Port Colborne Historical & Marine Museum Digital Collections

James Fortier Letter To W.H. Merritt, Chief Commissioner of Public Works in Toronto- 1850

Description

Sponsors

This item is a part of the 1812 History digitization project. This project was made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy.

Media Type

Text

Item Type

Documents

Description

A letter written by James Fortier who was the Port Colborne Lighthouse keeper after his War of 1812 Service. He had participated at the Battle of Fort Detroit under Major General Sir Isaac Brock for which he received a medal in 1849. He was also in charge of a gun boat on Lake Erie that captured the American vessel "Commencement".The letter is written to W.H. Merritt, Chief Commissioner of Public Works in Toronto. Fortier was asking the government to provide him and his large family either a residence or an additional salary allowance to cover his rent. It was his understanding that other lighthouse keepers were often provided with a house. The letter is a blue one page hand-written note that folds up into the envelope.

For more information, read James Fortier's letter to the Honourable Jean Chabot that is included in the Online Collection. (Object number: 978.162.2)

Date of Original

17 Sept 1850

Subject(s)

Lighthouse keepers
Military - 1812
War of 1812
Brock, Isaac, 1769-1812
War of 1812 Recollections
War of 1812 Veterans
Fortier, James
Battle of Lake Erie
Fort Detroit
Merritt, W.H.

Local identifier

986.82.221

Language of Item

English

Geographic Coverage

Port Colborne

Ontario, Canada

Latitude: 42.8818763407535 Longitude: -79.2452430725098

Copyright Statement

Protected by copyright: Uses other than research or private study require the permission of the rightsholder(s). Responsibility for obtaining permissions and for any use rests exclusively with the user.

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