"The Store" On Lot 60 in Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975)

“The Store” On Lot 60 in Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975)
A wee history for Murphy and Quinn descendants

about their ancestors’ businesses and lives
Assembled by Mike Rashotte

(Summer, 2019)
Based On Research Done By

Maureen Quinn
Evan Morton
Carol Casey
“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 2
“The Store” On Lot 60 in Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975)
Table of Contents
Page
3-4 A Note of Explanation About This Document

5 1. The Store Communities
6 2. The Store Owners
7 3. Chronological List of Owners & Their Stores
8-47 4. Details About Individual Stores:
p. 8-12 Francis Murphy’s Stores (1866-1886)
p. 13-20 James Quinn’s Stores (1879-1928)
p. 21-30 Michael James Quinn’s Stores (1918-1935)
p. 31-39 Tracey & Tony Quinn’s Stores (1935-1960)
p. 40-46 Tracey Quinn’s Store and Tony Quinn’s Store (1960-1975)
p. 47 A Final Image
A Note of Explanation About This Document
We must have heard “The Store” said a million times when we kids of Raph & Marge
Quinn Rashotte lived at 14 N. Front Street in Belleville. (We are all grown up now: me,
Paul, Anne, David & Mark Rashotte whose birth years span 1939 to 1955.) Our many
cousins whose parents, aunts, uncles were also from Tweed must have had the same
experience. All of us knew that The Store was short-hand for that great Quinn store on
Victoria St. N. in Tweed. During my time in Belleville (the 1940s and ‘50s) it was the
Quinn & Quinn Store, run by Tracey and Tony Quinn, with the adjacent side-store for
men’s wear run by Ray Quinn.
Everyone knew that The Store had once been our grandfather Michael Quinn’s store
until he died (1935) before any of us were born. We were occasionally reminded that
some other persons were involved, too — a “Frank Murphy" and an “Uncle James”
were mentioned in reverent tones. Although we kids were not very interested in any of
this, we often visited “The Store” when our parents drove from Belleville to Tweed to
see aunts, uncles and cousins. This was always an exotic experience (but visiting
Foster’s Dairy was the best).
Early this summer I began to prepare a short presentation on The Store’s beginnings
and its changes through the 100+ years when our family members owned it. The idea
was that at a family gathering planned to recognize my 80th birthday in September, I
would use the occasion to make a short (30-minutes, say) presentation about this part
of our Quinn history. (My family often gets a little “family history” on such occasions,
whether they want it or not.) As it happened, that family gathering was postponed to
another year (not my birthday!). But, this turned out to be good because The Store’s
history was far more complicated than I had thought. One thing led to another, and the
present document is the result. Not surprisingly, all the main characters in this
narrative were Irishmen, the earliest being immigrants raised on farms in County
Armagh, Ireland.
In this document, I have assembled some well-researched findings made by three

people to make a narrative about the Murphy-Quinn stores in Tweed, Bogart and
Sulphide that were run by our family members between 1866 and 1975. Responsibility
for this configuration of historical facts lies with me. The facts come from the terrific
historical work done by Maureen Quinn of Belleville in her written document The
Quinns: From Camlymacullagh, County Armagh, To Tweed Ontario (2014), the always
amazing historical input of Evan Morton, Curator of the Tweed & Area Heritage Centre,
and the remarkable work of Carol Casey in researching Land Registry Office files in
Belleville that completely changed the family’s historical narrative about the Quinn store
at Sulphide. All three of these people always welcomed pestering emails and phone
calls from me, and provided suggestions, additions and feedback on earlier drafts of
part of this document. In the end, the emphases and organization of the present
narrative are my responsibility, as are the inevitable errors and omissions of people and
facts. Corrections/additions are very welcome (email address at end).
If you read on into this document, you will also find excerpts from written recollections
by three of Michael Quinn’s own children that provide glimpses from ground-zero, so to
speak, of events when their father owned stores in Sulphide and in Tweed: Marge
Quinn Rashotte Brady’s The Life of Marjorie Quinn (1990); her sister, Pauline Quinn
Hughes’ History of the Quinn Store in Tweed (circa 1990); and their older brother,
Tracey Quinn’s interview in Them Were The Days (1973), a book compiled and edited
by P. LeSage, M. Rashotte & B. Vance. Finally, recollections by Tony and Tracey
Quinn’s grown children provide some glimpses of The Store in the 1950s and ‘60s as
they experienced it when working there for short periods. They also have been
generous and responsive to emails and phone calls related to this project.
I have used photos from the Tweed & Area Heritage Centre archives, from Maureen
Quinn’s history (The Quinns; 2014), and from the collections of various family members,
including my mother, my Aunt Dorothy Quinn, and my cousins Mary Joan Quinn
Hartleib and Rosalie Quinn.
A lovely art gallery is currently housed in the very building that James Quinn
constructed as a modern general store in 1892 for his Quinn’s of Tweed business. It is
amazing that that building is so well kept and can be visited today. Perhaps armed with
the present “wee1 bit of Irish history from Tweed”, visitors to the building would feel
more of an ancestral connection. Perhaps “Frank Murphy”, “Uncle James Quinn”,
“Michael James Quinn”, “Tracey Quinn”, “Tony Quinn”, “John Quinn”, “Ray Quinn”
would be a tad more than names of ancestors on a printed page.
It goes without saying that the Murphys and Quinns discussed here represent a very
small fraction of the many Irish, French and British settlers and their families who made
their new homes in Tweed, Stoco and the area during the latter half of the 19th century.
The histories and successes of this wider group are recounted in various publications
and bear striking testimony to the impact of immigrants on their new land.2 This story
of the Murphy-Quinn group’s stores should be taken as one of many cases whose
influence is so apparent in Hungerford/Tweed, a quite remarkable part of Canada.
I invite interested family and non-family members to come along for the following wee
history, as best I could assemble it in Summer 2019.
Mike Rashotte. rashotte@gmail.com. Summer, 2019
1Note: “Wee” is not part of my normal vocabulary, but I love hearing it used when I am in
Tweed. The term is used in this document as a kind of homage to Evan Morton.
2 For example: Patricia LeSage, Margaret Rashotte & Baden Vance (Ed), Them Were The Days
(1973); Evan Morton (Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991); Maureen Quinn’s The Quinns:
From Camlymccullagh, County Armagh, To Tweed Ontario (2014); Mike Rashotte’s The First
Rashotte Family in Tweed’s French Settlement Tweed, Ontario 1855-1931 (2010).
“THE STORE” - A WEE HISTORY
1. THE STORE COMMUNITIES
The Murphy- and Quinn-owned stores were

all general stores, offering a wide range of
merchandise in communities with small
populations.
The communities were Tweed, Bogart and

Sulphide, within 10 or fewer miles of each
other in a rural part of Ontario. The larger
town of Belleville is about 30 miles south, on
the Bay of Quinte just off Lake Ontario.
The river settings of two communities, Tweed

(on the Moira River and Stoco Lake) and
Bogart (on the Clare River), supported water-
related milling operations. The mining setting
of Sulphide attracted workers for a
prosperous chemical company that
established its own community around the
mine.
Tweed’s Lot 60 was the mother-store site where a Murphy or a Quinn-owned store
was located continuously from 1866 through 1975.
In this 1878 map showing the layout of

Tweed, Lot 60 is shaded green on both
the small riverfront map and the
expanded inset. The lot fronts on
Victoria St. North, the main business
street.
During this 100+ year period, some

owners also operated a store for a
time in nearby communities. A Quinn
store in Sulphide lasted for almost 40
years (1918-1957); a Murphy store in
Bogart for 7 years (1879-1886).
Details of their locations and
appearances will be shown.
2. THE STORE OWNERS
The owners of each store are shown in the sequence of ownership:3
TWEED: TWEED: BOGART SULPHIDE

MAIN STORE SIDE STORE STORE STORE
1866-1975 1887-1975 1879-1886 1918-1957
Frank James
Murphy Quinn
Frank Michael
John Murphy Quinn
James Quinn
Quinn
Michael John
Quinn Quinn Mary Ann
Quinn
Tony & Ray

Tracey Quinn
Quinn
Tracey Tony Tracy

Quinn Quinn Quinn
3 Store photos are illustrative, not chronological: L-R: James Quinn’s main store building circa
1892; Ray Quinn’s Men’s Wear store after 1928; Frank Murphy’s store (as it appeared in 1976);
Michael Quinn’s store circa 1918.
3. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF OWNERS & THEIR STORES
FRANK MURPHY
GENERAL STORE - TWEED (1866-1879)
GENERAL STORE - BOGART (1879-1886)
JAMES QUINN
SIDE STORE (Liquor) - TWEED (1887-1916)
(cousin John Quinn; then son John Quinn)
SIDE STORE (Men’s Wear) - TWEED (1916-1925)
(son John Quinn)
RAY QUINN
MICHAEL JAMES QUINN

