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The house where Clara Leahy grew up.14 February 2006
826 Water Street, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Clara O'Toole was born in 1914 and lived with her family at 826 Water Street for most of her childhood. Clara's father was 18 to 20 years older than her mother. Clara's father was from Douro (east of Peterborough) as was her husband James Leahy.The house at 826 Water Street was Clara's mother's family homestead. When her family lived there her father would walk out to meet relatives in Assumption, it was a 15 mile walk. Today the house is still in the family, it belongs to her niece, Anne Bowler, but it is now a rental property.
Clara was the eldest of six children. Her father, Nicholas O'Toole, worked at the Canadian General Electric Company. Edison Electric (later C.G.E) opened in Peterborough in April 1891. Lillian (Hayes) O'Toole, Clara's mother, worked as a private duty nurse.
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Clara Leahy.1993
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Nicholas O'Toole was an avid gardener. In addition to a vegetable garden where he grew vegetables for the family table, he also grew and sold flowers at the Farmer's Market. He was famous for his gladiolas. Clara describes her father's garden as wonderful. He also did odd jobs on the side. He was a very good carpenter.A well know gardener named Bob Hunt lived next door to Clara. He traded bulbs with Clara's father. Mr. Hunt was the gardener for the Connal family, who lived in the house that is now Hutchison House Museum. He would show her around the Connal's garden, and the Connals would often give her a bun or a muffin.
Clara attended St. Mary's Convent School (now Knights of Columbus) for elementary school levels. She went to St. Peter's High School for grade 9 to 13. Most classes were taught by nuns in those days. Clara graduated from grade 13, which was unusual for girls at the time. Most girls in the 1930s quit school earlier to prepare to marry.
Clara loved school, although she had a long walk to get there. In high school she was involved with school plays and joined the Sodaloty Club which was a religious group.
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Clara met her husband, James Leahy, in Peterborough. They would go to card games and dances together. He was working on a farm in Douro before he got his job at Sanitary Ice. The ice company was just up the road from Clara's home on Water Street and they knew each other that way.After they were married they lived with her family for a while and eventually got a place at 875 Armour Road (which at that time was known as River Road). They purchased the house and rented part of it out. It was quite an accomplishment to be able to buy a house when it was the Depression and only one person was working.
Clara has a reputation for being a fabulous cook. In her day a lot of the food was made at home and they learned to bake and to cook – not like the fast food days of today. She did a lot of home baking, fortunately she is passing this on to her grandson's wife and learning about Indian food from her. She currently lives with her grandson Arlen and his wife Deedi. Deedi is from India and she and Clara are teaching each other their recipes.
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Statue of the Blessed Virgin and her Mother St. Anne.23 February 2006
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Clara and her husband raised a very devout Roman Catholic family. Their daughter became a nun, and one son became a priest. Their family home was a block and a half from Immaculate Conception Church where they went to church every Sunday and usually to confession every Saturday night. During Lent they would usually go to church every day. Clara was involved in the P.T.A., her sons were all altar boys. The priests were very influential to their family and the church was an active part of their life.One very prized family heirloom is a statuette of the Blessed Virgin with her mother St. Anne. This religious statuette has passed down through four generations of Clara's family. It was a gift from her great-grandmother Ferman to her grandmother Clara Hayes. The statuette then passed to Clara's mother, Lillian (Hayes) O'Toole, and on to Clara (O'Toole) Leahy. Clara's son, Clair Leahy, now has it at his home in Peterborough.
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Clara Leahy's grandmother Clara Hayes.1895
Douro, Ontario, Canada
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Being the eldest child with five younger siblings, Clara spent a great deal of time babysitting. Her mother continued to work as a private duty nurse after her children were born.The children of the family would have helped with some of the gardening. Clara mentions that they had to be careful not to mix the bulbs before they were planted. Clara's father was well known for his flowers.
Clara remembers boys picking berries at the Butler's farm (where Zellers is located now at Lansdowne Street and the Parkway). They were paid 10 cents for picking 6 boxes of berries. They would pick berries in the morning and then spend the 10 cents to get into the movies in the afternoon.
Clara and her siblings picked raspberries every summer at a farm located north on Armour Road (formerly River Road). They would pick at least 30 quarts of berries each year. The Peterborough Golf & Country Club which opened in 1897, was adjacent to the property and when it expanded in 1927 the farmland where Clara and her siblings picked raspberries eventually became part of the golf club. [In his interview, her son, Clair Leahy, recalls picking apples at the 14th hole.] They would take the Auburn Street Bridge (a bridge not many people know about) to what is now the Rotary trail and follow that out to Armour Road which is near where the berries were.
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Certificate of appreciation given to Father Harold Leahy from St. Pius Elementary School.1977
Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
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Clara remembers riding the street cars with her aunt to go to St. Peter's Cemetery. The fare was 3 cents. The boundaries of the street car lines were Langton Street and the corner of Monaghan Road and Lansdowne Street. The street cars in Peterborough ran from the 1890s until 1927.Parades down George Street, running between McDonnal Street and Lansdowne, were a memorable source of entertainment. Clara recalls circus parades with girls on horses, a lion, a tiger, a leopard, and elephants. An organ grinder was always at the back end of the parade.
Clara has memories of the Peterborough Exhibition parades when farmers would herd their cows down George Street instead of using cattle cars. The bull would follow roped to a horse and buggy.
During WWII (1939-45) soldiers were housed at Morrow Park, the location of the exhibition grounds, and no exhibitions were held over the war years. Soldiers would march from Morrow Park to Lakefield (approx. 15 miles north of the city) and back. Their parade route went right past the O'Toole home at 826 Water Street.
For more of the Leahy story see the chapter for Clair Leahy. He is Clara's son.
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