Quite a Shadow - Glimpses of the Past with Karen Webster

Standing tall among the people who built Blyth in its early days was Patrick Kelly. This gentleman, born in Tipperary, Ireland, was an enterprising businessman who had lumber and flour mills in Blyth. He was the village’s first reeve in 1877 and then served in that post again from 1882 until 1890. He was influential in securing a rail line through Blyth and counted among his friends and associates politicians and businessmen throughout Canada. Patrick Kelly would be quite an act for a son to follow.

 

Patrick’s son, John Basil Kelly, known as John B., was born in Blyth in 1859. He received mention in Blyth, A Village Portrait (1977) as the inventor of an auto-powered vehicle, hardly recognizable as a car, in 1883 and 1884. Its loud noise made it unpopular with area farmers and, thus, its lifetime was short-lived. In his later years, John B. felt that if he had patented it, the history of the automobile would be much different. But, of course, he was not the only person to have had limited success in this field. However, this experimentation with a horseless carriage was just a footnote in the life of this extraordinary man.

 

As a lad of 17, he had witnessed the making of history by being the only young person allowed on the inaugural run of the London Huron and Bruce Railway, the line that his father had championed for Blyth. Young John B. was allowed to blow the whistle at crossings and to throw wood in the firebox to help the train speed along at 20 miles per hour. 

 

There were many other pursuits that interested John B. such as cricket, baseball, figure skating and bicycling. Owning a bicycle had become a burning interest in the youth of Huron County in the late 1880s and early 1890s. John B. often travelled to other centres to give cycling demonstrations. He rode from Blyth to Alvinston on his penny-farthing cycle on one occasion. This was an unwieldy contraption with a large front wheel and a much smaller one on the back. At that time, roads would be gravel or dirt, so propelling such a cycle would involve great strength. 

 

John B. had a mechanical inclination, which served him well in managing his father’s flour mill. It was here in 1881 that he built a steam generator which powered an electric light plant that supplied the people of Blyth. He did not neglect scholarly endeavours and took a correspondence course in steam engineering from a Scranton, Pennsylvania institution. Later, he took a course in electrical engineering from a New York City institution. He later claimed that he was the only electrical engineer west of Toronto.

 

Over the years, he set up electrical installations in many Southern Ontario centres, working in conjunction with the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission.

 

In 1897, the mayor of Goderich, William Proudfoot, and Dr. Shannon, approached John B. about taking over the electrical plant that supplied the residents of that town. At that time, power was only available five nights a week and very seldom in the daytime. John B. took the challenge and, at first, did the job with no pay. In time, he became the manager of the Goderich Public Utilities Commission with jurisdiction over the electrical and water supply for the lakeside town. 

 

One incident, which occurred in World War II, that John B. recalled when reflecting on his long career, was the problem of overloading of the lines from Stratford to Goderich that caused a danger of blackouts in Goderich. John B. studied that problem and headed to Toronto with documentation to support his theory. He faced off with the provincial power commission, accusing them of overloading the Stratford line by serving centres the line was not designed to serve. The result of this meeting of minds was that Goderich received a new power line, installed free of charge. John B. would remain in the manager’s position for over 50 years, in which time his expertise and tenacity brought progress to the commission. Even after 50 years, the Ontario Hydro Electric Commission refused to accept his retirement, stating that he was too valuable to the system. By the end of his career, John B. could boast of improvements for the town including a new 200,000-gallon water tower and plans for a new sub-station (which would be later named in his honour).

 

Although work was a driving force in his life, John B. had several other interests. Even in his ninth decade, he keenly followed Goderich’s baseball and hockey teams and could name all the players. 

 

John Basil Kelly passed away in Goderich on March 20, 1955 at the age of 96. He had been predeceased by his wife, Sarah Collaton, in 1936. Of their five children, only two, Basil and Helen, survived. John B. Kelly was a member of the Holy Name Society, the second member of Goderich’s Octogenarian Club and a former member of the Knights of Columbus. His final resting place is Colborne Roman Catholic Cemetery.

 

Even though John B. had a remarkable father, there was no way that he stood in the shadow of the man. John B. made his own mark in the world with his contributions to industry and municipalities and he numbered among his friends and acquaintances politicians like Sir John A. Macdonald and Senator William Proudfoot as well as hydro-electric pioneer, Sir Adam Beck.