Safe and Sound

Bob Ransier has in his home a piece of Creemore’s history.
He has built into the wall of his living room the original safe from the Hisey Company, which had their main office at 176 Mill Street, now the location of Creemore 100 Mile Store.
When he first acquired the safe from Anne Scott, Ransier had to hire a locksmith to get it open. Ransier and Scott agreed to split whatever money was inside.
Once the locksmith drilled open the safe, it was discovered it contained 59 cents and a Columbian penny. That handful of change is still tucked away in the safe, neither of them having gone running to the bank.
Ransier said there is no manufacturer, serial number or identifying marks on the safe, but he is interested in learning more about it. He does know it once belonged to the Hiseys, who had a farm on Ten Hill and a butcher shop in town.
According to the Creemore Star, Mr. Hisey Sr. opened a butcher shop in Gowan’s Hotel (formerly the Sovereign and now Quince Bistro) in 1880. The following year he built the Creemore Meat Market. Mr. Hisey had several sons and these young men soon became interested in the business.
They also shipped live hogs on the local railway, known as the Hog Special. Two of his sons, Sam and Jacob, grew the business under the moniker of S & J Hisey.
Before the bank opened it wasn’t uncommon for Creemore businesses to have safes and vaults because they dealt in large amounts of cash, explained Gerry Blackburn. He said the Hiseys would have paid out big money for shipments of grain as their business expanded. They built a grain elevator and ice storage house, and dealt in coal, apples and seed. All of the money flowed through the head office on Creemore.
Another brother, John Hisey, opened a brickyard, which supplied much of the bricks used to construct the main street buildings.
The Hisey safe later ended up at Alexander’s Five to $1 Store, where Seasons In Creemore is now located at 168 Mill Street.
The store was owned by Earl and Jean Blackburn, and later purchased by Ole and Jim Wines.
“There are reminders of the Hiseys around town. The 100 Mile Store was once their head office, with a vault at the back that is now a storeroom. Two of the Hisey houses on Mill Street still stand. One is on the southwest corner of Mill Street and Johnson Avenue. The other is one of the brick houses across the street. One of the nicest reminders of the Hiseys is the display of peonies in the perennial border along the edge of Johnson Avenue. Jake Hisey, who is also remembered as the originator of Creemore Horticultural Society, planted them,” wrote Helen Blackburn in one of her columns about the Hiseys’ legacy.