Who knew? the unexpected and random connections between Fred W. Munro and George W. Hoben, druggists and Saint John northenders

During another pandemic related lockdown, I decided to stretch my mind and do some research.  I had no idea that by investigating something random, I would uncover a connection to my own home at 5 Alexandra St. 

Staring at this map for close to a year, this weird little slip (or Slipp – pun intended considering all the Slipp neighbours around our home in 1910) of land in the subdivision plan with the notation “estate of Geo. W. Hoben” intrigued me.  As noted way below in the post, this is called a “prolongation” of land in the 1902 deed.  There is another weird land locked piece of property in the north end I want to write about but that one needs to get bought by the right person before I make things too public… Anyhew, I find this notation so interesting so I did a little digging. 

I encourage any reader to enjoy the City of Saint John’s freely available survey plans ca. 1920.  You can find the properties noted above and many others.  So exciting and provides for a Sunday morning of joy.  

George William Hoben, according to his grave and census records, was born in Jan of 1857 to Reuben Henry Hoben and Elizabeth Ann Currey Hoben in Burton, Sunbury County, NB.  George had a relative, also named George W Hoben though older, from the same area, who himself had a son named Georgie Hoben.  It’s important to be careful when researching George W Hoben because of the same names of these men from the same area and the same extended family during the same timeframe.

Thanks to the wonderful Archives and Special Collections at the University of New Brunswick, I discovered George W Hoben graduated from UNB in 1879. 

 

I have not found George in the 1881 census although I did find his widowed mother living with some of her children in Burton. 

I did find George W Hoben in Saint John in the 1884/1885 directory working at Kilpatrick & Hoben on Main St. [I am not exactly sure where on Main St]. Previous to Hoben arriving in Saint John, Kilpatrick was working alone on Main St. as a druggist and living on Douglas.   George Hoben’s home address in 1884/1885 is not listed but in the 1885/1886 directory he is living on Douglas and still with Kirkpatrick & Hoben.

Here is an overview of George W Hoben from the 1887 St. John Our Dominion publication.

In the 1886/1887 directory changes for George W Hoben – he is working as a single proprietor at Union Hall on Main St and from the 1888/1889 – 1892/1993 directories, this address is identified as 219 Main St.  This means for some time 219 Main St. was identified as Union Hall while north enders remember Union Hall as 357 Main St – this begs some questions like did Union Hall move and what was Union Hall – a collection of businesses? [any information is welcome].

In terms of his home, Hoben is noted as living on Douglas Road which was later changed to Douglas Ave.  For the life of me, I do not understand why Saint John decided to change the name of Douglas Road to Douglas Ave and not change the name “Douglas” considering there is Douglas St. and both Douglas St. and Douglas Rd/Ave connect to Main St. making it very difficult for modern day pizza delivery personnel etc.].  Only the 1889/1890 – 1891/1892 directories specifically list the home address of George Hoben on Douglas Ave as dwelling 22.   This is now a sort of empty space between the Douglas Ave. Christian Church and 20 Douglas Ave.

In the 1891 census, George W. Hoben was noted as a druggist lodging in Saint John living at the home of a widow and her daughter and two other lodgers.

1893/1894 was a big time for George W Hoben – he moved his business to 357 Main St. (Union Hall) and moved his home to 50 Douglas Ave. where he appeared to be one of a few lodgers.  He remained at 50 Douglas Ave until 1897/1898, we do not know where for sure he was on Douglas Ave in 1898/1899, but 1900 will be covered with enthusiasm below.  For the meantime, it is of note that 50 Douglas Ave is still standing whereas 357 Main St. was so cruelly ripped from our streetscape.  I have lamented this loss in previous blogs.  See 50 Douglas Ave below.

On a side note, this past summer I was excited to see work being done on this building, painting etc. and later on Bridge St. I met a local pastor at night when on a walk with my husband admiring architecture.  We got to chatting with the pastor who told me about who he works with and what they are doing to improve 50 Douglas Ave.  I like the random small town feel to Saint John – odd connections everywhere to be found.

Anyhew, 1900 was another big year for Hoben.  We see him still at 357 Main St but he has an additional location at 41 Main which is the terrific corner of Main and Holly.  We might all lament that the turret is no longer on this building but my goodness, it is such a joy to see this commercial building still in existence. Hoben maintained both the main and branch places of his business until he died in 1910.  

See this pic below in the public domain, it shows Hoben’s store where Fred W Munro would later be – Main  and Douglas.  For provenance, click on link.

  

Everyone has seen this postcard of the north end of Saint John on Main St. looking down to the water.  What someone pointed out to me recently is that it’s Hoben’s drug store in the pic – at least the branch that he had.   I LOVE this building on Main and Holly.  

      

I want you to check out this bottle below. While these images are listed on the site as being in the public domain, I would love and prefer to give credit to whomever took these pics and owns these bottles.  What I find so super cool are the references to both “Portland” and the two locations of Hoben’s business.  And who among us does not love a good owl detail?

 

Pic below is from a local flickr site – note my bottles.  

