What began as a simple curiosity about a lack of Johnswood history eventually led author Dave Meyer to Smithsonian archives, forgotten mill records, and descendants of the men who built one of Drummond Island’s most important industrial operations.
Digest: Thank you for joining me for this interview, I’m very excited to hear what you have to say. So let’s get right into it.
What first drew you into the story of the Johnswood Mill?
Dave: This is something that developed over several years. I didn’t know anything about Drummond Island until I was about 20, after I met my wife. That’s when I really started to go to Drummond and learned slowly about the history of it. It was my wife’s family’s go-to vacation spot while our kids were growing up. We had a couple weeks off so we’d head up to Drummond for two weeks, and over that time we just started to learn about places here. My wife knew Carol Martin, she was the previous owner of the Wayfarers Mart on the Johnswood property, she and Carol were good friends, so we got the history of Wayfarer’s early on, then we had a tour of the Stonehouse located nearby. After putting those things together and hearing about Johnswood, I realized there were no real resources that told the whole story. So that’s kind of what pushed me to finally do something about it.
In my intro to the book, I talk about how we collect Drummond memorabilia. A large part of that collection consisted of postcards, but there was nothing really of Johnswood itself. So I was curious, why not? I think that’s when I finally knew I needed to do this. I retired, I had the time, so I thought let’s just delve into this! And so I think I researched for over a year before I really decided I’m going to write this thing. That’s kind of how it all started.
Most everybody here on the island knows Johnswood is a combination of the names Johnson and Wood, but you couldn’t find any information on Harold Johnson or Charles Wood. I’m talking just tidbits. Jill Brumwell had pieces of it from her mother, but not the whole story, so you couldn’t just put the whole thing together. After I delved into it, and I started to see how everything was connected, I thought, Okay… we can do this. This can make a story.
Digest: At any point did this stop being research for you and become something a bit more personal?
Dave: Yes, it did. I don’t know the exact dates when this all happened, but I discovered a company in Buffalo, New York called Wood and Brooks. I learned they had archives at the Smithsonian, and I would say the majority of the archive was about their business in Buffalo, but they had a small section on Drummond. This allowed me to get actual documents and correspondence, and that’s what really got me going.
The second thing, and this was much later in the research was Deborah Bailey, who’s from the island. She had a great uncle I believe it was, who actually worked at the mill. Somehow, he got a whole folder of actual correspondence, bills, invoices, and stuff like that from the mill, and she handed it over to Bob Newell, then he passed it along to me, and that was tremendous. After putting those two together, you get actual documents from the lumber mill itself.
But I think when it really became personal, was when I contacted the great grandson of Charles Wood, I knew he was around because he had a website that was basically for tree cutters, chainsaw enthusiasts. He had posted several things years ago on it, talking about an island. I didn’t know how to get a hold of him, and finally, I got through to his sister who still owned property on the island. Using local resources, I got her number, she gave me his, and that’s when it really took off. Because he’s been on Drummond Island, he knows the place.
He came here as a teenager to the Stonehouse, and he’s the one that sold the Wayfarer’s Mart to the current owners. After that, I met the granddaughter of Harold Johnson. She was just across the pond there. What surprised me was that she didn’t know all this about her grandfather, they rarely spoke about him. She was just flabbergasted about the information that I gave her.
Digest: Did she take an interest?
Dave: Oh yes, in fact, we met her in person. She gave me all of the photos I currently have of Harold Johnson that are included in the book. There were no pictures available on the internet of him. She filled me in on what she knew about him, giving me pictures of him when he was young with his mother, so that’s when I thought gosh, I got to do this now.
I knew two people that were very interested in the story. That’s why I just pushed myself. I don’t know if I would have gone on longer if you and Tom Williams hadn’t worked on the diorama. I just wanted both of those things to happen at the same time. I knew when you guys were going to be finished with the diorama, so I just pushed it to get done. I think I wouldn’t have found much more in researching. I knew it, because I’ve been at it for almost 2 years. But just the contact with the actual relatives, that was what really made it personal to me.
Digest: When you were in your research and discovery phase, what was the most difficult part of piecing together the Johnswood story itself? What were some of the challenges that you faced?
