Join local historian Ken Willis for a guided walk through Wardsville. This walking tour highlights the history of Main Street, sharing stores of the buildings, people and events that have shaped the village. Link to fb Event: Ken’s Walk
Meet at 10 a.m. at the Wardsville Museum. Rain date is May 9, 2026
What is Jane’s Walk?
This walk is part of the global Jane’s Walk festival (https://www.janeswalk.org), a weekend of community-led walking tours held around the world.
We learned that an oral history interview is closer to being a thoughtful radio host or podcast interviewer than a researcher reading questions from a page. Preparation matters greatly, but so does allowing conversation to unfold naturally.
Oral histories capture:
Mary Simpson’s Reflections on a Live Presentation by Sarah Walker, Head of Reference Services, North Dakota State Archives. Reference: State Archives Facebook page
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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…
Read moreWindows on the past Part 2 by Bill Simpson
In part 1 of this series, I described the altar window in St John’s Anglican Church, Glencoe. There is another fine stained glass window in St John’s, which is found at the rear of the church to the left of the main door:
The image is titled “Christ Knocking on the door”.
This subject was a very powerful one in the latter half of the 19th century and based on a picture by William Holman Hunt. Per the article in Wikipedia:
“…The Light of the World is an allegorical painting by the English Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (1827–1910) representing the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door, illustrating Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me”….. The door in the painting has no handle, and can therefore be opened only from the inside, representing “the obstinately shut mind”.
This particular version does not show Christ holding a lamp but instead a staff.
The artist and the manufacturer are unknown to me. The style and colors of the picture suggest one of the major stained glass makers – Hobbs or McCausley.
The inscription reads:
In Memory of Thomas Strong who died 1st January 1927 aged 79 years.
He that liveth and believeth in me will never die.
Thomas Strong
From the census of 1891, Thomas Strong was a local farmer. He was married to Sarah Jane Strong. They had a son Frederick born 1881 but there is no local record for him after the 1901 census.
Thomas Strong had emigrated with Sarah from England. From below we can suppose that they both originate in the or near to Southwick, a small town in Sussex next to Brighton.
For Sarah Strong we have several peices of information from the Glencoe Transcript (thanks to Ken Willis for these):
Info from Glencoe Transcript – Wardsville News items. September 20, 1904 – Mr. and Mrs. Middlekrauff of San Francisco visited her sister Mrs. T. Strong.
September 21, 1906 – Mrs. T. Strong, who has been visiting relatives in Wiltshire England and niece Eva Frances, returned on the steamer “Empress of Britain” Sunday evening.
March 1, 1907 – Death of Sarah Jane Strong, age 57. Born in Southwick, England. Died at her home on Main Street, after a two day illness. Service at St James church by Rev. H.A. Thomas with burial in Wardsville cemetery. Cause of death : diabetes.
Info from Wardsville death records: 1 March 1907, Sarah Jane Strong, age 57 years, 3 months and 23 days, housewife. Residence – Longwoods road, Wardsville. (Main Street and Longwoods Road were one and the same). Cause of death was listed as diabetes.
Thomas became a noted benefactor of the church, loaning it $1000 to purchase the rectory building, and requiring only for interest to be paid, and the loan to be discharged at this death. In his will, he specified the stained glass window to be installed.
It is interesting therefore to speculate how his wife Sarah came to be buried in Wardsville after a funeral service at St James Church in Wardsville. There is also the disappearance of their son Frederick from all public records after 1901.
All over the world, churches are repositories of local history as well as places of worship, and Glencoe is no different. St John’s Anglican has its share of memorials and markers of personal and public history. This is the first of a series of posts about these. As a recent newcomer to Glencoe, I am likely to be unaware of facts and details about this church, window and Anna Moss which are otherwise common knowledge. Please let me know these so I can add them to this record. – Bill Simpson
There has been a St John’s Anglican Church at the corner of Main Street and Concession Drive since 1869. This building was replaced in 1893 with the current structure, depicted in the postcard shown below, with a current view beside it.
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.
by Tony Bruinink
The story I am about to write happened in 1954 at the humble beginning of Hollandia Bakery, Wm. Bruinink & Sons, the start of what is now known as Hollandia Bakeries Ltd. The village of Mt. Brydges had a population of approximately 1200 souls, at least that is my recollection. Fire hydrants were a square hole of 24” x 24” approx. 6 feet deep. The water supply to homes was a piston pump pounding happily when it was encouraged to supply water.
The first Hollandia was located in what is now Sunshine Bakery. If one were to take down the brick wall, on the exposed wooden wall one would find the words Hollandia Bakery painted by John Kolstein. It was John who we kept busy painting our delivery vans which were later observed in the surrounding communities. The original Hollandia was known as Robinson Bakery until it was purchased by brother Henry in 1953.
