By John Rhodes
Special to The Chatham Voice
I very much like the included photo even though it is damaged in the lower right corner; it tells such a great story.
The people in the photo are the executives of the O’Keefe and Drew Pork Packing Plant which was a substantial livestock processing facility built at the easterly end of Park Street. Though no longer standing, the large plant was later home to the Darling animal carcass rendering company, known to emit an indescribable fragrance. The plant was erected before the First World War.
To the far left is John Drew, born in Harwich Township, March 24, 1861 and died at Chatham, Nov. 2, 1931. To his left is his brother, Thomas Augustine Drew, born in Harwich Township, April 3, 1864 and died on July 24, 1912. They were cattle and pork buyers.
To their left is Etta May Manning who was company accountant. She was previously an accountant with the Standard Bank (CIBC). Etta was born at Chatham on March 6, 1879 and died here on Sept. 8, 1959.
The three men repose in St. Anthony Cemetery; Etta rests in Maple Leaf Cemetery.
The man in the car is James Thomas O’Keefe who was a local produce buyer before joining the pork packing enterprise. J.T. O’Keefe died at Battle Creek, Mich., Nov. 14, 1922. J.T. had sought treatment at the Kellogg facility for an incurable disease.
The location of the photo is King Street, opposite the Market Square, in front of Bright’s Opera House where O’Keefe and Drew had a retail store on the street front ground floor of the theatre. Our more seasoned readers will remember this as the Park Theater which functioned until the end of the 1950s. The site is now a parking lot.
Mr. O’Keefe is seated in his Chatham Automobile which was manufactured in a plant located where the Sons of Kent Brewery now stands. The bodies for Chatham, produced from 1906 to 1909, were made by the William Gray & Sons buggy plant at the southwest corner of William and Wellington streets. Because of the retail price of the Chatham ($2,500) only 35 cars were produced. To my knowledge, none have survived.
Due to the untimely death of Thomas Augustine Drew, the operation collapsed.
In between the ownership of O’Keefe and Drew and the Darling operation, the plant was involved in a massive whiskey distillery stock swindle. I will tell you about it in a future column.