Dave: I know the lack of materials was one of the biggest. There’s still a mystery here I haven’t found yet, and I don’t know if I ever will. I even talked to Charles Wood III and still never found where the two met, I think because Harold Johnson started it on his own. He inherited that land, or it was in his family, so he built that whole mill before Charles Wood ever showed up, so I don’t know how they connected.
In the book, I tell my own theory. Charles Wood was a hunter, and he just loved it. He went to a camp in lower Michigan, near Alpena. And I think he met someone there that said, Let’s go to Drummond. I think while he was hunting on Drummond, and he bumped into Harold Johnson, and because they were both lumbermen they had a connection. Wood worked with lumber and making his pianos. Right? here’s maybe a source for maple that I can use for making them. So they worked out a deal, and I think they were only together for like 2 years. Harold left, but they named the place Johnswood before they did. So it was a combination of both of them there. But, that mystery still is open.
I just had to piece together what Jill (Brumwell) wrote in her books, that’s why I added the stuff from Drummond Island, just to tell people what was going on at the same time. Back then, there were three different localities based on Drummond, not just the people from Johnswood. There was the settlement, and also another out there by Maxton point. They never really got together unless it was a special occasion. It was a big deal to travel to Johnswood, just to go to the store. And so, that information was sketchy about what was happening at Johnswood. Jill filled in some of the gaps writing about her mother’s time there, but it was still very little information to go by.
What was happening at the same time, what was being built, and then Maggie Waltz gets in the picture, because the Finnish people that she brought there, and they get very involved with the mill. So, it all got intertwined with Drummond and the history that everybody knows of Johnswood. I just kind of expanded on it.
Digest: During your research, was there anything you uncovered that genuinely surprised you?
Dave: The one thing I think that really surprised me was the connection Johnswood had with Detour Village across the river. Before Johnswood, the Island Cedar Company was in the same location as Johnswood, it was there for 20 plus years. They moved to Detour briefly, but when they ran out of cedar, they just moved it back to Drummond and the Detour property was left vacant. I forget the timeframe between when they left and Johnswood started. It was a number of years, decades. But the guy that owned the Island Cedar Company was William Hitchcock.
And this is funny, I went to the museum at Detour, and I said Hey, what do you know about William Hitchcock? And I just got a deer in headlights look. I told them how pivitol he was to the area, even though he didn’t live there full time. He was from Chicago, but he would come up a lot to his house in detour. His wife was actually Harold Johnson’s aunt. After I thought about it a lot, I wondered if Johnswood would have even developed at all if that relationship wasn’t there,
When Hitchcock died, Harold’s dad bought his land on Drummond. Then his dad passed it down to Harold. So then Harold said, ‘Hey, this is a great place to put up a mill’, and he did it! So I just didn’t know if that connection would have been made if Hitchcock’s wife wasn’t Harold’s aunt. It’s just that kind of a twist that I never thought about before.
Digest: Yes, that seems a little bit deeper than just coincidence.
Dave: I don’t know if I delve in this too much in the book. I mention it a little bit, but just the difference between Harold and Charles Wood. Harold was born into money. His mother died young, and I believe he married twice after that. In fact, his dad had a son before Harold, to another wife who passed away. Then his second wife later passed as well, his third lasted longer. He was born into wealth, going to a private school as a kid, eventually graduating from Harvard. He was a very brilliant guy when you look at that mill, when you realize it was all electric. That was rare in those days, and then to put it on Drummond making it even more impressive.
Charles Wood was the very opposite. He was older, I think Harold was on the island in his 20s, and Charles didn’t start until he was, I don’t know, in his 40s I think when he came to Drummond. But he was a self made man. He never went to college, and his parents died young, I think when he was 21. Both his parents had died, and 2 of his 3 siblings had died, leaving just him and his brother. And to realize what he did, building that whole factory in Buffalo. He worked for another piano factory, and then he just said ‘I’m going to start my own’, and he did it! So he’s an amazing man when you think about it. He just did it all on his own, he just learned it and did it. He was just such a contrast, and they both really stuck out to me when I researched both of them,
The other thing I thought that kind of surprised me was Johnswood was the big city on Drummond Island. Everybody from the village, that’s what the settlement is called, I guess, people would ride out there in a horse and carriage, and later on in cars. That was because Charles Wood would bring all this fancy stuff from Buffalo and Chicago, and so that was like bringing the big city onto the island.
