John Boughen and friends
Thanks to Steve Beckett
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A John Boughen story:
RUNAWAY TEAM [2010]
My grandfather John had taken a wagon load of apples in barrels into Port Hope and was backed up to the loading dock at the Midland Railway Roundhouse and storage sheds, and was unloading the barrels of apples when a Grand Trunk Train going over the trestle to the south blew its whistle and spooked the team of horses on the wagon.

They took off running away out of the Midland Railway yard. My Dad was sitting on the wagon seat hanging on, my grandfather John was still on the back of the wagon. The horses ran out on to Queen Street and headed north. The reins for the horses were dragging on the ground grandfather John got up over the wagon seat and got on the wagon tongue between the two horses and tried to grab the reins, but he couldn't reach them and he fell down from the tongue between the horses and was hanging on to the tongue upside down being dragged along. He couldn't hang on so he had to let go.

Meanwhile my Dad was still hanging on to the wagon seat and being pretty scared. The horses were galloping quite fast now, north on Queen Street. Just then my Dad said there was a bunch of men standing around in front of the Town Hall and they saw what was happening, so they ran out on to Queen Street and formed a line and were waving their arms and yelling "whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa" and as the horses came up to the men they were able to grab the horses bridles and stop the wagon. My Dad said he was sure glad those men were there.
If those men hadn't been there in front of the Town Hall and the horses had continued on up past where the Capital Theatre is now, and got up to Walton Street, they would have had to turn either left or right, and at the speed they were going the wagon would probably have rolled over, and it's hard to say what would have happened to my Dad.

I know now why there were a lot of men around the Town Hall. About a year ago I was asked to speak at the ACO Port Hope monthly Board meeting about why it was a stupid idea of our present council to build a monstrous addition on to our wonderful historic Town Hall, costing 12 million dollars or more. I was looking for support from the ACO to oppose the building of this addition to the town council, which the ACO gave after that meeting in a letter to town council expressing the ACO board's opposition.

Anyway, in doing research for that presentation to the ACO I came across a photo from the 1880s of the Town Hall with the farmers and horses and buggy's at the farmers market which was held at the Town Hall on Saturdays when the farmers came to town to sell their produce and then buy whatever they needed in Port Hope stores. So now I know the day my Dad was on that runaway wagon was a Saturday, farmers market day, and that's why there were a lot of men standing around in front of the Town Hall like my Dad said.

So thank you farmers for saving my Dad, and thank you Town Hall for being where you are, and I like to think I played a part along with a lot of people opposed to this stupid idea which would have destroyed our Town Hall's dignity.