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.

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.

Indenture between Owen Clifford and Margaret Clifford to John Charles Rykert and William B. Gilleland

Indenture of mortgage deed between Owen Clifford and Margaret Clifford of the Township of Grantham to John Charles Rykert and William B. Gilleland of St. Catharines regarding parts of Lots no. 10 and 11 in the 9th Concession of the Township of Grantham. Registered in the Township of Grantham Register on September 15, 1870 - instrument no. 804 and registered in the Township of Grantham Register of February 8, 1872 - instrument no. 1104, September 15, 1870.

The crystal and molecular structure of thiamine hydroiodide /|nWilliam Edward Lee. -- 260 St. Catharines [Ont.] : Dept. of Chemistry, Brock University,

The x-ray crystal structure of thiamine hydroiodide,C1ZH18N40S12' has been determined. The unit cell parameters are a = 13.84 ± 0.03, o b = 7.44 ± 0.01, c = 20.24 ± 0.02 A, 8 = 120.52 ± 0.07°, space group P2/c, z = 4. A total of 1445 reflections having ,2 > 2o(F2), 26 < 40° were collected on a Picker four-circle diffractometer with MoKa radiation by the 26 scan technique. The structure was solved by the heavy atom method. The iodine and sulphur atoms were refined anisotropically; only the positional parameters were refined for the hydrogen atoms. Successive least squares cycles yielded an unweighted R factor of 0.054. The site of protonation of the pyrimidine ring is the nitrogen opposite the amino group. The overall structure conforms very closely to the structures of other related thiamine compounds. The bonding surrounding the iodine atoms is distorted tetrahedral. The iodine atoms make several contacts with surrounding atoms most of them at or near the van der Waal's distances A thiaminium tetrachlorocobaltate salt was produced whose molecular and crystal structure was j~dged to be isomorphous to thiaminium tetrachlorocadmate.

The pancreatic islet system of the rock bass /|nby Edward Francis Squires. -- 260 St. Catharines, Ont. : [s. n.],

The endocrine pancreas of the rock bass (Ambloplites rupestris) was examined by light and electron microscopy. Two cell types with staining properties similar to mammalian A and B cells, and a third, non-staining cell type were found in the spherical pancreatic islets that were surrounded by a connective tissue capsule and embedded in two small masses of exocrine tissue. From an analysis of the ultrastructure of the A and B cells, a secretory cycle for each of these cell types was proposed. The secretory cycle of the A cell consisted of three well defined stages: (1) A cell production stage: during which A granule formation occurred in the sacs of the Golgi apparatus and the cell was characterized by the presence of numerous secretory granules, some elements of lamellar endoplasmic reticulum, and a homogeneously granular nucleus. The cytoplasm contained few distended cisternae, variable numbers of free ribosomes, microtubules and small vesicles. (2) A cell release stage: during which the release of A granules occurred and the cell usually contained several large distended cisternae and variable numbers of secretory granules. Granule release mechanisms included exocytosis, by which individual granules were released into the extracellular space after their membranes fused with the plasmalemma, and emiocytosis, by which one or more granules were released into a large cisterna whose membrane fused with the plasmalemma and formed a pore through which the cisternal contents passed out of the cell. (3) A cell reorganization stage: during which the changeover from the release stage to the production stage occurred and the reorganization of organelles and membrane structures took place. The cell contained few secretory granules and numerous small endoplasmic reticular cisternae. The cytoplasm exhibited less electron density than either of the other two stages. The A granule after formation underwent a series of morphological changes which were described in four numerically identified phases. The secretory cycle of the B cell consisred of two stages: (1) B cell production stage: during which the B granule formation occurred in the sacs of the Go1gi apparatus. The cell was characterized by an irregular outline, the presence of numerous secretory granules, and an irregularly shaped nucleus which contained variable amounts of clumped chromatin. The cytoplasm contained moderate amounts of lamellar endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes, several small vesicles, and an active Go1gi apparatus. (2) B cell release stage: during which the release of B granules occurred. The cell contained a rounded nucleus with dispersed chromatin, several distended endoplasmic reticular cisternae and a variable number of secretory granules. Granule release occu~ by emiocytosis and exocytosis similar to that found for the A cell.