It was interesting too, because you were really cut off from civilization during Winter on Drummond, They didn’t have phones, those didn’t come till the 50s. That was a big thing for them to go to Johnswood, sometimes it was a trip to the movie theater there. I think after I got all done with the research, I thought man, they only lasted like 12 years there, it wasn’t a long time. Then when it finally got going, I think in 1916, it was done in 1927. That’s only about 11-12 years, so it didn’t last long. But even though everybody talked about Johnswood, they didn’t talk about the failing mill deal that was going to be down by Yacht Haven. Everybody knows it was there, but Johnswood kind of got all the fame, that’s the one that everybody seems to be drawn to.
Digest: My next question is regarding the scope of your research. You went into oral histories, you talked to descendants, went into historical records. What was the one source that you found the most valuable or even the most memorable?
Dave: I heard the audio tapes that Harry Ropp had recorded with Walter Pardridge and some of the early guys that were actually at Johnswood at the time, and he recorded the conversation. I didn’t know these tapes were even in the museum, but one day, I discovered that. Oh, my gosh! So there’s about four of them, and they cover a ton of territory talking to Walter Partridge. And so that was probably the most valuable, because all of a sudden, you’re listening to people that were there. Charles Wood III wasn’t there when it was happening, everyone else has passed away. But Walter, he was a lifelong resident of Drummond Island, and he worked there most of his life at the mill. He’s the one that should have wrote this book, he knew the most about it. I think he died in 1988, yeah, I think it was late 80s. But why didn’t he write? People interviewed him, I have copies of the interviews and articles he’s written, he would have been an excellent author for this book. And so finding those audio tapes in the museum, I guess, was the one that was probably the most valuable. And then I could add all the other stuff from the Smithsonian and the stuff that Deb gave me. Talking to the relatives was valuable, but those audio tapes probably had the most information of the history behind it.
Digest: This one’s a little bit more personal for the residents of the island. Why do you think people on the island still feel so connected to Johnswood today? You touched on it a little earlier saying that’s the that’s the place that people still talk about.
Dave: I think because there’s things left, that’s why they still talk about it. Johnswood Road of course, why is it named Johnswood? and that brings it up in conversation. But then when you go out and see the ruins of the mill, not everybody knows where they are, but most people, the oldies, know where it is. (Editor’s Note: The mill ruins are on private property, not available to the public) Even though the mill is gone, the Wayfarer’s Mart and Stone House were left behind, that’s just a permanent reminder of, that’s where those came from, So I think that’s the main reason. There are still things left. The last part in the book where I wrote about the street names, those are all from Charles Wood’s son, Alton. He named all of those streets there on Pigeon Cove, and those are all names of the Wood family. I don’t know if a lot of people knew that or not. They should now, if they read the book. I doubt very many people knew that. And there’s still that building on Pigeon Cove, the one they just remodeled in the last few years.
My wife wrote a big part of a chapter on the history of the Wayfarer’s Mart. So his idea back in the ’40s was just to build a huge, huge resort there a destination thing, like Mackinaw Island. But it just never materialized. So I think that’s probably the reason they see that building. They see the buildings left, then somebody starts asking the questions. So there’s kind of a ghost of it left behind almost as a reminder for people to keep talking about it.
Digest: I can’t wrap this up until I ask this… where do people buy the book?
Dave: Our museum has it, and DeTour’s museum has it. North Haven gifts also have copies available. I did put it on eBay this winter, and I think I sold four. You know, that tells you how many people know about Johnswood and Drummond.
Digest: Just out of curiosity. Have you approached the detour schools to see if that’s something that they’d want to put in their library?
Dave: That’s an interesting question because I gave a book to the library. She said she couldn’t pull it up, we can’t put this on the shelf it’s not in our system. And I said, well, I got the ISBN number and everything else I’m supposed to have. She said, I know, but I can’t put it in the library till we get it entered, and she can’t do it at the Drummond library. They had to go to the Sault, the headquarters. And I think it took, I want to say six months before they finally got into the system. So now it is on the bookshelf, in the library, and I’ve been in there a couple times and two to four people took it out already. So it’s getting a little exposure there in the library now. I haven’t pursued anybody else, I’m just kind of letting the museum handle it because I know the people that are interested in Johnswood, will go to the museum to see the diorama and pick up a copy of the book.