ESQUESING HISTORICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER P.O. Box 51, Georgetown, Ontario, Canada L7G 4T1 www.esquesinghistoricalsociety.ca The Maple Leaf Forever! In days of yore, from Britain's shore, Wolfe, the dauntless hero came, And planted firm Britannia's flag, On Canada's fair domain. Here may it wave, our boast, our pride, And joined in love together, The thistle, shamrock, rose entwine The Maple Leaf forever! Chorus: The Maple Leaf, our emblem dear, The Maple Leaf forever! God save our Queen, and Heaven bless, The Maple Leaf forever! WOLFE ROUTS MONTCALM AT QUEBEC! BOTH GENERALS SUCUMB! These potential headlines for September 1759 mark the death of the French Empire and mark the ascendancy of the British Empire as the world power. The opening lyrics to The Maple Leaf Forever, although written in 1867, recall the pivotal moment in our history. But once we get past the war between a fading world power and a growing world power, the historian can look at the actual players in the drama – the English, Welsh and Scottish soldiers, the American soldiers, the French soldiers, the Canadiens and the native allies from both sides. These are the people who would forge the foundation of the new Dominion of Canada. The Esquesing Historical Society is pleased to present local author Kevin Gray who has written a book entitled Where the River Narrows. Kevin recounts the story of the 1759 siege of Quebec City through the eyes of the defenders, the attackers and those caught in between. Read his story on page two! Kevin will speak at the March meeting in full uniform! Kevin Gray at Glen Williams 2006 Siege of Quebec City, 1759 War is fickle. It heaps riches upon few and ruin upon many. The people of European descent who established colonies in North America understood this very well. Permanent settlement of both New England and New France began early in the 1600's. The difficulties encountered by the first generations of intrepid colonists, both French and English alike, are myriad and to most of us today, unimaginable. What is surprising is that despite interminable rigors and hardships, the colonists somehow managed to find the time to conduct skirmishes beyond counting and to wage no less than three wars against each other during their first 150 years. Indeed it seems that the ebb and flow of war and peace was as much a part of their way of life as were the tides and seasons. This compelling period of Canadian History came to an end with the British expedition against Quebec in 1759. Kevin Gray is the author of the novel Where the River Narrows. A work of historic fiction, the book tells the story of the siege of Quebec City and the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. The principal characters are fictitious; however, many real persons are portrayed throughout the story for the purpose of illuminating this critical moment in the history of North America. Created with a view to making this exciting period of history more accessible to Canadians, the novel took 7 years to produce and is entirely self published and self marketed. Wearing the uniform of the British Infantry from the period, Gray talks about the history of the Seven Years War in North America and explains in detail how the events at Quebec relate to the larger struggle. Copies of the book signed by the author will be available for purchase. ISBN 0-97369080-1 $23.95 Cdn www.barbermillpublishing.com ESQUESING HISTORICAL SOCIETY SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS Wed. 12 March 2008 Wed. 09 April 2008 Wed. 14 May 2008 Wed. 11 June 2008 Where the River Narrows - Kevin Gray, local author and military re-enactor, will speak to the Society about the British conquest of Quebec and the 40th Regiment of Foot’s involvement in this defining moment in Canadian history. KNOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Main Street, Georgetown, 7:30 p.m. Limehouse Remembered – Local historian John McDonald will share his slide show of the village of Limehouse, which he prepared for the 150th anniversary of the village last summer. Having grown up in the area, he can share many local tales with us. KNOX PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Main Street, Georgetown, 7:30 p.m. The Revolutionary Impact of the Bicycle on 19th century Culture - Donald Zaldin is Vice President of The Ephemera Society of Canada and a past President of The Bootmakers of Toronto. He will