GENERAL STORE - SULPHIDE (1918-1935)
MARY ANN MURPHY QUINN

TRACEY & TONY QUINN
TRACEY QUINN
TONY QUINN
4. DETAILS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL STORES (Chronological Order)
FRANCIS MURPHY’S STORES
Frank Murphy’s Tweed Store (1866-1879). When Frank Murphy (1837-1886) took
over an existing store on Tweed’s Lot 60 in the year 1866, he began more than 100
years of stores on that site owned by our family’s Irish ancestors. Although details of
Murphy’s founding store are not well described in available historical documents, its
location on the Lot is known, as is the material from which it was constructed.
Frank Murphy’s store was located on

the south west corner of Lot 60 in
Tweed, indicated on the adjacent
graphic by the red rectangle on the
zoomed insert.
“Harty’s Stone Shop” was the existing

business in that location, and Frank
Murphy took over its building for his
general store. The building was
constructed of stone, judging from a
report in the Tweed News in May, 1892
which indicated that the longstanding
store on this site was “an old stone
building” (owned by Murphy and then
by James Quinn who, in 1892 was
finally demolishing that building to
make way for a new Quinn’s store).
The first official recognition of Frank Murphy’s new business appeared in the Tweed
Directory in 1868: he was listed as “a merchant, east side of Store Street” (which was
renamed Victoria Street in 1897). His last entry in the Directory appeared in 1878 when
he was listed as “a 40-year old merchant on Lot 60”. 4
Frank Murphy’s Tweed store was successful for 13 years, during which he experienced
significant changes in his personal circumstances. It is possible that these changes
contributed to his decision to leave Tweed in 1879 and to move to the nearby
settlement of Bogart where he opened a new store that ran until his death in 1886. To
put his decision to sell the Tweed store in context, here is a short synopsis of key
developments in his personal life during his years in business in Tweed.5
Context of The Tweed Store Sale in 1879: When Frank Murphy established his store
on Tweed’s Lot 60 in 1866 he was 29 years old and was married (Catherine Kinlin) with
two small children (ages 2 and 4). His prospects seemed promising. Indeed, in the next
years his business was doing well and the family expanded with a third child in 1869.
4 All information about Lot 60 was provided by Evan Morton, Curator, Tweed & Area Heritage
Centre, in email messages to Mike Rashotte on July 4, August 3 & 17, 2019. For the historical
record, here are the relevant parts of those emails pertaining to the above summary, plus other
details that might be of interest to some readers.
The earliest map of the Village of Tweed, dated 1870, shows a building on the south-west
corner of Lot 60 (site of the present Quinn’s of Tweed), plus a building behind it, and a building
on the south-east corner; also a building on the south-west corner of Lot 61. That first
mentioned structure must have been the Murphy store.
He first appears in our Tweed records in an 1868 Tweed Directory, as a merchant, east side
Store St. (Victoria St. N. After 1897). The last entry for Francis, in the 1878 Tweed Directory
was as a 40-year-old merchant on Lot 60.
Our land records for the Village of Tweed show that Lots 60 & 61 had been sold by James
Jamieson to George Howell (1853 Sept. 21), who sold to James Hardy (1858 Feb. 23). In the
1866 County Valuator’s Report, on the east side of “Front Street” there is an entry “Harty’s
Stone Shop and two corner lots” with a value of $1600. However, it seems that he lost it shortly
afterwards, as the next entry records Trust & Loan Company selling it to James Jamieson (1868
Aug. 31). Presumably at that time James Jamieson sold it to Francis Murphy, BUT the next
entry is the sale of the property from Francis Murphy to James Quinn (1886 June 09).
In The Tweed News, 1892 May 26, there is a note “Mr. Quinn has his old stone building torn
down and is now excavating for the new one to replace it.” This suggests that “Harty’s stone
shop and two corner lots” in the 1866 Valuator’s Report could be the original building on that
property, taken over by Francis Murphy and then James Quinn.
5 Details in this synopsis are abstracted from Maureen Quinn’s, The Quinns (2014).
In 1870, however, Frank Murphy’s circumstances took a very bad turn: soon after his
4th child was born, both his wife and that child died. He was now a widower with three
young children at his home in Stoco, and with an ongoing business that had been
underway in Tweed for about 4 years.
Two future developments greatly improved his circumstances. One was that in 1875 he
obtained help running the Tweed store from a recent Irish immigrant (James Quinn).
The other was that in 1876 he married a 23 year old Stoco woman who had been
helping care for his children, Mary Tracey (1853-1928). (A year later, they had a
daughter who, in the grand scheme of things, eventually married another Irish
immigrant, Michael Quinn, who later became an owner of The Store on Lot 60 in
Tweed.)
So, by the late 1870s, Frank Murphy had a new wife and a family of 4 children in Stoco,
and a prosperous store in Tweed. Perhaps the developments in his personal life in the
1870s were a factor in his decision, in 1879, to begin life anew in the nearby settlement
of Bogart where he bought a farm, updated an existing store and added a residence for
his family. In the process, his hired assistant, James Quinn from Ireland who had
worked in the store for 4 years, took over Francis’ Tweed store in 1879 (the year 1880
is recognized in some documents as the beginning of “Quinn” stores in Tweed). It
appears that James may have rented Francis’ store in 1879 (perhaps buying the
contents), and that he did not purchase the store until 1886 (as noted in the Land
Records summarized in Footnote 4). A recollection by Elizabeth McNulty Quinn is that
Francis “rented the store to James in 1879 and also sold the goods to him and in the
Spring of 1886 James bought it.”6
Frank Murphy’s Bogart Store

(1879-1886). Why Bogart? The
town of Bogart Mills (later Bogart)
was established about 1853 by
Abraham L. Bogart, a wealthy
landowner from a family of United
Empire Loyalists. He built a grist
mill on the Clare River, and a
settlement. As pictured in this
sketch from an 1878 atlas7 , Bogart
appears to have been an upscale
6Email from Maureen Quinn to Mike Rashotte, Sept 3, 2019. This quote is from notes made by
Maureen’s mother, Elizabeth McNulty Quinn.
7From: Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Hastings and Prince Edward, Ont.
Compiled, Drawn and Published from Personal Examinations and Surveys, by H. Belden & Co.
Toronto, 1878
farm and mill settlement. So, instead of asking “Why Bogart?”, the question might be
“Why not Bogart?” for a successful Tweed store owner looking for a place to begin a
new phase of life with his family.
A long-time resident of Tweed, Jim Gabourie, recalled that when Frank Murphy moved
to Bogart he “bought a number of farm properties. He also took over the general store
business there”.8 It is not clear where Frank Murphy’s store and residence would be
located in the sketch of Bogart shown above (it is not even clear that the sketch
captures the Bogart to which he moved in 1879). Pauline Quinn Hughes’ History of the
Quinn Store in Tweed provided some specifics about Frank Murphy’s move to Bogart:
"In 1879 Frank Murphy bought the Abraham Bogart property on the Clare River,
consisting of a farm with a weigh scales, a store and blacksmith shop. Frank replaced
the store with a brick store and residence which is a landmark of Bogart called after
Abraham."
Frank Murphy’s store and adjoining residence (and the blacksmith’s shop!) that Pauline
Quinn Hughes described can still be seen in these two relatively recent images:
1976 photo of the store/home A more recent photo showing

built by Francis Murphy circa Murphy’s store/home, with
1879, with blacksmith shed at blacksmith shed at left.
left.
From Evan Morton, Tweed & Area

From Brown, R. Ghost Towns of Heritage Centre.
Ontario, Langley, British Columbia:

Stagecoach Publishing, 1978
8 From an interview published in The Tweed News, January 19, 1956. (Also in Evan Morton
(Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991) p. 211.
Marjorie Quinn Rashotte Brady made this short comment about the Bogart store:
“My mother's father, Frank Murphy, was a wonderful man in business.

