| No. 5 | March 2008 |
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Is "inventiveness" and the entrepreneurial spirit an inherited trait? The
story of Thomas Hall of Summerside and other descendants of one John
Ramsay would indicate that the creative ability and drive needed to
establish a successful business venture may have some connection to
family, whether through "nature or nurture".
John Ramsay, a native of Scotland, set out for Georgia, USA with his
family, but landed in Malpeque Bay when the ship ran aground there. His
grandsons, brothers John and Donald Ramsay, established a shipyard in
Summerside and are reported to have built the first wooden ship produced
in Summerside. Their sister Jennie married Jonathan Hall of Wilmot, and
Jonathan and Jennie.s son Thomas, born in 1836, went on to manufacture
various types of farm machinery.
Thomas Hall first set up shop on his father's farm, but by 1860 had established a carriage shop in Summerside. A fire resulted in the need for a new factory, which was built in 1874 on Water Street in Summerside. A Tim Horton's coffee shop now occupies the site where that factory stood). The new building was impressive and is described by Allan Rankin as follows: "On the ground floor were the plainers, (sic) lathes and circular saws - powered by a seven-horsepower stationary steam engine. The second floor was divided lengthways into two rooms. On one side was the carpentry workshop with five benches employing seven men. ... The other half of the room accommodated moulding and boring machines, and a jig saw. Lumber was stored and dried on the third floor." Another descendant of John Ramsay, John Dickieson (whose mother was Jennie Hall's sister) also manufactured farm machinery in Summerside. Dickieson's Challenger fan mill and Thomas Hall.s Eureka fan mill would have been in direct competition. The entrepreneurial traits continued to the next generation, as two of Thomas Hall's sons went on to establish agricultural manufacturing businesses. |
I want to thank Dr. Tom Hall for information and a picture used in this
article. Information was also drawn from the article Mister Hall's
Machines, written by Allan Rankin and published in The Island Magazine
(ISSN 0384-8175), Issue # 8, pp 3 - 7. A more detailed story about Thomas
Hall may be found in Mr. Rankin's article.
A Hall Manufacturing Limited thresher, owned by Michael Delaney 
From the 1893 Thos.Hall & Co..s Descriptive Catalogue The Agricultural Heritage Newsletter is an informal newsletter published electrically with the assistance of The Community Foundation of Prince Edward Island and edited by Charley Coles, Don Glendenning, and Tom Hall. Feel free to forward it to a friend. To be added to or removed from the mailing list, or to suggest ideas for future newsletters, please contact charlescoles@eastlink.ca |