By Ashley Harper In October 2018, CDHS stumbled across an historian's dream at Barnfull O'Goodies in Morrisburg—a collection of over 100 beautifully-preserved postcards addressed to a local family, spanning a period of more than 15 years.
The remaining seven—William, George, Lizzie, Minnie, John Jr., Walter, and Louise—were born and raised in Winchester Township until the family moved to Beckstead, a small settlement south-east of Dunbar, in 1886. Mary Janet McLean, known as Minnie, was born on 4 November 1869. She was described as "naturally sweet and lovable" with an "indomitable spirit." As a child she suffered an accident at school that left her legs partially disabled, but she went on to receive her teaching degree in Morrisburg. By 1899, she was the instructor at the S. S. No. 8 (Forward) schoolhouse located west of Chesterville, where she remained until 1903.
If all of the McLeans had stayed in Dundas, it's unlikely that this postcard collection would exist. This distance means that postcards and letters would have probably been their primary mode of communication, since they would not have had regular access to telephones and visits were likely few and far between. The first two cards, dated 1904 and 1906, were sent to the McLeans when they were in Beckstead.
In March 1907, Minnie bought a home in Chesterville (now 69 Main Street South). Shortly after, Minnie, her parents, and her sister Louise moved into the village, while her brother John moved to the homestead with his wife and children. When Louise married that fall, she went to live with her husband, Shaler Hill, in Winchester. Although both John Jr. and Louise remained close to home, the collection includes a number of postcards from them and their families—usually about going to visit, updates on the children and their schooling, or birthday and holiday wishes.
Caroline and Minnie were left alone in the McLean home. They lived together in Chesterville for another decade. Most of the postcards are from this ten year period between 1908 and 1918. They are from both friends and family living in various places across Canada and the United States. The messages discuss births, birthdays, holidays, deaths, and other significant events. But they also mention little details that provide glimpses into daily life and the more mundane side of things—knitting instructions, school, sickness, and even a tale of a "silly man" who refused to pay his train fare. When researching people who lived so long ago, it is often easy to forget that letter writers weren't faceless entities, and individuals in photographs weren't just stern, stiffly posed figures. The postcards give these people voices and personalities and create connections to their community. They remind us that these people weren't so different from us.
That spring, Caroline sold the Chesterville property to her daughter-in-law, Mary (Gallinger) McLean, wife of William. The family matriarch would spend the rest of her life with Louise and Shaler, eventually moving with them to 126 Strathcona Avenue, where she died on 11 April 1928, a month after her 85th birthday.
These cards will forever be a part of the legacy that they left, along with the many descendants spread across Canada and the United States. Research Materials: Several resources have been prepared for those wishing to read the postcards or research the McLean family. They can be downloaded here:
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By Ashley Harper Death can be a very uncomfortable subject for many. But at this time of year, it's also one that is very hard to avoid. From Halloween movies to haunted walks, it seems to be everywhere. Historically, death and death rituals/practices can provide an interesting look into an individual's life, their community, and the broader culture that they were a part of. Documents produced at the time of death, including memorial cards, also serve as an important historical and genealogical resource.
The Chesterville and District Historical Society has three memorial cards in its collection—those of Mary J. Crawford Hall, Alfred Wilson, and John L. Richardson. The oldest card, that of Mary Crawford Hall, dates back to 1887.
The second memorial card is that of Alfred Wilson, son of John Wilson and Mary Southam. He was born in England around 1859 and immigrated to Canada some time prior to 1881, when he was living in Cornwall with Robert Hodge and family. The census states that Alfred was a carder in a cotton mill. There were three cotton mills in Cornwall at the time—the Cornwall Manufacturing Company, the Canadian Cotton Limited, Stormont Mill, and the Canadian Cotton Manufacturing Company, Canada Mill—but it is not known which mill he was employed at.
Annie lived to the age of 87, dying in 1948--60 years after her husband. She never remarried and is buried beside her sister in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Alfred and Annie's daughter Edith married Ambrose Powell and died in 1943 at the age of 58, leaving no children. Alfred Jr. worked in the textile industry like his parents. He lived a long life with his wife Miriam Aspinwall, dying in 1983 at the age of 95. He left behind one son.
John remained on the farm until his death on 23 July 1909 following a "shock of paralysis". He outlived both his wife and daughter Eleanor, who died in 1895 and 1904 respectively. The three of them are buried together at Oldsville Cemetery in Pope Mills, just outside of Macomb.
Only the Richardson card includes the maker's name—H. F. Wendell & Co. of Leipsic, Ohio. The Wendell company was the largest producer of memorial cards in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th century. A digitized catalogue from about 1920, which includes the card style used for the Richardson card, can be viewed through the Duke University repository. Many people have a box of memorial cards somewhere in their home - a tradition carried on from our grandparents. These collections provide a wonderful opportunity to reminisce about the old times and remember those we have lost. They are also a great keepsake to pass down to future generations.
By Ashley Harper With the advanced polls now open for the 2021 Federal Election, it is the perfect time to bring out these treasurers from our collection: voters' lists for the village of Chesterville from the years 1890, 1932, and 1949. Voters' lists contain the names of those who are eligible to vote. Prior to 1935, municipal lists were compiled—these were used for provincial and municipal elections. Federal voters' lists were created in 1935. Municipal lists, like the ones in our collection, differentiate between who is able to participate in each type of election, with sections for those who can vote at the municipal or provincial level, or both.
Voters’ lists can help fill in the gaps created by these restrictions. As they are taken more frequently than censuses, they are also useful for finding those that moved frequently. Federal voters’ lists from 1935 to 1980 are available on Ancestry (paid membership required), and Library and Archives holds lists from 1935 to 1988 (click here to find out more). The information in these records can vary depending on the year they were taken, the area included, and whether they are municipal or federal lists.
