History Notes - John Gainen and his family
History Notes
To begin this week, we had a successful meeting last week with various topics to deal with- the August markets are coming up in a couple of weeks and there was also discussion re moving the September and October markets to tie in with other Barraba functions. More on those as the time comes.
There is a request for information re the Trevallyn Road which we do not quite understand -the person enquiring has made it sound as though it was the first road in the district which is not correct.
The President reminds all members to sign in when we visit the museum, even for a few minutes, the numbers count for interest in the museum. We will have to make an effort to do this.
The well-known photo on the back page of last week's News attracted my attention as needing some further information. This photo appeared in the 1983 centenary history of the Upper Horton School. This article stated that the hotel was owned by John Gainen and his family- later owners were Mr. Miller, Charlie Russell and then the O'Briens - no mention of Otto Rabe who owned Hotels in Bingara and Barraba!
Researching back in history we note that the Maitland Mercury in May, 1878, described the Upper Horton as a small village, 24 miles from Barraba, with 2 stores, a butcher's shop, one hotel, and two bakeries.
It seems the Gainen family moved to the Horton in 1880. Mrs. Gainen's mother, Mrs. McManus, died soon after they arrived in 1880 and was the first to be buried on the river bank near the bridge. The Gainen family grew up at Upper Horton and the daughters married becoming Mrs. O'Brien, Mrs. Charles Brett and Mrs. Jack Moylan while the surviving son, Jack Gainen married Muriel Keenan. Sadly, the eldest son, Nicholas, was killed in a fall from a horse in 1889.
From the Upper Horton Valley history compiled in the 1970's, we find that the hotel had its own bakery and sometimes baked 60 loaves in the brick oven.
In the early days the mail was handled in a small room at the side of the hotel - Miss Jean White, later Mrs. Frank King, was one of the first to run the post office. She also taught at the first school which was on a ridge to the west of the hotel in the common. Barraba dentist, Mr. Goodall, could also be consulted at Gainen's Hotel.
John Gainen, was a landowner owning 500 acres on the western side of the river and more land on the eastern side. The Horton Races were held at Gainen's Hotel in 1898 but as far as I know the racecourse was along the road to the west, on the common.
When the river flooded it cut the hotel from the rest of the village as there was no bridge and then a bridge got washed away and eventually the present bridge was built. The Post Office and the school moved over into the village for more convenience.
Beside the present bridge over the Horton river, travelers will notice the cemetery which is looking a little uncared for at present. Buried there are John Gainen and his wife, Catherine, both died in 1916, their daughter Margaret Ann O'Brien who died in 1920 and two younger Gainen children who died in 1888 and 1889. Catherine Gainen's parents, Margaret and Patrick McManus were also buried there in the 1880's.
The Upper Horton Hotel continued on after the Gainen family in the hands of Mr. Miller, Charley Russell, and the O'Brien family for another 25 years. The hotel license was surrended on 27th November, 1941, and the building has since been demolished.