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.

Photograph of Two Girls by R. F. Uren, Photographer, St. Catharines [n.d.]

Two unidentified girls are featured in this black and white cabinet card style photograph by R. F. Uren, of St. Catharines. The photograph is not dated, however, the address of the photographer is printed at the bottom of the cabinet card. This photograph was in the possession of Iris Sloman Bell, of St. Catharines, Ontario. The Sloman - Bell family descendants include former African American slaves who settled in Canada.Richard Frank (R.F.) Uren was a photographer in St. Catharines from 1886-1895. Source: Phillips, Glen C. The Ontario photographers list (1851-1900). Sarnia: Iron Gate Publishing Co., 1990. "Cabinet card photographs were first introduced in 1866. They were initially employed for landscapes rather than portraitures. Cabinet cards replaced Carte de visite photographs as the popular mode of photography. Cabinet cards became the standard for photographic portraits in 1870. Cabinet cards experienced their peak in popularity in the 1880's. Cabinet cards were still being produced in the United States until the early 1900's and continued to be produced in Europe even longer. The best way to describe a cabinet card is that it is a thin photograph that is mounted on a card that measures 4 1/4″ by 6 1/2″. Cabinet cards frequently have artistic logos and information on the bottom or the reverse of the card which advertised the photographer or the photography studio's services." Source: http://cabinetcardgallery.wordpress.com/category/cabinet-card-history/

Photograph of Richard, Iris and Albert Sloman [n.d.]

An undated photograph of Richard, Iris and Albert Sloman taken outside what is believed to be a holiday cabin in Parry Sound, Ontario. This photograph was in the possession of the Rick Bell family, of St. Catharines.

Ontario history.

Mode of access: Internet.

Portrait of "Ruth", by George A. Hemstreet, Photographer, Milton [n.d.]

A woman identified only by the broach at her neck as "Ruth" is pictured here in a black and white cabinet card photograph by G. A. Hemstreet. The photo is undated, but believed to be from the late 1870s or early 1880s. The photographer's name is stamped in black ink along the bottom of the card: "G. A. Hemstreet, Photographer, Milton, Ont." This cabinet card was in the possession of Iris Sloman Bell, of St. Catharines, whose relatives include former Black slaves from the United States.G. A. Hemstreet, also known as George A. Hemstreet, was a photographer in Milton, Ontario from 1877 - 1887. Source: Phillips, Glen C. The Ontario photographers list (1851-1900). Sarnia: Iron Gate Publishing Co., 1990.

Tintype Portrait of African American Couple [n.d.]

An unidentified couple is pictured in this early black and white tintype photograph. The date, location and name of the photographer are unknown. This tintype was in the possession of Iris Sloman Bell, of St. Catharines, Ontario. The Bell - Sloman families have relatives who are descended from African American slaves who settled in Canada."Tintypes were the invention of Prof. Hamilton Smith of Ohio. They begin as thin sheets of iron, covered with a layer of black paint. This serves as the base for the same iodized collodion coating and silver nitrate bath used in the ambrotype process. First made in 1856, millions were produced well into the twentieth century. When tintypes were finished in the same sorts of mats and cases used for ambrotypes, it can be almost impossible to distinguish which process was used without removing the image to examine the substrate." Source: American Museum of Photography http://www.photographymuseum.com/primer.html

À travers le pare-brise : la création des territoires touristiques à l’ère de l’automobile (Québec et Ontario, 1920-1967)