Had a great store in Bogart”
(from Marjorie Quinn Rashotte Brady’s memoir The Life of Marjorie Quinn)
The store/residence Frank Murphy built in Bogart in 1879 provided both a place where
his family could be raised and where his adjacent store would prosper under his
ownership.
Unfortunately, after running the Bogart store for only 7 years, Frank Murphy died
unexpectedly in 1886 at the age of 49. The daughter he and Mary Tracey Murphy had
about the time they moved to Bogart would ultimately marry a subsequent owner of
The Store, Michael James Quinn.
To end this account of Frank Murphy’s stores, it is notable that he stands alone in the
The Store’s history as the “founder” of the 100+ years of Murphy and Quinn-owned
stores on Lot 60 in Tweed. Of course, he is also the grandfather of Michael James
Quinn’s children, whose descendants may be reading this document.
JAMES QUINN’S STORES
The Original Quinn Store In Tweed (1879-1887). James Quinn (1848-1930) was the
first Quinn to own a store on Lot 60 in Tweed. As noted in the previous section, James
Quinn had worked in Frank Murphy’s store for four years before Murphy left Tweed in
1879. At that time, James took over the business: he purchased the stock, rented the
building from Frank Murphy, and renamed the business “Quinn’s”. In her History of
Quinn’s Store of Tweed, Pauline Quinn Hughes noted that: “When James bought/
acquired the Murphy Store it was a well established general store”. James had
emigrated from Ireland only 5 years earlier (1874) at the age of 26, and this business
venture was the beginning of his almost 50-year career as a very successful store
owner.9
As noted above, no sketches or photos are available of the building that housed this
Murphy-Quinn store, although it is known to have been constructed of stone. Land
records (Footnote 4) indicate that James finally bought the store building in June
1886; in September of that year, Frank Murphy died in Bogart. Business at Quinn’s in
its first years must have been good because James decided to build an addition to the
original stone store in 1887. And, only 5 years later, he decided to replace the original
stone store with a modern new building in 1892. These two significant changes are
described below to illustrate how Quinn’s evolved into a premier shopping site on
Tweed’s Lot 60 under the guidance of James Quinn. The story will also show how
some of James’ Tweed-born family took key roles in The Store, and how James’
9 Frank Murphy and James Quinn were first cousins (their mothers were sisters). They were
born 11 years apart in County Armagh (Frank 1837, James 1848). Frank had already
established Murphy’s store in Tweed (1866) eight years before James and his family emigrated
to Tweed in 1874. Each of them was about 30 years old when they began their stores.
connections with other Irish immigrants, and with his own family that remained in
Ireland, proved to be significant for successive stores in Tweed and in the nearby
community of Sulphide.
The Side-Store Addition to the Original Store (1887). James Quinn skillfully changed
his store’s merchandise lines as trends changed and opportunities arose. By 1887 he
saw an opportunity to enhance the store’s existing business in liquor sales by
constructing a new building adjacent to the main store. This development is noted in
an announcement published in The Tweed News at the end of 1887 which indicates
that James had completed his “new store” building on Lot 60, located on the north
side of the original store. Here is Evan Morton’s description of that announcement:
A curious ad in The Tweed News, 1887 Dec. 29, notified the public that
James Quinn had sold the liquor business to John Quinn (the cousin), “who
will continue it in the NEW STORE, one door north of the old stand”.
Excerpt from an email message to Mike Rashotte from Evan Morton, July 3, 2019.
Note that this John Quinn was a cousin of James. He had emigrated to Tweed in 1883
at the age of 18 years, and he had worked in James’ main store before taking over the
“new store”. The announcement appears to suggest that James Quinn held a license
for sale of spirits in his main store, and that he sold the license to his cousin.
About 3 years later (1890), when his cousin John would have still been running that
part of James’ business, The Tweed News reported that James had made a significant
investment to further enhance the store’s business in spirits:
“The Tweed News of August 21st, 1890, reported that James Quinn had
purchased the entire stock of Stewart and Spalding, late of this place, and
can furnish the public with choice liquors.
Stewart and Spalding were liquor merchants for some time and had a store
in Tweed. They came originally from Perth.”
Excerpt from: “In Business 47 Years: Tony Quinn Retires” (no author named),
published May 28, 1975, in The Tweed News.
During the next few years, however, James’s liquor business faced personnel changes
and the impact of a new law in Ontario that ultimately caused him to close his liquor
business in the side store. First, John Quinn, James’ cousin, left the store to go into
business on his own in Tweed (he became very successful in several business ventures
that are beyond the scope of this history). This development caused James to take
over the liquor business himself in the side store. Some years later, when his own son
John (born 1891) had reached a sufficient age, James installed him in the liquor
business in the side store. Then, in 1916, the Ontario government completely
prohibited the sale of spirits, which required James to end his liquor business. In
response to this development, James converted his side store into a men’s wear
business that was run by his son, John. Here is Evan Morton’s summary:
John Quinn (1862-1936), the cousin of James Quinn, …. operated this [liquor]
business in the addition that James had erected on the north side of his store.
Later, James assumed the liquor license and John relocated to the John Quinn Block
(erected ca. 1905) where he had a variety of businesses.....
Meanwhile, James had established his son John (1891-1925), in the liquor business,
which was closed out by the Ontario Temperance Act of 1916, inaugurating
"Prohibition". At the that time, the store was converted into a men's wear and shoes
shop."
Excerpt from Evan Morton's Heritage Herald piece titled “Patents”, in The Tweed News,

June 19, 2013. Also in Maureen Quinn’s The Quinns (2014)
A few years later, after his son, John, suffered an untimely illness and death (1925),
James arranged for another of his sons, Ray, to take over the men’s wear business
(which he ran until his death in 1958).
What did James Quinn’s 1887 addition to the original store look like?
A photo10 taken almost 40 years after the building was

completed likely shows many of its original features. In fact,
130 years later, that building is recognizable on Victoria St.
today.
This photo is undated, but it was taken after 1925 when Ray
Quinn, Gents Furnishings store was in business in the side
store. The photo actually shows Ray Quinn in the doorway
of his store.
From Maureen Quinn’s “The Quinns: From Camlymccullagh, County Armagh, To Tweed
10
Ontario”, 2014.
To end this section about the new addition to James Quinn’s main store in 1887, here
are photos of the three Quinns who operated businesses in that side-store building
between 1887 and 1958.
The liquor business was first (1887 to 1916), initially run by John Quinn (cousin) and
then by John Quinn (son). Subsequently, the men’s wear business took over (between
1916 and 1958), initially run by John Quinn (son) and then by Ray Quinn (son). The
dates with each photo show the birth and death dates.
John Quinn John Quinn Ray Quinn

1865-1938 1891-1925 1904-1958
(James’ cousin) (James’ son) (James’ son)
[Note: The men’s wear business continued after 1958 until 1975 and was run by Tony Quinn, as
will be discussed later in The Store history.]
Modernization of the Main Store Building (1892). By 1892, James Quinn’s business
in his main store building on the southwest corner of Lot 60 had operated for 12 years.
The building housing that store had previously served as Frank Murphy’s store for 13
years and as Harty’s Stone Shop for an unknown number of years before that. With the
success of his new side store building where spirits were sold (prohibition was still 14
years in the future), an upgrade of the main-store building must have seemed timely.
James got that project underway and completed in 1892.
To accomplish this, James temporarily moved the main-store business a few doors
north, demolished the original stone building, and had a modern new building
constructed on that site. Here is how these developments were documented in The
Tweed News:
“Mr. Quinn has his old stone building torn down and is now excavating for
the new one to replace it.”
The Tweed News, 1892 May 26 (From Evan Morton)
“The Tweed News of September 15th, 1892, reported that James Quinn was
moving two doors north temporarily until his new store is erected. (The store
opened in November)."
Excerpt from “In Business 47 Years: Tony Quinn Retires” in the May 28,
1975, issue of The Tweed News.
The photos below show the exterior of the modernized main store.
This is the earliest (undated) photo of This photo, taken in 2003, shows that
James Quinn’s modern store.
James Quinn’s modern store endured
remarkably well for over 100 years.
The building, was completed in

November 1892 and is located on the The smaller building at the far left in this
southwest corner of Lot 60.
image shows the side-store building
originally constructed in 1887 for liquor
The caption on the photo is:
sales.
“James Quinn Block. General Merchant”
James Quinn’s expansion and then modernization of his store resulted in his business
continuing well in all areas, as indicated 4 years later in the Tweed Business Directory:
In an 1896 Tweed Directory James Quinn is listed with “wines, liquors,

general store”.
From: Evan Morton email
to Mike Rashotte, July 3, 2019
A detailed description of James Quinn’s Tweed stores was included in the “Commercial
and Industrial Edition of Live Wire Towns Located in Hastings and Lennox Counties,
Ontario”, published in 1916. 11 It describes the goods and the shopping experience
available in Quinn’s, and the store’s large business in coal and wood. (Note: it does not
mention the liquor business which was discontinued in 1916). This flattering
description indicates that James Quinn’s store must have been among the top places
to shop.
JAS. QUINN.
This house which is conducted by the above named gentleman is one of the well
known establishments in the mercantile arena of Tweed. This business was
established by its present proprietor 40 years ago. It has become one of the
most popular stores dealing in general dry goods, ready made clothing, boots
and shoes, hardware, salt and general merchandise. A specialty is made of teas.
In connection a large business is done in coal and wood, with yards near the
C.P.R. The stock carried here has been carefully selected, while the goods are
unexcelled in the market for quality and neatness of finish. The prices are such
as to captivate the attention of the public. The business premises occupied
located on Victoria street comprise a double store and warehouses in
connection, of large dimensions neatly and artistically arranged. From the start
this house developed a strictly first class patronage. The public is at all times
assured of fair dealing with satisfactory treatment. Mr. Quinn has good standing
and extensive experience and always keeps the latest styles of the season.
Personally, he has the respect of the community and well deserves the large
measure success accorded him.
11 In Evan Morton (Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991), p.132.

A Glimpse Inside a James Quinn Store: The following historic photo shows James
Quinn (at right) standing behind the counter in a Quinn’s store. 12
The photo is undated, and it is not clear if it shows the inside of the original store that
James Quinn bought from Frank Murphy in 1880 and used for 12 years, or if it is the
inside of the modernized store he built in 1892. (Recent photos taken inside the 1892
building show a prominent staircase to the second floor that would be visible in this
image at the front left [see photos in the next section for Michael Quinn’s store]. It is
possible, of course, that this photo shows the interior of the modernized store before
the stairs to the second floor were added.) Whether it shows the original store or the
modernized store, this photo captures the sense of James Quinn’s merchandise
offerings in his main store building.
This photo is credited to Lindi Pierce and is found in Maureen Quinn’s (2014) history The
12
Quinns. The original photo is in the archives of the Tweed & Area Heritage Centre.
A zoomed section of the larger image shows more detail about the individuals lined up
across the back of the store - possibly customers, family, staff:
These people might include Annie Quinn (1861-1930), a younger sister of James who
emigrated to Tweed with him in 1874. She ran a milliners shop in James’ main store13,
possibly before it was modernized.
The End Of James Quinn’s Tweed Stores: James Quinn was 26 years old when he
emigrated to Tweed in 1874 from County Armagh, Ireland. He married twice in Tweed
and had a large family. His first wife, Bridgid Kinlin,
died in 1886 at the age of 21, probably related to
375 Arthur St.
the birth of their first child (Stafford). A year later, he
married Catherine Collins and they had 10 children
between 1894 and 1907, 8 of whom survived to
adulthood. James Quinn’s house on Arthur St.
hosted many Irish immigrants, including his nephew,
Michael James Quinn, who James brought from
Ireland in 1888 at the age of 7 after Michael’s
mother had died. Michael was raised as part of
James’ own family. By the late 1920s, James Quinn
had developed significant health problems and two of his adult children had recently
died (John in 1925; Stafford in 1926). He decided that the best person to take over the
Tweed Quinn’s store would be his nephew, Michael James Quinn. At James’ request,
Michael took over James Quinn’s store in 1928. It will become clear in the next section
that Michael Quinn’s experience as a store owner was considerable by the late 1920s,
and that he was a good choice.
James Quinn died in 1930 at the age of 82. It was his energetic work and vision that
provided the foundation for subsequent Quinn businesses on Lot 60 in Tweed.
13 Pauline Quinn Hughes, History of Quinn’s Store of Tweed.

