Bowslaugh Family fonds, 1860-1861, 1868, 1876-1877, 1880-1882, 1886-1890, 1892-1893, 1895, 1898-1899, n.d.

Edward W. Bowslaugh (1843-1923) was the son of Jacob and Anna (Beamer) Bowslaugh. Edward Bowslaugh married Mary Southward, and the couple had six children, Edgar Morley, Edward Freeman, twins Alfred Malcolm and Alice Mary, Annie Olivia, John Jacob and Mabel Florence. Edward W. Bowslaugh was a farmer, contractor and owner of the Grimsby Planing Mills in Grimsby, Ont. and Bowslaugh’s Planing Mill in Kingsville, Ont. The mills manufactured door and sash trim and other wood related products. Some customers contracted the firm to provide wood products for cottages being built at Grimsby Park, the Methodist camp ground. Some time before 1885 Edward Bowslaugh and his family moved to Kingsville, Ont. to open up a new planing mill and door and sash manufactory. He later sold the Grimsby Planing Mills to Daniel Marsh. The diaries and account books include many names of workers as well as friends and family members residing in the Grimsby and Kingsville areas. James M. Bowslaugh (1841-1882) was the son of Jacob and Anna (Beamer) Bowslaugh. James married first Anna Catharine Merritt and after her death in 1875 he married Mary Gee in 1877. James and Anna had three children, Eliza, James Herbert, George Hiram, all died very young. James and Mary Gee had one son, Charles Leopold Kenneth Frederich Bowslaugh, b. 1881. James Bowslaugh was a farmer and lumberman, much like his younger brother Edward. James’ early diaries often note the activities of himself and his brother Edward. Both Edward and James were heavily involved in the Methodist church, teaching or leading Sunday school and attending prayer meetings. Alfred M. Bowslaugh b. 1873 was the son of Edward W. Bowslaugh and his wife Mary Southward. The school notebook is from his days as a student in Kingsville, Ont.

Bell Family Bible, Miscellaneous, 1895 - 1918

A page from the Bell Family Bible entitled "Miscellaneous" recording the dates and places of birth of the children of Charles and Mary Bell. The birth dates for the eight children listed range from 1895 to 1918. There is also a single entry under the heading "Age of Children of Delbert Bell". This Bible was in the possession of the Rick Bell of St. Catharines. The Bell family is descended from former Black slaves from the United States who settled in Canada.The handwritten entries appear to be as follows: "Ages of the children of Charles and Mary Bell are Wilbert Otto Bell born November 7th 1895 Erie Pa. Edna Beatrice Bell born May 25th 1897 Erie Pa. Lewis Terrell Bell born April 8th 1899 St. Catharines Ont. Gertrude Bell born November 26th 1902 St. Catharines Ont. Charles Henry Bell born June 6th 1906 St. Catharines Ont. Richard Wilson Bell born March 19th 1911 William Willoughby Bell born May 2nd 1912 both in St. Catharines Ontario Age of Children of Delbert Bell March 12th 1918 Delbert Charlie Bell"

St. Catharines Garrison Club correspondence 1899

Correspondence to the St. Catharines Garrison Club from the 19th battalion, Lincoln Regiment related to club meeting space, 1899, signed by John S. Campbell.

Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1898-1899.

Report year irregular.

Annual report of the Commissioners of the State Reservation at Niagara, 1899-1900.

Report year irregular.

Niagara Parks Commission annual report, 1895.

Printed by Order of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

Niagara Parks Commission annual report, 1899.

Printed by Order of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

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.

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1895

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

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1899

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

J.G. Cadham account book, 1892-1895.

Joseph Cadham was born in Lodon, Ont. in 1853. He worked as a clerk for the Fourth Divisional Court for Welland County in Niagara Falls. He was married to Mary Willox and had a daughter, Margaret. Joseph Cadham died in 1942 and is buried in Drummond Hill Cemetery in Niagara Falls.

Battlefield House flyer, n.d.

Battlefield House was originally the home of Mary Gage, a widow who arrived in Canada with 2 children after her husband was killed in action in the American Revolution in 1777. The original house was a log cabin which was replaced by a storey and a half frame house. Col. Nelson was the next owner of the house, and in the middle of the 19th century he raised the roof to make it a 2 storey house and added a large west wing. Successive owners: the Glover, Williams and Fisher families made a few changes to the house. The last owner was D.A. Fletcher who tore down the newer, western half of the building in 1895. In 1899, Mrs. John Calder, a granddaughter of James Gage formed the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society and raised enough money to buy the Gage Farmhouse and the land around it on which the Battle of Stoney Creek was fought. In 1910 this group purchased another 13 acres of the original Crown Grant and made 17 ½ acres of parkland open to the public. The women of the Society renovated and furnished the house. They maintained the building for 63 years. It was due to them that a monument was erected above the house by the Dominion Government. The monument was unveiled on the 100th anniversary of the Battle, June 6, 1913. The house was turned over by the Historical Society to The Niagara Parks Commission on January 19th, 1962. Source: Battlefield House Flyer, information provided by Mrs. E.B. Thompson, past president of the Women’s Wentworth Historical Society.

National Intelligencer, 10 November 1812 (vol. 13, no. 1895) - Newspaper

The Intelligencer was an American newspaper that was established in Washington by Samuel Harrison Smith, a young Jeffersonian-Republican from Philadelphia. The paper was a supporter of the Jefferson and Madison administrations until 1810 when it was sold to Joseph Gales Jr. from North Carolina. In 1812 William Seaton joined Gales as a publishing partner. The paper made significant contributions to the nation and wielded considerable influence in political circles during its publication

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada at the annual convocation, 1895

Annual Convocation proceedings for the year 1895. The title varies slightly and convocation is held at different cities or towns in Canada. Thirty-eighth annual convocation.

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada at the annual convocation, 1899

Annual Convocation proceedings for the year 1899. The title varies slightly and convocation is held at different cities or towns in Canada. Forty-first annual convocation.