By Jennifer Grainger – On July 26, I attended the Willey Cemetery memorial service. This quiet graveyard at 5267 Gentleman Drive, just off Thames Road in the former Ekfrid Township, was busier that day than it had been in years, as it was officially dedicated as a United Empire Loyalist (UEL) Burial Ground. A War of 1812 veteran buried here was honoured at the same time. The event, sponsored by UELAC Western Ontario Branch and Glencoe & District Historical Society, reminds “Old Stock” Canadians who we are and why we’re here.
The Glencoe & District Historical Society mourns the loss of Ken Willis, our friend, longtime historian and museum keeper for Wardsville, Newbury, and the Township of Mosa.
For decades, Ken devoted himself to preserving the stories of his community. As Historian and Manager of the Wardsville Historical Museum, he gathered, catalogued, and cared for an extraordinary collection of photographs, documents, and artifacts housed in a historic building on Longwoods Road in Wardsville. Every item in that collection reflected Ken’s deep commitment to making sure the people and places of Wardsville would not be forgotten.
Ken was also an author, having written A History of Wardsville, Volumes 1 and 2 — works that stand as a lasting record of his research and his love for the village’s story.
Last year, Ken made a decision that speaks to his lifelong dedication: he arranged for the entire contents of the Wardsville Historical Museum to be transferred into the custodianship of the Glencoe & District Historical Society, ensuring that the collection he had spent a lifetime building would be preserved for future generations. True to form, Ken’s concern was not only for the artifacts themselves, but for the people of Wardsville — he wanted to be sure that the residents of the village he loved would continue to be looked after, and that their history would remain accessible to them.
The Society is honoured to now serve as steward of Ken’s collection, and we take seriously the responsibility he entrusted to us. His photographs, documents, and personal papers — many with carefully documented provenance — will help tell the story of Wardsville for years to come.
Ken Willis will be remembered as a dedicated historian, a careful keeper of memory, and a generous friend to everyone who shared his passion for local history. Our thoughts are with his family and all who knew him.
June 20, 2026 at The Archives, Glencoe: The Glencoe & District Historical Society welcomed twenty attendees for a wonderful Saturday morning session featuring guest presenter Evan Abma. The workshop was organized by Denise Corneil, Secretary of the G&DHS, who is a passionate advocate for documenting our region’s historical structures before they’re lost.
Evan, Chair of the Sarnia Heritage Committee and a leading voice in documenting Ontario’s disappearing rural heritage, shared the remarkable project he has built mapping historic farmhouses across Lambton County. Working from the observation that many homes featured in an old article on Warwick Township had since vanished, Evan’s small tracking project grew into a county-wide documentation effort. He has now catalogued 2500 historic farmhouses built in 1921 or earlier, recording their architectural styles and histories.
Napier: One of the first public buildings constructed in Napier was St. Mary’s Anglican Church. The land for the church, on a hill north of the village, was donated by Charles Preston. The exact construction date varies with the source, but the church was completed around 1843.
The oldest remaining church in Middlesex County, St. Mary’s Chapel of Ease holds an annual Decoration Day Service in June. It’s a day I try not to miss, since it’s an opportunity to enter a primitive pioneer building that’s usually closed.
On June 18, 2026, the Glencoe Public Library was filled to capacity as 45 community members gathered to hear local historian Jennifer Grainger explore the rise and fall of Middlesex County’s vanished villages. The event was presented in partnership between the Glencoe & District Historical Society and the Glencoe Public Library.
Drawing on maps, photographs, land records, and archaeological clues, Grainger traced where these once-thriving communities were located, how historians and genealogists research them today, and what—if anything—remains visible on the landscape now.
The G&DHS thanks the Glencoe Public Library and Courtney Joris for their partnership in bringing this event to the community, and extends its appreciation to Jennifer Grainger for sharing her research. Here is the piece Jenny wrote for the Middlesex Banner featuring Cashmere, Napier, and Kilmartin.