MICHAEL JAMES QUINN’S STORES
SULPHIDE
(1918-1935)
TWEED &
SULPHIDE
(1928-1935)
PART 1 (1881-1918): MJ Before The Sulphide Store. James Quinn had just
established the first Quinn’s store in Tweed when his nephew, Michael James Quinn
(1881-1935), was born on a farm in County Armagh, Ireland. Michael’s mother died a
few years later, and his Uncle James arranged for him to emigrate to Tweed. Michael
Quinn arrived in Tweed at the age of 7 in 1888, and was raised as one of his Uncle
James’ own family.
By 1918, Michael Quinn was 37 years old. He had prepared for a career in business by
earning a diploma from the Commercial Department of the Ontario Business School in
Belleville in 1905 when he was 24 years old. He had worked with his Uncle James at
Quinn's store, and he was the owner of an undertaking business. He had also married
(Mary Ann Murphy, the daughter of Frank Murphy, the first owner of our family’s stores
on Lot 60 in Tweed), and by 1918 he had a family of 5 children.
PART 2 (1918 -1928): MJ’s Sulphide Store. Why Sulphide? By many accounts,
Sulphide offered excellent opportunities for a general store. It was a small, prosperous
community about 6 miles from Tweed where employees of Nichols Chemical Company
(a Québec-based business) and their families comprised most of the population. At
that site, Nichols operated a mine and a plant to produce sulphuric and sulfurous acid
which were in great demand.14 The town had a CPR railroad station, an elementary
school, and many unique facilities:
"That was the best place around. They paid better wages and entertainment!
They had the recreation hall, bowling alley, pool tables, a movie theatre - that
was a big event to go to a movie."
From Tracey Quinn's recollections in Them Were The Days (1973),
P. LeSage, M. Rashotte & B. Vance (Eds), pp. 103-104.
In 1918, Michael Quinn moved his family from Tweed to Sulphide where he saw an
excellent business opportunity. He bought two lots on which the community’s only
general store was already operating, and Quinn’s General Store in Sulphide began
operation.15 The store building had the important advantage of a large second-floor
apartment where the growing family of MJ and Mary Ann Murphy Quinn could be
raised. The apartment had 4 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a large kitchen
and a pantry. The family entered their large upstairs apartment by an outside staircase.
14Those acids were needed for the production of uranium at the nearby town of Bancroft. The
mine began operating around 1905; it closed in the mid-1960s and the community pretty much
closed also at that time.
15 Carol Casey provided Land Registry Office records of an Indenture dated May 24, 1918, in
the amount of $2,150 that MJ paid for Lots 3 & 4 in Sulphide (Plan 341 Hungerford). The
record of the sale was posted on April 26, 1919. In the original transaction, MJ bought the lots
from two employees of the Nichols Chemical Company: Mr. William John Burgoyne (“Foreman
at Sulphide”) and Mr. Fredrick Charles Bowers (“Lead Burner at Sulphide”) who had owned the
lots since 1913. In the Indenture document, MJ Quinn is described as “Merchant of the Village
of Sulphide”. LRO records do not indicate the nature of buildings on the properties, but it is
clear from the price and other information that the store building was on one of these Lots.
Here is a photo
of the store.
Michael’s eldest daughter, Marjorie, provided this perspective on the family’s move to
Sulphide (with 5 children aged 2 to 10):
"By this time [about 1918] my Father was a man with lots of responsibilities. He
bought a store in Sulphide and moved us into a large apartment. Dorothy and
Noreen were born here. We all attended Sulphide School. Sulphide was a thriving
little town with Nichols Chemical bringing life to us with the mine, the club house
and important men from Quebec. My father was really a worker and so very well
liked by everyone."
From handwritten notes by Marge Quinn Rashotte Brady, 1990.
Note: “Dorothy and Noreen” were the last two of MJ and Mary Ann Quinn’s 7 children.
A perspective on where the store was located in Sulphide can be gained from a map
(below) showing the layout of the community in the mid 1930s. The map was hand-
drawn from memory by a former resident, Inez Credicott (from the Tweed Library Digital
Collection). The General Store is located east of the Nichols Chemical area, fronting on
a road (with wooden sidewalk) and facing the CPR railroad station.
I have made three additions to the original map: 1) the location of the General Store at
the east end of the community is highlighted; 2) a detailed segment of a Plan of
Subdivision Map showing the layout of lots in the store area is added at the upper left;
Lots 3 & 4, where the store was located, are highlighted in green; 3) the school
attended by the Quinn children at the west end of the village is highlighted in red.
Note: Evan Morton notes that St. Michael’s Catholic Church (shown to the east of the
store) was built in 1939, after the Quinn-family years. Some of the children have
memories of always going to Tweed on Sundays for church - snow or not.
Michael Quinn’s store was very successful and made it possible for his growing family
to live well during their Sulphide years. For example, Michael bought a cattle farm,
built a cottage, purchased a high-end automobile, and sent his two eldest daughters to
a boarding school in Kingston for their high school years. His eldest daughter recalled:
"As I said before, Dad was a go-getter. He bought a farm, had cattle on
it, and took visitors to look them over not far from where we lived [in
Sulphide]. Built a cottage - no water near but we did have a hammock
and one tree to climb - and we all had fun. Dad also liked taking us for a
ride on Sundays and Mom would bring a lunch which we ate beside the
road - but always a tablecloth". (From "The Life of Marjorie Quinn”, 1990).
His success in the Sulphide store also encouraged another business venture in
partnership with John Quinn (James’ son) who was running the men’s wear part of his
father's Quinn’s store in Tweed at that time. Michael and John bought an existing store
in the nearby town of Madoc, but it failed and they sold it.
MJ’s eldest daughter recalled that John Quinn then died, James Quinn developed
health problems, and that her father bought the main Quinn store in Tweed from his
uncle:
"As the years went past, Dad and John Quinn bought a large dry goods store in
Madoc. However, it wasn't too successful so they sold it. Then John died. Then
Dad bought the large general store in Tweed. Uncle James had had part of his
leg removed."
(From handwritten notes by Marge Quinn Rashotte Brady, 1990)
And, so it happened that in 1928 Michael Quinn’s store business expanded to include
both his Sulphide store and the flagship Quinn’s store his uncle had built on Lot 60 in
Tweed. In that year, he moved his family back to Tweed where he focused on running
the Quinn store. He kept the Sulphide store going, too, with the help of his son Tracey
and his half-brother, Tony, a recent immigrant from County Armagh, Ireland.
MJ’s return to Tweed was noted on the front page of The Tweed Advocate newspaper
on Feb 9, 1928: “… In 1914 he left the employ of Jas. Quinn to build up a general
store business in Sulphide and the splendid business now being done there is a fine
demonstration of his ability. About one year ago Mr. Quinn also took over the big
general store business known as Quinn’s store … Mr. Jas. Breen, who has been with
Mr. Wm. Collins for several years will be manager of the Sulphide store. Mr. Quinn
desires to provide the public of Tweed and Sulphide with goods of the highest quality at
lowest prices to meet his competitors in the larger centres.” (Email from Evan Morton to Mike
Rashotte, September 27, 2019.)
PART 3 (1928 -1935): MJ’s Sulphide and Tweed Stores. When James’ Quinn’s
health problems worsened in the late-1920s, he asked Michael Quinn to take over his
successful Quinn store in Tweed. Michael did so in 1928, two years before James
died. MJ was about 47 years old when he and his family moved from the Sulphide
store’s apartment to live in a large house on Metcalfe Street in Tweed.
The challenge of running successful general stores in two communities was met by a
full family response, skillfully managed by MJ who was on-site at the Tweed store. Here
is a timeline of significant store-related events during the 2-store phase of MJ Quinn’s
business career, which lasted for 7 years and ended with his death in 1935:
1. When Michael Quinn moved back to Tweed in 1928, he placed the day-to-day
running of the Sulphide store in the hands of his son Tracey (about 20 years old) and
his own half-brother Anthony Quinn (about 21 years old). Tracey was actually called
home from his studies at St. Michael’s College in Toronto; Tony had emigrated from
Ireland only a year earlier and was living with Michael’s family. 16
2. In Tweed, another family member entered The Store’s work force. Michael’s eldest
daughter, Marjorie Quinn (about 18 years old), had just returned home after completing
high school in Kingston.17 Pauline Quinn Hughes’ History of Quinn’s Store of Tweed
noted that Marjorie was “clerk, bookkeeper and constant companion” of her father in
these early years. Marjorie later recalled that she and her father would take the train
from Tweed to Toronto on trips to purchase new inventory for the store as the seasons
changed; after a day of buying on Spadina Avenue, they would treat themselves to a
“nice dinner at Elliot House.”
16Tony was the last of 13 children Michael’s father had with his second wife in Ireland; he was
about 25 years younger than Michael.
17Marjorie Quinn was at a boarding school in Kingston (Notre Dame Convent School) for 4
years because her parents did not want her to be bused from Sulphide to Tweed for high
school. She was 14 years old when she began high school. Her next-younger sister, Patricia,
was also sent to Notre Dame for high school.
3. Between 1928 and 1935 when he died, MJ’s two businesses prospered with the help
of these family members and others. Some of his family from Ireland worked for a time
in these stores, including his half-sister Sally. And, men’s wear continued to be sold in
the side-store at Tweed by Ray Quinn, another of James Quinn’s sons, who had taken
over that store when his brother John died in 1925.
This undated advertisement indicates the scope of merchandise offered in MJ’s two
stores.18
4. My family's narrative about how MJ simultaneously coped with keeping his

