34 Centre Street

Built 1908
John Henry McCabe
Traveller

John Henry McCabe was born on September 29, 1865 in West Zorra, Oxford County to John McCabe (1836-1923) and Betsy (Elizabeth) McKay (1841-1916). He was the eldest of six children. John Henry’s father was born in Ireland and immigrated to Oxford County with his family around 1843. John Henry’s mother was born in East Zorra. His parents married five months before he was born.

John Henry was listed in the census as a farmer (1891) and a farm labourer (1901). It would appear that he was working on his parents’ farm. There is no record of him in the Stratford directories of 1907 and earlier, so we can assume that he and his wife Annie moved to Stratford in 1908 when the house at 34 Centre Street was built. John Henry’s father moved to Stratford around the same time, being listed as a retired farmer.

In the late 1890s, John Henry married Annie Heron, the fifth of eight children born to Robert Heron (1835-1880) and Ann Darling (1841-1885). Both parents were born in Scotland, and they married in Oxford County. Robert was a tailor in West Zorra, Oxford County, probably in Harrington. He had apprenticed in Scotland.

In the Stratford city directories from 1909 on, John Henry was listed as a traveller, the term at the time for a travelling salesman or commercial traveller. He worked in this role until 1932 at the age of 67, and then again from 1935 until 1940 at the age of 75. Perhaps the family’s finances were such that he needed to return to work at that late age. For most or all of his career, John Henry sold farm implements, an appropriate line of products for someone who was raised and later worked on a farm.

When John Henry and Annie moved to Stratford, many of his siblings and his father joined them around the same time. William worked as a traveller, Isabella as a nurse, Elizabeth as a bookkeeper, and George as a traveller.

John Henry and Annie had four children: Ella Ann Elizabeth (1898-1988), Janet Cecile (1901-1966), Gladys Isabel (1903-1993), and William John Heron (1904-1981). Ella was a teacher, working in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay) for many years. Janet was a teacher and married a teacher, living in Niagara Falls. She and her husband met as lodgers at the beginning of their careers. Gladys was a bookkeeper in Stratford, and later lived in St. Catharines, where her husband was assistant engineer officer for the city. William stayed in Stratford, working first as an agent, then as a clerk, an underwriter, and finally as inspector for the Perth Mutual Fire Insurance Company.

On December 27, 1946, Annie died at home at 34 Centre Street from coronary thrombosis and arteriosclerosis. On October 28, 1947, John Henry died in hospital from emphysema from fractured ribs and a punctured lung as the result of falling down the stairs at home at 34 Centre.

Both John Henry and Annie are buried in Avondale Cemetery along with their daughter Ella, their son William and his wife, and John Henry’s parents. John Henry and Annie had eight grandchildren.