By Ian Mason, published in the Middlesex Banner, May 2026. Plan to do the North Middlesex Day Trip June 12, 2026 – link here
Nestled in the cemetery in the hamlet of Carlisle, 6 kms east of Ailsa Craig, is the Presbyterian Church Heritage Centre (PCHC). It contains the national collection of artefacts from various congregations of The Presbyterian Church in Canada from coast to coast. We are the only historic mainline denomination in Canada that preserves a collection of its artefacts. There are a few church museums throughout Canada, but they pertain to a specific church, rather than its denomination.
A common question is, “so what does the Presbyterian Church Heritage Centre collect? Bibles and crosses?”
Bibles, “yes”; crosses “mostly no.” More about that later.
In 2018, the National Presbyterian Museum in St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Toronto closed. The Museum was obliged to leave what had been our host church since 2002 when the church was sold to a developer which will eventually convert the church into condominiums, providing a small area for the congregation to continue to meet.
Curator Ian Mason began a 5-year search for a church which would be willing to host the collection of artefacts relevant to the history of The Presbyterian Church in Canada (PCC). These items help to tell the stories of those who worshipped and served Jesus Christ within the context of the PCC. Prior to the formation of the United Church of Canada in 1925 – into which 2/3 of the Presbyterian Church amalgamated – the PCC was the largest Protestant denomination in Canada.
The Curator made a cold call to Carlisle United Church asking the congregation if they would be interested in hosting a collection of artefacts. And, he added, “if you are interested in hosting this collection, you would have to give up your sanctuary and move to the basement.”
He had his answer in 3 seconds, “yes, we would be willing to do that.”
Among the many artifacts at the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives are some personal items of Archibald William (A.W.) Campbell, who was born on May 14, 1863 in Wardsville.
His father had immigrated to western Upper Canada from Caithness, Scotland and his mother had been brought up on the family farm in Ekfrid Twp. The Campbells moved to the farm from Wardsville in 1864. Archibald received his early education in local schools and graduated from St. Thomas High School. He apprenticed in engineering and surveying for three years to the county engineer of Middlesex and Elgin before being commissioned as a provincial land surveyor in April 1885.
In 1888, he joined the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers and formed a private partnership, specializing in waterworks, drainage systems and bridges. In 1891 Campbell became city engineer and was a founding editor of the monthly “Municipal World” (St. Thomas). He compiled its “Engineering Section.”
Campbell was particularly interested in improved roadways and soon became recognized as a progressive advocate. “A good road-bed pays,” he wrote in May 1892. “It saves power, shortens distance and time, increases speed, insures comfort and safety, and is, in whatever way you state it, a good investment.” Public attention to roads had been eclipsed by enthusiasm for railways but, in the 1890s, the bicycle craze and the formation of the Ontario Good Roads Association spurred renewed interest. Campbell’s concern was practical: the construction and maintenance of good roads, from the farm gate to the markets and the grain elevators, meant that horses could easily pull heavier loads and that transportation costs could be lightened and consumers’ prices lowered. He was also interested in improving the professional status of engineering.
Norm McGill models Campbell’s uniform at The Archives in Glencoe.
Roadwork was the responsibility of municipalities, which in earlier deys often farmed the tasks out to influential citizens who then employed statute labour, at times resulting in shoddy standards. Campbell used the publication “Municipal World” to champion the use of trained engineers. Campbell’s advocacy led to his appointment in April of 1896 as provincial instructor in roadmaking, under the Minister of Agriculture. In 1900, he became Deputy Minister.
In the spring of 1890, William Regcraft found some bones while digging a ditch on his uncle’s farm, one mile from Highgate, Ontario. A hardware merchant named William Hillhouse bought the bones, and he and his uncle, John Jelly, also bought the right to continue excavating. What they found was almost an entire skeleton of an Ice-Age mastodon, relative of the modern elephant.
Allen Deleary of Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation) speaking recently at a special Indigenous Lifeways Workshop locally. Allen shared teachings and insights from Anishinaabe traditions, exploring how Indigenous lifeways continue to guide relationships with the land, water, and one another. The evening included a community discussion, offering space for reflection, dialogue, and shared understanding:
Allen Deleary of Bkejwanong
And then there are the Elders:
Simon Winchester:
They keep a steady hand upon the tiller. That, in essence, seems to be the greatest and most enduring strength of aboriginal peoples around the world. The frantic pace of modern life, the endless bursts of technological advance, the alarums and excursions, and our various political and military adventures all come and go, but all the while and in the background, keeping their wary and watchful eyes upon us, are the wise ones…
As the agent of his excellency the Right Honourable Lord Howden, Her Majesty’s Ambassador at Madrid, I hereby certify that Mr. James Alexander has been employed as a farm manager on his Lordship’s Grimston Estate for six years.