From my own miniscule collection:

Check the monogram out on this beauty where the G W and H are clearly made out:

In 1900, George Hoben is living at 204 Douglas Ave. (and this is where he is living when he died in 1910 – more to come).  Now we come full circle – this is the property I started investigating with that weird slip of land behind it that intrigued me on the map.   I am going to digress for a bit, but before I do, here are some directory snippets from Hoben.

   

1900 (the 557 should read 357):

It is important right now to take a quick detour and discuss Leander Estabrooks – the brother-in-law of George W. Hoben.  Leander Estabrooks married George’s sister Henrietta (Nettie) Rebecca Hoben in 1883. 

It is super confusing looking at the Hoben and Estabrooks families of Upper Gagetown because they have married amongst the families at multiple intervals and seem to like to repeat the same names. I did like a notation in the “Genealogy of the Anglo-Dutch Estabrooks Family of the Saint John River New Brunswick” by Florence Estabrooks that “Upper Gagetown was a favourite place of residence for steamboat men.”

And on the topic of names, I do like the name of one of Leander’s sisters – Marietta Florence Nightingale Estabrooks Babbitt.  It’s neat to see how current events impacts the names chosen by parents (we all remember when Princess Diana died and the flurry of girls born with Diana as part of their names that year).  Consider the prominence of Florence Nightingale in 1855 the same year as Marietta was born.  Do note Leander and Henrietta had many children – one named Florence and another named George Hoben Estabrooks [named after his uncle or one of his cousins – at this time there were three men living at the same time in New Brunswick who were related and all named George Hoben].    

Of note, there is a wikipedia entry for George Hoben’s nephew – George Hoben Estabrooks.  You can find his personnel records from WWI if interested.  

For a description of Leander’s life as ship captain, I have not substantiated the details, see –

I want to acknowledge there is so much information available about Leander and not Henrietta.  The sad truth is the lives of women are so often told through the men in their lives and not themselves.  Below is Estabrooks’ 1917 obituary.

 

Anyhew, back to the life of Leander.  Leander Estabrooks was a ship captain [and for many years Douglas Ave was famous for being populated by ship captains, which later turned into being populated by teachers].  I found Leander on Main St. in the 1890/1891 – 1892/1893 directories.  In the 1893/1894 and 1894-1895 directories the family is living at 42 Metcalfe which, as far as I can tell, was the corner of Holly and Metcalf where the current Alexandra School exists [I found reference to a school on Metcalf near the site of the current Alexandra School – being burned in the 1899 fire – the Indiantown School – [apologies for that word – it was the official school name].  I could not find the family in the 1895/1896 directory but from1896-1897 and 1897-1898 the family is living on Holly – and as we all know from the information above – the corner of Holly and Main is where Hoben opens up a branch of his business.  I do wonder if 82 Metcalfe and the Holly St address are one in the same and if the family lived on the corner of Holly and Metcalfe.  Leander is not found in the 1898/1899 directory which makes me wonder if by this time he had moved to Douglas Ave. 

I had thought, considering Leander lived on Holly St. before the great fire of 1899, that perhaps his dwelling was burned in that fire, but my assumption was wrong.  I read through the newspaper article from the time listing dwellings and businesses impacted and on Holly and Metcalf I did not find the Estabrooks family. 

I did discover in the Reports on the Accounts of the Corporation of the City of Saint John for the  year ending 1899 that an Estabrooks was living in a building owned by Hoben on Douglas that suffered a fire on 7 Dec 1899 (7 Dec has personal significance for me as both the anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the anniversary of my parents’ ill fated marriage [my dad likes to comment that a lot of good men went down in flames that day] but again I digress).

Now this is exciting – not because of the fire – but I know the building.  It is one of my favourites on Douglas Avenue.  Before I share more details of this understated beauty, let’s discuss the fire.   This newspaper clipping from 8 Dec 1899 provides a very robust description.

 

In the 1898/1899 director, we see O’Brien and Mathisen living at 202 Douglas Ave and no mention of 204 Douglas and in the 1900 directory, Esterbrooks, Kenny, Hamm, and Hilyard are listed at 202 and 204 Douglas Ave (no Hoben).  However, the 1899 newspaper article clearly indicates Hoben, O’Brien, Kenny, and Estabrooks lived in the same dwelling owned by Hoben. 

The City of Saint John indicates the George W. Hoben apartments date from 1896 – see the George W Hoben apartments built in 1896 via the heritage conservation areas open data.  Check it out – it is a great free resource.  I am not confident about 1896 – the research does not support this exact year, but I am willing to be wrong and the year is close.  

1899:

1900:

Oddly, the City reported another fire in the home on the 3rd of January, 1903 in the Chief Engineer’s Annual Fire Report.  at George Hoben’s home on Douglas Avenue there was a fire with no loss.  The building was insured for $4,000.

City’s overview:

1958 photo from the New Brunswick Museum Archives:

In the 1901 census, George W Hoben is living in Saint John with Leander and Henrietta and their children Florence, Stella, Arthur, Walter, and George Estabrooks and is noted as brother-in-law.  Funny that Leander is indicated as head of the household yet George owns the dwelling.  In 1901 Leander and family had moved to 234 Guildford St in West Saint John where they remained until 1904 when they moved to 182 Winslow St.  

