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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