Cette thèse fait la lumière sur les différentes manières dont, historiquement, a été perçu, conçu et vécu le territoire, à travers l’expérience et l’essor de la mobilité. Cette étude montre le rôle crucial de l’automobilité dans le développement touristique du Québec et de l’Ontario et les manières dont elle a façonné certains de leurs territoires. La thèse reconstitue ces processus en examinant les différentes mesures adoptées pour mettre en tourisme ces territoires et les transformer sur le plan matériel comme symbolique, entre 1920 et 1967. Elle répond à la question suivante : en quoi et comment la mobilité associée à l’automobile transforme et crée les territoires touristiques? La période étudiée s’ouvre au moment où débute l’intervention gouvernementale en matière de tourisme et s’amorce l’aménagement d’infrastructures favorisant une plus grande automobilité. Elle se clôt sur les célébrations entourant le Centenaire du Canada et la tenue de l’Expo 1967 à Montréal, qui donnent lieu à un aménagement intense du territoire afin d’accommoder un nombre sans précédent de touristes motorisés en provenance des autres provinces canadiennes et des États-Unis. La thèse reconstitue d’abord le processus de mise en tourisme des territoires par la conception, la construction et la promotion du système routier, l’élaboration d’itinéraires et de circuits touristiques et le développement d’outils accompagnant le touriste dans sa mobilité. L’embellissement en tant qu’élément structurant de la transformation des territoires est ensuite examiné. Enfin, la publicité, les récits et les pratiques touristiques sont étudiés de manière détaillée afin d’identifier les mécanismes par lesquels se construisent les représentations des territoires par l’apport de différents acteurs. Cette thèse révèle ainsi les liens étroits et complexes qui se développent à partir des années 1920 entre l’automobilité, le tourisme et la modification des territoires. Elle contribue à mettre au jour l’historicité de certains réflexes et orientations qui ont encore cours dans l’industrie touristique canadienne soit ceux d’aborder son développement en fonction de l’accessibilité du territoire à l’automobile et du regard à travers le pare-brise. En montrant le rôle du système automobile dans l’expérience touristique, l’étude ajoute un élément nouveau à la compréhension de la démocratisation des loisirs. Souvent expliquée par la hausse du niveau de vie, du temps libre et de la généralisation des congés payés, cette démocratisation se trouve aussi favorisée par l’accessibilité à l’automobile qui, à son tour, rend accessible des territoires de plus en plus éloignés à des fins de loisirs. La dimension récréative de l’automobile permet d’expliquer son adoption rapide par les Nord-Américains et les Canadiens ainsi que la dépendance qu’ils ont progressivement développée à son égard.

Education and the 'universalist' idiom of empire: Irish National School Books in Ireland and Ontario

This paper compares the founding of the elementary school systems of Ireland and Ontario in the nineteenth century. The systems shared a common set of textbooks that had originated in Ireland. Using examples from a number of these books, which were part of a series that had been specially prepared for the Irish national school system, founded in 1831, and information from archive sources on policy and administration in both countries, the paper argues that there was a common, ‘universalist’, imperialist ideology being promulgated in both systems. The article focuses on these ‘universalist’ principles rather than undertaking a detailed analysis of the textbooks.

Education, sport and myth in the community of Glengarry, Ontario : the athletic career of Roderick R. McLennan. 260 St. Catharines, Ont. : Faculty of Education, Brock University ;

This study examined how the athletic career of Roderick R. McLennan contributed to the popularization and subsequent development of Caledonian games in Ontario during the latter nineteenth century. Initially, the development of Caledonian games during the 1800s was examined to provide a contextual framework for McLennan's career. This investigation revealed that the games emerged from rural athletic events at pioneer working bees in the first quarter of the nineteenth century to regional sporting events by the mid-1800s, and finally into annual federated Caledonian games in 1870. Noteworthy primary source material for this chapter included the John MacGillivray Papers at the National Archives of Canada, the Scottish American Journal (NY) and the files retained by the Glengarry Sport Hall of Fame in Maxville, Ontario. Following the investigation of Caledonian games, McLennan's early athletic career was studied. Analysis of the Roderick and Farquhar McLennan Papers at the Archives of Ontario and the newspapers from the period revealed that McLennan rose to popularity in 1865 through a "Championship of the World" hammer throwing match in Cornwall and two "Starring Tours". The next chapter examined the height of McLennan's career through an investigation of the Roderick McLennan versus Donald Dinnie rivalry of the early .. n 1870s. It was detennined that the rivalry between McLennan and Dinnie, the champion athlete of Highland games in Scotland, was a popular attraction and had an impact on the Toronto and Montreal games of 1870 and the Toronto games of 1872. Finally, the athletic records established by McLennan during the 1860s and 1870s were investigated. These records were examined through the context of a media controversy over McLennan's feats that developed in the early 1880s between two newspapers. This controversy erupted between the Toronto Mail and the Spirit of the Times. Caledonian games in Canada have only been briefly examined and a thorough examination of prominent Canadian figures in this context has yet to be undertaken. This study unearths a prominent Canadian athlete of Scottish decent and details his involvement in the Caledonian games of nineteenth century Ontario.

