On August 6, 1984 I recorded that, “Anyway...I'm not going to discuss business any further - that stuff is covered in my note book (diary) at the office. This writing is supposed to be reserved for anything but the office. Suffice it to say that we are surviving for the time being.” Customarily, the only diary I wrote was the one which I maintained in my home. But I began to keep another diary at the office, probably sparked by no more than boredom in the slow business periods. Considering that I read legal periodicals and articles virtually every day during my lunch break at home, it is not surprising that I felt there was only so much legal education that I could take, so I did not want to spend my spare time at the office doing more of that. And once again, the urge I have to record and document events must have overtaken me at the office.
Maintaining the two diaries (with their distinct subjects of “the office” and “the rest of life”) may have also satisfied some urge (or necessity) I may have felt to keep myself from being totally indulgent about the office, though frankly when one runs one's own little business, it is next to impossible to estrange oneself from the daily preoccupations of the business. It would be unfair to suggest that this preoccupation is simply making money. Having one's own business (particularly, I would assume, when one has no partners) is very much a reflection of oneself. It isn't simply “a job”, and the last thing that normally preoccupies the entrepreneur is retiring. More than once, I felt that I had confined my life to a marriage to my work, whether by my own admission or by comments from others. Perhaps the two diaries symbolized my success in distancing myself from work, though of course that never really happened. The office was always in the back of my mind, like a backdrop to my life. And living in a small town where there are so many other small businesses, it was but a short time in any conversation in the street or at the restaurant before the subject came around (on the heels of inquiries about one's health and the weather) to a discussion of “trade” as Raymond Jamieson so pointedlyreferredtoit. NotwithstandingthatmostofmyClientsanddailycontactswere“everyday people”, it would have dignified our respective undertakings beyond their worth to call them professions. We were, in the scheme of things, all workers, even though many of us were successful in imparting a considerable degree of skill and artistry to what we did. And we all shared a pride in the good work of others, whether you sold real estate, built houses or practised medicine. Likewise, there was, below the surface at least, a considerable distain for those who were sloppy in what they did, and again it did not matter what you did. To say that “professionals” enjoyed a degree of prominence by virtue of their calling was little more than a story-book fiction. No doubt the proximity we all enjoy (or suffer) takes care of that. As part of the large family in a small town, the blemishes of each of us are as apparent and inescapable as those of your next-of-kin.
ThebuildingfromwhichIrunmylawpracticepreviouslybelongedtoDr.JohnK.Kelly. Following are the brief reasons for designation of the building under the Ontario Heritage Act:
"The Doc Kelly Building" 77 LITTLE BRIDGE STREET ALMONTE, ONTA RIO KOA 1AO
"The Doc Kelly Building" 77 LITTLE BRIDGE STREET ALMONTE, ONTA RIO KOA 1AO
The office building was best known as the residence and surgery of the late Dr. John King Kelly and his daughter, Miss Elizabeth Kelly (after whom the first library in Almonte was named).
Pursuant to the Ontario Heritage Act, the building has been designated as being of historical value and interest by The Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee of the Corporation of the Town of Almonte. In the reasons for designation, the following information is recorded:
This building is a good example of the Italianate style of architecture, and it enhances Little Bridge Street. It was constructed sometime between 1883 and 1886. The architect incorporated with skill, considering its small size, features such as arched windows with squared and rounded heads, large eave brackets, a verandah and a variation in setback. The foundation is of rough-cut white limestone, and the walls of red brick laid in stretcher bond. The brickwork at the windowheads reveals a high level of craftsmanship.
Until recent years, when it was converted to offices, it was one of only two residential buildings in the core of Almonte. From 1902 to 1946, it was owned by Dr. John King Kelly.
I note that on July 14, 1983, I made the following entry in my “office” diaries:
Visit from Miss Elizabeth Kelly (born and raised in this office), Mrs. Doris Sherk (sister of Mrs. Marion Graham) and Mrs. Marion Graham (my piano teacher, and widow of the late C. W. Graham, Pharmacist, Almonte).
Interestingly, I was able to obtain the autograph of Miss Elizabeth E. Kelly at the foot of this entry. I say “interestingly” because there was some question in my mind when I met Miss Kelly on July 4, 1983 (when I understand she was well into her eighties) whether in fact she knew her own name. As it turned out, she knew a lot more than that. For example, Mrs. Graham turned to her at one point during our conversation and asked Miss Kelly in that sort of baby talk that is reserved for children or people of limited mental capacity whether she (Miss Kelly) knew where she was (Mrs. Graham had asked her this because my own office, in which we all were sitting, had once been the bedroom of Miss Kelly's parents). To this Miss Kelly simply replied, “Yes. My bedroom was upstairs. There are twenty-four steps going upstairs.” Well, I need not tell you that, upon their departure, I wasted no time in counting the number of steps leading to the top of the stairs, and she was right!
Speaking of Miss Kelly's bedroom, I once heard a story, perhaps it was from Mrs. Marion Graham (Library Board Member May 1953 - December 1975 and Chairman for 20 years), who, with Miss Elizabeth Schoular (Almonte Public School Teacher) and Miss Elizabeth Kelly (Librarian) and other like-minded citizens (W.J. “Jim” Coady, farmer & Chairman, 1953- 1955; Mayor Alex “Sandy” McDonald, In Charge of Dy house & later Superintendent ; Dr. John F. Dunn - Medical Practitioner; Rev. Arthur Hirtle, Baptist Minister; George L. Comba, Director of Comba Funeral Home; Stewart
Pursuant to the Ontario Heritage Act, the building has been designated as being of historical value and interest by The Local Architectural Conservation Advisory Committee of the Corporation of the Town of Almonte. In the reasons for designation, the following information is recorded:
This building is a good example of the Italianate style of architecture, and it enhances Little Bridge Street. It was constructed sometime between 1883 and 1886. The architect incorporated with skill, considering its small size, features such as arched windows with squared and rounded heads, large eave brackets, a verandah and a variation in setback. The foundation is of rough-cut white limestone, and the walls of red brick laid in stretcher bond. The brickwork at the windowheads reveals a high level of craftsmanship.
