and Tim took dry goods-Margaret was active in what they called J and T Eaton.
Retail stores at that time had no fixed prices. Barter was usually the rule and cash was rarely used. It was a routine that did not suit Tim's temperament.
In 1869 he dissolved the partnership with James and moved to Toronto where most of the population of 70,000 worked for wages.
During his career, Eaton never forgot the principals that had guided him since his youth. The passing years merely reinforced his reputation for fair dealing. He often urged his sales staff to “use no deception in the smallest degree—nothing you cannot defend before God or Man.” And he always remembered the long hours of his apprenticeship in Ireland and decided that none of his staff would experience a similar fate. He led the country in introducing shorter working hours and paid welfare and pensions before most employers had even heard the terms. At a time when most Toronto stores remained open until 10:00 p.m., Eaton ran advertisements suggesting to his customers that they shop during the day to “Liberate Your Fellow-Beings.”
Eaton’s business boomed, and he moved into constantly larger buildings. By the 1880s, he was among Toronto’s leading merchants. He demonstrated his largesse in 1889 as one of the chief founders of Trinity Methodist Church. The Methodist churches on Bloor Street and Robert Street were also built through Eaton’s generosity, and he was an important benefactor to the denominations Victoria College, endowing a chair in English Bible.
The introduction of the Eaton catalogue in 1884 gave Canadians, particularly those in pioneer farming communities, access to a variety of merchandise. At his death in 1907 at age 72, Eaton employed over 9000 people in his Toronto and Winnipeg stores, in factories in Toronto and Oshawa, and in offices in London, England, and Paris.
Eaton’s only recreation was his horses; he kept a stable of ten fine carriage horses. When, late in life, he was thrown from his carriage and broke his hip, he refused to let his confinement to a wheelchair restrict his life.
Toward the century’s end, however, Eaton’s aggressive sales and advertising methods began angering smaller merchants. He endured protests, rallies, and political pressure for years. Problems notwithstanding, by the time he died of pneumonia in 1907, Timothy Eaton’s retail empire had burgeoned to encompass nine thousand employees, or associates, as he preferred to call them.
In 1909, Eaton’s wife learned that the Methodists were trying to raise money to build the first great Methodist church in the northern section of Toronto. She offered to donate all the money they needed to build one of the handsomest churches in the city and made only one request: that they church be named after her husband. The Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, on Toronto’s St. Clair Avenue, was completed in 1914. It testifies to Eaton’s steadfast faith.
And this is why Woodstock at one time many people remember had an Eaton store because this was her hometown.
Margaret Wilson Beattie was two years old when her parents, along with three brothers and a sister, moved to Woodstock from Toronto in 1844. Her father, Joseph Beattie, opened a general store on the northeast corner of Dundas and Riddell Streets, currently the site of Scotia Bank. He sold the store to young John White in 1860 and the family moved to a house, which is now vacant but still standing behind Haight's Garden Centre .
Eaton left school at the age eighteen and was apprenticed to a dry goods merchant. He slept under the store’s counter—convenient for someone who had to work from early morning to late at night six days a week. During his apprenticeship, he learned much about the business of buying and selling and that the honesty taught him by his mother was the best policy for a merchant. In addition, he learned empathy for all who worked long hours for little reward. When his apprenticeship expired, he received only one hundred pounds sterling for five years’ work.
Eaton immigrated to Upper Canada in 1857 to join his brother James, who had started a store in St. Mary’s, near Stratford, Ontario. He remained there until 1868. During an open-air meeting, he heard a Methodist minister preaching the Gospel. In 1861, Eaton met Margaret Beattie while attending St. Mary’s Methodist Church.
After first seeing Margaret in 1861, an entranced young Tim Eaton often rode his horse to Woodstock's Chalmers Church on a Sunday just so he could sit and admire her.
Margaret and Tim considered those St. Mary's years -when their family of eight was started -as their happiest. That was despite the deaths of three of their children in infancy. Edward, the heir-apparent, succumbed to diabetes at 37.
When the Eaton brothers split the business -Robert took groceries and James and Tim took dry goods-Margaret was active in what they called J and T Eaton.
Retail stores at that time had no fixed prices. Barter was usually the rule and cash was rarely used. It was a routine that did not suit Tim's temperament.
In 1869 he dissolved the partnership with James and moved to Toronto where most of the population of 70,000 worked for wages.
During his career, Eaton never forgot the principals that had guided him since his youth. The passing years merely reinforced his reputation for fair dealing. He often urged his sales staff to “use no deception in the smallest degree—nothing you cannot defend before God or Man.” And he always remembered the long hours of his apprenticeship in Ireland and decided that none of his staff would experience a similar fate. He led the country in introducing shorter working hours and paid welfare and pensions before most employers had even heard the terms. At a time when most Toronto stores remained open until 10:00 p.m., Eaton ran advertisements suggesting to his customers that they shop during the day to “Liberate Your Fellow-Beings.”
Eaton’s business boomed, and he moved into constantly larger buildings. By the 1880s, he was among Toronto’s leading merchants. He demonstrated his largesse in 1889 as one of the chief founders of Trinity Methodist Church. The Methodist churches on Bloor Street and Robert Street were also built through Eaton’s generosity, and he was an important benefactor to the denominations Victoria College, endowing a chair in English Bible.
The introduction of the Eaton catalogue in 1884 gave Canadians, particularly those in pioneer farming communities, access to a variety of merchandise. At his death in 1907 at age 72, Eaton employed over 9000 people in his Toronto and Winnipeg stores, in factories in Toronto and Oshawa, and in offices in London, England, and Paris.
Eaton’s only recreation was his horses; he kept a stable of ten fine carriage horses. When, late in life, he was thrown from his carriage and broke his hip, he refused to let his confinement to a wheelchair restrict his life.
Toward the century’s end, however, Eaton’s aggressive sales and advertising methods began angering smaller merchants. He endured protests, rallies, and political pressure for years. Problems notwithstanding, by the time he died of pneumonia in 1907, Timothy Eaton’s retail empire had burgeoned to encompass nine thousand employees, or associates, as he preferred to call them.
In 1909, Eaton’s wife learned that the Methodists were trying to raise money to build the first great Methodist church in the northern section of Toronto. She offered to donate all the money they needed to build one of the handsomest churches in the city and made only one request: that they church be named after her husband. The Timothy Eaton Memorial Church, on Toronto’s St. Clair Avenue, was completed in 1914. It testifies to Eaton’s steadfast faith.
And this is why Woodstock at one time many people remember had an Eaton store because this was her hometown.