Printed Blank Regarding the Insolvent Act of 1864 from James McWhirter to S.D. Woodruff

Printed blank regarding the Insolvent Act of 1864, this was sent to S. D. Woodruff in the matter of William Little, an insolvent. There was to be a meeting on the 10th day of October for public examination of the insolvent. The document was signed by James McWhirter, official assignee, Sept. 20, 1866.

Dr. William Hull

Professor of Politics.

William Hogan

Bill Hogan was a student at Brock for two years. Among other things, he was editor in Chief of the Badger, now called The Press, and was involved in all things journalistic. His wife Pauline Hogan graduated from Brock in 1970 as well and both live and work in St Catharines. He is an antique dealer and she is a Theologian and has just earned her doctorate.

William Hogan

Bill Hogan was a student at Brock for two years. Among other things he was editor in Chief of the Badger, now "The Press", and was involved in all things journalistic. His wife Pauline Hogan graduated from Brock in 1970 as well and both live and work in St Catharines. He is an antique dealer and she is a Theologian and has just earned her doctorate.

City of the Falls clippings, 1833, n.d.

The clippings describe the City of the Falls and its attempts by its shareholders to sell lots to this newly developing city. The venture by shareholders W. Allan, James Buchanan, Thomas Clark, J.H. Dunn, Thomas Dixon, General Murray, James Robinson, Samuel Street and William Witla intended to favourably position their city as a destination for “affording an easy approach for the annual assemblage of the Fashionable, the Learned and the Great”. The venture failed due to the building of the Buffalo and Niagara Falls railway.

David William Smith House correspondence, 1798 [transcription]

The correspondence from D.W. [David William] Smith to President Peter Russell regarding Smith’s desire to sell a certain piece of property in Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont.) to be used as a location for a common grammar school. The notice gives a description of the building situated on the property as being adaptable for the use of a school. The Board of Survey convened in December 1798 to examine Smith’s property and gave an appropriate valuation of the properties and buildings Smith was offering for sale. Smith was the deputy surveyor general of lands for Upper Canada.

Gainsborough [Presbyterian] Church records, 1833-1836, 1841-1846, 1855-1857, 1860-1864, 1866 [photocopy]

The Gainsborough Presbyterian Church was organized prior to 1833, but no records were kept until this date. In 1809, the church was lead by Rev. Daniel Ward Eastman. In 1833 the church became part of the Niagara Presbytery of the American Presbyterian Church. The records include transfer of membership, records of marriages, lists of subscribers and session minutes. Photocopies from originals were made in 1977 by E. Phelps, University of Western Ontario, prior to their deposit with the United Church of Canada Archives, Toronto, Ont.

The Welland Canals Foundation, Honourable William Hamilton Merritt and the St. Catharines Historical Society and Museum, 1971-1990, n.d.