Henry did the baking and I did the selling house to house in Mt. Brydges and Strathroy. Some of my customers were Northcotts, Lucas, Daucetts, Orrs and many more whose names have slipped my memory. In Strathroy one of my customers was Pastor Buursma of the CRC. It was he who put me in touch with Bill Jervis who owned the IGA store on Front Street. This store became the stepping stone to wholesale selling.
Hollandia Bakery & Sons was to be established in what was known as Gold Seal Dairy on the main street in Mt. Brydges, between Young and Regent streets. My parents Bill and Dorothy Bruinink, my brother Bill and I took up residence in the front of the dairy bar which, by the way, had gone bankrupt and we bought at a good price. In 1955 we added 75 feet to the back of the building which was to be the “enlarged” bakery. This expansion became an annual event until we reached Emerson Street. In 1961 an addition of approximately 300 feet was added to the north side of the building. In 1970 the bakery was destroyed by fire and rebuilt south of Mt. Brydges. It is difficult to imagine that 60 years have passed since Hollandia had it’s humble beginning. In 2014, Hollandia celebrated its 60th anniversary!
Going back to 1955, I was in charge of the sales organization while brother Henry and my father ran the bakery and its ever growing staff. In 1956, my brother-in-law, Joop de Voest, joined our now Hollandia Bakeries Ltd. and took on the job of Secretary-Treasurer and administrator.
I recently had a “flash back” regarding the thriftiness of being Dutch.
One of our most popular cookies was the sugar cookie. We were selling this item at .39 cents retail for a 13 oz. package and they “walked off the shelf”. This caught the attention of father William. He called us together and read the riot act pertaining to this cookie.
“Boys” he said, “We have to make a fundamental change to the weight of the sugar cookies. The package is simply too heavy for what we get in return. I propose that we reduce the count to 20 cookies in the roll from 24.”
My reaction was prompt – “But Dad, this would make this package a lot smaller and our sales would go down. Why not increase the selling price?” This was not a bad idea, but it would take this item out of the occasional 3/$1.00 special category. Suddenly Henry said “how about if we put a hole in each cookie? This will bring down the weight.”
Voilá – The Grandmothers Sugar Cookie was born and became our biggest seller. ‘The cookie with the hole’ was now a favourite with children and adults. Children enjoyed putting their finger in the hole. A contest was born – Who could keep the cookie from falling apart while eating it with their finger in the hole?!
It is amazing how the thriftiness of the Dutch could produce such an incredibly popular cookie.
As the remaining survivor of the founders of Hollandia Bakeries Ltd. and now retired and no longer involved, I am pleased to submit this brief history.
Tony Bruinink
Over 60 history buffs gathered, in person and online, to listen to Doug Ferguson as he described his “Ancestral Odyssey” at the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives on Wednesday evening, January 17, 2024. His Ferguson ancestors had left Craignish, Argyleshire for Aldborough Twp. in 1818 and then moved to northern Mosa Twp. in 1827. The McDonalds left Inverness for Quebec in 1830, before settling in Ekfrid Twp. in 1835.
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A great new contemporary play. Eight members attended the June 7th Strathroy performance at the developing Wright Centre. We were pleased to meet members of the Board of Directors. Let’s support this wonderful project to bring a performing arts centre to downtown Strathroy. – Mary Simpson, Pres, G&DHS.
This is a play for all those who love flying…. For those who love looking down at the earth from a few meters or thousands of metres above the earth’s surface. Let’s meet the four characters. There are six performances to choose from.
$20 adv / $25 door Buy TICKETS ONLINE here at www.OnStageLive.ca
Dates: Wed. Jun 4 @ 7 pm at the Keystone Complex, Shedden, ON
Thur. Jun 5 @ 2 pm at the Keystone Complex, Shedden, ON
Thur. Jun 5 @ 7 pm at the Keystone Complex, Shedden, ON
Sat. Jun 7 @ 2 pm at The Wright Place, Strathroy, ON
Sat. Jun 7 @ 7 pm at The Wright Place, Strathroy, ON
Sun. Jun 8 @ 2 pm at The Wright Place, Strathroy, ON
TICKETS / INFO @ www.OnStageLive.ca
Come take flight with these four unique characters as they surprise you with the unexpected experiences of life that make it hard to keep the blue side up.
Supported by The Wright Foundation & Township of Southwold
Paul Langan is going to tell us about the legend of Orval Shaw—The Bandit of Skunk’s Misery. We often hear fragments of stories and myths. Paul has done the research. He is going to talk about the process of collecting information for historical books and about how this booklet came together.
Orval Shaw never killed anyone or committed any major crime, yet from 1921 to 1934, Orval’s life of petty crimes led to some of the most sensational police hunts to try and capture him.
Article published in the Middlesex Banner.
