28) Jay Clarke Diffin: Elected mayor for the City of Welland in 1921
Vital statistics
Birth: June 7, 1888 at Pelham, Ontario, Canada
Death: June 4, 1940 at Welland, Ontario, Canada (age 51)
Burial place: Fonthill Cemetery (Find a Grave)
Parents: Harry Clark / Alice E. (née Crow)
Spouse: Elva M. (née Tufts)
Children: Harry Wallace / John Woodrow / Lola / Eleanor
Occupations: Construction business / Hotelier
Religion: Anglican
Political affiliation: Liberal
Community affiliations: City Councillor/ President of Welland Board of Trade / Merritt Masonic Lodge / Welland Optimist Club
Profile
Jay Clarke Diffin was born on June 7, 1888 in Pelham to Harry and Alice (née Crow) Diffin. Jay was educated at School Section #3 in Pelham, and then apprenticed as a carpenter with his father who worked in Welland. In 1905 he became a carpenter foreman at another construction firm and worked throughout Ontario on various construction projects. One of these projects was in Welland; he was superintendent on the new water works pumphouse built in 1911-12 on Merritt Island. Then in 1920 he formed his own company that became very well-known in Welland: the Diffin Construction and Supply Company.
He entered municipal politics in 1919, getting elected as a councillor in 1919 and again in 1920. The next year he ran for mayor and won, defeating John J. Patterson (owner of the funeral home which is still in business in Welland) 842 to 564. This is especially notable as he was only thirty three years old, and at the time it was believed he was the youngest man in Canada to have been mayor of a city.
That would be his last year in the municipal ranks, however. He ran for mayor the next year and lost to James A. Hughes 732 to 642. According to what can be found in the newspaper, Jay’s most contentious issue was that he seemed to look for issues in municipal departments and talk of scandal when perhaps there was none. In the gear-up to the 1922 election, James A. Hughes gave this scathing reply to Jay’s claim that his recent integrity probe into the police force didn’t cost the city any money: “Jay Diffin is not a safe man to be entrusted with power. Since being elected to council, he has attacked almost every department of municipal management, and has improved nothing, but as a consequence Welland has received notoriety throughout the country which does the city positive harm. We spend thousands of dollars a year to attract manufactures and population but such scandal-mongering as Diffin continues to carry on not only keeps others from coming here but discourages enterprise on the part of those who are here.”
The public agreed with James who was elected mayor for the next three years. In Jay’s defense, he was very young and he may have tried running the city the way he ran his business, and put too much focus on rooting out corruption and inefficiency. But this doesn’t lead to public or economic confidence, and when performed too far out of balance can lead to higher taxes and stagnation.
Jay went back to focusing on his construction business, and in 1924 moved to Florida for two years where he built and ran a 60-room hotel on Miami Beach. He returned to Welland and his Diffin Construction and Supply Company which he ran until his death on June 4, 1940 at the young age of 51. He died at his home at 83 Shotwell St.
He married Elva (née Tufts) in 1908 and had four children together: Harry Wallace, John Woodrow, Lola, and Eleanor. Harry Wallace would go on to exceed his father’s civic service, getting elected seventeen times as councillor, and three times as mayor in the post-war years of 1947, 1948, and 1949. In fact Harry’s service was so remarkable he was named Welland’s Man of the Half Century in a special 1987 ceremony held in his honour. In 1962 Fifth Ave., near the intersection of Prince Charles Dr. and Fitch St., was renamed to Diffin Dr. in honour of Jay and Harry.
Sources
- “Death Removes J. C. Diffin In His 52nd Year.” Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, June 5, 1940.
- “Final Tribute to J. C. Diffin.” Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, June 8, 1940.
- “Mr. Hughes’ Reply to Mayor Diffin’s Statement on Police Investigation.” The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, December 29, 1921.
- “Police Probe Wasn’t Expense to City; Mayor Diffin Contradicts Wild Rumor.” The Welland Tribune and Telegraph, December 20, 1921.