Sulphide store went something like this:
a) He initially assigned Tracey and Tony Quinn to manage the Sulphide store
b) Running both the Tweed and the Sulphide stores eventually became a hassle
c) MJ sold “Sulphide” after a few years, leaving him with only “Tweed”
It turns out that the 1st assertion in this narrative is correct; the second might be
correct; but the 3rd is definitely false because MJ did not sell the Sulphide store during
his lifetime.19 Here is a revised narrative based on the facts as currently known:
a) When MJ moved his family back to Tweed in 1928, his Sulphide store was
initially managed on-site by Tracey and Tony Quinn (whose ages were 20 and
18 This ad is taken from Evan Morton (Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991), p. 208. For the
centennial book, years were added at the bottom to indicate the beginning and ending of MJ’s
2-store era of business. The beginning year of 1930 is incorrect; 1928 is the correct year.
19This information comes from the work of Evan Morton at The Tweed & Area Heritage Centre,
and of Carol Casey who searched files at the Land Registry Office in Belleville to document the
history of purchases/sales of the properties on which the Sulphide store stood.
21, respectively, at that time), and also by a James Breen as noted in The Tweed
Advocate news item in 1928 (cited above).
b) After about 3 years (in August, 1931), MJ appears to have sold a franchise to
Mr. F.C. Bowers who then continued to run an “M.J. Quinn” branded business in
Sulphide. MJ retained ownership of the Sulphide store building where the
business was operated.20
c) Under this franchise arrangement with MJ, Mr. Bowers ran the “M.J. Quinn”
branded business for 5 more years in Sulphide (until a year after MJ’s death in
1935). It is not clear what arrangements MJ made with Bowers for revenue from
business sales or from rent for use of the store building. Subsequent changes
in ownership of the Sulphide store and in the franchise occurred after MJ’s
death in 1935, as will be discussed in a later section.
The 2-store era of MJ Quinn’s business career was very successful for him and his
family. His skills in management and ownership were on full display in this era, and his
high reputation as “a popular and enterprising business man of this community for
many years” who was “of a quiet and retiring disposition … beloved by all who knew
him” was noted in his obituary.21
A GLIMPSE INSIDE MJ QUINN’S STORE ON LOT 60 IN TWEED. A photo presented

in an earlier section showed the inside of a James Quinn’s store in Tweed.
Unfortunately, no similar photo seems available to show the inside of The Store in
Tweed during MJ Quinn’s era. However, some features of the store’s interior during his
years (and probably during his Uncle James’ years, also) can be seen in photos taken
more recently. Because owners of the building after 1975 (when the era of Quinn
ownership ended) renovated the interior with care for new sales purposes, photos of
the interior from the early 1990s and in 2015 show two notable features of the early
Quinn stores: the business office on the main floor of the store, and also the attractive
wooden staircase to the second floor where more goods awaited customers. Here are
the photos:
20 Mr. Bowers seems akin to a person today who purchases a “Tim Hortons” branded business
franchise and runs it in a building owned by someone else. An email from Evan Morton to Mike
Rashotte, Aug 17, 2019, stated: ”M.J. sold the Sulphide store to Frederick Charles Bowers in
August of 1931.“ However, other data suggest that MJ only sold "the Sulphide store
business" to Mr. Bowers. It is interesting that Bowers had been a co-owner of the two lots
and store building in Sulphide that MJ originally bought in 1918.
21 The Tweed News, September 26, 1935,
The store’s rectangular business office

was enclosed by a paneled wood half-
wall. Looking forward from the rear of the
store, it is shown here located on the
right-hand wall, below a landing of the
staircase to the second floor.
2015
A photo looking down from the staircase provides an

overhead view of the office. Framed historic items on the
wall include the actual diploma that Michael Quinn earned in
2015 1905 from the Commercial Department of the Ontario
Business College in Belleville (also shown as an inset).
Early 1990s When Majorie Quinn Rashotte Brady visited

the office in the early 1990s she saw the
billing system used when she worked in the
store in the 1928-1935 period. Michael
Quinn likely inherited this office equipment in
1928 when he took over from the previous
store owner, James Quinn.
A small, but notable, historical tidbit is that

Marjorie Quinn was born (1910) on the 2nd
Early 1990s
floor of The Store where her parents lived in
an apartment between 1910 and 1914.
Subsequently, her sister, Patricia, was born
there too.
The Quinns’ Life in Tweed after living 10 years in the apartment over the store in
Sulphide. Michael and Mary Ann Murphy Quinn
lived comfortably with their family in a large home
on Metcalfe Street. That home also offered a
gracious welcome for many Irish immigrants and
visitors, including Michael’s half brother, Tony, who
lived with the family when he first came to Tweed.
In 1930, MJ and Mary Ann Murphy Quinn’s seven
children ranged in age from 10 to 22 years - one
boy and six girls.
263 Metcalfe St.
In 1932, Michael and Mae Murphy Quinn sailed to Ireland on the 25th anniversary of
their wedding. That trip included a visit to the Quinn homestead in County Armagh that
Michael had last seen in 1888 when his Uncle James arranged for him to emigrate to
Tweed.22
Widowed in 1935, Mary Ann Murphy Quinn continued an active life in this house with
her children, grandchildren and friends. She died in Tweed in 1948.
More information about this Quinn family can be found in Maureen

