133 and 137 Montgomery Street
Georgian houses
Here are two other examples of the Georgian style. Both houses were built in 1842, when this architectural style was just about to end its heyday. Apart of the porch and tin roofing of number 137 Montgomery, these two houses maintain their original appearance, at least on the outside. They are very closely related to 123 Montgomery, architecturally speaking.
The history of 137 Montgomery Street is intimately linked to that of the Crothers family, at least for the first 50 years of this house. The house was built in 1842. Thomas Crothers and his wife Mary Stewart lived in it for decades and it is very likely that this is that their children were born including John William in 1846, future Methodist minister in Ontario. Joel Fisk, the Congregational pastor, baptized little William.
Thomas is variously described in legal documents as a tailor or mechanic, the latter term referring to a skilled craftsman such as a saddler or one who makes and repairs agricultural equipment. Sources specify that he was of Irish origin. Thomas and his wife Mary belonged to the Congregational Church which merged in 1925 with the Methodist and Presbyterian churches to become the United Church of Canada.
After Mary's death, on February 18, 1895, the house passed to William, a Methodist minister in Napanee Ontario. He made a nice gesture and instead of selling it at a profit, he ceded it in October 1897 as an inter vivos gift to his sister Mary, a spinster