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.

Office of the City Clerk, St. Catharines Records, 1928-1974, n.d.

The site of present-day St. Catharines was settled by 3000 United Empire Loyalists at the end of the 18th century. From 1790, the settlement (then known as "The Twelve") grew as an agricultural community. St. Catharines was once referred to Shipman's Corners after Paul Shipman, owner of a tavern that was an important stagecoach transfer point. In 1815, leading businessman William Hamilton Merritt abandoned his wharf at Queenston and set up another at Shipman's Corners. He became involved in the construction and operation of several lumber and gristmills along Twelve Mile Creek. Shipman's Corners soon became the principal milling site of the eastern Niagara Peninsula. At about the same time, Merritt began to develop the salt springs that were discovered along the river which subsequently gave the village a reputation as a health resort. By this time St. Catharines was the official name of the village; the origin of the name remains obscure, but is thought to be named after Catharine Askin Robertson Hamilton, wife of the Hon. Robert Hamilton, a prominent businessman. Merritt devised a canal scheme from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario that would provide a more reliable water supply for the mills while at the same time function as a canal. He formed the Welland Canal Company, and construction took place from 1824 to 1829. The canal and the mills made St. Catharines the most important industrial centre in Niagara. By 1845, St. Catharines was incorporated as a town, with the town limits extending in 1854. Administrative and political functions were added to St. Catharines in 1862 when it became the county seat of Lincoln. In 1871, construction began on the third Welland Canal, which attracted additional population to the town. As a consequence of continual growth, the town limits were again extended. St. Catharines attained city status in 1876 with its larger population and area. Manufacturing became increasingly important in St. Catharines in the early 1900s with the abundance of hydro-electric power, and its location on important land and water routes. The large increase in population after the 1900s was mainly due to the continued industrialization and urbanization of the northern part of the city and the related expansion of business activity. The fourth Welland Canal was opened in 1932 as the third canal could no longer accommodate the larger ships. The post war years and the automobile brought great change to the urban form of St. Catharines. St. Catharines began to spread its boundaries in all directions with land being added five times during the 1950s. The Town of Merritton, Village of Port Dalhousie and Grantham Township were all incorporated as part of St. Catharines in 1961. In 1970 the Province of Ontario implemented a regional approach to deal with such issues as planning, pollution, transportation and services. As a result, Louth Township on the west side of the city was amalgamated, extending the city's boundary to Fifteen Mile Creek. With its current population of 131,989, St. Catharines has become the dominant centre of the Niagara region. Source: City of St. Catharines website http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/governin/HistoryOfTheCity.asp (January 27, 2011)

Proceedings : Grand Lodge, A.F. & A.M. of Canada in the Province of Ontario - 1939

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

Bell - Sloman Wedding Day Photo, 1939

This photograph was taken on the wedding day of Richard Nelson Bell and Iris Sloman in 1939. Pictured in the photograph, from left, are: Charles Bell, father of Richard Nelson Bell; Josephine Sloman, mother of Iris; Richard Nelson Bell; Iris Sloman Bell; Mary Bell, mother of Richard Nelson Bell; and Albert Sloman, father of Iris. This family photo was in the possession of Rick Bell, of St. Catharines, Ontario. The Sloman - Bell ancestry includes escaped Black slaves from the United States.

Richard Nelson Bell - Iris Sloman Wedding Day Photo, 1939

A black and white photograph taken in 1939 on the occasion of the marriage of Richard Nelson Bell to Iris Sloman. Pictured in the photograph, from left to right, are: Bert Sloman; Richard Nelson Bell; Iris Sloman Bell; and Helen Beatty Sloman. This photograph was in the possession of Rick Bell, the son of Richard Nelson and Iris Bell. The Bell - Sloman family descends from former Black slaves from the United States.Bert Sloman (Albert Edward Sloman) passed away in 1986 at Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. His wife Vera Matilda Sloman passed away January 4, 2011 at Cambridge Memorial Hospital. They had a son, Ron Sloman.

Richard and Iris Bell Wedding Day, 1939

Richard and Iris (Sloman) Bell are pictured on the grounds of unknown gardens, possibly in Niagara Falls, on their wedding day in 1939. This photo was among the family memorabilia in the possession of their son, Rick Bell, of St. Catharines.

