Sep 30, 2016 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)

GEORGE ARTHUR RENDELL

In the book, British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present (Vol. III, 1914)_[1], we find an interesting biography of one of Greenwood's leading citizens:

"In reviewing the history of George Arthur Rendell one is reminded of the words of a great New York financier "If you're not a success don't blame the times you live in, don't blame the place you occupy, don't blame the circumstances you're surrounded with — lay the blame where it belongs, to yourself. Not in time, place or circumstance, but in the man lies success. If you want success you must pay the price." Realizing the truth of this, Mr. Rendell has paid the price of concentrated effort, of indefatigable energy, of perseverance and well applied business principles and has won the victory which he started out to win years ago. He was one of the pioneer merchants of Greenwood, where he is still engaged in commercial pursuits, dealing in drygoods and men's furnishings.

"A native of St. Johns, Newfoundland, born on the 17th of February, 1861, Mr. Rendell is a son of George T. and Mary (Wood) Rendell, both of whom are living in St. Johns, Newfoundland, where the father is still engaged in mercantile pursuits, having for many years been closely associated with commercial interests there. His son, George Arthur Rendell, was a public school student in his early boyhood days and afterward supplemented his preliminary training by a course in the Church of England College. When he laid aside his text books he entered a commission house, in which he worked for a few years, after which he began farming in the vicinity of Guelph, where he continued for three years.

In 1882 he returned to his native city and in that locality devoted his energies to agricultural pursuits for several years and was also a representative of commercial interests, there conducting mercantile enterprises. In 1892 he came to British Columbia, locating at Vernon, and in connection with an uncle he conducted a cattle ranch until the spring of 1894, when he came to Greenwood.

Mr. Rendell established a store at Boundary Falls and conducted that until the town of Greenwood was located, when he joined Robert Wood and Ralph Smailes in opening the first store in the embryo city. They secured a stock of general merchandise, and upon his removal to his present location he had built the building fifty by one hundred feet, three stories in height.

"As the years have gone by he has dropped other lines of merchandising and now devotes his attention exclusively to dealing in drygoods and men's furnishings. He has a well selected stock carefully purchased with a view to the demands of a general public and his reasonable prices and straightforward business dealing have secured to him a constantly growing patronage.

In January, 1904, occurred the marriage of Mr. Rendell and Miss Marian Manahan, of Lanark, Ontario, and they have a pleasant home in Greenwood. They are members of the Church of England and he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In his political views he is a Conservative, and he was alderman of Greenwood for one year, while for the past three years he has been justice of the peace. He has been strictly fair and impartial in his decisions in the justice court. In all public positions his duties have been discharged with conscientious obligation and with the utmost fidelity."

In our recent article on Greenwood physician, Dr. James Spankie, we found biographical information in both British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present (quoted above) and A History of British Columbia by R. Edward Gosnell. Gosnell's book preceded the other volume by 7 years. But in the case of George Arthur Rendell, the text in both books is identical.

There is another interesting description of George Rendell's business dealings, and perhaps this story helped to inspire the opening paragraph of the bio above, about the importance of being persistent in business efforts. When Rendell opened his first mercantile in Boundary Falls, in late June 1894, he had difficulty getting his first consignment of dry goods and miners' supplies from Penticton. The event was describe in a Boundary Creek Times article:

"It happened just at the time when the Okanagan River changed its bed, and consequently the goods had to be kept at Penticton until a ferry boat was built -- a matter of a month. Then, as the road through Camp McKinney was not completed, the unlucky shipment had to be piloted around by Osoyoos, through the Colville reservation to the mouth of Rock Creek, a charge of $15 being made on every wagon for the honor of enjoying the escort of the U.S. customs officer while passing through the U.S. territory. Arriving at 'Ingram's' it was found that the bridge had gone out, without the slightest regard for the travelling public, and a ferry had to be called into requisition. The river was at flood, running like a mill race, and a very enjoyable and exciting time was spent in conveying the goods across. At last the caravan arrived at Boundary Falls, a little the worse for wear and tear, which nevertheless did not affect the sales. Shortly afterwards, in November 1894, a fairly good stage road from Penticton to Grand Forks was constructed, and the pack train is now almost a thing of the past -- a reminiscence of the good old times when the bucking cayuse saved the grocer the labor of mixing sand and sugar in scientific proportions."

Although George Rendell moved his main operation to Greenwood, he continued to operate his Rendell & Co. general store in Boundary Falls until 1901, when the Greenwood Miner news announced that he had closed the operation and sold his inventory to Xeith & Co., who would be moving it to a new town-site called Rendell, on the West Fork of Kettle River._[2]

His mercantile inventory was relocated to the new townsite named in his honour, but George Rendell himself apparently had little to do with the place. He was instead focused on his Greenwood operation, and on the new railway stop at Eholt, where he also served as Postmaster.

The location of the Rendell townsite was first mentioned in the Boundary Creek Times on March 18, 1899: "Beaverton is already on the market and another townsite is to be surveyed at the junction of Beaver Creek and the West Fork [of the Kettle River]."

In a later edition of the Times, on May 3rd, the Rendell townsite was again mentioned: "R. Smailes, manager of the firm of Rendell and Co., has become associated with Mr. Bell in the ownership of this property … The town is to be known as Rendell in honor of G. Arthur Rendell, senior member of the firm of Rendell and Co."

The Rendell townsite quickly found itself at the center of a hot dispute over 'name and place' rights. Over the course of two years, the neighboring town-sites of Rendell and Beaverton had become strong rivals, until they eventually joined together. The town known today as Beaverdell came about through the joining of these two town-site names: Beaver(ton) and (Ren)dell.

An article in the Phoenix Pioneer on August 10, 1901 announced the merger: "The owners of the two townsites of Beaverton and Rendell, adjoining each other on the west fork of the Kettle River, have decided wisely to combine their interests, the amalgamated place to be hereafter known as Beaverdell — a combination of both the former names."

This letter to the Editor of the Boundary Creek Times in May, 1899 expresses some of the local sentiment on the matter:

Some additional information about George Arthur Rendell's birth, marriages and family is found in genealogy records_[3], which state that George was born in 1861 in Shaldon, Devon, England to George Thomas F. Rendell and Mary Wix Rendell (born Wood). His father George was born in 1826, and his mother Mary was born in 1834.

George had 8 siblings: Frederick John Wood Rendell, Mary Elizabeth Rendell and 6 others. George married his first wife, Edith (Mutch) Rendell (b. 1865) in 1888, at age 27. George later married Marion Laura (Manahan) Rendell in 1904, at age 43. Marion was born around 1870. They had 2 sons: Jack Arthur Rendell and another.

George passed away in 1935, at age 74 — nearly 30 years after the above biographical sketch was written.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] British Columbia from the Earliest Times to the Present, Volume III - 1914

[2] Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of the Boundary Country by Garnet Basque, p. 27

[3] Genealogy record, MyHeritage.com
https://www.myheritage.com/names/george_rendell