speak on the bicycle and its great impact on the culture of the late 19th century. KNOXPRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, Main Street, Georgetown, 7:30 p.m. To Be Announced 2008 ALL MEETINGS ARE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AT NO CHARGE! Refreshments served from 7:00 p.m. Society Notes INTERNET CONNECTIONS The Esquesing Historical Society has an official web site on the World Wide Web. Send your e-mail to mrowe6@cogeco.ca or dlvngstn@sympatico.ca EHS NEWSLETTER John Mark Rowe prepared this newsletter with assistance from Karen Hunter and Dawn Livingstone. Submissions welcome. You may opt to receive your newsletter sent electronically to an e-mail address you provide. MEMBERSHIP Our 2008 paid memberships stands at 64. We had 115 members last year, so there are many people who have not yet renewed. This will be the final newsletter for those who do not renew this month! The individual rate is $10. The family or institution rate is $12. Cheques payable to the Society can be mailed to our post box. Marj Allen, membership secretary, will accept your 2008 fee at the meetings. Renewals for 2008 are now due! ARCHIVES Whenever time allows volunteers continue to plug away at the Archival finding aid and the photograph collection. We’re still hoping to find a volunteer to type up the photograph shelf list on a computer. Contact Mark or Karen and we’ll get you started. Mrs. Elizabeth Grant recently sent us several pages on the Appelbe family, which will added to the Archives. The Esquesing Historical Society has applied for a Federal grant for a summer student this summer. We’ll let you know how successful we are. ARCHIVES OF ONTARIO 77 Grenville Street, Toronto 416-327-1600 www.archives.gov.on.ca A new facility is under construction! UNITED CHURCH ARCHIVES The United Church of Canada Archives closed their reading room on 21 December 2007. In early 2008, The United Church Archives (Toronto) will be moving from the Victoria University campus at the University of Toronto to The United Church of Canada’s General Council Office at 3250 Bloor St. West in west-end Toronto. Public access at this new location will be facilitated by its proximity to major transportation routes, the Islington subway station, and on-site parking. The new location will also allow for more immediate access and integration of the archives collection into the life and work of the church’s national office and the church’s governing body, the General Council. The new facility opens on 5 May 2008. HALTON-PEEL OGS Four Corners Branch Library, 65 Queen St., Brampton. March 30 @ 2 p.m. Dorothy Kew on “British West Indian Genealogical Research” Call Ann Logan at 905-845-7755 STREETSVILLE HIST. SOCIETY The Society meets the 2nd Thursday of the month (Feb, Apr, Oct, Dec), 8:00pm, at Streetsville Village Hall, 271 Queen Street South. Call Norm Potts at 905.858.0070. BRAMPTON HIST. SOCIETY The Society meets at Heart Lake Presbyterian Church, 25 Ruth Ave. at 7:15 March 20 – Dennis Patterson, schoolmaster of Britannia Schoolhouse will speak on the current programmes being offered. MILTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY The Society meets at the Waldie Blacksmith Shop at 16 James Street at 8p.m. on the third Thursday of each month. Thursday March 20 “DEADLY WOMEN OF ONTARIO” with Cheryl MacDonald Thursday April 17 “PLACES OF MEMORY Exploring Historic Cemeteries in Canada” with Jane Irwin OAKVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY Admission Free * Donations Welcome For information about the Oakville Historical Society and the collection, please telephone (905) 844-2695. NASAGIWEYA HIST. SOCIETY The Nasagiweya Historical Society meets the second Tuesday of each month at Nassagaweya Presbyterian Church in Haltonville at 7 p.m. President Eli Daigle 905-854-2628 CONGRATULATIONS KATHIE The Esquesing Historical Society would like to congratulate member Kathie Vanular on her new position as curator to the Whitby History Museum. The museum can be visited on the internet at www.whitbyhistoricalsociety.com . PLAQUE DEDICATION Come out to the Glen Williams Town Hall on Saturday 24th May at 2 p.m. to see the unveiling of the Heritage Halton Hills plaque marking the building as protected under the Ontario Heritage Act. Refreshments will follow! MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL The princely sum of $10 is respectfully requested as soon as possible