Upper Lakes Shipping Ltd. fonds 1955-1990, n.d. (non-inclusive)

In March 1931, Captain Bruce Angus was sent to Sarnia by Gordon C. Leitch, general manager of Toronto Elevators. He was sent to inspect the Sarnian to ensure it was still seaworthy. Leitch was a savvy business man, who had been active in the business community for a number of years. Leitch began his career with a partner in the lumber business. When that went under he moved into graineries and worked for the Winnipeg Wheat Pool for 12 years. After Winnipeg he moved to Toronto, which was closer to his home town of Ridgetown, Ontario. In Toronto Leitch became manager of the Toronto branch of the Canadian Wheat Pool. While managing the wheat pools in Toronto Leitch became aware of huge costs associated with shipping the grains from the praries into the Toronto area. He felt that there was no need for such costs and decided to do something to make them better and cheaper for the business. Originally the grain was loaded onto Lakers that would bring the grain from the praries to Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. It was stored there until needed by the Toronto graineries and then hauled across land by either truck or train. The land journey was the most expensive and the one which Leitch wanted to eliminate. This was a fine plan except for 2 obstacles that were quickly overcome. First of all the Welland canals were not large enough to accommodate the large carriers that were bringing in the grain. This was changing as the expansion and widening of the canals was already underway. The second issue was the lack of storage in Toronto for the grain. The grain elevators had been destroyed by fire in the late 1880s and never replaced. Leitch propsed his company built its own storage elevators along the water front to allow not only for easier access to the grain, and more timely production of products. The elevators would aslo create a reduction in shipping costs and an overall more competitoive price for the customers of the grainery. The company refused, so Leitch went elsewhere to friends and contacts within the grain industry. The elevators were built and Leitch quit his job with the Canadian Wheat Pool and became the general manager of the elevators. Although the elevators were built and ready for storage the next issue was filling them. None of the carriers wanted to do business with Leitch because the competition in Georgian Bay threatened to cancel their contracts if they did. Leitch saw no way around this, but to provide his own transportation. This is when he sent Captain Bruce Angus to scout out potential ships. The ship was purchased for $37,000 and after another $30,000 was spent to fix it up, it was ready for business. The need for transportation and the finding of a seaworthy ship, lead to the beginnings of the Northland Steamship Company. The Sarnian proved to not be enough for the business underway. Leitch decided another ship was necessary. He joined forces with James Norris the owner of the Norris Grain Company. He proposed they join forces to create a more economical means of transportating their products.

George H. Cornish Fonds

George Henry Cornish (1834-1912) was a Methodist minister whose circuits included Clinton, Ont. (1859), Newcastle, Ont. (1861), and Caledonia/Binbrook/Glanford, Ont. (1864- 1865). He wrote several books on the Methodist Church in Canada, including the Cyclopaedia of Methodism in Canada (1881) and the Handbook of Canadian Methodism (1867).

E.O. Graham, nurseryman, planting guide leaflets collection, ca. 1900.

Edward Oliver Graham of Rochester, N.Y. worked as a nurseryman in that city for 27 years. He owned a nursery business that operated under his own name for many years. The central office was located in Rochester, but there was also a branch located in Toronto, Ont. In 1903 he formed a company known as the Graham Nursery Company. He died in September 1909.

The 19th Century Tombstone Database Project Records, 1790-1890 (non-inclusive)

The 19th Century Tombstone Database project was funded by the program Federal Summer Youth Employment scheme in the summer of 1982 and led by Dr. David W. Rupp, a Professor at the Classics Department, Brock University. The main goal of the project was to collect information related to various cemeteries in Niagara region and burials that took place from 1790-1890. Data was collected and presented in the form of data summary forms of persons, tombstone sketches, photographs of tombstones, maps, and computer printouts. The materials created as a result of a research completed for the 19th Century Tombstone Database project are important as a number of the tombstones have been damaged or gone missing since the research was finished. Before Dr. Rupp retired from Brock University, he donated project materials to the Brock University Special Collections and Archives.

Colin Duquemin fonds, 1935, 1968-2001, n.d.

