Ontario Vital Statistics: New Years Are Here!

This morning the Lambton Room received an exciting package in the mail. It contained the latest round of Ontario Vital Statistics. We now have a new year's worth of records pertaining to births, marriages and deaths in the province of Ontario. We have birth registrations up to and including 1914; marriage registrations up to and including 1929; and death registrations up to and including 1939.

About fifteen minutes before the package arrived, I had just been discussing with one of my co-workers about the status of our vital statistics order, and when I anticipated they would arrive. Avid genealogists are often waiting to swoop in and have a look at the latest year's worth of vital statistics, to flesh out their research.

The Archives of Ontario's Introduction to Vital Statistics asserts, "these records are restricted until they have been made publicly available," but does not offer any additional explanations about the reasons behind these restrictions. Familyhistoryalive.com explains that because of Ontario's privacy laws, records of a private and sensitive nature cannot be released until a specified period of time has elapsed. Birth records are kept secret until 95 years after they occurred; marriages for 80 years; and deaths for 70 years.While it is important to respect these privacy laws, it's annoying for researchers who are aware these statistics are locked up in a vault and being released at a frustratingly slow pace!

For this year, we have received our newest wave of Ontario Vital Statistics, and that is something to celebrate! So come out to the Lambton Room and look up those birth, marriage or death records that have been eluding you.

Keeping Up With The Joneses: The Maxwell Settlement Part 2

I received some great feedback about my last blog, Lambton's Communal Experiment: The Maxwell Settlement. A lot of people are unaware of and fascinated by this pocket of Lambton County's history! I have been working closely with the Jones Diaries over the last few weeks, and I wanted to share some additional information about this amazing collection to flesh out the Maxwell story. So here is Keeping Up With The Joneses: The Maxwell Settlement Part 2!

I mentioned at the end of my last blog that the Lambton Room has some incredible material documenting the Maxwell settlement. I have been dusting off and properly arranging/storing the Jones diaries for several weeks now, and I have developed a much better understanding of the collection.

The collection contains diaries from three different Joneses: two diaries from Henry John Jones Sr., the master-mind and driving force behind Maxwell; a single diary from Julia Maria Jones, Henry John Sr.'s daughter; and a whopping thirty-four diaries from Henry John Jones Jr., Julia's brother.

Henry John Sr., September 28, 1832.

Henry John Jones Sr.'s diaries document between December 11, 1831 and September 22, 1833. His entries can be a bit formulaic; he tends to record weather readings, such as thermometer, barometer and wind speed. He records details about agricultural activities, farm accidents and visitors. For example, September 28, 1832 he noted, "Townsend arrived with workmen to finish bridge. 2 boys stopped in search of horses." (page 123) March 7, 1833 Jones recorded, "Sandy Hamilton came up again, being desirous of returning to the shores of the lake." (page 28) His diaries provide a great snapshot of activity at Maxwell during its heyday.

Henry John Sr., March 7, 1833.

Julia Maria Jones kept a diary from May 20, 1830 to August 28, 1830. It documents the journey from England to Canada, and through to the site for Maxwell. "Our view of Maxwell even at first was favourable..." Julia notes, commenting on the beauty of the landscape and the hard trek she endured to reach her destination.


Henry John Jones Jr. documented an extensive portion of his life with diaries. His first diary was "Remarks on the zoology of the neighbourhood of Maxwell," a summary of the animals around Maxwell without much detail about the activities of the humans. He kept regular diary entries until 1843, when our collection abruptly stops until 1852, when it picks up regularly again. It is possible that he quit writing for that period, or the diaries are in someone else's possession. The last diary we have ends in June, 1883.

Henry John Jones Jr., January 1, 1837.

Jones Jr. writes openly and honestly, for example on January 1, 1837 when he noted, "Looking back on my proceedings during the last year and my prospects at present, I must acknowledge that the view is anything but pleasing... The Land business is in a very unsettled state, indeed the chances are that my present employment cannot last much longer. A devil of an annoyance, after wasting three or four years of my life in it. My consolation is that though poorly, I have managed to maintain myself, and have acquired habits of business and a certain quantity of experience and information which will doubtless under any circumstances be useful to me hereafter."