James D. Tait Company Limited Fonds, 1890-1939 [non-inclusive]

James D. Tait (1836-1907) came to Canada in 1855 from Scotland. He worked in the dry goods business until he established the James D. Tait Company in 1864. The business was first located on Ontario street and specialized in furs. The business expanded to include dry goods and dress-making. After the building was destroyed by fire, Tait established and expanded the business into the Prendergast building on the corner of St. Paul and William Streets. James D. Tait died in 1907 while on vacation in Muskoka. In 1912 upon the resignation (or removal) of Benjamin Brick and Arthur Harbour, Stanley G. Smith joins the company as a director and secretary-treasurer. 1918/1919 vice-president E.J. Dignum dies. 1919 S.J. Inksater becomes a director of the company (His stock was purchased by the J.D. Tait Co.) By the 1930s the business, still in the same location, was under the leadership of Malcolm Stobie, President, Samuel J. Inksater, Vice-President and Stanley G. Smith, Secretary-Treasurer. The James D. Tait Company Limited ceased operations on 17 August 1933. The 1935 St. Catharines city directory records John Stobie, a former manager of the James D. Tait Company, operating a dry goods business at the same location, but with one-third the size of the original store space.

Township of Crowland. Petition and letter regarding a land dispute, 1854, 1855.

Consists of a petition by residents of the Township of Crowland, and a letter addressed to the Hon. Commissioner of Crown Lands. Both items concern a dispute of a land survey. The petition is dated May 26, 1854, and is by inhabitants of the fourth concession in the Township of Crowland. The petition is signed by 9 residents. The names include James Cook (?), Samuel Buchner, James Rock (?), Wm. Vanalstine (?), Seth Skinner, Daniel Holcomb, P. Skinner (?), Henry Buchner, and Cornelius McHay (?). The letter is dated July 20, 1855 and is addressed to the Hon. Commissioner of Crown Lands, Quebec. It is signed by Arthur Johnston, Town Reeve, Bertie.

Crowland Municipality : an act for regulating and governing auctioneers, and other persons putting up for sale, goods, wares, and merchandise to the highest or best bidder., 1854

On February 1st, 1854 an act was passed in order to regulate the sale of goods, wares and merchandise. Section I pertained to the fact that any merchant would first obtain a license. Section II deemed that no merchant should sell any wine or spirituous liquors, beer or ale within the municipality of Crowland in any less quantity than 5 gallons or less than 12 bottles in any place other than a House of Public Entertainment without having obtained a license. Section III was in regard to licensing any person who would use a billiard table which was set up for hire or gain. Section IV stated that all sums of money paid by the keepers of Houses of Public Entertainment plus the imperial duty of 2 pound would be payable to the Treasurer of the Municipality of Crowland. Section V was written regarding the continuance of the act to regulate inns, taverns, temperance houses and other Houses of Public Entertainment. Section VI specified that all recesses (not authorized to sell liquor) would pay the sum of 2 pounds. Section VII declared that Peter Benedict was appointed Revenue Inspector of the township and section VIII stated that recess-keepers who took out liquor licenses would be required to pay 6 pounds 5 shillings and for violating this they would pay a penalty. This document was written by Leonard M. Matthews, Township reeve and Alex Reid, clerk.

Hydro Electric Commission of Niagara Falls Ontario Scrapbook, 1936-1939, 1943-1951

Sir Adam Beck ( a London, Ontario manufacturer, Mayor and Conservative member of the provincial legislature) was a champion of municipal and provincial power ownership. Beck become the “Power Minister” and chairman of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario which was the world’s first publicly owned utility. In 1925 the first unit of the Hydro Electric Power Commission’s Queenston Chippawa hydro-electric development on the Niagara River went into service. The station was renamed in 1950 as “Sir Adam Beck #1”. This marked the 25th anniversary of Beck’s death. This is one of 2 generating stations in Niagara Falls. There is also Adam Beck Plant #2. The Niagara generating stations supply one quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario.Ontario Hydro has two water tunnels which traverse the entire City of Niagara Falls from the Village of Chippawa in the South to the Sir Adam Beck Hydro Electric Generating Stations in the North. Also they are in the process of building the third tunnel. In addition, Ontario Hydro has a 13.6 km open canal which traverses the entire City of Niagara Falls. Source: http://www.hydroone.com/OurCompany/Pages/OurHistory.aspx

Proceedings of the Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons of Canada at the annual convocation, 1939

Annual Convocation proceedings for the year 1939. The title varies slightly and convocation is held at different cities or towns in Canada. Eighty-first annual convocation.