Please enjoy the 1902 Deed of George W. Hoben to Alice E. Holly [wife of Alexander Barnhill Holly] parcel of land on Douglas Avenue, Saint John, New Brunswick, dated 1 August 1902, 33.6 x 21 cm, from the Barnhill, Ewing and Sanford fonds, F52-8 BES-F52-8 located in the archives on Douglas Ave and reprinted with permission [not to be copied without contacting the Archives].  

George W. Hoben died on 18 Aug 1910 at the General Hospital.  He is buried in the Upper Gagetown Cemetery in Queens County.  

George’s obituary reads “George W. Hoben – The death occurred at the General Public Hospital early this morning, of George W. Hoben, the well known North End druggist.  Mr. Hoben had only been ill a short time, having been taken to the hospital about a week ago.  He became ill, while camping at Harvey (NB.)  He was immediately brought to the city.  Everything possible was done to save his life, but to no avail.  The deceased was born at Burton (N.B.) and was fifty-two years of age.  For about twenty years he conducted a drug store in Main Street opposite Douglas Avenue, and during this time he made a large number of friends who will regret to hear of his death.  He is survived by three sisters, Mrs. H.A. Estabrooks, of Upper Gagetown; Mrs. G. Clowes of Oromocto, and Mrs. L. Estabrooks, of West St. John.  Two brothers – John, of Upper Gagetown, and Reuben, of Burton, also survive.  The body will be taken to Upper Gagetown on the steamer Elaine tomorrow morning at 8:30.”

Also, note this obituary from 1911 of another druggist, Joseph Bardsley, who was noted to have worked with Hoben:

Reading through newspapers after his death, I was SHOCKED to discover a  24 Sep 1910 newspaper notice, just over a month after Hoben had died, an article noting  “The Retail drug business of the late George W. Hoben, Main street, has been purchased by Fred W Munro, for many years a salesman for the National Drug Co. Mr. Munro has resigned his position with the drug company and will give his personal attention to the newly acquired business.” 

See this notice below – published when the Main St building at Main and Douglas was destroyed.  Clearly Fred Munro did not die in 1949, but what is interesting is there is an anecdotal description of how this building and business passed through various hands.  

Further to the newspaper snippet above – I found this fun article from 1957 entitled “Some Medical Highlights of Early Saint John” by 
A. D. Gibbon, M.D., Saint John, N.B.  I highlighted some key names and places.  

Oh my word – Mr. Munro – whose family owned 5 Alexandra from 1920 until 2014 – bought  George W. Hoben’ business.  I noted, and you can read in previous articles, that Mr. Munro’s will makes mention of owning 361 Main St. and providing a perpetual lease to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union which is also noted in Maud Munro’s 1968 will [Maud was Fred Munro’s second wife]. See snippets from their 1929 and 1968 wills respectively below. This suggests Mr. Munro bought both the business itself and the building housing it. What I would like to understand is what happened with Hoben’s branch at Main and Holly after he died in 1910.  In 1912, there was an unoccupied business space in the building. 

In 1911 in the Evening Times we see a notice re “Estate of George W. Hoben, druggist, John F. Hoben and Henry A. Estabrooks of Upper Gagetown, and Leander Estabrooks, of St John, master mariner, the administrators, [unclear] their accounts with petition to pass the same.  Citation issued returnable on Monday, [unknown]th proximo at 11 a.m. HH Pickett, proctor.”

Now, an overview of this beloved building.  Here are some pics I took in 2021-2022 of 202-204 Douglas.   

Below are the plans for the home designed by architect Harvey Havelock Mott.  This man was a well respected architect in Saint John and it is a pleasure to live near one of his beautifully designed buildings.  The floor plans below are retained by the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) and are shared with permission.  I secured copies and if you would like to use them yourself, please contact the great folks at the PANB.  

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Basement

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Ground Floor

It appears to have had three suites.  The one on the right being two levels with an internal staircase and then two on the left.  

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Second Floor

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Front Elevation

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Side Elevation 1

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Side Elevation 2

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Rear Elevation

Is it just me, or is that a sexy centre drain?

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Cross Section

Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB), MC164-3 Tenement House for George W. Hoben, Douglas Avenue, Saint John – MC164-3 – Longitudinal Section

My husband and I joke that there are six degrees of Kevin Bacon in Saint John – though we substitute “Kevin Bacon” and insert the name of a beloved neighbour – Julie – who is connected to everyone.  And this mental exercise confirms that hypothesis – researching this random piece of property produced a link to my own home.  Time well spent in lockdown.   

Oh, and we still do not know why the property is shaped funny.  My husband thinks it relates to the shale rock formations in the back and he believes that Hoben likely walked out back behind the property before Alexandra St. was built thus maybe being an old path that was incorporated into the property lines.  We still do not know for certain.

Update – in July 2023, the CBC published an article naming a prominent Jewish music pioneer who lived in this building!