Colin Duquemin was born in 1932 in Guernsey, British Channel Islands, and came to Canada as a young adult. He attended McMaster University (B.A.), the University of Toronto (B.Ed.), the State University of New York at Buffalo (M.A.) and the University of London, London, England (M.Sc.). He began his career as a tea taster and tea buyer in Colombo, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), but later became a teacher. He spent most of his teaching career as a manager of the St. Johns Outdoor Studies Centre, north of Fonthill, Ontario, developing environmentally related programmes for elementary and secondary school students. He was also active in many local organizations, serving as Associate Director of the St. Catharines Grape and Wine Festival Board, Chairman of the St. Catharines Historical Museum Board, President of the Niagara Military Institute and President of the Canadian Canal Society. In addition to the numerous curriculum materials he authored, Colin wrote the Driver’s Guide Series, highlighting the many points of interest in the Niagara region, including the Welland Canal, battlefields of the War of 1812, and the Niagara Parkway. He also wrote A Guide to the Grand River Canal (1980) with Daniel Glenney, The Fur Trade in Rupert’s Land: Opening up the Canadian Northwest (1992), Stick to the Guns! A short history of the 10th field battery, Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery (1996), Niagara Rebels: the Niagara Frontier Incidents in the Upper Canada Rebellion, 1837-1838 ( 2001), and edited and contributed to A Lodge of Friendship: the History of Niagara Lodge, No. 2, A.F. & A.M, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, 1792-1992 (1991). He died in December 2012.

Clendenan-Thompson family fonds

Daniel Clendenan (1793-1866) was the son of Abraham Clendenan, a private in Butler’s Rangers. He was married to Susan[na] [Albrecht ] Albright, daughter of Amos Albright. Daniel and Susan[na] had twelve children and belonged to the Disciple Church. In 1826 Daniel Clendenan purchased Part lot 14, Concession 6, Louth Township from Robert Roberts Loring. On this property he built a home and conducted the business of blacksmithing and along with William Jones operated a lumber mill. Volume 1 and the first part of Volume 2 are Daniel Clendenan’s account books. Daniel and his wife Susan are buried in the Vineland Mennonite cemetery. Daniel and Susan[na]’s youngest daughter, Sarah, married widower Andrew Thompson (1825-1901), son of Charles and grandson of Solomon. Andrew Thompson had settled in the Wainfleet area in 1854 and had owned a mill in Wellandport. Daniel Clendenan, in ill health, passed ownership of Lot 14, Concession 6, Louth Township to his son-in-law Andrew Thompson. Robert Roberts Loring, the original owner of lot 14, concession 6 in Louth was born in September of 1789 in England. He joined the 49th Regiment of Foot as an ensign in December of 1804 and arrived in Quebec the following July. He served with Isaac Brock and Roger Sheaffe. In 1806 he was promoted to lieutenant. Loring was hired by Lieutenant General Gordon Drummond and accompanied him to Ireland in 1811, but the outbreak of war in the States in 1812 drew Loring back to Canada. On June 26, 1812 Loring became a captain in the 104th Regiment of Foot. On October 29 of the same year, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Sheaffe who was the administrator of Upper Canada. During the American attack on York in April 1813, Loring suffered an injury to his right arm from which he never recovered. In December of 1813, Drummond assumed command of the forces in Upper Canada and he appointed Loring as his aide-de-camp, later civil secretary and eventually his personal secretary. Loring was with Drummond in 1813 at the capture of Fort Niagara (near Youngstown), N.Y. He was also with Drummond in the attacks on Fort Niagara, settlements along the American side of the Niagara River, and then York and Kingston. In July of 1814 he was promoted to brevet major, however he was captured at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane and he spent the remainder of the conflict in Cheshire, Massachusetts. One of his fellow captives was William Hamilton Merritt. Loring remained in the army and had numerous military posts in Canada and England. He retired in 1839 and lived the last of his years in Toronto. He died on April 1, 1848. Sources: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/loring_robert_roberts_7E.html and “Loring, Robert Roberts” by Robert Malcomson in The Encyclopedia Of the War Of 1812 edited by Spencer Tucker, James R. Arnold, Roberta Wiener, Paul G. Pierpaoli, John C. Fredriksen