It is a rare opportunity to have access to this type of material, diaries that document so regularly and carefully a notable period in county history. The Jones Diaries have been cleaned, inventoried, and archival-safe boxes have been individually prepared for each diary to ensure it remains protected under optimal conditions.

While the family's ambitious Maxwell failed, their dreams and experiences are recorded forever in the Jones Diaries.

Lambton’s Communal Experiment: The Maxwell Settlement

One of the most interesting stories of European settlement in Lambton County comes from an ardent believer in socialist theory, a man named Henry Jones. He brought settlers from Scotland to Lambton County to establish a communal settlement in the late 1820s.

Jones was inspired by Robert Owen, a Welsh entrepreneur and social reformer. Owen was disheartened by the wretched working conditions that plagued Britain during the industrial revolution, and introduced socialist reforms in the mill he managed in New Lanark. He provided educational facilities for his workers; started a company store with lower prices and credit; and wrote essays about communes and social living.

 Owen delivered lectures on socialist living, and one of these lectures was heard by our Henry Jones. Jones was inspired to establish an Owenite colony populated with displaced British workers in the New World.  

Jones encountered some snags on his path to a Utopian commune. His initial petition for land was refused because he did not have enough settlers and demanded extensive government funding; his second petition requested to settle fewer families at his own expense. In late 1828, Jones received his grant, and his settlers set sail from Scotland. The party had approximately fifty men, women and children, including Jones.

 

Elizabeth (Jones) Faithorne Pencil Sketch, Maxwell.



The arduous journey across the ocean and through the wilderness took weeks, and the settlers eventually arrived in late April 1829. The settlement was dubbed Maxwell and embodied all the promises of contemporary social reform theory. Their communal home was “a large building of, not logs, but carefully whip-sawed boards. A two-storey central block contained the common dining room, kitchen and living rooms. Two single-storey wings contained private rooms for each family.” [Maxwell – and Henry Jones, Lambton’s Communal Settlement, Helen Burrowes, p. 20]. They had a storehouse for supplies and a blacksmith shop, and the promise of an existence free from the shackles of industrial labour that loomed in their native Scotland.

Unfortunately, Maxwell proved to be unsustainable. The women became disgruntled with the communal kitchen and dining room. There were whispers from some of the men about Jones, who saw himself as the group’s leader. Following the tenants of social theory, Jones believed human beings were inherently selfless, hard-working, and good intentioned. It turned out this was not the case.

Maxwell’s settlers did not live up to Jones’s ideal. The community began to crumble after less than a year with the departure of Henry Baird, the young blacksmith. More and more settlers would peel off, and Jones became distracted with legal troubles back in Britain.

Lambton’s experiment in communal living may have failed, but Jones left a legacy. He is credited with bringing an optimistic spirit of community and freedom to Lambton while the area was still wild and untamed. Additionally, the center street of a lot he owned was subdivided and named Maxwell Street after that fledgling communal settlement.

Henry John Jones (Jr) Journal, December 1860.

The Lambton Room is fortunate to contain some amazing documentation of the Maxwell settlement and the Jones family. We have two pencil sketches done by Elizabeth (Jones) Faithorne of the original communal settlement in the early 1830s. Additionally, we have a collection of nearly 30 volumes of journals kept by Henry Jones’s son, Henry John Jones. His journals begin in 1830 and keep diligent records of almost every day until 1883. The journals provide information about Henry John Jones and insight into what life would have been like in the 1800s. The collection is occasionally mundane (when discussing the weather); often informative (we learn about trips taken by Jones); and even funny (we sometimes hear Jones bemoan a night spent consuming too much gin). While the Maxwell settlement may have failed, it retains a remarkable and interesting foothold in Lambton County’s history, and has left us some fascinating historical documents.

Genealogy Buffs Be Aware! Family History Centers

Early last week, I had the opportunity to tour Sarnia's Family History Center, an office nestled in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building at 1400 Murphy Road. These institutions are present in LDS churches across the country and across the world, and their mandate is to help individuals research and better understanding their family histories. The Mormon faith believes that ordinances can be performed for individuals after their death, and this connection of ancestors with religion has created one of the most substantial genealogical forces in the world.

