By John Rhodes
Special to The Chatham Voice
I was going through my collection of ancient photos the other day, I believe there to be 700 or so; I lost count and gave up.
There were a number of early photographers involved in the creation of these pictures including Joseph S. Butler, Westlake Brothers, J. T. Baikie and N. C. Gibson among others.
In this article I would like to tell you about two of those artists, J. T. Baikie and N. C. Gibson.
John Thomas Baikie was born in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, on June 22, 1868 and was practicing his photography trade in Chatham previous to 1892 from a studio in the Union Block, opposite the Market Square; this would be at about what is now 55 King St. W., north side of King Street, backing on to McGregor Creek.
The Union Block is still there and has gone through a wonderful restoration, which delights me. I believe the building dates from the 1860s.
It is a very large structure that once accommodated two hotels – the Miles Hotel in the easterly end of the building and the John Pearce Hotel in the west end.
Baikie mainly practiced studio photography, family photos, head and shoulders photos, etc., but did, on occasion, create some wonderful pictures of buildings and street scenes.
In that era, a person might have their photo taken once during their life, usually when married, and Baikie would have created a number of these.
When posing for these pictures people were required to keep a straight face and not smile due to the extended time needed for the pose; any facial movement would distort the image.
I can still find accounts of Baikie in Chatham as late as 1923, after which he left Canada and moved to Oakland, Cal. where I believe he continued his trade. He died in Oakland on Nov. 17, 1936 and reposes in the Oakland Mountain View Cemetery.
Neil Cromwell Gibson was born at Wardsville, Ont. on Aug. 15, 1865 and was plying his photography trade in Chatham by 1900; I think earlier as the town directories for that era are mostly absent between 1890 and 1900.
In July of 1905 Neil climbed to the 125 foot summit of the CW & LE street car company power house smoke stack and proceeded to create four incredible photographs of the core area; I wish I could show you all of them but space does not permit me to do so.
While in Chatham, he had two studios that I am aware of, with the first one being in the Scane Block at 31 King St. W., old numbering system. The Scane Block was a large building erected in the last quarter of the 1800s and featured eight store fronts and more than 30 apartments. Over the length of nine decades, the Scane Block suffered constant foundation damage caused by McGregor Creek flooding at the rear of the building and it had to be removed in 1968. The site of the Scane Block is now host to the Zonta Club Park.
Neil’s second studio was on the second floor of the Sam Barfoot Block at the southeast corner of King and Fifth streets. This building was also known as the Post Office Block. The Canada postal and customs service had rented space here before erecting their own substantial building at the southwest corner of King and Fourth streets. I am not sure of when the Barfoot Block was built, but I do know that it was removed circa 1924 and replaced by an unattractive bank comprised of a neo classic design that looked totally out of place. It was the only building removed in the 1980 core area rebuild that I was not sad to see a demise.
Neil later moved to Wallaceburg where he died in June of 1956.
He reposes in the Riverview Cemetery.
In a future column, I will tell you about more of Chatham’s early photographers.