There is also a “description” column that uses abbreviations such as “O and M F” and “T and M F”, which means owner/tenant and manhood franchise. Manhood franchise is a reference to universal male suffrage; in other words, men had a right to vote regardless of whether they owned land. The 1932 and 1949 municipal lists contain the same information, but they replace concession numbers with street names. It is important for researchers to note that the numbers used in the addresses are not house numbers—they correspond to the municipal lot plan. House numbers were introduced in the district during the 1970s, with Winchester adopting a numbering system in 1972, and Chesterville following in 1978. Voters’ lists for areas outside of the villages continued to use lot and concession numbers into the 1990s as rural civic addresses were not implemented in Stormont, Dundas, and Glengarry until 1993. The federal voters' lists are a bit different, and those from 1935 to 1980 include less detail than municipal lists. They do not generally state the marital status or juror eligibility of each voter. When it comes to rural areas, they usually do not contain addresses beyond a rural route (RR) number. However, the parameters of the polling division are described at the beginning of each list, which can help narrow down where an ancestor lived. One positive difference with federal lists is that they include a voter’s occupation. Some municipal lists also included occupation. The following is an excerpt from the 1949 municipal voters' list for Chesterville: For comparison, this is an excerpt from the 1949 federal voters' list for Chesterville: While these three small-town voters' lists can tell a lot about the community, they can also provide insight into broader Canadian society and the changes it underwent over the years. The results of the Women's Suffrage Movement in particular are clearly visible. In 1884, land-owning widows and spinsters (unmarried women) over the age of 21 were given the right to vote in municipal elections across Ontario. In 1917, women in Ontario (except those who were indigenous) were given the right to vote in provincial elections. Federal franchise was extended to female relatives of soldiers the same year as part of the Wartime Elections Act, then to women in general (again, with the exception of indigenous women) in 1918.
There is now a total of about 80,000 eligible voters in the provincial riding of Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry, and about 85,000 in the federal riding of the same name. In the past two decades, voter turnout in this riding has hovered around 50-55% for provincial elections and 60-65% for federal elections. No matter which party or candidate you support, it is important to vote and make your voice heard. Information on how to vote in the 2021 Federal Election in Stormont—Dundas—South Glengarry can be found on Election Canada's Voter Information Service webpage. Scanned PDFs of the 1890, 1932, and 1949 Chesterville voters' lists are available here:
Searchable typed versions are also available here:
By Ashley Harper Collection Highlights is an ongoing series that aims to shed light on some of the interesting items that have been donated to CDHS since its incorporation in 1984.
This suit is made of a thick wool fabric and consists of a vest, jacket, and a pair of pants. It would have typically been worn with a white shirt and collar (they were often separate), along with a tie.
At the time this suit was made, most clothing was still produced by hand, though with the added help of certain textile machines. Standardized items became mass produced and many pieces could be purchased from catalogues and clothing stores. It was no longer necessary for the average person to go to a tailor, but those seeking custom-made garments (such as for special occasions) usually still relied on these skilled workers. The excellent condition of this suit can, in part, be attributed to the quality of work done by S. W. Boyd. Simeon William Boyd was a native of Williamsburg Township, where he was born in 1868 to parents Nathaniel and Christie Ann (Weaver) Boyd. As a youth in the 1880s, he apprenticed under Alexander Cameron, a merchant tailor in West Winchester (now Winchester). Eventually, Simeon branched out on his own, and by 1891 he was working in Buckingham, Quebec. At the end of the year, he married Anastasia O'Neil and within a short time the couple moved to Chesterville. From 1892 to 1898, he operated a tailoring business on the northwest corner of Mill and Victoria Streets (now 2 Mill), opposite the McCloskey Hotel. At the beginning of 1899, he moved his shop to the Kearns Block on Main Street, which burned in Sep 1991 and is now the parking lot between PharmaChoice and Scotiabank. S. W. Boyd’s business moved to Winchester on 3 August 1903 and remained there until at least late 1915. The exact location of his shop has not been found, but it is known that the family lived on St. Lawrence Street. Simeon's former master, Alex Cameron, was still in business on Main Street during this time. By 1919, the couple and their four children had moved to Ottawa, where Simeon worked as an insurance agent until his death in 1933 at the age of 64. He and his wife, along with two sons, are buried at Maple Ridge Cemetery in Chesterville.
From this, we know that this suit was commissioned by Simeon Casselman. Simeon Barnett Casselman, known as Sim, was born in 1874 and was the youngest child of Philip Arnold Casselman and Catherine Elizabeth Sutherland. He was a resident of the Grantley/Goldfield area, having lived his whole life on the family farm at Lot 6, Concession 1 of Finch Township (now 14412 Casselman Road).
After they were married, Sim and Jean went on to have a large family of seven children: Margaret, Marion, Donald, Douglas (died young), Harold (killed in action in WWII), John, and Eleanor. The couple remained at the Casselman farm for the rest of their lives, with Sim passing in 1956 and Jean following in 1967. Both Sim and Jean, along with several of their children, are buried at the Grantley United Church Cemetery.
Sim was ill for some time prior to his death, so his daughter Margaret and granddaughter Mary (daughter of Donald) were living on the home farm to help care for him. After he passed, Mary was given this suit, which she held on to for over sixty years before donating it to CDHS. Over a century after it was made, it now lives on to tell the story of S. W. Boyd, Sim Casselman, and their families. |
CDHS publishes articles about interesting photos, artifacts, people, events, buildings, etc. that relate to the history of Chesterville and District. If there is something that you would like to see, email us at [email protected]
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