While Mormons believe in an intricate connection between genealogy and their faith, the genealogical resources they have compiled are open for the use of anyone regardless of their religion or ideology. The services are all available free of charge, and come without any assumption that you must convert in order to access these resources. While the Lambton Room specializes in genealogical documents and sources for Lambton County specifically, the Family History Center is international in scope. They can help you research and understand documents that are older and from a wealth of different countries.

Family History Centers are the local hubs for the transmission of the church's incredible genealogical holdings. They are the local eyes and ears for the Family History Library Building in Salt Lake City. That 142,00 square foot five storey building is the largest library of its kind in the world. FamilySearch.org asserts, "The collection includes over 2.4 million rolls of microfilmed genealogical records: 727,000 microfiche; 356,000 books, serials, and other formats; over 4,500 periodicals; 3,725 electronic resources." Some pretty impressive numbers, buffered by the 600 million names in their International Genealogical Index. All resources at the Salt Lake City library can be ordered through inter-library loans and accessed at any Family History Center (for a small fee, which covers the shipping).

Not only does the LDS care for records that have already been gathered and indexed, but they are also involved in the indexing and digitizing of additional records. Millions of names are being indexed every day by the LDS's extensive network of volunteers. These volunteers come from across the world, and documents are being indexed in dozens of languages in hundreds of locations. In this type of project, it is essential to ensure that the documents are being indexed accurately, and a control system has been put in place. Multiple individuals index the same document, and their indexes are each submitted to a supervisor, who compares the documents for similarities. This quality control is a strong step towards ensuring the indexing is a close match to the original document.

While the Lambton Room has excellent and extensive genealogical resources (especially for individuals researching in Lambton County), the Family History Center in Sarnia is a great spot for researchers interested in looking for family members who are international in scope. Visit their Family History Center Portal for links to their online database, FamilySearch.org, as well as research tools, online courses, locations of Family History Centers near you, and much more!

Census Excitement and Chagrin

This past week, I had the opportunity to complete my first Canadian Census! In previous years I either lived with my folks or in student residence, but as an independent, rent-paying Canadian, I received a census form for my very own apartment. Both my room-mate and finance were puzzled by my excitement, but as a historian who accesses early census records on a daily basis, it struck me as a right of passage to be finally completing a census form for myself.

Unfortunately, the ten questions did not satiate my desire to provide an excellent resource for genealogists investigating their lineage one hundred years from now (although a voluntary National Household Survey will be circulated approximately four weeks after the census and include questions normally asked on the census long form). Unlike the hand-wringers who are worried about access to their personal information, I believe that the census forms a vital part of the historic record and access to those records in 92 years is my right as a historian and as a Canadian.

The aspect of the census that historians and genealogists are taking aim with is the "Permission Question" featured at the end of the census. The census taker has to tick a box indicating "Yes" to whether they would like their information released when the census becomes publicly available in 92 years. If the census taker ticks "No," their information will never be publicly available; if the census taker does not tick either box, their information remains concealed. I can appreciate the importance of providing Canadians with some say in how their personal information is handled. However, I believe the "Permission Question" should be reworked so those who do not respond to the question have their information automatically released instead of kept secret. The question should be: "Do you refuse to release your information in 92 years?" not "Do you agree to release your information in 92 years?"

Additionally, it should be more immediately relevant why it is important that this information be released in 92 years. The 2011 Census website does have a link explaining the position of the historian/genealogist (Genealogy Corner,) a description of one casual genealogist's use of currently available censuses (1911 Census: A Personal Perspective,) and a page entitled Release of Personal Data after 92 Years, but this is not enough! These links are available but I'm not convinced that every census taker will browse the website and discover them. An encouragement from Library and Archives Canada embedded in the census itself, just before the "Permission Question" would do much to bring this topic to the forefront in many census takers' minds. To the casual person answering a census online, it is a knee-jerk reflex to answer "No" to any questions related to access to your personal information. If Library and Archives Canada had a short blurb indicating how this census information will be used in 92 years, it might go a long way to quelling the insecurities of census takers (and curb the fretting of historians and genealogists.)

The Lambton Room is happy to provide online and microfilm access to Canadian census records, including 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911. We often bemoan the poor hand-writing and spelling ability of early census takers, and wish that those records were not often hard to read and incomplete. Well, the computer age may have solved the hand-writing and spelling problems for the 2011 Census; but future historians will undoubtedly be at a disadvantage because of the privacy restrictions that are currently in vogue.

