Up the Gatineau! Article
This article was first published in Up the Gatineau! Volume 17.
Simmons Post Office 1896-1916
Nancy and Janet Benedict
The first general store in South Hull was the Simmons General Store, owned and operated by Benjamin Alonzo Simmons and his wife Mary Jane {Jennie Radmore), of Eardley, Quebec.
In the spring of 1896. Alonzo was approached by the rate-payers of this large sector, to inquire if he would consider having a Post Office in a portion of his store. He so agreed and a petition was signed by these interested ratepayers, and presented to the Post Office Department in Ottawa, Ontario.
Up to this time people from around here had to walk or go by horseback to Hull, a distance of 8 miles to pick up or mail their letters. Quite a large number of farming families for miles around would find a Post Office here a real boon to them. Permission was granted by the Department, that a Post Office be opened in the County of Wright, Township of Hull, Range 5, Lot 16 under the name Simmons Post Office on July 1, 1896, with the appointment of Benjamin A. Simmons as Post Master.
A prominent sign was erected over the door, ‘Simmons Post Office", and Alonzo and Jennie had the responsibility to see that right and proper postal regulations were adhered to. Mail was handed out, postage stamps, postal rates, etc., were sold. A specific set of scales was used for the weighing of the parcels. Postage for drop letters (unsealed) and post cards was 01 cent, sealed letters were 02 cents.
Alonzo started delivery the next day (July 2, 1896). The mail which had been transacted through this office was deposited in the Hull Post Office, when he was to arrive there at a specific time for to pick up the mail.
At first he went once a week. After a while he went twice a week and sometime later he made 3 trips a week. Again, he was to leave the Hull Post Office at a specific time.
He received an additional $16.00 a year for commission on the postage stamps and postal notes sold at their Post Office. Some time later he was granted permission by the Post Office Department to drop off mail in the residents‘ rural mail boxes along the road home, starting at the Mountain Road [now Gamelin Boulevard) and Iron Mine Road (now Cite des Jeunes Boulevard) out the Pink Road to Deschenes Road (now Vanier Avenue), then north for one mile to his Post Oifice.
He also delivered the neighbours‘ groceries etc. from their store on his way into Hull. All these gestures were greatly appreciated: in turn these same people gave him their business, so as the old saying is, "one good turn deserves another“, and both parties were well satisfied.
As the population expanded, very soon within a radius of 4 miles there were nearly 100 families receiving and depositing their mail through this Post Office.
In winter, clad in fur coat and buffalo robes for these rather long trips, over high snow drifts or hillsides or fallen logs. I (Nancy) well remember that he had many a hard trip, as roads were almost impassable during the spring breakup. Sometimes my father had a man go on snowshoe or horseback to the Hull Post Office for him, in order for the mail to get through. But he never hurried his faithful horse, "Sam", and as the roads improved over the years his trips became much easier and more comfortable.
In the great Hull fire of June 5, 1900, the Hull Post Office was burnt, but it was rebuilt again the same year. Needless to say this was a great inconvenience to many in the meantime. By this time the people here were really accustomed to receiving their mail care of His Majesty's Service on a daily basis at the Simmons Post Office, likewise it was a convenient focal point for local residents to gather to wait for their mail.
Some of their customers perhaps didn't quite realize the personalized service they received. In all probability if the customer was in a great hurry their stamp would have been applied to their mail for them, and/or addressed (as in some cases persons didn't have enough education to even address their mail, let alone sign their own name). Alonzo and Jennie would do their utmost to assure that each specific piece of mail would reach the intended recipient before they would return to sender or treat it as a “dead letter".
No doubt business at this country Post Office increased greatly during the First World War as a number of the young men from this district had left to serve for King and Country, including one of their own sons, Percy.
In 1915 the salary for a country Post Master was $50 for the year, while Alonzo's revenue was all of $50.80 for that year. Like a lot of other places, by August 21, 1915, the Post Office Department was calling for tenders for the delivery of mails on a rural route in this area, as these rural routes were gradually replacing the country Post Offices. The Aylmer East rural route #2. which was approximately 16 miles in length, replaced the route served by the Simmons Post Office when it was officially closed on June 30, 1916.
Nancy (Simmons) Benedict compiled this article in November 1985, with the intention of completing it for the 90th anniversary of the establishment of the Simmons post office, in 1986. She did not live to celebrate that anniversary, but died on Christmas Day, 1985. The article was completed and updated by Janet Benedict in 1988.