Book is also available from Amazon. The Bandit of Skunk’s Misery is only paperback; no e-book options available .
On April 3, 1929, in Hespeler, Ontario, the greatest force of police anywhere in Canada was assembled to search for the “mystery man of Skunk’s Misery.” For the first time ever, historian and author Paul Langan has collected all the known published information on Orval into one book. Local connection: Paul’s mother’s family, the Doyle’s, are from 9th Concession of Raleigh Township.
Book released- 11/13/2024 – ISBN 978-1998829408
We will have books for sale at this book signing event.
In the meantime, to order his book(s):
WORDSWORTH BOOKS in Waterloo, Ontario carries all Paul Langan books in print.
Booklet is also available from Amazon. The Bandit of Skunk’s Misery is only paperback; no e-book options available .
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Book about Life at Mt. Elgin Residential School, Chippewa of the Thames, a local Indian Residential School.
Books available for sale at The Archives or from the bookseller. University of Manitoba: https://uofmpress.ca/books/brown-toms-schooldays
Reverend Enos Montour (1898-1985) was a United Church minister and writer from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory.
Over the course of his retirement, Rev. Montour wrote a collection of stories about Mount Elgin Industrial School at the time he attended (ca.1910-1915). Mount Elgin is one the earliest United Church-run Indian Residential Schools and was located on the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation. With the help of Dr. Elizabeth Graham, Montour finished and titled his book Brown Tom’s Schooldays.
With no publisher in sight, photocopies were made and distributed to family members in the early 1980s. This important book is difficult to find today, so Professor McCallum, worked with the University of Manitoba Press, Dr. Graham, and Montour’s two granddaughters Mary I. Anderson and Margaret Mackenzie, to issue a new edition.
~~~~
By Reverend Enos Montour
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Two days:
Saturday, December 7, 2024 | 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Sunday, December 8, 2024 | 1:00 – 4:00 PM
NEW Melbourne United Church, 592 John Street, Melbourne, Ontario
Step back in time and celebrate the season with us at the Manse, a classic example of Italianate architecture.
What to Expect:
🎄 Period Christmas Decorations: Experience the charm of Victorian-era holiday décor.
📜 Historic Displays: Explore exhibits showcasing Melbourne’s local history, including fascinating artifacts and stories of the area’s past.
👀 Signature Quilt: See the 1918 signature quilt on display—could your ancestors’ names be stitched into its fabric? Discover your family connections!🛷 Kilbourne Cutter Sleigh: Admire this elegant piece of local history on the front lawn.
Architecture Highlight
The Manse, built with locally-made brick, features a wide central hall, a stunning staircase, and large windows with stained glass. While originally designed without modern conveniences like bathrooms, later adaptations—including 1960s enclosed porches—have added layers to its architectural story over the decades.
The Italianate design of this home was inspired by plans published in the Canada Farmer magazine in 1865, which highlighted this style for its practicality and grandeur.
Ref: http://www.ontarioarchitecture.com/italianate.htm
April 16th at 7:00. In person event – no zoom.
Existing members: this is your official notice to attend the annual general meeting to be held at the Archives, 178 McKellar Street, Glencoe, Ontario.
If you have wanted to join, show up and purchase a membership. Individual Memberships are $20 and family memberships are $25. Tax Receipts will be issued by Membership Secretary Harold Carruthers.
We’ll share stories and reports for the year 2024 and look ahead. What’s coming up? Celebrate the younger generation that is getting involved and telling stories about the past.
Show and Tell! Bring a family heirloom, artifact, or mysterious thing from the past to share with the group.
Here’s a link to our report covering the past year – DRAFT copy in progress. Please send any additions to mary@glencoehistoricalsociety.ca
By Bob Gentleman and Kathy Evans. Review printed with kind permission from the Middlesex Banner.
In July of this year, family and friends gathered at Arrowwood Farm, a beautiful property in Riverside, just south of Melbourne, to celebrate the publishing of a book written by my uncle, Bob Gentleman. The farm that is now called Arrowwood Farm (6460 Riverside Drive) has sentimental value to our family, as it was once owned by the Gentlemans, purchased in 1870.
Bob’s book, titled “They Settled in Riverside,” is largely a family history, documenting the arrival of our ancestors in the Riverside area and describing their family branches. But Bob also captures an era now decades past as he shares stories of early Riverside neighbours and of growing up in Melbourne in the 1930s. He recalls his paper route, the school, town merchants and businesses, the railroad, and the neighbours and friends who were important in his life.
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Film industry pros sweat the possibility that many digital files will eventually become unusable — an archival tragedy reminiscent of the celluloid era.
Martin Scorsese: “The preservation of every art form is fundamental.”