‘The Father of Canadian Transportation’ is a term commonly associated with William Hamilton Merritt. Although he is most known for being one of the driving forces behind the building of the first Welland Canal, he was many things throughout his life; a soldier, merchant, promoter, entrepreneur and politician to name a few. Born on July 3, 1793 at Bedford, Westchester County, N.Y. to Thomas Merritt and Mary Hamilton, Merritt’s family relocated to Canada shortly after in 1796. The move came after Merritt’s father petitioned John Graves Simcoe for land in Upper Canada after serving under him in the Queen’s Rangers during the American Revolution. The family quickly settled into their life at Twelve Mile Creek in St. Catharines. Merritt’s father became sheriff of Lincoln County in 1803 while Merritt began his education in mathematics and surveying. After some brief travel and further education Merritt returned to Lincoln County, in 1809 to help farm his father’s land and open a general store. While a farmer and merchant, Merritt turned his attention to military endeavours. A short time after being commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Lincoln militia, the War of 1812 broke out. Fulfilling his duty, Merritt fought in the Battle of Queenston Heights in October of 1812, and numerous small battles until the Battle of Lundy’s Lane in July 1814. It was here that Merritt was captured and held in Cheshire, Massachusetts until the war ended. Arriving back in the St. Catharines area upon his release, Merritt returned to being a merchant, as well as becoming a surveyor and mill owner. Some historians hypothesize that the need to draw water to his mill was how the idea of the Welland Canals was born. Beginning with a plan to connect the Welland River with the Twelve mile creek quickly developed into a connection between the Lakes Erie and Ontario. Its main purpose was to improve the St. Lawrence transportation system and provide a convenient way to transport goods without having to go through the Niagara Falls portage. The plan was set in motion in 1818, but most living in Queenston and Niagara were not happy with it as it would drive business away from them. Along with the opposition came financial and political restraints. Despite these factors Merritt pushed on and the Welland Canal Company was chartered by the Upper Canadian Assembly on January 19, 1824. The first sod was turned on November 30, 1824 almost a year after the initial chartering. Many difficulties arose during the building of the canal including financial, physical, and geographic restrictions. Despite the difficulties two schooners passed through the canal on November 30, 1829. Throughout the next four years continual work was done on the canal as it expended and was modified to better accommodate large ships. After his canal was underway Merritt took a more active role in the political arena, where he served in various positions throughout Upper Canada. In 1851, Merritt withdrew from the Executive Council for numerous reasons, one of which being that pubic interest had diverted from the canals to railways. Merritt tried his hand at other public works outside transportation and trade. He looked into building a lunatic asylum, worked on behalf of War of 1812 veterans, aided in building Brock’s monument, established schools, aided refugee slaves from the U.S. and tried to establish a National Archives among many other feats. He was described by some as having “policy too liberal – conceptions too vast – views too comprehensive to be comprehensible by all”, but he still made a great difference in the society in which he lived. After his great contributions, Merritt died aboard a ship in the Cornwall canal on July 5, 1862. Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=38719 retrieved October 2006 Today numerous groups carry on the legacy of Merritt and the canals both in the past and present. One such group is the Welland Canals Foundation. They describe themselves as: “. . . a volunteer organization which strives to promote the importance of the present and past Welland Canals, and to preserve their history and heritage. The Foundation began in 1980 and carries on events like William Hamilton Merritt Day. The group has strongly supported the Welland Canals Parkway initiative and numerous other activities”. The Welland Canals Foundation does not work alone. They have help from other local groups such as the St. Catharines Historical Society. The Society’s main objective is to increase knowledge and appreciation of the historical aspects of St. Catharines and vicinity, such as the Welland Canals. http://www.niagara.com/~dmdorey/hssc/dec2000.html - retrieved Oct. 2006 http://www.niagara.com/~dmdorey/hssc/feb2000.html - retrieved Oct. 2006

Rick Bell Family fonds, 1874-1875, 1879, 1884, 1886, 1888-1889, 1896, 1898, 1909-1910, 1939, 1945, n.d.

Lewis Tyrell married Jane Gains on August 31, 1849 in Culpeper Court House, Virginia. Jane Gains was a spinster. Lewis Tyrell died September 25, 1908 at his late residence, Vine St. and Welland Ave., St. Catharines, Ont. at the age of 81 years, 5 months. Jane Tyrell died March 1, 1886, age 64 years. Their son? William C. Tyrell died January 15, 1898, by accident in Albany, NY, age 33 years, 3 months. John William Taylor married Susan Jones were married in St. Catharines, Ont. on August 10, 1851 by William Wilkinson, a Baptist minister. On August 9, 1894 Charles Henry Bell (1871-1916), son of Stephen (1835?-1876) and Susan Bell, married Mary E. Tyrell (b. 1869?) daughter of Lewis and Alice Tyrell, in St. Catharines Ontario. By 1895 the Bell’s were living in Erie, Pennsylvania where children Delbert Otto (b. 1895) and Edna Beatrice (b. 1897) were born. By 1897 the family was back in St. Catharines where children Lewis Tyrell (b. 1899), Gertrude Cora (b. 1901), Bessie Jane (b. 1902), Charles Henry (b. 1906), Richard Nelson (b. 1911) and William Willoughby (b. 1912) were born. Charles Henry Bell operated a coal and ice business on Geneva Street. In the 1901 Census for St. Catharines, the Bell family includes the lodger Charles Henry Hall. Charles Henry Hall was born ca. 1824 in Maryland, he died in St. Catharines on November 11, 1916 at the age of 92. On October 24, 1889 Charles Hall married Susan Bell (1829-1898). The 1911 Census of Canada records Charles Henry Hall residing in the same household as Charles Henry and Mary Bell. The relationship to the householder is step-father. It is likely that after Stephen Bell’s death in 1876, his widow, Susan Bell married Hall. In 1939, Richard Nelson Bell, son of Charles Henry and Mary Tyrell Bell, married Iris Sloman. Iris (b. 22 May 1912 in Biddulph Township, Middlesex, Ontario) was the daughter of Albert (son of Joseph b. 1870 and Elizabeth Sloman, b. 1872) and Josie (Josephine Ellen) Butler Sloman of London, Ont. Josie (b. 1891) was the daughter of Everett Richard and Elizabeth McCarthy (or McCarty) Butler, of Lucan Village, Middlesex North. According to the 1911 Census of Canada, Albert, a Methodist, was a porter on the railroad. His wife, Josephine, was a Roman Catholic. Residing with Albert and Josie were Sanford and Sadie Butler and Sidney Sloman, likely siblings of Albert and Josephine. The Butler family is descended from Peter Butler, a former slave, who had settled in the Wilberforce Colony in the 1830s. Rick Bell b. 1949 in Niagara Falls, Ont. is the son of Richard Nelson Bell. In 1979, after working seven years as an orderly at the St. Catharines General Hospital while also attending night school at Niagara College, Rick Bell was hired by the Thorold Fire Dept. He became the first Black professional firefighter in Niagara. He is a founding member of the St. Catharines Junior Symphony; attended the Banff School of Fine Arts in 1966 and also performed with the Lincoln & Welland Regimental Band and several other popular local groups. Upon the discovery of this rich archive in his mothers’ attic he became passionate about sharing his Black ancestry and the contributions of fugitive slaves to the heritage Niagara with local school children. He currently resides in London, Ont.

