It’s Wayback Wednesday, sponsored by Jamie Lockwood, broker/owner of Sutton Group Muskoka Realty!
Brothers John and Robert Scarlett were the enterprising sort. John built the first general store in Utterson while his brother opened a store in his home just across the road. As partners they opened a log store in Huntsville in 1871. The store was located on the west side of the bridge. John added a second log building to the store in the mid 1870s.
John later left Huntsville to run the family business in other areas while Robert built a store on the other side of the bridge where the parkette is today. The Scarlette Bros. enterprise grew into a chain of stores at Uffington, Gravenhurst Bracebridge, Utterson, Port Sydney, Huntsville, Emsdale, and Powassan. They hauled in goods from the St. Lawrence Market in Toronto.
(Photo: Muskoka Heritage Place. Details from Huntsville: With Spirit and Resolve.)
See more Wayback Wednesday photos here.
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I am a descendant of John Scarlett and Robert Scarlett. Both owned stores in Huntsville at one time. I am interested in securing information about both of them during their stay in Huntsville.
You can find properties owned by the Scarlett brothers in various twps., in the 13th and 14th concessions of Brunel for example. I don’t believe they were properties gained under the Land Grant Act; likely purchased outright.
In Sept. 1881 John left the area and the Mercantile Agency of Dun, Wiman and Co. contacted Capt. Hunt, requesting he do a complete, but ‘confidential’ assessment of John and Robert Scarlett.
Capt. Hunts’ notations can be accessed through Muskoka Heritage Place.
I don’t know if he actually did the investigation of the Scarletts, but he noted the request in his diary.