Quinn’s history, The Quinns (2014), and also in an on-line photo album
https://goo.gl/photos/Bpf3Zmhdicmppfdq8 titled The Michael James
and Mary Ann Quinn Family of Tweed: Some Family Photos. That photo
collection documents the lifestyle of MJ Quinn’s family during its many
years together in Sulphide and Tweed, and continuing after Michael’s
death in 1935. Most photos have a text caption that can be viewed.
22Their passports for this trip provided several biometric details, including the fact that
Michael’s height was 5ft. 81/2in; Mary Ann’s was 5ft. 0in.
THE “QUINN & QUINN” STORES:
TRACEY & TONY QUINN
Tony Quinn and Tracey Quinn
Photo from Mary Joan Quinn Hartleib
Background: This next segment of The Store’s history requires some reworking of the
traditional family narrative about ownership and management of Quinn stores in the
years following MJ’s death. The traditional narrative described the management of
Tweed and Sulphide stores by Tracey and Tony Quinn between 1935 and 1960.
However, new information uncovered during the preparation of this document has
added a legal dimension to the narrative that clarifies changes in ownership of the
Tweed and Sulphide stores after MJ died. This information was uncovered by Carol
Casey in her search of documents in the Land Registry Office related to ownership of
the Sulphide store properties, and was enhanced by information provided by Evan
Morton. The initial part of this section summarizes these legal and management
perspectives and begins the process of arriving at a more complete understanding of
this era of The Store. The new information about changes in legal ownerships of MJ
Quinn’s stores after his death lies in Clauses 11 and 12 of his Last Will & Testament. 23
23A copy of MJ Quinn’s Will was provided by Carol Casey as part of her search of Land
Registry Office documents. Note that the name of MJ’s son is spelled “Treacy” in this
document; the common spelling is “Tracey”.
Clauses 11 & 12 of Michael James Quinn’s Will:
11. To my son Treacy and my half brother Anthony I give subject to clause five,
my store business in Tweed together with all stock, fixtures, store equipment,
supplies and chattels pertaining thereto or used in connection therewith in the
proportion of three-quarters thereof to my son Treacy and the remaining one-
quarter to my half brother Anthony, subject however to the payment by them of
my indebtedness to the Bank of Montreal, Tweed, in respect of such store
business. The gifts and benefits in this clause contained shall not extend to nor
include my book debts nor my coal business, as Succession Duties in respect
of such gifts and benefits shall be deducted therefrom.
12. My real property in the Village of Sulphide consisting of one store premises
and two residential properties to my wife Mary Ann Quinn for and during the
term of her natural life and upon her death the same shall belong to my son
Treacy.
These two clauses make it clear that The Store on Lot 60 in Tweed was left
jointly to Tracey (75%) and Tony (25%), and that the Sulphide store was left
solely to his widow Mary Ann Quinn during her lifetime (she died 13 years after
MJ, in 1948) and then to Tracey. While she was alive, there is little indication
that she took an active role in managing her Sulphide store. It appears, rather,
that Tracey and Tony Quinn managed that store under the kind of franchise
arrangement that MJ first made in 1931.
The Traditional Family Narrative. The family’s short narrative about the Quinn stores
after MJ’s death has not included the changes in ownerships required by MJ’s Will.
Instead, it focuses on the actual facts of management of the stores in the 25 year
period after MJ died. Pauline Quinn Hughes’ History of Quinn’s Store Of Tweed put
that narrative in writing:
Tracey and Tony were left with two stores, Sulphide and Tweed Quinn’s
Store. They changed the name to Quinn and Quinn, Tony managing the
grocery and warehouse departments and Tracey dry goods, clothing
and office. They managed Quinn and Quinn from 1935-1960.
A Combined Narrative. A complete narrative about Quinn stores between 1935 and
1960 would take into account the legal and the practical realities. In the following
presentation, both perspectives are included but the practical view is dominant. The
on-the-ground reality is that Tracey and Tony, together, took on the task of running two
stores in two locations for many years, no matter the legal details of ownership. And,
they did so with great success. They obviously agreed on a partnership arrangement
reflected in the new business name “Quinn & Quinn”, and they divided the
management of store departments in effective ways.
The newly named Quinn & Quinn general store on Lot 60 in Tweed remained the
flagship store in this era. Tracey and Tony also continued to manage the vibrant coal
business at the Tweed store. As noted earlier, James Quinn had begun that business,
and MJ Quinn’s Will explicitly excluded “coal” when he left the Tweed business to
Tracey and Tony. In Clause 11 of the Will shown above, MJ specified that proceeds
from “coal” would be used to pay debts and Succession costs. A later clause in the
Will specified that Mary Ann Quinn would be given “all residue of my Estate not
hereinbefore disposed of”, so she would likely have been the legal owner of “coal” until
her death in 1948.
It is also the case that Tracey and Tony managed significant changes in management of
the Sulphide store during the post-MJ years, and that they oversaw the rebuilding of
that store when it was totally destroyed by fire. Also, it is now clear that the Sulphide
store and its associated properties remained in Quinn hands until 1957 when Tracey
sold it.
With all this in mind, developments at the Tweed and Sulphide stores after MJ Quinn’s
death are described under the two headings below.
Quinn & Quinn’s at Tweed (1935-1960). As noted above, MJ Quinn’s death at the age
of 54 in 1935 triggered a long-running change in ownership of Tweed’s Quinn store.
Clause 11 from MJ’s Will made explicit that the store’s ownership was to pass to
Tracey and Tony Quinn. At that time, Marjorie Quinn reduced her involvement with the
Tweed store and planned to be married soon. Ray Quinn continued to operate the
men’s wear store in the side building at Tweed, and he did so almost to the end of the
Quinn & Quinn era.
The Quinn & Quinn store in Tweed was very successful, continuing to provide
customers in the area with a wide variety of high-quality goods and services. During
the 25 years of Quinn & Quinn, significant changes occurred in products available to
sell and in marketing trends (even Aunt Jemima came to the store to make pancakes
for its customers). Customers were also offered convenient new services (e.g., phoned
orders and home delivery), and The Store maintained its reputation for quality and
friendliness during these years partly due to the personalities of Tracey and Tony, and
of many long-time staff members. Of course, the Quinns were not alone among other
Tweed merchants of the time who kept their customers satisfied and up-to-date. But,
from today’s perspective, it might be said that Tracey and Tony Quinn provided a
master class in store management in a small Ontario town during that era - and, that
they undoubtedly benefitted from their years of apprenticeship under an undisputed
master, MJ Quinn, himself.
One important aspect of The Store’s business that has been mentioned only briefly in
this document concerns the sale of coal. This component of the Tweed business
appears to have originated in the “coal and wood” sales in James Quinn’s store, and it
was undoubtedly a meaningful part of business in MJ’s era. In fact, the terms of MJ’s
Will quoted above specified that “coal” was not given to Tracey and Tony, and that
resources from that part of the business was to be used to pay succession duties. It
appears that his widow, Mary Ann Quinn, would ultimately have had legal ownership of
“coal”, as noted above. In practice, however, it seems that she was not engaged in
day-to-day management of her legal business holdings (including the Sulphide store,
as discussed below). Most likely, Tracey and Tony Quinn did the hands-on work to
manage “coal” as well as the other business enterprises established by MJ.
The nature of the coal business in Tweed was described in recollections by some of
Tracey and Tony’s children who worked part-time in the Tweed store. These
recollections indicate the scope and importance of “coal” in the business, even into the
1950s and early 1960s.
Patrick Quinn, one of Tony’s children, recalls:
The store also sold coal. Many people used coal in those days. Where the liquor
store is now, we had a barn.24 There was a mare in the stable part and a coal
wagon on the other side of the barn. The mare was called Babe. The first
person to do the coal runs was Frank Barrow. After him it was Earl Villneff.
24Note: The location of the barn, coal wagon, and the horse Babe, noted here by Pat was just
a short distance north of The Store, on a lot across Bridge Street. The storage shed for the coal
was more distant, near the railway line and close to the river where oil tanks were later located.
There was a spur railway line that ran into a long shed where the coal was
stored. Whenever it was needed, a steam engine would push a coal car into the
shed. Here it would be unloaded into a variety of compartments depending
upon what kind of coal it was. People could phone the store and order a ton of
coke or 1/2 ton of brisquets etc. and it would be delivered.
The coal shed was where Lesages used to have their oil tanks. The coal man
had heavy 50 pound canvas bags (20 bags was 1/2 ton). He also had what
looked like a child’s slide. This was stuck through the basement window in the
house and the bags were dumped in the top of the slide. I would imagine it
created a mess when it hit the bottom.
I remember I skipped school once to go with Frank Barrow on his delivery route.
It was very interesting but the news got home before I did. Mother and Dad
were NOT impressed.
Excerpt from: Patrick Quinn, “Memories of Quinn’s Store, North Victoria St. Tweed”, in
Maureen Quinn’s The Quinns (2014).
And Barbara Quinn, one of Tracey’s children wrote this:
MJ had a coal business and the property was somewhere by the train tracks.
The coal would be delivered by train from Pennsylvania and a section of track
brought the car directly to the coal yard. I don’t know if it was considered to be
a separate business or a department of the general store. I do know that it was
still operational in the 60’s when I worked at the store. The driver would come in
after a delivery and report to dad. The administration of the coal business was
done through the office at the store. The store was heated by coal for many
years and we used to like to go to the store with dad when he would load the
hopper. I don’t know when the business/property was sold but coal was dying
and heating by oil was in.
As an added note there was a break-in at the coal yard and there was a witness
who saw someone in there at night. The person was smoking a cigarette and
the light from the cigarette indicated the movements of the person inside. The
person was identified but I don’t know what if any action was taken.
Email from Barbara Quinn to Mike Rashotte, September 13, 2019
Quinn & Quinn’s at Sulphide (1935-1957). After MJ’s death, the franchised Quinn
store business in Sulphide was renamed Quinn & Quinn and continued until 1957 when
the store and two properties MJ originally bought in 1918 were sold out of the family.
During this 22 year period, there were several changes in ownership of the franchise
that MJ had originally put in place, the store building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt,
and Tracey Quinn became the sole legal owner of the store and its two properties in
accordance with the terms of MJ’s Will. Here is a recounting of those events.
1. As noted in the MJ Quinn section of this document, in 1931 MJ made a franchise

arrangement to run a Quinn general-store business at Sulphide, and a Mr. F.C.
Bowers was the initial franchisee. After MJ’s death in 1935, the Quinn & Quinn
name was applied to the business in Tweed and also in Sulphide where Mr. Bowers
continued to run the franchise until his own death about a year later. Mary Ann
Murphy Quinn was left the Sulphide store and its two properties in MJ’s Will
(Clause 12), but Tracy and Tony would likely have overseen the arrangements in
Sulphide. After Mr. Bowers’ death late in 1936, the Quinn & Quinn business
franchise (but not the store building) in Sulphide was bought by Edward John Curry
who continued to operate it under the Quinn & Quinn name until 1941.25
2. The Sulphide store building and contents were destroyed by fire in 1938/39. The
Tweed News reported that “The Quinn family of Tweed constructed a new store and
Mr. Curry operated the business for them for two years” before he purchased a
grocery business in Tweed in June, 1941 (see Footnote 25). The rebuilt Sulphide
store was one storey26 (no 2nd floor apartment). There does not seem to be a
photograph of that building.
3. The sequence of owners of the Quinn & Quinn franchise at Sulphide after 1941
when Mr. Curry left Sulphide is uncertain. Such changes in a business ownership
are not part of the Land Registry Office records. By the terms of MJ’s Will, it is
clear that Mary Ann Murphy Quinn’s ownership of the Sulphide store and its two
properties would have been transferred to Tracey Quinn in 1948 when she died.
25Documentation for these changes at Sulphide is found in items published in The Tweed
News in 1946, as provided by Evan Morton in an email to Mike Rashotte, Aug 26, 2019:
“I just found this item re sale of the [Tweed] E.J. Curry store to Ellard Clarke, in The Tweed
News, 1946 June 27. “Mr. and Mrs. Curry and family came to Sulphide from Toronto and
purchased the general store business of the late F. C. Bowers. Two years later (i.e. 1938/39) the
building and contents were destroyed by fire, and the Quinn family of Tweed constructed a new
store and Mr. Curry operated the business for them for two years. He then purchased the
building and business of A. J. Maynes, Tweed. (1941 June 23)” It would appear that both
Bowers and Curry owned and operated the business, but that the Quinn family continued to
own the building.”
26 Email from Evan Morton to Mike Rashotte, Sept 3, 2019.