David Skene-Melvin papers, 1918, 1995, n.d.

David Skene-Melvin, literary historian and bibliographer, donated his extensive collection of books on Crime, Mystery and Detective fiction to the Popular Culture Program at Brock University in July 2001. The donation forms a significant part of the Skene-Melvin Collection of Crime, Mystery and Detective Fiction, James A. Gibson Library, Brock University.

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1864

On spine : The Grand Lodge of Canada in the Province of Ontario.

William Van Every fonds, 1784, 1804-1806, 1815-1816, 1828, 1832, n.d.

William Van Every, son of McGregory and Mary Wilcox (Jaycocks) Van Every, was born in New York state in 1765. During the Revolutionary War he joined Butler’s Rangers and served under Captain John McDonnell. He was granted three lots of land in the Township of Niagara, with additional lands granted at later dates. William married Elizabeth, daughter of George Young. Elizabeth was the widow of Col. Frederick Dochstader and mother of Catherine Dochstader, b. 1781. William Van Every died in 1832, his wife Elizabeth in 1851. Both are buried in the Warner Cemetery, in present day Niagara Falls. The children of William Van Every and Elizabeth Young were Mary, Elizabeth, Phoebe, John, Peter, William, Rebecca, Samuel and Joseph. Source: Mary Blackadar Piersol, The Records of the Van Every Family, Toronto : Best Printing, 1947. And, Patricia M. Orr, Historic Woodend, sponsored by Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority, 1980?

Second Welland Canal - Book 1, Survey Map 1 - Entrance, Lock 1 and Port Dalhousie

Survey map of the Second Welland Canal created by the Welland Canal Company showing the areas in and around Port Dalhousie and Grantham Township. Identified structures associated with the Canal include Lock 1, Lighthouse, Lighthouse Keeper's House, East and West Piers, Harbour, Waste Weir, Store House, Collector's Office, Collector Assistant Office, Lock Tender's House and the new towing path. Features of the First Welland Canal are noted in red ink and includes the old Harbour, old Lock 1, old towing path and the original bed of the Twelve Mile Creek. The surveyors' measurements and notes can be seen in red and black ink and pencil. Local area landmarks and businesses are also identified and include streets and roads (ex. Lock Street and Colonel Clark's Cattle Road), Alex Muir's Dry Dock, RandJ Laurie Flouring Mill, R. Laurie and Company Grist Mill, A. Morrison Saw Mill, Johnson's Tavern, a store and a church. Properties and property owners of note are: Concession 1 Lots 21 and 22, John Christie, John Clark, N. Pawling, William Pawling, W. Carter, G.A. Clark, J. Maven, Mrs. Wood, James Drabble and J. Woodall.