Complete the 2011 Census online with your 15-digit Secure Access Code, and remember to tick your Permission Box!

Into the Belly of the Beast: Behind the Vault Doors

Behind the Vault Doors

Visitors to the Lambton Room don't often get the opportunity to glimpse behind the vault doors. When they request records to conduct their research, one of our staff members diligently scurries into the back and fetches the necessary files. I want to use this blog post to give people a peek into the vault itself, and an idea of the special or unusual records that are available in its depths.

The Lambton Room's vault is equipped with special equipment to maintain constant humidity and temperature. These environmental conditions are essential to the longtime preservation of our historic materials. I imagine old newspapers heave a sigh of relief as they are unloaded from dusty attics and carefully stored in this special environment!

Inside Photograph Box

Photograph Boxes

We have over 770 boxes full of file folders containing the records and history of Lambton Room. Our photograph collection alone boasts 127 boxes of pictures. On the left is a shot of the photographic collection, and on the right is a sample of the interior of one of the gray boxes. That particular example comes from our Shipping section, and features Captain Peter McKay, who helmed the Noronic from 1931 to 1935.

Our vault also has an excellent collection of over sized pictures, including this shot of the Sarnia Rugby Football Club from 1903!

Sarnia Rugby Football Club, 1903

Van Tuyl and Fairbank, c. 1908.

One of our most imposing collections comes from one of Lambton County's most well-known businesses. The day books (or account ledgers) from Van Tuyl and Fairbank's successful hardware store are hefty volumes that diligently track the business's transactions. This important slice of Petrolia history provides insight into the hardware industry and the manner business was conducted over one hundred years ago.

Jones Diary, 1860.

Our vault preserves not only the records of big businesses, but also the everyday thoughts of ordinary people. We have a variety of diaries, journals and letters, some written by notable citizens and some penned by Average Joe. To the left is an image of two of the Jones diaries, one of our most significant journal collections (over two dozen volumes). Featured here are entries from October 27 and 28 1860, which included details about going to the market, seeing a friend off at the ferry, and suffering from indulging in too much gin and water.

Map Cabinet

Another important section of the vault is our map cabinet. It is organized by region and date and contains maps from diverse time frames spanning across the entire county. Some maps are merely sketches produced by intrepid citizens; others are detailed fire insurance plans that display main thoroughfares and side streets in impressive detail; still others are old publications from the Ministry of Transportation. Featured here is our Point Edward drawer, and the small map at the top of the pile is entitled "Proposed Development of Railway Land" (revised October 1958).

Enniskillen Book A, Land Abstract

Another significant resource housed safely in the vault is land records for the county. Land records beginning as early as 1850 and extending as late as 1950 can be found in our vault. These land records are listed in unwieldy abstract books (see left) that track all transactions performed on a given lot and concession. The abstract pictured here is open to Lot 13, Concession 10 in Enniskillen, and lists a transfer from the Crown to Archibald Grant on August 10, 1835 as the first transaction on that piece of land. Sitting on top of the abstract book are a Deed of Land and Assignment of Mortgage.

Brigden Tweedsmuir, "School Days"

Brigden Tweedsmuir History Book

There is also a growing collection of Tweedsmuir Books, accompanied by other material donated by Lambton County Women's Institutes. The Federated Women's Institutes of Ontario (FWIO) had an interest in compiling and preserving local histories, and the Tweedsmuir Books became one of the primary vessels for doing so. Lady Susan Tweedsmuir, wife of the Governor General of Canada, was president of the FWIO from 1936 to 1940, and encouraged fellow members to expend more effort in recording and preserving local history. After 1940, the histories gathered and produced by Women's Institutes were dubbed the Tweedsmuir History Books. The Lambton Room is fortunate to have some of the Tweedsmuir Books from Women's Institutes around Lambton County. They are an invaluable snapshot into local histories.

The Lambton Room is fortunate to have received so many wonderful donations over the years. These donations are the lifeblood of our collection, give us the opportunity to care for and preserve Lambton County's history.