And, it is clear from Land Registry Office records that Tracey sold those properties
and store in 1957 to Vincent Farrell, which meant that the era of Quinn ownership of
store/properties in Sulphide begun in 1918 with MJ’s purchase of Lots 3 & 4 (as
discussed in the section on MJ) had continued for almost 40 years. Among the
children of Tracey and Tony there is recollection that Patrick O’Hearn ran the
Sulphide store for some years, and Evan Morton has recently confirmed that
possibility in a conversation with Gerald O’Hearn, Patrick’s son,27 but the years
when that could have occurred are not known.28
Further details about ownership of the Sulphide store business franchise might
eventually emerge, but the general story seems clear: the Sulphide store and its two
properties remained in Quinn family hands until 1957, and the Quinn & Quinn store
franchise in Sulphide continued to operate as a sister to the flagship Quinn & Quinn
store on Tweed’s Lot 60 between 1935 and 1957.
27An email from Evan Morton to Mike Rashotte, Sept 4, 2019, indicates further that Patrick
O’Hearn is a good candidate for running the Sulphide store, possibly taking over the store in
1941: “I have just spoken to Gerald O’Hearn who confirmed that his dad did purchase the
store from the Quinns, but he could not confirm the date. (The Land Registry records will clarify
that.) Gerald was born in 1942 in Belleville General Hospital, so the family must have been in
Sulphide by 1941, probably taking over after the Curry family bought the Maynes store in
Tweed.”
Another email from Evan to Mike dated September 12, 2019, adds the possibility that Patrick
O’Hearn could have run the Sulphide store until 1956: “One wee piece of information that
might have influenced Tracey’s decision to sell in 1957: Patrick L. O’Hearn had died 1956 July
30. Perhaps Vince Farrell didn’t want to just operate the business, but also to actually own the
premises. John Vincent Farrell died 1972 Feb. 13, and his wife Queenie (Miller) died 2007 Sept.
18. Possibly one of their children (Judith, Angus, Marlene, or Paul) would know the reason.
Some of Tracey’s children probably went to school with the Farrell kids. Cheers, Evan”.
28 Carol Casey has pointed out that Patrick O’Hearn’s wife, Carmel, is shown in Land Registry
Office records as a “Married Woman” who owned the deed to Lot 5 in Sulphide in 1950. This
lot was directly across a street parallel to Lot 4 (one of the two lots where the store was
located). This record implies that she and her husband, Patrick, were likely in Sulphide in the
1940s and that he could have run the store there after 1941 when EJ Curry left. Carol also
pointed out that a Carmel O’Hearn sold Lot 5 to a Mr. Provost in 1963; she is listed in the
records as “Widow” at that time. The information from Evan in the previous footnote is that
Patrick O’Hearn died on July 30, 1956.
The billing form shown below29 suggests that Quinn & Quinn was active in the Tweed
and the Sulphide locations in the 1940s (the entry for “Date” of the sale includes a year
in the 1940s):
The Tracey & Tony Quinn Families In Tweed. While the Quinn & Quinn stores
prospered in their Tweed and Sulphide locations, both Tracey and Tony married and
had families in Tweed.
Tracey (1908-1990) married Lillian Walsh of

Marysville (1910-1980) in Marysville in 1940.
They had 6 children, 5 of whom survived to
adulthood (Mary Joan, Barbara, Sheila,
Lorraine, Michael).
Tracey & Lillian’s family lived In a house on

Victoria St. North in Tweed for several years;
but, after his mother died in 1948, the family
moved into the large MJ Quinn house on 263 Metcalfe St.
Metcalfe Street.
29 This form is from Evan Morton (Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991) p. 209.
Tony (1907-1993) married Mary Elizabeth McNulty of Belleville (1913-2007) in Toronto

in 1938. Between 1939 and 1949 they had 6 children, 5 of whom survived to
adulthood (Patrick, Joseph, Rosalie, Mary
Elizabeth, Maureen). Their last child, Maureen,
authored The Quinns (2014), a history of the
Quinns from County Armagh, Ireland, who
emigrated to Tweed and who are central in the
history of The Store. Maureen’s historical work
is a key source for the present document, as is
her patient responding to queries by phone and
email. Tony and Elizabeth McNulty Quinn raised
their family in Tweed. They lived in a house on
Colborne Street.
246 Colborne St.
The now-grown children of both these families have generously shared their memories
and have answered queries about The Store when they were growing up in Tweed,
mostly during the Quinn & Quinn era.
TRACEY QUINN’S GENERAL STORE
TONY QUINN’S MEN’S WEAR STORE
The changes in store ownership summarized in this section, proved to

be the last in the 100+ year era of Murphy/Quinn owners.
The events in Sulphide and in Tweed in the late 1950s that triggered these final
changes were:
In Sulphide, the store and its two associated properties were sold in 1957, completely
ending the Quinn family’s almost 40-year involvement in a Sulphide store. The sale
was made by Tracey Quinn, who had inherited these assets after his mother’s death in
1948 per MJ’s Will. MJ had begun the Sulphide enterprise in 1918.
In Tweed, a final transition in ownership of The Store within the Quinn family occurred
following the death of Ray Quinn in 1958. Ray had operated a men’s wear business in
Tweed’s side store for 33 years, beginning in 1925 after his brother John died. Ray’s
daughter, Stella, operated the store for a couple of years after Ray’s death. In 1960,
Tracey and Tony Quinn dissolved their Quinn & Quinn partnership in favor of Tony
taking over the men’s wear business and Tracey taking over the general merchant
business in the main store.
The Final Configuration of Quinn Stores on Lot 60 in Tweed. Taken together, the
changes summarized above meant that, beginning in1960, Quinn family store
ownerships were confined to stores located on Lot 60 in Tweed.
In 1960, the business in the main store was newly designated as “Quinn’s Store” (run
by Tracey who was now about 52 years old), and the business in the side store was
now named “Tony Quinn’s Men’s Wear” (Tony was about 53 years old). The new
business logos for their two stores are shown here:30
It seems that the period between 1960 and 1975 was mostly one of “business as
usual” for the two Tweed stores as they adjusted inventory and services to changes in
product availability and fashion. When considered from the viewpoint of the entire 40
years that Tony and Tracey Quinn were merchants in Tweed (1935-1975), their
businesses succeeded through the aftermath of The Great Depression, the years of
World War II, and significant changes resulting from the introduction of television and
even the arrival of Elvis. (Note: Elvis did not appear at The Store in this period, but he
is said to have spent time in Tweed later).
During this final 15-year era of Quinn ownership of The Store, there were minor
changes in its internal features, but the outside appearance of the main store remained
largely unchanged. If James or MJ Quinn had come by The Store in 1975 when Tracey
Quinn retired, they would undoubtedly have recognized the building on Lot 60 as very
close in appearance to the building James completed in his modernization project in
1892.
30 From Evan Morton (Ed), Tweed: A Centennial Mosaic (1991), pp. 209 & 217.
In 1975, both Tracey and Tony announced their retirements, which were duly noted in
stories published in The Tweed News. Sale of the buildings/businesses to people
outside the family followed quickly. In subsequent years, the main store and the side
store have housed a number of businesses which are not a topic for the present
document, except to say that in recent years James Quinn’s 1892 modernized main
building for his General Store has housed a fine-art gallery. This building has continued
to provide an attractive venue for quality businesses in Tweed. Long after the Quinn
era ended it seems entirely fitting that the building is now named: “Quinn’s Of Tweed /
Since 1880”. The business currently located in the building is: “Quinn’s Of Tweed Fine
Art Gallery”.
There seem to be few photos taken inside The Store in the years when Tracey and Tony
Quinn operated their separate stores on Lot 60 in Tweed, but the following two photos
are from that era:
Undated photo of Tracey and