Account book from the Wilcox Estate, 1882-1886

This may be the account book of someone in the wholesale dry goods or grocery business. The account book includes balance sheets for a Waterford store and a Dunnville store. The accounts include clients from several southwestern Ontario communities. Names include Leitch, Turner, Auger, McKim, Beatty, Hewetson, Murton, Bell, Greig, Duggan, Kirk, and Logie. Local Niagara names include: W.B. Chambers of Welland and B.F. Morely of Thorold. Also includes deposit accounts held with Traders Bank of Canada and investments in the Temperance Colonization Society.

City of Niagara Falls Plans, 1846, 1877, 1884, 1886, 1889-1890, 1892-1894, 1903-1905, 1910, 1914, 1919, 1925, 1927-1928, n.d.

The collection consists of 37 plans, surveys or maps of the City of Niagara Falls beginning in 1846 until 1928. Some of the plans were created for the Falls Company, a group of land speculators that included Buchanan, Murray, Street, Allen, Robinson and others. Other plans relate to the building of the suspension bridge and the railway. Some plans and drawing may refer to estate documents in RG 167 Niagara South estate and legal documents collection. Item 22 has been scanned for preservation purposes.

J.W. Spencer fonds, 1866, 1881-1921

Joseph William Winthrop Spencer (commonly known as J.W. Spencer) was a geologist and geomorphologist best known for his work on the geology of southern Ontario and the Great Lakes. He was born in Dundas, Upper Canada in 1851, but moved to Hamilton, Ontario in 1867. In 1871, he began studies in geology at McGill College in Montreal. In 1875 he worked in the Michigan copper mines and shortly afterwards prepared a thesis on the copper deposits. He submitted this thesis to the University of Gottingen in Germany in 1877 and was awarded a doctorate in geology, the second Canadian to earn a doctorate in this field. In 1880, he became a professor of geology and chemistry at King’s College in Windsor, N.S. Subsequently, he taught at the University of Missouri, and then the University of Georgia, but moved to Washington, D.C. in 1894, where he worked as a consultant geologist. Spencer spent much of his life studying preglacial river valleys in Ontario and the origins of the Great Lakes, as well as the Niagara River and Falls. In 1907, he published a book titled The Falls of Niagara: their evolution and varying relations to the Great Lakes. His opinions in these areas differed from some of his contemporaries, namely the American geologist Grove Karl Gilbert. Gilbert published a review of the The Falls of Niagara that exposed some flaws and inaccuracies in Spencer’s estimate of the age of the falls. Spencer’s studies also took him to the Caribbean and Central America. In 1920 he moved back to Canada, but died the following year.

Elisha B. Sherwood letter, February 26, 1845

Elisha Barber Sherwood (1810-1905) was a Presbyterian minister. He began his career as a minister in the Church at Wilson, Niagara County, N.Y., subsequently becoming pastor at various churches in New York, Michigan, and Missouri. He is the author of Fifty Years on the Skirmish Line, a review of his ministerial work.

Instrument of Protest from Edward Barrori Palmer

Instrument of protest from Edward Barrori Palmer, Notary Public of Oakville regarding a protest by Samuel Sutherland, Master of the schooner Elizabeth and Charles McEacherin, mate. The schooner belonged to the Port of Niagara. It set sail from Port Credit to the Port of Niagara. On the 15th day of May there was a violent storm. On the 16th day of May, part of the deck and cargo consisting of lumber went overboard. The mainsail was lost and the jib was split due to the wind. All losses and damages should be borne by the merchants and whomever else it concerned and not by or through the insufficiency of the schooner of neglect by the officers and mariners. This is a 2 ½ page handwritten document, May 16, 1837.