This heritage house overlooking beautiful Washademoak Lake was built as a family home by Charles Doney (1804-1884), farmer and storekeeper. Charles married Mary Cowan Doney (1808-1900) and, together, the couple had seven children. Within a decade a large store was built onto the house, and the Doney's flourished here as merchants, farmers, and lumbermen. A post-office was operated from the premises for the Parish of Johnston. This was a fairly elaborate house for the time featuring a double parlor, fine interior trim, four fireplaces, and four splendid tall chimneys, fluted pillars, and beveled glass leaded doors. The house has 13 room. The house retains it Gothic architecture so common during the Victorian era. There have been some interior changes (it is suspected that the back dormer was added later), but on the whole it is remarkably close to the originals. In 1926, at the age of five, Audrey Frances (Doney) Merritt, daughter of Moses and Lalage (Vallis) Doney, moved with her family to the Doney homestead in Codys, New Brunswick. After graduating as an RN from Victoria Public Hospital, Fredericton, in 1945, Audrey had a long and fulfilling career as a nurse, first working in rural New Brunswick, then at the Saint John General Hospital and finally at Loch Lomond Villa from which she retired in 1977. Audrey Merritt passed away at the age of 89 on October 1, 2010. (Source: Audrey Frances Merritt: In Memoriam.ca - Moses Doney: Ancestral Trails Genealogy). July, 1957, Charles and Helen Bishop purchased the house and property from the Doney family. Phyllis Bishop Patterson Brown, sister to Raymond Paul Bishop (1946-2019) , did not reside in the house but her two sisters, three brothers, including a nephew to Charles and Helen, and John Bishop lived in the Doney homestead. The summer of 1958, a year after the family had taken up residence, Charles and Helen's eldest son, Cecil, drowned in the nearby lake. The Bishop family continued to reside in the house until 1969. Charles Bishop had fallen ill and all of the younger family members had moved with their own families. A decision had been made to sell the house. The contents were sold by auction. Richard Brown, Phyllis Bishop Patterson's son, acquired the sideboard that belonged to the Doney family. Charles and Helen moved to Sussex. During the period that Charles and Helen Bishop owned the Doney homestead, there were many more outbuildings, separate from the house. (Source: Richard Brown, Raymond Paul Bishop's nephew. Email communication to Kevin Crannie, June 28th, 2020). Between the period of 1969 - 1970, the Veitenheimer's purchased the Doney homestead deciding to settle in Codys. There were no interior or exterior structural repairs made to the house. There was no extensive landscaping in an effort to keep the grounds maintained. The Veitenheimer family lived in the home for up to a period of four years. The Bond's were the fifth family to actually live in the house, and under their care it had been lovingly refurbished (over a period of four years, beginning in 1974), decorated, and restored. An interesting feature near the front of this property is an abandoned lime kiln, used in the last century to burn lime. The driveway is on the Doney (or Salmon Creek) road just off Route 710. Russell Bond (1927- 2008) was born on May 6, 1927, in the parish of Kars, Kings County, New Brunswick to the late Harold and Gladys (Earle) Bond. In 1950, Russell married Leola Flewelling from Kingston and they moved to Toronto to begin their family. He was hired by Tip Top Tailor’s company head office and later owned his own business, Russ Bond’s Men’s Shoppe on Danforth Avenue in Toronto. In 1960 the family embarked on a new life as market gardeners in Peterborough from their home and made many friends from the Great Lakes area. He rejoined Tip Top Tailors in 1961 and moved back to the Maritimes with his family settling into Leola’s family homestead in Kingston. They became involved in the Kingston community and Russell was manager of Tip Top Tailors in Saint John until 1967. Over the course of many years he had cultivated an interest in Antiques and left the tailoring business to establish his own shop 'Settler’s Cabin Antiques'. Around this time he entered a new occupation with his family as an auctioneer specializing in the sale of Fine Art & Antiques. His Kingston Auctions became legendary and Russell Bond quickly gained respect, always eager to share knowledge with his auction crowd. He entertained his auction patrons with his antics, quips and stories and was told many times 'Russell, You Could Sell Ice to Eskimos'. With his amazing stamina he conducted marathon auctions for some 40 years, and continued on with his son, Kevin, for the remainder. Leola Alice Bond (1926-2006) was born January 14, 1926, in Kingston, New Brunswick, the daughter of Fred and Pearl (Burgess) Flewelling. Leola graduated from MacDonald Consolidated School, Kingston, as valedictorian, in 1943 and was a recipient of the Governor Generals Medal. She trained as a beautician and hairdresser and after marriage worked in such places as Manchester Robertson Allison, Saint John, and later the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. She had a small hair salon in her Kingston home for some years. She worked with her husband for forty years in their family auction business .
Permanently moving to Codys in 1976, Russell and Leola became actively involved in the community and were noted for their hospitality and willingness to share the house with friends. They were involved in their local church, outreach ministry, and active members of the Gloria Dei Singers, an ecumenical choir founded and directed by Mrs. Shirley Cooper. After Leola's sudden death on July 25, 2006, Russell continued to be active in the community until his death July 27, 2008. Following Russell's death, his son, Allan Bond, continued to live in the residence for the next five years. Preparing to sell the property, immediate exterior structural repairs, including interior repairs and renovations throughout were completed over the course of three years. This heritage house is dated 1858. In 2013, the Bond residence and property was put on the market. Mr. Alan Whittaker of Saint John, who owns Try Al's Trucking Company, Ltd., a privately held company, purchased the 162-year-old century house. Exterior upgrades included an addition to the century-old barn, a graveled driveway, and major landscaping in an effort to keep the grounds maintained as the Bond's envisioned.
This majestic historic house, formerly, Charles Doney homestead (1858), this example of Queens County Heritage is currently home to new owners who have a hobby farm with a few animals. [1] Comments are closed.
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