Rosalie Quinn (a daughter of
Tony Quinn in their later years.
Tony & Elizabeth Quinn) found
Photo taken at the Tony &
this photo of “Dad trying a
Elizabeth Quinn house in
jacket on my Uncle Neil at the
Tweed. (Provided by Maureen
Quinn) store”. This photo appeared in in
the Hamilton Spectator Oct. 8,
1960.
SOME RECOLLECTIONS OF “THE STORE” (1950s & 1960s)
In lieu of photos, the atmosphere of Quinn’s store in Tweed during this era can be
glimpsed in the written recollections of people directly involved. Tracey Quinn’s own
recollections are published in a 1973 interview in which he remembered The Store in
his youth and his time as an owner of stores, with colorful details about his father’s and
his own roles in The Store’s history.31 Another source is Maureen Quinn’s history of
The Quinns32 which is a terrific compendium of well-researched details about many
members of the Quinn family, both immigrants and those who remained in Ireland. Her
work also includes details about the various stores, some of which have been
excerpted in the present document.
Recollections by Tracey’s and Tony’s children33 are summarized below that add
some[+_ new and colorful details about life in The Store during the 1950s and’ 60s.
Tony and Tracey raised their families in Tweed, and often had them work part-time in
the store while going to school, particularly during busy seasonal times. These
recollections add considerable color and some quirky details about The Store in that
era.
I will add that I visited Tweed’s Q&Q store with my parents many times in these same
years when our family drove from Belleville to Tweed to see relatives. But my visits
were always brief and I have few specific recollections to recount. As I noted much
earlier in this document, visiting The Store and the folks in Tweed was always a treat for
us Belleville children, but it would be honest to say that, in my case at least, memories
of the treats at Fosters’ Dairy stand out also.
31In "Them Were The Days" (1973), Compiled and Edited by Patricia LeSage, Margaret
Rashotte & Baden Vance..
32Maureen Quinn, “The Quinns: From Camlymccullagh, County Armagh, To Tweed Ontario”.
(2014).
33Mary Joan Quinn Hartleib, Barbara Quinn, Lorraine McGettigan & Michael Quinn (from Tracey
& Lillian Quinn’s family; Patrick, Joe, Rosalie and Maureen Quinn (from Tony’s & Elizabeth
Quinn’s family. Patrick Quinn’s full recollections can be found in Maureen Quinn’s The Quinns
(2014), under the heading: “Memories of Quinn’s Store, North Victoria St. Tweed”. Pat noted
that his recollections came from when he “worked at “The Store” in the 50’s and 60’s while he
was going to school.” Excerpts from his 2014 piece are used in what follows.
Most recollections summarized below about The Store in the 1950s and ‘60s are based
on details in recent emails from Tracey & Tony Quinn’s (now grown!) children. Because
these recollections often make reference to specific departments or features in The
Store’s interior, it might be helpful for readers to check out the two (very) schematic
diagrams below. These diagrams are intended to provide a rough overview of the
layouts of departments on the first and second floors of the Quinn & Quinn store in that
era. Pat Quinn’s recollections in Maureen Quinn’s history (The Quinns), provided the
guide.
The lower diagram is intended to show that the first floor was entered from Victoria St.
North, under the distinctive awning. Directly inside the door was a department for
“Notions” (needles, thread, material, yard goods, etc.). Toward the middle of the store
(and adjacent to the office), was the “Groceries" department which included some
meats. At the back of the store was a full “Butcher/Meat” department.
The upper diagram shows the layout of the second floor which was reached from the
1st floor by a large wooden stairway near the office. That stairway opened into the
“Ladies Wear” department (at the front of the store) and a “Millinery" department
towards the rear that provided ladies’ hats and also shoes.
Pat Quinn described the basement floor of the store (not shown in the schematic
diagrams). The front half of the basement housed a large coal-burning furnace; the
back half “consisted of hardware such as nails, kerosene pails, linoleum, fencing
material, rope, wire and any other items.” Maureen Quinn noted that a side door into
the 1st floor was used at that time, part way along the stone wall facing the side street
(now “Quinn Lane”) shown in the photo of the building with the diagrams. Just inside
that door, and to the the right, she remembered a stairs to the basement.
Christmas Toy Display: The toy display at Christmas time was in the hardware part of
the basement floor. This display was remembered affectionately. Rosalie Quinn
recalled the downstairs toy department at Christmas was just like going to Eaton's (in
her mind) at Toronto which had extravagant Christmas displays in windows and
departments. Tweed families were pleased to find such a display at The Store.
Ladies Wear: Mary Joan Quinn Hartleib worked in Ladies Wear on the 2nd floor in
busy times. She recalls that the Millinery department at the rear of that floor had a
great range of offerings. During one slow spell, she reported finding some cream in the
storage room that seemed leftover and mysterious. She checked with the longtime
clerk in Ladies Wear (Colleen LaFontaine) and was told the cream was called “Leg
Dew”. The shortage of nylons during the war made it impossible to get nylon
stockings So ladies rubbed the cream on their legs and drew a seam up the back with
a pencil and, instantly, they had nylons that didn’t run
Groceries: There was a shelf over the grocery check-out counter that contained “Dr
Sloan’s (Irish) Liniment and Syrup”, described as “Good for horses, animals and
whatever ails you”.
Aunt Jemima Makes Pancakes For Customers: Aunt Jemima’s visit to The Store in
the early 1950s was well remembered in several emails. Mary Joan Quinn Hartleib
recalled that a black woman dressed as “Aunt Jemima” made pancakes with maple
syrup beside the Office area in the Groceries department on the 1st floor. This was a
big hit with customers (and, in a phone conversation, I think Mary Joan said that she
went back for 2nds they were so good.)
Break-ins: Several members of Tracey’s family vividly recall that The Store was broken
into twice when Tracey was the sole owner, probably early and then later in the 1960s.
The safe was located in the office on the 1st floor and it appears that entrance was
gained through the side door (that is no longer used). At least one of the break-ins was
discovered by long-time employee, John Demarsh, who always arrived early to open
up. The second break-in seems to have been worst when the thief/thieves used
nitroglycerine to blow the door off the safe; but there was nothing of value in it.
Apparently the robbers used new dresses from Ladies Wear on the 2nd floor to muffle
the sound of the explosion, and the main loss suffered was in the loss of those
dresses. Michael Quinn made the humorous observation that The Store “continued to
use the safe minus the door.” Failing to find valuables, the intruders slashed sides of
meat in the Butcher Department’s freezer, slashed the winter coats in Ladies Wear on
the 2nd floor and threw water around ruining many of the goods. They also took “lots
of cigarettes”. (These events are probably a composite of happenings in the two
break-ins). It is not clear whether Tracey had insurance to cover the losses. It is clear
that the robbers were never caught.
A FINAL WORD
The present document has tried to organize existing knowledge and to provide some
new details about the history of The Store On Lot 60 in Tweed, 1866-1975. Those of
us who contributed to this document became more and more impressed with the
accomplishments of the few Irish immigrants and their children who figure so
prominently in The Store’s history. We hope other readers will have the same reaction,
especially those of us who are their descendants.
A FINAL IMAGE
The modern-day photo below provides a very nice note on which to end the present
document’s recounting of the history of “The Store” On Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario
(1866-1975).
The photo recently appeared on the web site of Quinn’s Of Tweed Fine Art Gallery
(owned by Paul Kite and Paula Fitzpatrick) which is now located in The Store building
on Lot 60 in Tweed. It shows an excellent view of the first floor of The Store as it
appears today, almost 130 years after Jame Quinn had the building constructed when
he modernized his main store in 1892. The photo shows the first floor as you would
see it when you enter from Victoria Street North and look towards the rear of the store.
(There is another attractive gallery room on the second floor.)
Aside from indicating the Gallery’s attractive displays and offerings of art works, the
photo depicts two structural features of the first floor that were discussed earlier in this
document: the grand Wooden Staircase to the second floor, and the original Office
Area which is partially visible just behind the stairs landing. These two features of the
original store have been well preserved in the many changes that occurred in the
decades since James Quinn modernized The Store. Readers may wish to compare
this very recent photo with others shown in this document (pages 19 and 29).

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“The Store” On Lot 60 in Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975)

A wee history for Murphy and Quinn descendants

Assembled by Mike Rashotte

Based On Research Done By

“The Store” On Lot 60 in Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975)

3-4 A Note of Explanation About This Document

6 2. The Store Owners

7 3. Chronological List of Owners & Their Stores

8-47 4. Details About Individual Stores:

p. 8-12 Francis Murphy’s Stores (1866-1886)

p. 13-20 James Quinn’s Stores (1879-1928)

p. 21-30 Michael James Quinn’s Stores (1918-1935)

p. 31-39 Tracey & Tony Quinn’s Stores (1935-1960)

p. 40-46 Tracey Quinn’s Store and Tony Quinn’s Store (1960-1975)

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 3

A Note of Explanation About This Document

In this document, I have assembled some well-researched findings made by three

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 4

Mike Rashotte. rashotte@gmail.com. Summer, 2019

“THE STORE” - A WEE HISTORY

1. THE STORE COMMUNITIES

The Murphy- and Quinn-owned stores were

The communities were Tweed, Bogart and

The river settings of two communities, Tweed

In this 1878 map showing the layout of

During this 100+ year period, some

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 6

2. THE STORE OWNERS

The owners of each store are shown in the sequence of ownership:3

TWEED: TWEED: BOGART SULPHIDE

Tony & Ray

Tracey Tony Tracy

3. CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF OWNERS & THEIR STORES

GENERAL STORE - BOGART (1879-1886)

SIDE STORE (Liquor) - TWEED (1887-1916)

(cousin John Quinn; then son John Quinn)

SIDE STORE (Men’s Wear) - TWEED (1916-1925)

(son John Quinn)

MICHAEL JAMES QUINN

GENERAL STORE - TWEED (1928-1935)

MARY ANN MURPHY QUINN

TRACEY & TONY QUINN

GENERAL STORE - TWEED (1935-1960)

GENERAL STORE - SULPHIDE (1948-1957)

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 8

4. DETAILS ABOUT INDIVIDUAL STORES (Chronological Order)

FRANCIS MURPHY’S STORES

Frank Murphy’s store was located on

“Harty’s Stone Shop” was the existing

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 9

Frank Murphy’s Bogart Store

1976 photo of the store/home A more recent photo showing

From Evan Morton, Tweed & Area

Ontario, Langley, British Columbia:

“My mother's father, Frank Murphy, was a wonderful man in business.

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 13

JAMES QUINN’S STORES

Excerpt from Evan Morton's Heritage Herald piece titled “Patents”, in The Tweed News,

A photo10 taken almost 40 years after the building was

John Quinn John Quinn Ray Quinn

“The Store” on Lot 60 In Tweed, Ontario (1866-1975) Page 17

The building, was completed in

In an 1896 Tweed Directory James Quinn is listed with “wines, liquors,