This ongoing series from Barrie Historical Archive curator Deb Exel shows old photos from the collection and one from the present day, as well as the story behind them.
5 Peel St.
Robert Albert Stephens was born in Owen Sound in 1860, and lived in Thornbury and Clarksburg before moving to Barrie with his parents when he was about 15 years old.
Young Robert began to learn a trade as a teen, apprenticing with Sanders Bros. tailors.
By the early 1880s, Stephens was working for Dowler Bros., ‘The Cheap Store and Clothing House’. Dowler’s carried a large line of ready-made clothing, claiming to have the ‘largest, most select, and cheapest stock ever showed!’ Although they specialized in ready-to-wear men’s clothing, they also had dress and tailoring departments, and carried gloves, hosiery and embellishments such as ribbon and lace.
The Dowler brothers, with shops in Orillia and Bracebridge as well, wanted to sell the Barrie store. Stephens went into partnership with W.R. Phillips, a clerk at the store, purchasing Dowler’s stock. Stephens would later buy Phillips out.
In 1884, Stephens opened his clothier and gents store. The former Dowler business, now Stephens’, was located at 20 Dunlop St. E., east of Five Points where the United Cigar Store, now Dunlop Street Diner, stands today.
By 1888, Stephens’ shop was considered one of Barrie’s prominent dry goods stores, featuring hats, caps, gentlemen’s furnishings and a notable custom tailoring service which kept 20 experienced workers busy. His reputation for quality goods and professional service was growing his business well beyond the local market.
About 1890, R.A. Stephens purchased this property on Peel Street, situated in a lovely area within one of Barrie’s oldest historic neighbourhoods, The Grove.
In October 1893, Robert married Margaret (Maggie) Willmot, at her parents’ home at the corner of Mulcaster and Sophia streets (now 118 Mulcaster), right around the corner from Stephens’ house on Peel Street.
The couple’s first child, Henry, born in 1895, died as an infant, before sons William Walter (1897) and Robert Bruce (1900) arrived.
With the turn of the century, the early 1900s saw continued growth and success for Stephens’ clothing and gent’s furnishings store. Offering an enormous selection and variety of ready-to-wear fashions, R.A. Stephens and his wide stock of goods could also supply made-to-order clothing.
Boys and men of all ages and sizes could find the most modern styles, including items made by Friedman Bros. of Montreal, which Stephens claimed was the best-fitting clothing in Canada, of which he was the only store in Barrie to carry it exclusively.
Van Allan men’s products and the highly popular W.G. & R. shirts were staples of the clothing lines at R.A. Stephens. Accessories ranged from Hudson’s Bay Knitting Co.’s gloves, mitts and leather coats, along with hats, caps and rain coats.
To complement his business, R.A. Stephens was also an agent for Parker Dye Works, resulting in orders for cleaning, dying and pressing services. Given the quality of his products and services, it was no surprise that Stephens had many loyal customers in and beyond the community. Even those who moved from Barrie continued to purchase from the clothier they had come to depend on.
This customer loyalty and its resulting business translated to employment for many Barrie workers.
At the same that his store was busy and prospering, R.A. Stephens was serving on town council and was chairman of the Fire and Police Committee of the council.
It was during Stephens’ tenure on this board, that substantial improvements were made to the fire hall, as well an electric fire system installed throughout the town. The town hall and fire station were both a short walk from his handsome home on Peel Street.
Tragedy struck in 1911, when Maggie Stephens passed away. Robert would remarry in 1913, to Edith Maude Hayward. They would have three children: Douglas (1916), James (1918) and Margaret (1919).
R.A. Stephens continued to have an active life of community service. While on town council and chairman of the Board of Works, Barrie’s first permanent roads were laid in 1897.
During his seven years on the Board of Education, he was chairman on the building committee for a portion of time during the construction of the new Barrie Collegiate Institute.
Stephens served as president of the Barrie Agricultural Society and while president of the Agricultural Joint Stock Co., built the fair building (where the old rink that burned in 1933 was located), leaving that organization debt free when he left the office. R.A. Stephens was president of the Barrie Fair from 1927 until 1933, and a director for 20 years. He also served on the Parks Committee and Board of Health for 21 years.
On top of an impressive resume of public service, Robert Stephens supported his church, Collier Street United, as a member of the congregation and on its board.
Socially, Stephens was a Past Worshipful Master of the Kerr Lodge, past president of the Barrie Thistle Curling Club and likewise the Barrie Lawn Bowling Club.
But Robert’s lifelong passion was horses: pacers and trotters, which he cared for and drove himself, his name often appearing on the sports page.
Stephens eventually moved on from the Peel Street home, and at the time of his death in 1940, Robert and Edith Stephens were living at 123 Collier St.
The men's wear company that R.A. Stephens founded, his legacy, would live on for decades and generations.
