The story is written by Maizie’s nephew, Wayne Alexander McLeod. Over to you, Wayne!
Maizie (Walton) Eady |
Where to start?
He
owned a very successful construction company H. Walton Construction
specializing in the use of concrete. Sidewalks, driveways, foundations and
other projects such as the Sarnia roller rink, Tuffy Truesdale’s alligator pits
on London Road, were amongst a few. Many of the sidewalks in Sarnia and Port
Huron were contracted to be installed by his company. His name would be
embedded on each corner of the block where sidewalks were installed. These
corners were later removed in order to allow handicap access.
Maizie's father, Harry Walton. |
His
company ceased operations a few years prior but all the equipment such as large cement
mixers (no Ready Mix Cement back then), air compressors, jackhammers,
wheelbarrows, tar boilers, front end loaders, trucks, shovels, etc., remained.
The adjacent three properties beside 310 Cobden Street were basically his
construction yard.
Our house was located at the back of one of the properties at 302 Cobden Street. As children, we grew up in a construction site. That was awesome. Cobden Street was not paved. The city limits at that time was Indian Road. The city would spread hot tar on our street in the summer to keep the dust down. Ice was delivered in the summer twice a week, and in the winter once a week.
Our house was located at the back of one of the properties at 302 Cobden Street. As children, we grew up in a construction site. That was awesome. Cobden Street was not paved. The city limits at that time was Indian Road. The city would spread hot tar on our street in the summer to keep the dust down. Ice was delivered in the summer twice a week, and in the winter once a week.
The McLeod kids. Wayne (with the big grin and hat) is third from the left. |
Every Christmas that I can remember of that time I lived at 302 Cobden Street, we sold Christmas trees. My father would drive north starting at the beginning of late November and early December, and bring back truckloads of Christmas trees. He would do this, two or three times in December.
Sprucedale, Ontario in the Parry Sound District |
After my grandfather’s passing, all debts became due. The revelation was that there was nothing left. The end result was that all his possessions, property etc., was to go into receivership and to be auctioned off. There was a three month grace period for the removal of personal possessions from the home. During my aunt’s clean-up in the attic, there was an old wooden trunk. In it were these stocks: common and preferred shares for an oil company in Oklahoma called Toklan Oil. These stocks were given and signed over to Maizie many years ago by a friend. The neighbor across the road from 310 Cobden Street was curious about these stocks and went to the broker to see if there was any value.
This is where the “you know
what” hit the fan!
The value from the New York Stock Exchange came back
as $18 million. It was unbelievable. $18 million in 1958 was like having the
keys to Fort Knox. It totally stunned all of us. It was a major headline across
the world.
Out of the woodwork came every excuse known to man as to why Maizie should not be giving it all away to people who needed it more than her. Every sleazeball, con artist, entrepreneur, etc., wanted a share and threatened her if they didn’t get it.
Bodyguards had to be hired. We were brought back from
the north for our own protection. As children we were out of school for two
weeks (Easter Break included) which was cool! We were told that each of us
would have $1 million to be put away in a trust for the future.
Maizie was put under a doctor's care after she was informed of her windfall. |
Three weeks later the bubble burst. The claim was that
a secretary in the New York Stock Exchange had made a decimal error and the
value was now $4,300.
How is it possible to go from $18 million to $4,300???
Give me a break!!!!!
It took three weeks for someone to discover a decimal
error??? It struck us as big-money hiding big-money. In order to recover the
value of these stocks it would take hundreds of thousands of dollars to
accomplish this, which we did not have. Corporate America was the winner. The
little guy got it in the “you know what” again.
Things eventually settled down and everything was back to normal regarding the receivership of the company and the auction. The results of the auction and the sale of all equipment and property still resulted in a $50,000 profit for my aunt which in 1958 was very substantial. Her weakness was that she got hooked up with one of the bodyguards and blew the $50,000 in the year.
From rags to riches in three weeks made our heads spin. We were just thankful that we still had a place to go to in the north.
A "millionaire" for 3 weeks. Maizie (left) with her sister, Glayda. |
Regards,
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