Until recent years, when it was converted to offices, it was one of only two residential buildings in the core of Almonte. From 1902 to 1946, it was owned by Dr. John King Kelly.
I note that on July 14, 1983, I made the following entry in my “office” diaries:
Visit from Miss Elizabeth Kelly (born and raised in this office), Mrs. Doris Sherk (sister of Mrs. Marion Graham) and Mrs. Marion Graham (my piano teacher, and widow of the late C. W. Graham, Pharmacist, Almonte).
Interestingly, I was able to obtain the autograph of Miss Elizabeth E. Kelly at the foot of this entry. I say “interestingly” because there was some question in my mind when I met Miss Kelly on July 4, 1983 (when I understand she was well into her eighties) whether in fact she knew her own name. As it turned out, she knew a lot more than that. For example, Mrs. Graham turned to her at one point during our conversation and asked Miss Kelly in that sort of baby talk that is reserved for children or people of limited mental capacity whether she (Miss Kelly) knew where she was (Mrs. Graham had asked her this because my own office, in which we all were sitting, had once been the bedroom of Miss Kelly's parents). To this Miss Kelly simply replied, “Yes. My bedroom was upstairs. There are twenty-four steps going upstairs.” Well, I need not tell you that, upon their departure, I wasted no time in counting the number of steps leading to the top of the stairs, and she was right!
Speaking of Miss Kelly's bedroom, I once heard a story, perhaps it was from Mrs. Marion Graham (Library Board Member May 1953 - December 1975 and Chairman for 20 years), who, with Miss Elizabeth Schoular (Almonte Public School Teacher) and Miss Elizabeth Kelly (Librarian) and other like-minded citizens (W.J. “Jim” Coady, farmer & Chairman, 1953- 1955; Mayor Alex “Sandy” McDonald, In Charge of Dy house & later Superintendent ; Dr. John F. Dunn - Medical Practitioner; Rev. Arthur Hirtle, Baptist Minister; George L. Comba, Director of Comba Funeral Home; Stewart
Lee, Merchant - Lee' s Hardware; , was on the first Board of Directors of the Almonte Public Library; Miss Jessie Mathews - High School teacher, Latin, Art & some history) that Miss Kelly was such an avid reader that practically nothing could keep her from her books. Even as a young child, when Miss Kelly was sent to bed by her parents, she would pull the bare lamp-bulb down from the ceiling on its cord, and hide herself and the bulb and the book under the covers so that she might continue to read. Not surprisingly, this heated relationship with a burning bulb proved disastrous one night, as her bed sheets caught fire and sent her fleeing onto the little roof-cover over the front porch of her house, screaming for help. Coincidentally, years after I had bought the building, when I was having some work done on an area near Miss Kelly's former bedroom, the tradesman asked me whether the house had ever had a fire. It was then that I recollected the story I had heard about her reading mishap. Parts of the old brick wall are still charred from that night.
Dr. Kelly was also known as a bit of a character. Mrs. Graham reported to me that he was a very compassionate doctor, but he died a poor man. His books disclosed that he got paid most often in specie (potatoes, cuts of beef, and other such farm products). But he would never let the manner or probability of payment get in the way of him attending to an ill patient, even if he or she were as far away as Clayton on a wintry night.
Business practices have changed somewhat over the years in ways that one might not have realized. For example, the late Mr. R. A. Jamieson, Q.C. told me that it was once common for all professional offices to close on Wednesday afternoons, and to open on Saturday mornings. In the enthusiasm of my first few months of practice on my own in 1978, I adopted the habit of making Saturday morning appointments, but the habit didn't last long. Combined with late night appointments, the hours became a drain, and I realized I needed a period of refreshment, if for no other reason than to allow myself to remain somewhat intelligent about the tasks before me. By contrast to this historic pattern, up until quite recently, most of the local businesses in Almonte were closed on Mondays, and open all day on Saturdays, though this practice did not generally apply to the lawyers in town.
Dr. Kelly was also known as a bit of a character. Mrs. Graham reported to me that he was a very compassionate doctor, but he died a poor man. His books disclosed that he got paid most often in specie (potatoes, cuts of beef, and other such farm products). But he would never let the manner or probability of payment get in the way of him attending to an ill patient, even if he or she were as far away as Clayton on a wintry night.
Business practices have changed somewhat over the years in ways that one might not have realized. For example, the late Mr. R. A. Jamieson, Q.C. told me that it was once common for all professional offices to close on Wednesday afternoons, and to open on Saturday mornings. In the enthusiasm of my first few months of practice on my own in 1978, I adopted the habit of making Saturday morning appointments, but the habit didn't last long. Combined with late night appointments, the hours became a drain, and I realized I needed a period of refreshment, if for no other reason than to allow myself to remain somewhat intelligent about the tasks before me. By contrast to this historic pattern, up until quite recently, most of the local businesses in Almonte were closed on Mondays, and open all day on Saturdays, though this practice did not generally apply to the lawyers in town.
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