Huron-Perth Boomers Summer 2024

y Colleen Maguire
HISTORY
“B
oy wanted” read
the sign in R.R.
Thompson’s photography
studio window on The
Square in Goderich. Reuben
Sallows stood on the sidewalk
and read it a second time.
He needed a job after his
stepmother ousted him from
the family farm.
Goderich’s future resident photographer, Reuben
Robert Sallows, was born on Nov. 11, 1856. His
father, James Hamilton Sallows, was 49 and his
mother, Sarah Tiffin, was just 27. This was James’s
second marriage – he was previously married to
Sarah Morris and together they had nine children.
Unfortunately, in 1849, Sarah passed away and
shortly thereafter James married Sarah Tiffin.
Reuben was the oldest in the new family of four. In
1862, tragedy struck again when Sarah Tiffin passed
away. Reuben was only five years old. In 1869, James
married again, this time to Sarah Styles.
Reuben continued to live and work on the farm as
he grew up. In 1876, Reuben turned 20 and his
stepmother, who had become resentful that the
children from the previous marriage were still on the
farm, told Reuben that he was to leave the family
farm and find a job. He packed up and walked from
his home in Colborne Township to the nearby Town
of Goderich to find work. As he walked The Square,
it was in front of Thompson’s photography studio
that the “Boy wanted” sign stopped him in his tracks.
Reuben went in and had his portrait done by the
photographer. While chatting, Reuben must’ve made
a good impression, because he was offered a job as
a travelling salesman. His salesmanship, eagerness
and energy soon lead his employer to offer the young
man a three-year apprenticeship that began on Oct.
15, 1879.
In 1881, at the end of his apprenticeship, Robert
Thompson, who had operated the photography
business in Goderich for seven years, sold it to
Reuben.
On Aug. 23, 1882, the 25-year-old Reuben married
Flora McKinnon at Knox Presbyterian Church in
SUMMER 2024 • 5