TOOL, Jacob Hayworth (1838-1915), a native of Pickering Township, Ontario who was born there on 23 May 1838. He worked as a carpenter's apprentice in Markham, then moved to Orillia after 1880 and was active as carpenter and builder. When called upon, he also prepared architectural plans for a variety of works in the town, and was successful in persuading the local Council to accept his plans for a Town Hall and Opera House in 1893. His proposal was sent away for an independent architectural evaluation in Toronto. The firm of Langley & Langley were sharply critical of the dull aesthetics and poor functional planning, and rejected the scheme (Orillia Times, 10 Aug. 1893, 2, descrip. & critique). Tool was then left to watch as a new competition for designs for this building was called and won by the Toronto firm of Gordon & Heliwell. His only consolation was to be later asked to step in and to finish the construction of the Town Hall after the original contractor had suffered a financial failure (biog. and port. Orillia Times, 19 Dec. 1895, Christmas Supplement, 1). Tool moved to British Columbia in 1898 and settled in Vancouver, and later died there on 14 March 1915 (death notice The Province [Vancouver], 15 March 1915, 12).
(works in Oriliia, Ont.)
GRANDSTAND, at the Orillia Driving Park, 1887 (Orillia Times, 30 June 1887, 4)
COLBORNE STREET, residence for A. Tait, 1887 (Orillia Times, 30 June 1887, 4)
TECUMSETH STREET, new facade on the house of the architect, 1889 (Orillia Times, 1 May 1889, 4)
TECUMSETH STREET, residence for E. Brown, 1889 (Orillia Times, 1 May 1889, 4)
WEST STREET, residence for Wellington Fisher, 1889 (Orillia Times, 1 May 1889, 4)