By his own desire, he will leave this country to try his fortune in America. I have great pleasure in testifying that his conduct has always been most trustworthy, steady and exemplary in the extensive farm works carried on here.
Also, from his good education and experience in farming, I consider him well qualified to conduct and manage any agricultural operation in all its branches.
—M. Harington, Grimston Park, Tadcaster, Yorkshire.
Penned in 1853, this letter of reference launched the Alexander family legacy in Canada—and a long line of dedicated Ontario farmers. More than 170 years later, the Alexanders’ original crown settlement south of Melbourne, Ont. is still a working cattle farm, now into its sixth generation of the family.
These deep agricultural roots sprouted in rural Forfarshire, Scotland, before blossoming on a Yorkshire estate owned by a British lord and later blooming across the ocean in Southwest Middlesex. The Alexander story is a true migrant tale, showcasing the upheaval, ambition, dedication and success of newcomers to Canada.
As our Uber approached the stately manor house at Grimston Park, a historic North Yorkshire estate about 25 minutes west of York, the size of the property immediately struck us. The sprawling 2,500-acre estate was a far cry from our quaint 200-acre family farm in Ekfrid Township near Melbourne, Ont.
But surprisingly, we felt right at home.
Along with my parents, Debbie and Alexander, we had travelled to this far-flung county to visit this rather impressive place because our ancestor James Alexander (1824-1895), my three-times great-grandfather, once lived, worked and worshipped here. (Though he likely arrived here via Scotland by horsedrawn coach, not electric car.)
Contributions by Brian Huis and Gregory Childs. Edited by Mary Simpson.
On Sunday, July 27, 2025, the Simpson Cemetery in Southwest Middlesex came alive with memory, history, and community spirit. Over 50 descendants, neighbours, and friends gathered under the shade of the massive White Oak “heritage tree” for the annual cemetery memorial hosted by the Glencoe & District Historical Society (GDHS). This year a group of Simpson descendants, Micheline Champagne-Johnston, Wanda Simpson, Wendy Bestward, Jan Simpson, Dennis Simpson, Mary Simpson, and Brian Huis, joined in to give the event an interesting twist.
Cemeteries, particularly in rural Ontario, have long been places of both remembrance and reflection. Their park-like settings provide green space, cultural continuity, and a sense of belonging. This year’s memorial carried on the tradition of visiting and honouring one local cemetery each year.
Cemeteries are not only about the past; they are living classrooms and gathering spaces that remind us of who we are and the legacies we carry forward. – Brian Huis
Honouring Nicholas Bodine, War of 1812 Veteran
The central feature of the 2025 memorial was the recognition of Private Nicholas Bodine (1788–1885), a War of 1812 veteran buried in Simpson Cemetery. Bodine served in the 2nd Company, 1st Regiment of the Norfolk Militia and fought at the Battle of Lundy’s Lane on July 25, 1814—one of the war’s bloodiest encounters.
Nicholas’ service with the Norfolk Militia is perpetuated by the current Reserve Army Regiment, The 56th Field Artillery Regiment of the Royal Canadian Regiment of Artillery (56 FD), headquartered in Brantford. The Government of Canada awarded several War 1812-15 battle honours: ‘Detroit’, ‘Niagara’, ‘Queenston Heights’, ‘Defence of Canada 1812-15’, some of which, if not all were likely fought by Nicholas. The Norfolk Militia was also involved with the skirmish at the McCrae House near Chatham.
Born in Pennsylvania, Bodine came to Upper Canada in 1811, married Charlotte Sovereign, and farmed 50 acres in Mosa Township. His long life of 97 years was remembered in the Glencoe Transcript obituary of 1885, which praised his loyalty, faith, and wide respect in the community.