by all our members to renew for 2008. Please submit by post or in person at our March meeting. This will be the final newsletter for those who do not renew for 2008! FEBRUARY MEETING INTERESTING After the AGM portion of the February meeting of the EHS, we presented Tombstone Tales featuring several members of the Society. Mark Rowe spoke on Rev. Charles Dade; Dawn Livingstone spoke on the Kennedy family and John Watkins; Steve Blake spoke on the Campbell family; John Somer spoke on Frank Black; Hazel Arnold spoke on her father Sam Walker; Karen spoke on the Petch, Duff, Moore, McGraw and Robert Little families. Betty Brownridge also addressed her article in the last issue of the newsletter on David McNeely. ARBOUR DAY APPROACHES! ANY LOCAL CONNECTION? In the April 17, 1912 Georgetown Herald the following appears:   MARRIED - Turpin-Mavor - At Winnipeg, on Thurs., Mar. 7th, by the Rev. David Christie, Annie daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Geo. Mavor of Glass, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to Arthur Henry (Dick), only son of Mr. and Mrs. H.A. Turpin of Watford, Herts, England. HALTON HERITAGE TODAY The Halton Regional Museum at Kelso issued the first edition of a new quarterly newsletter for the Winter of 2008. It is a virtual newsletter, being web based. You can request a copy from museum@halton.ca Georgetown Herald, 3 March1943 8200 new ration books were distributed in Georgetown and Acton districts, in the period from 19th February to the 24th, inclusive. In Georgetown, the new Municipal building at the corner of Mill and Main Street, was the distributing centre, and 4300 books were handed to citizens of this community and district. ESQUESING HISTORICAL SOCIETY 2007 ARCHIVAL REPORT John Mark Rowe, Archivist ARCHIVAL ACTIVITIES Details of Archival activities can be read in the original report. It is a summary of Archives news published in this newsletter over the past year. 2007 ACCESSIONS The Archives had donations from Nancy Mason Paris, Coupeville, Washington,USA; Karen Hunter, Cheltenham; Marna Brearly, Georgetown; Harry and Helen Hope, Georgetown; John Reynolds; Mike Harley, Acton; Ada Shillinglaw-Deans, Langley, BC; Mrs. Jean King, Georgetown; Mr. and Mrs. Don Livingstone, St. Catharines; Knox Presbyterian Church, Georgetown; John Sommer, Georgetown; Hazel Arnold, Georgetown; Kay Dills, Acton; Mary Glendinning, McGillivray Architect; Art Rice, Terra Cotta; Trevor Raymond, Georgetown; Nan Hurst, Acton; David Naylor, Georgetown; Estate of Dorothy Hill, c/o Bob Hill, Delhi; Mac Sprowl, Acton; Mrs.. Lesley Bridgeford, Tiverton; Claudia Alden Case, San Carlos, CA; Ken Johnson, BC; Ismey Bird, Milton. EXTENT OF HOLDINGS Textual – General Collection: 44 linear metres Textual - Restricted Collection: 0.64 linear metres Textual - Newspaper Collections: 14 linear metres Cartographic Collection: 241 items Architectural Drawings: 136 sets Photograph Collection: 17 664 images (processed) Digital Images Collection: 15 000 images (processed) est. Audio-Visual Collection: 1 linear metre Negatives Collection: 23 linear metres (mostly un-processed) WEBSITE USE – esquesinghistoricalsociety.ca Our website had 7131 visits over the past year, looking at 16912 pages. These visits originated in Canada 54% of the time, followed by the United States 24% of the time. Ten percent were unidentifiable followed by Sweden, Great Britain, China and Australia. The unique visitors to the site (once only) were 87%. Our exact address was typed in by 35% of users while 41% found us through Google. Besides searching for our address directly, the most popular search phrases were Limehouse (3.36%), Terra Cotta Inn, Ballinafad, Esquesing, Terra Cotta, Glen Williams, Speyside, Acton Free Press and Georgetown Herald (0.64%). There were 362 downloads from the site, 58% of which were for our Archival Table of Contents. Next in popularity was the book list at 31.5% and third was the newsletter at 10.4% The most popular months of use were October, followed by May with the three summer months showing consistent high usage. The three winter months were lowest. Inquiries received by topic: INQUIRY INQUIRY Fire insurance map copyright John and Mary Nicklin of Acton Membership; family history 7 & 9 William St., G’town History of Fairgrounds Park, G’Town. Avian Aircraft Swackhamer / Denny families sent painting of G'town Station, by Jack Nieuwhof,  picked up at thrift shop in BC