See GC3HWQ3: Historic Saint John Series – County Courthouse for the first in the series and also links to the rest of the series.
Saint John is a city steeped in history. Commonly referred to as ‘the Loyalist City’ as well as ‘Canada’s Most Irish City,’ Saint John is Canada's oldest incorporated city (1785). Saint John is home to this country's oldest museum and farmers market. Saint John also established Canada's first police force. This city has been welcoming people from Eastern Europe, England and Ireland for centuries, with each group of immigrants leaving their unique imprint on Saint John culture, architecture and language.
The cache location features a very famous building, and intersection for that matter, in Saint John that dates back to 1872. The infamous TS Simms Brush Company.
The roots of the Simms Company can be traced back to 1866 when Thomas Stockwell Simms, an American civil war veteran, invested his soldier's back pay and bonus in a small brush and broom operation in Portland, Maine. For the princely sum of $600, T.S. Simms became a partner in 1868 of a Mr Redland, a broom manufacturer in Portland. Beginning as a salesman, Simms worked a territory from Boston to Saint John and Halifax. During his many trips to the Maritimes he dealt regularly with James Logan and Matthew Lindsay, wholesale grocers of Saint John, who became his largest customers in this area. Logan and Lindsay apparently had a share in a Saint John brush factory managed by a John Murphy, which they felt was not being run effectively. Impressed by Simms, they persuaded him to set up shop in Saint John and form a new corporation with the two of them as well as Murphy. The firm of Murphy, Simms and Company came into being on Oct 9, 1872.
Despite being born with the name 'Sims', T.S.changed the spelling of his name just prior to his move to Saint John because he thought the new spelling looked better in the name of his firm. He was a remarkable man who persisted in the face of many trials and tribulations ranging from the loss of two wives to a disastrous fire of the factory. Simms’s decision to move had possibly been influenced by the construction of the European and North American Railway to link Saint John and New England; perhaps, as well, he saw less competition and greater selling and manufacturing potential in the Maritimes than in the northeastern states. In any event, by 1875 the business employed over 50 people and sold its products throughout Canada.
Simms’s life focused on his family, church, and business. Shortly after his arrival in Saint John he became a member of the Germain Street Baptist Church. In 1874 Simms had been named superintendent of the Sunday-school program, a position he held for 24 years. He was also the first president of the New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island Sunday School Association, and his involvement in the International Sunday School Association brought him into contact with similarly enthused businessmen such as Henry J. Heinz. Having been formally received into Germain Street Baptist Church in 1876, he was made a deacon in 1879, and he held the position for the rest of his life.
After Murphy’s retirement, on 1 Jan. 1877 a new contract was inked between Logan, Lindsay, and Simms which lasted until November 1881. Simms continued without a partner until 1885, when Charles Hardy, a foreman with the firm, joined him. Three years later this association dissolved amicably.
Perhaps because Simms remained closely attached to his family in Maine, he never took an active role in the politics of New Brunswick or Canada. He was none the less alive to his interests. In the fall of 1879, when the federal minister of finance, Sir Samuel Leonard Tilley, was visiting the Simms plant, Simms reminded him that the products of his factory could not compete with the cheaper brooms made by prisoners at the Dorchester Penitentiary. Eventually, Simms would in fact formally protest against the 'competitive manufacture' of brooms by the penitentiary during hearings of the Saint John Board of Trade.
Although Simms’s business had escaped the great fire of 1877, the plant burned down in 1883. He set up a temporary factory on Dock Street before moving into a new plant in the spring of 1884. His business prospered and by 1888 he had 65 employees. In 1895 the firm was incorporated as T. S. Simms and Company, and by 1902 it had moved to an expanded plant on Union Street, the last site Simms would know in his lifetime.
He travelled the world extensively to keep pace with new manufacturer inovations and was one of the first brushmakers to visit China in the early 1900s and buy bristle directly from there.
Most likely while renewing old acquaintances in Portland, Simms learned of a youth movement founded there, the Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavour, and in time began located its first Canadian branch in Saint John. When the Laymen’s Missionary Movement swept North America at the beginning of the 20th century, Simms became the organization’s first New Brunswick vice-president, and he occupied the position right up until his death. In 1905 he initiated the Men’s League, a group within his congregation which encouraged the men of the church to meet for Bible study at the conclusion of morning service during the fall and winter. His last overseas trip, in 1907, focused primarily on religious interests. Among his stops were the Baptist mission fields in the Telugu-speaking districts of India. Impressed by the work being carried on, Simms provided in his will for the construction of a church in Vizianagaram which became known as the Simms Memorial Church. As testimony to his notable efforts and commitment in this respect, his church in India continues to this day with a stronger congregation than ever.
The founders son, Lewis Wesley Simms took over running the Company upon his fathers death in 1908, and served as President for the next half century. L.W. was a dynamic man with a commanding presence. He built on the foundation laid by his father expanding the company from regional to national stature and promoting the development of automated brushmaking equipment. He gained national prominence with the industry and Canadian business scene. He had the notable distinction of being President of both the Canadian Manufacturing Association and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. L.W. was inducted posthumously into the New Brunswick Business Hall of Fame and the Canadian Hardware Houseware Manufacturing Associations Industry Hall of Fame. L.W. Simms has been characterized as a visionary leader in business and employee relations.
Assuming the presidency following his father's passing in 1957, Thomas Stockwell Simms II was at the helm during a period of major developments including the establishment of a machinery division and the acquisition of the Toronto based Boeckh Company a well established Canadian paint brush firm. T.S. II was also instrumental in creating an association between his company and Mosley-Stone, the leading paint applicator firm in England. Aside from these major accomplishments, he was highly regarded by the Company employees for his friendliness and the personal interest he took in each one of them. He retired in the early 70s and passed away in 1998.
Today, Simms continues to be owned and operated by the Simms family. The current Chairman is the great grandson of the founder - Thomas Stockwell Simms III