Glenn Stott and son, Brad Stott, stand attention to honour Nicholas Bodine, September 27, 2025Read more →
It was in the year 1839 that John Strachan became the first Bishop of Toronto. When he received this appointment, his diocese covered the land area now known as Southern Ontario.
The Rev John Gunne was licensed ‘To perform the office of Travelling Missionary’ by the Bishop, for the Townships of Zone, Euphemia, Brooke, Ekfrid and Mosa on June 30, 1845. On one Sunday of each month he would ride his horse from Zone Mills (Florence) which was his headquarters, to hold services in Wardsville, likely in private homes until a church building was erected.
The first official parish to be formed was Wardsville, Glencoe and Newbury, also in 1845. About the same time, land was given to the Church of England, for the purposes of a church building, by Dr. Abraham Francis. (This land, 102 acres, was on the south Part of Lot 20, Range one North of the Longwoods Road.) A parsonage was subsequently built on this property but the year is not known.
Lots 18 and 19, south of Church Street, were obtained by the Church Society of the Diocese of Toronto by a Bargain and Sale agreement with William Hatelie, et al, on August 22, 1849. This was a year or two after a wooden framed church building had already been constructed on the lot. This is known from a letter penned by Bishop Strachan on May 8, 1848, to Hatelie and the Churchwardens of the Church of Wardsville. He wrote, gentlemen: I have the honour to acknowledge your Memorial of the 2nd instant, in which you state that you have erected a church at Wardsville, Township of Mosa at considerable expense, but that since the erection of said building, you have only had divine service in it every third Sunday. This building served a congregation of approx. 150 members until the very early 1870s when it fell into disrepair.
Published in the April 2025 issue of the Middlesex Banner.
Orval Shaw, a name that once echoed through over 40 cities, towns and countryside of Ontario, was more than just a petty criminal. He was a symbol of defiance, a master of evasion, and a figure who captured the public’s imagination. I have drawn his story from historical accounts and newspaper reports, revealing the life of the man known as the “Skunk’s Misery Bandit.”
I first found out about Orval while researching other local history topics in the area of Hespeler, Ontario where I lived. During my research Orval’s name turned up several times as he was in Guelph, Hespeler, Idylwild and Puslinch during his escapades.
I was amazed that nobody had researched his life previously. One of the main challenges was finding out more about Orval’s private life and the lack of photos of him. I was lucky to find a distant relative of Orval’s’ who supported my work.
Eventually I decided to do comprehensive research of Orval, and I am very pleased with the book that came out of that research.
On April 5, 2025, Carrie Jeffery conducted a workshop on capturing oral histories. We had members of our community, visiting members of other heritage groups, and members of our own historical society in attendance. The engaging and interactive talk was followed by an informative presentation that showcased the various aspects of modern record-keeping that are now accessible for ancestral storytelling. Left to right: Donna Lynam, David Campbell, Carrie Jeffery, Susan McWilliam. Mary Simpson, the president of our historical society, also presented.
L-R: Donna Lynam, David Campbell, Carrie Jeffery, Susan McWilliam.
Imagine for a moment the mystery of your history.
By Carrie Jeffery. Published in the March 2025 issue of Middlesex Banner’s ‘Archive Alley’
Personal storytelling can be both fun and provide new perspectives on how we came to be. These stories can challenge our understanding of the past and give a voice to people who are often left out of traditional historical records: the everyday people that played a role not just in our own lives but also in the communities we live in that they helped shape.
With the help of today’s technology, we can translate an afternoon visit with our elders into a published collection of stories that honour their lives and their place in history.
They get to relive their younger days while we either transcribe them ourselves or even utilize voice memo software to transcribe them for us automatically!
In doing this now while this aging generation is still here, we are able to ask questions like “What year would that have been?” and “Why did you do things that way?” before it’s too late. We can learn about the passions and values they may have held that were similar to our own and what shaped their career or other interests. We can witness and capture the changes that have occurred in just one or two generations.
Stories about the Kilmartin community who established Burns Presbyterian Church in the hills of North Mosa.
Jennifer Grainger reporting from Mosa Township: On Sunday, March 30 at 2:00 pm I attended a rare event, an historic church celebrating an anniversary. At a time when many rural churches are closing, it’s a pleasure to see one commemorating the 190th anniversary of the congregation.
