William W. Jackson and the Orillia Steam Brewery

In my research on Thomas Williams and the Orillia Brewery I came across this interesting story about William W. Jackson and his time running the brewery:

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William W. Jackson and the Orillia Steam Brewery
At some time in the 1860s, Thomas Williams partnered with a man named George Jacques and the two leased out the brewery on 4 October 1865 to a man named William W. Jackson [D05652].



A few months after starting his lease on the Orillia Brewery, W.W. Jackson announced an agent in nearby Barrie to take orders [D05676]. He advertised beer for 20 cents per gallon, a pale bitter ale at 25 cents, a champagne ale at 30 cents and two varieties of London porter at 25 cents and 30 cents [D05676].



A few years after W.W. Jackson took over operations of the brewery, however, he ran into some problems with the local newspaper, the Orillia Expositor.

It started in May of 1869 when the Expositor reported that Jackson's brewery had been seized by the government in June of 1868 for not having paid duty on his malt [D05673]. The article reported that this incident had been covered up and that Jackson had been allowed to continue his operations despite not having paid the outstanding duty [D05673].

David Morrow, the inspector of revenue at the time, wrote a letter to the Expositor to explain that while he had initially found that duty had not been paid on the malt, further investigation found that the duty had, in fact, been paid. Furthermore, according to Morrow, the brewery's business had never been suspended during the investigation [D05673].

Although the letter from the former inspector seemed to have cleared his name, that didn't stop Jackson from firing back at the Expositor, writing a letter of his own. In it, he refers to the newspaper as "that scurrilous little sickly Scotch sheet, known as the Expositor" [D05865] and stated that:

"it is not the practice of gentlemen to enter into a newspaper controversy with puppets, and especially one who will at any time suffer himself to be moulded into the shape of an 'ass' for the purpose of pleasing that clique of rowdy and hypocritical editors to which he undoubtedly belongs" [D05865]

Then, in another letter to the Barrie Examiner Jackson implied that the editors of the Expositor would be in high appreciation of the government's attempts to shut his brewery down. [D05673]

These letters clearly riled up the editors of the Expositor who responded with a scathing article of their own. In it, they refer to Jackson as "the local Beau Brummel" and point out that in his letters he never actually refutes a single statement made by the Expositor [D05865]. According to the editors of the Expositor, Jackson was allowed to continue his operations due to the government's leniency rather than him actually having paid duty on the malt [D05865].

In response to Jackson's "it is not the practice of gentleman…" comment, the editors had their own advice for Mr. Jackson, informing him that:

"it is not the practice of gentlemen to attempt to defraud the Government by making false returns, and incorrect statements; it is not the practice of gentlemen to in any way be guilty of a breach of honour; it is not the practice of gentlemen to go about dressed like a tailor and hair-dresser's walking advertisement, while the tailor and hairdresser are unpaid; it is not the practice of gentlemen to contract debts they do not intend to pay, unless compelled to in a court of law; it is not the practice of gentlemen to assume supercilious airs of superiority in their intercourse with others" [D05865]

As to what actually happened - whether Jackson had paid the duty and was falsely accused by the Orillia Expositor or he was let off easily by the government - the truth may never be known. But we do know that Jackson kept operating the Orillia Steam Brewery at least into the 1870s.


Sources:
[D05652] Barrie Examiner, 5 Oct 1865, online archives (accessed 24 Feb 2019), p. 3, col. 2.

[D05673] Barrie Examiner, 10 Jun 1869, online archives (accessed 5 Mar 2019), p. 2, col. 5-6.

[D05676] Northern Advance, 4 Apr 1866, online archives (accessed 24 Feb 2019), p. 1, col. 3.

[D05865] Orillia Expositor, 9 Jul 1869, p. 1; digital images(accessed 9 Mar 2019).

Cotton, Larry. Whiskey and Wickedness - Simcoe County, Ontario, 2014. Self-published.

Thanks as well to Amy Lambertsen and the Orillia Public Library for the research assistance.