Lambton's Favourite Irish Preacher: Uncle Joe Little

Photograph from Lambton Room collection.

I had the opportunity to learn about one of Lambton County's most interesting and beloved preachers this week. Joseph Russell Little, popularly known as "Uncle Joe Little," roamed and preached in Warwick Township and beyond from 1833 to 1880. His eccentricities have become legendary in Lambton County, and time has mingled together truth and myth to create a fascinating portrait of a lovable preacher.

Little's adventures began April 10, 1833, when he left his native Ireland at the age of 21 to manage the estate of Arthur J. Kingstone, a wealthy man from Mosstown, Ireland. Little managed Kingstone's estate for eleven years, until he was removed from his position because the estate was losing money (some say because Little's kind heart encouraged him to give away food and clothing to the poor; see p. 68, The Township of Warwick: A Story Through Time by the Warwick Township History Committee). In one of the worst career matches ever recorded, Little accepted the position of tax collector for Warwick Township. Again, Little's soft heart was ill-suited for his job demands; Little used his salary to pay the taxes of the poor and eventually lost his farm for back taxes and debt. Annie Ross's piece, Uncle Joe Little, written for the Warwick Women's Institute in September 1954, claimed, "His kindness of heart would not let him collect the taxes from the poor... he was often imposed upon."

Little's loss became Lambton County's gain, as this financial blow left the preacher with little choice but to roam the countryside spreading the gospel. He traveled with his faithful steed Toby (the name given to his horse - or, as some historians maintain, the series of horses he rode around the county). A London Free Press article from April 22, 1939 ("'Bishop of Warwick' Claimed His Horse Knew the Sinners") notes, "[Little] maintained that Toby would stop for every sinner in Lambton County. Toby stopped every time he met anyone. This was widely known and became a cheerful joke with Uncle Joe. 'Ah, another sinner, eh Toby,' he would explain as the horse stopped."

Photograph from Lambton Room collection.

Little's wandering sermons and visits were fondly remembered by the Lambton families he touched during his travels. In her article "Monument Recalls Circuit Rider," Margaret Blais recalled the following story from her great-aunt Susan Howland: "Aunt Susan remembers when she was a little girl that he would often visit their home. Long before he reached their house they could hear his great Irish voice rollicking hymns. He would twirl his hat in the air and then greet them with a good Irish greeting. 'The top of the morning to you!'"

One of the most significant resources we have for learning about the life of Little is Rev. Leonard Bartlett's "Uncle Joe Little:" Life and Memoirs of Joseph Russell Little, published in 1903. Bartlett tells Little's life story with the help of vignettes illustrating how Little interacted with his fellow man. Bartlett relates the following meeting on page 155: "A great temperance meeting was being held in the Methodist church at Sarnia. Early in the meeting the chairman called for Rev. Mr. Little... [Little said,] 'Friends, I am just a fish out of water. Why? Well, up here among all these black coats I feel out of place. My place is away out there among the backwoods of Warwick.' And then he went on and gave them a rousing temperance speech, such a speech as only he could give."

Little was disinclined to write about his wanderings; his friend Mrs. W.H. Shaw asserted, "He was not a man that ever put on paper a mite of either speech or sermon, and when away he was a very poor correspondent." So, having never met the famed preacher and without written testimony from Little himself, Bartlett recreates  words and countenance from stories and memories that reverberated around Lambton County at the turn of the twentieth century. Sometimes there is a tendency to exaggerate characters like Uncle Joe Little, who become larger than life as the years go by, and Bartlett's recreations of Little's life should always be taken with a grain of salt.

What we do know for certain is that Little traveled to Anticosti Island to preach in 1879, and passed away January 6, 1880 from a longtime illness. When the people of Warwick got the news of his death, they instituted a Joseph Little Memorial Fund and raised enough money to purchase a coffin and ship the preacher's body to Montreal by boat and on to Warwick by rail. He was interned in the Warwick Methodist Cemetery (present United Church Cemetery) in November, 1880. His funeral procession stretched seven miles from Watford to Warwick, and over six thousand people came to show their respects. While we may not be able to verify every folk tale told about Uncle Joe's exploits, we can testify to the love and devotion he earned from the people of Lambton County as evident by his grand burial and the way his story has been fondly remembered and retold years later.