The March 30th event wasn’t an actual church service, mind you, but a celebration of the surrounding community and the role Burns Presbyterian played in it. The occasion, more historical than religious, was entitled “A Stroll Through Time.” Actors portrayed fictional, but plausible, characters from the church’s past, including an early Scottish settler, a later Dutch arrival, the last Precentor, a member of the women’s auxiliary, etc. Sometimes amusing and often poignant, the stories of former congregants were well written and allowed the modern audience to imagine life in Middlesex County, Ontario in the Good Old Days.
The Canadian Government created the Public Archives of Canada in 1872. In Europe, archives retained government records only with personal papers going to libraries as manuscripts. The Dominion Archivist of Canada determined that all personal records of historical and cultural value should be collected as well as government records, with both being stored in the Public Archives. This Total Archives approach was a departure from other countries and is known as a Canadian contribution to archival theory and practice. Over time, multi-media records were added to collections in addition to traditional paper records. Many other national, regional archival programmes, as well as those in municipalities or universities, have adapted the total archives concept. The area municipal and university archives adopt this strategy as does the Provincial Archives of Ontario.
The benefit of this approach is that archives hold records for researchers about family history such as searching houses, land or any other item of interest. The government records also provide some of the information required in these searches. Having municipal records available – if they are open to the public – are advantageous to researchers and also to Municipal Clerks or staff, who sometimes are contacted by genealogists with family history requests. Municipal staff benefit by being able to transfer those questions to properly-trained staff who have access to, not only government records, but also personal papers and other resources. This removes the need for municipal staff to answer questions in an already busy day and provides researchers with a one-stop location. Genealogists account for over 40% of archives’ users who travel to areas specifically to visit Archives. While there, their tourist dollars support restaurants, hotels, local merchants and other local amenities.
An Archives is a program, not a project. Continued funding and municipal support are required to ensure the success of the Middlesex County Archives.
Written by the Committee to Establish a Middlesex County Archives, July 2021
Marie Williams: A large crowd packed into the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives on Wednesday evening, March 12, 2025. Following announcements, a brief membership report and some unfortunate technical difficulties, Society president Mary Simpson introduced the evening’s guest speaker, Glencoe native and author Daniel Perry.
Perry spoke about his newest work, a non-fiction memoir focussed on his own research into the life of Thomas Gardiner and Gardiner’s connection to the hamlet of Cashmere in the former Township of Mosa.
Born in 1774 in Ireland, Singleton Gardiner sailed for New York State in 1804. He moved to the Talbot Settlement in 1816 and to Mosa Township in 1825. He built a mill in 1834 on the site of what became Cashmere.
His brother Thomas Gardiner, born in Ireland in 1767, sailed for New York in 1804 and arrived in Upper Canada in 1807. Perry outlined charges laid against Thomas Gardiner which were subsequently dismissed, the connections between Thomas Gardiner and John Parker Jr., tales from the War of 1812, his years serving as a teacher, disputes over land, family friction and his pleas for help as an aging man.
Singleton Gardiner was the first person buried at the Cashmere Cemetery in 1834 but there is no stone marking what could be the grave of Thomas Gardiner.
CBC Radio ‘Ideas’: Until the past few years, the story of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars was not widely known outside their hometown. But thanks to the Chatham-Kent Black Historical Society and the University of Windsor’s Centre for Digital Scholarship, with the help of the Harding family, the legacy of the Chatham Coloured All-Stars lives on. They reconstructed the 1934 season, and the team’s history through newspaper clippings, scrapbooks and interviews with the players and their descendants.
Everyone’s efforts led to the Chatham Coloured All-Stars being inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 2022 — 88 years after their 1934 season opener.
Listen to this hourlong podcast by CBC Ideas. Link here.
Everybody knew, in the neighborhood, all the men playing on the team…. And they played a really competitive, athletic, exciting kind of baseball.
Five months after their opener in October 1934, the Chatham Coloured All-Stars became the first all-Black team to win the Ontario Baseball Association championships, then known as the Ontario Baseball Amateur Association.