Kennedy / Williams families; visit to Georgetown Ezra Adams Dayfoot Boot factory Ghost in Wesleyan Church Kennedy/Higgins families    Acton book Moore farm aeroplane disaster. Sylvia Forster Origin of “hungry hollow” Georgetown Victorias soccer team Miller/Stull families  Watkins family Jewish Farm School  Adams family Offer of digital print of Forster home in Glen Williams and family tree Beecham House / McKay family Joseph Gibbons & hotel Ernie Martin estate Family of Sam Armstrong Janet Campbell: A Tale of Upper Canada by Alpheus E. Byerly. Membership and Williams family Williams family Petch family Gwen Williams Milton HS inquiry about photo prices. William Ashenhurst EHS00028 GTR station designers Samuel & Catherine Armstrong Penstock at Dolly Varden William & Mary Trotter Torrance Beardmore Denny Family Photos of Acton School Board 1927 to donate Photos of Glen Williams for housing development Large Church bible from St. Paul’s, Norval Use of Beek family photos 65 Maple Ave history The EHS keeps a record of inquiries made and the name and address of the interested party. If any of the above mentioned topics are of interest to you, we will attempt to contact the person and ask for permission to share their address with you. Please note that most inquiries are by e-mail and addresses do expire. The Esquesing Historical Society Archives are housed within the Georgetown branch of the Halton Hills Public Libraries. We would like to thank the Library Board and staff for their support and cooperation over the years. We would especially like to thank Geoff Cannon for his support and hard work on our behalf over two decades. J. M. Rowe, Archivist Georgetown Herald, April 17, 1912 Esquesing Council Nearly $200 Paid out for Shovelling Snow Name Location Allan, Joseph Town Line at Terra Cotta Anthony, W.H. 27 Sideroad Campbell, George C. and others Shovelling snow in county road system Chisholm, L. 27 Road Division Coulter, John Town Line at Terra Cotta Fisher, Thomas J. 117 1/2 hours at 15¢ per hour, Division No. 26, Given, David Shovelling snow in county road system Graham, George County Road, 7th Line Hagyard, Stephen 48 hours at 15¢ per hour Leslie, George Shovelling snow in county road system McClure, A. Town Line at Norval McColl, D.J. Division No. 26 McColl, D.J. County Road McDonald, Ronald Road Division 21 McDonald, Ronald Division No. 20 McDonald, Ronald County Road McDougald, Duncan and others Second Line McLarty, John 36 hours at 15¢ per hour Price, Harding County Road, 27 Sideroad Scott, W.W. Division 34 Sprowl, Alex Shovelling snow in county road system Stark, Robert Division No. 19 Thompson, J.R. 16 hours shovelling snow Tucker, Joseph Check Line Walter, John County Road Division near Acton Wes Rutledge uses his team and blade to clear King Street, Terra Cotta, just outside the General Store in 1958. EHS 1377 Revised AGM Financial Statement Esquesing Historical Society Annual Financial Statement - January 31, 2008 Income Balance on Hand - January 31, 2007 $ 13,884.48 Ontario Heritage Development Grant $ 378.00 Membership Fees $ 697.48 Publication Sales - Georgetown Book $ 3,762.11 Other $ 863.06 Archive Sales - Photo Reprints $ 153.23 Donations $ 117.02 Royalities - Access, The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency $ 183.55 $ 6,154.45 Total Income $ 20,038.93 Expenses Administration $ 255.62 Newsletter $ 637.15 Rent - Meeting Halls $ 620.00 Honorarium - Speakers $ 342.09 Membership Fees - Ontario Historical Society, Archive Assoc. of Ontario, Friends of Ontario Archive $ 122.70 Entrance Fee - Leathertown Festival $ 55.00 Publications Purchased for Resale $ 30.00 Advertising - Halton Hills Community Guide $ 145.99 Archive Costs - Supplies $ 666.50 - Photo Acquisition $ 102.97 Projector $1,526.43 Total Expenses $ 4,504.45 Balance on Hand - January 31, 2008 $ 15,534.48 ACTON FREE PRESS April 1922 An ice storm had power off from Friday at 6:30 until Saturday at 4:30. All the factories in town were closed. Business at the sole leather tannery of Messrs. Beardmore and Co. is growing rapidly... capacity to be increased to 1000 finished sides per day. The Merchants Bank sign was replaced on Saturday with “Bank of Montreal”. -6 April, 1922 A special meeting was called by council Thursday evening with a request that citizens attend to show which route they desired the provincial highway to take through Acton… 13 April, 1922 1 Esquesing Historical Society Newsletter