For the movie business, these are valuable studio assets — to use one example, the MGM Library (roughly 4,000 film titles including the James Bond franchise and 17,000 series episodes) is worth an estimated $3.4 billion to Amazon — but there’s a misconception that digital files are safe forever. In fact, files end up corrupted, data is improperly transferred, hard drives fail, formats change, work simply vanishes. “It’s a silent fire,” says Linda Tadic, CEO of Digital Bedrock, an archiving servicer that works with studios and indie producers. “We find issues with every single show or film that we try to preserve.” So, what exactly has gone missing? “I could tell you stories — but I can’t, because of confidentiality.”
Specialists across the space don’t publicly speak about specific lost works, citing confidentiality issues. So, only disquieting rumors circulate — along with rare, heart-stopping lore that breaches public consciousness. One infamous example: In 1998, a Pixar employee accidentally typed a fatal command function, instructing the computer system to delete Toy Story 2, which was then almost complete. Luckily, a supervising technical director who’d been working from home (she’d just had a baby) had a 2-week-old backup file.
Experts note that indie filmmakers, operating under constrained financial circumstances, are most at risk of seeing their art disappear. “You have an entire era of cinema that’s in severe danger of being lost,” contends screenwriter Larry Karaszewski, a board member of the National Film Preservation Foundation. His cohort on the board, historian Leonard Maltin, notes that this era could suffer the same fate as has befallen so many silent pictures and midcentury B movies. “Those films were not attended to at the time — not archived properly because they weren’t the products of major studios,” he says.
Excerpt from:
BY GARY BAUM, CAROLYN GIARDINA. MARCH 15, 2024
Can you imagine digitising the Mona Lisa painting and destroying the original? The Magna Carta? The British North America Act? 1798 Act of Parliament to create London District? The answer to maintaining records is not paper or digital – it is both!
Committee To Establish a Middlesex County Archives
Marie Williams: An impressive crowd gathered for the “Haunts of Peter McArthur” road trip Sunday afternoon, June 16, starting out at what was the McArthur homestead on McArthur Rd. before moving onto the Eddie Cemetery on Glendon Dr. and finally back to the Archives in Glencoe. Two plaques were unveiled along the way as McArthur trivia and memories were shared. Both young and more established fans of the works of the “Sage of Ekfrid,” family members and historians enjoyed the afternoon which was organized by the Glencoe and District Historical Society. The Society is marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Peter McArthur in 2024. See photos on Facebook Post.
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Marie Williams, Glencoe: The huge crowd that packed into the Glencoe and District Historical Society Archives on February 22 proved that the “Sage of Ekfrid” is as popular today as he was over 100 years ago. In addition to 30 viewing online, over 50 turned up in person.
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Tartan Days in Glencoe, over the past several decades, has been a unique opportunity for the community to celebrate its Gaelic heritage and allow the people of Glencoe and area to get involved in local activities and have some fun. For us this year, we decided to host an open house event at the ARCHIVES. It was a truly historic Saturday for the Glencoe and District Historical Society. After numerous visitors made their way to the Archives throughout the morning, a ceremony was held at 1:00 pm, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the incorporation of the Village of Glencoe, the belated 200th anniversaries of the Townships of Mosa and Ekfrid, the 170th anniversary of arrival of the first train in Glencoe and the 45th anniversary of the Society itself.
G&DHS also had a booth out near the Glencoe Train Station beside the Old Auto magazine. CJ Frederick, who has written a beautiful historical novel about a local boy, joined the booth offering local readers a sneak peak to her first full length historical fiction novel, Rooted & Remembered. The author’s parents and husband were on hand to help CJ Frederick get this new book into the hands of readers.
Thanks to CTV for doing a piece on the importance of building a Middlesex County Archives. CTV London’s Marek Sutherland reports: TV news item here
Read moreApril 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023
The Glencoe & District Historical Society was formed in 1978 to promote local history research. We are a registered non-profit organization, staffed by volunteers who are keenly interested in maintaining our objectives. Our objectives are:
First, It should also be pointed out, that during the past year G & DHS did resume normal activities, as the Covid 19 pandemic was basically over. Letters were issued in August to reach out to our members, Membership renewals were encouraged, and consequently our membership was mostly restored. Several patrons provided financial donations also. Appreciation goes out those who contributed during this time. Service fees for research services were still somewhat reduced. Consequently, again during the past year, as a not for profit organization, it has been a difficult several years. Our Financial Report may detail some of this later.
This past year our Society was involved as a partner with The Municipality of Southwest Middlesex (SWM), for the manufacture and installation of identification signs in all of the active and abandoned cemeteries within SWM. Our plan called for 30 signs within SWM, and three outside of SWM, but within our area. Hykut Signs was our local manufacturer. These standardized signs outline to the public, the name of area cemeteries and when they were established. We have identified and signed the forgotten ones also, so that our pioneer ancestors will be remembered.
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