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By Jazmine Aldrich
In the Spring 2006 issue of the Journal of Eastern Townships Studies (JETS), published by the Eastern Townships Resource Centre, historian Dr. Jack Little contextualized the memoirs of James S. Ramage in an article entitled “A Wilderness Boyhood: The Lake Megantic Memories of James S. Ramage, 1868–82” (pp. 5-22). In the article’s opening paragraph, Dr. Little acknowledged that it was uncertain whether the memoirs were complete, for they ended abruptly at the end of page fourteen. What Dr. Little could not have known, however, was that nearly twenty years later, the remaining twenty-four pages of Ramage’s incomplete memoirs would find their way to the ETRC’s archives.
On November 22, 2024, the ETRC received an email from Bernard Boulet of Marston, Quebec. Mr. Boulet explained that at the end of the 1990s, his uncle Georges Martin (son of Ernest Martin – longtime mayor of Marston) gave him a fourteen-page long document written by James S. Ramage, recounting stories of his upbringing around Lake Megantic. Mr. Boulet was likely unaware that a copy of the same document had been deposited into the ETRC archives by Robert Walters of Sherbrooke in 1994.
In the spring of 2024, Mr. Boulet decided to translate Ramage’s memoirs into French. On a whim, he called the municipal library in Marston to ask if they knew about Ramage’s story. Mrs. France Morin told him that the very same day of his call, someone had dropped a copy of Ramage’s memoirs in the book return. To Mr. Boulet’s great surprise, the copy at the Marston library included pages 15 to 38!
Jumping ahead, once more, to November 2024, Mr. Boulet offered to loan the complete document to the ETRC so that we could make a digital copy. Mr. Boulet’s granddaughter, a student of the campus, facilitated the loan. I scanned the document, which is 52 pages in total and includes handwritten notes added by an unnamed grandchild of Ramage, after his death; it also includes a photocopied newspaper clipping, a family roster, and a copy of a map showing Lake Megantic.
The version of the memoirs donated by Mr. Boulet in 2024 is by far the most complete. The original typewritten text is dated February 16, 1951, and a handwritten annotation below indicates “His story to 1951, and after writing that he continued to work and fish for another 5 years” – indicating that Ramage died in Spokane, Washington in December 1956.
As an added layer of intrigue, the handwritten annotations following the memoirs include a note indicating that the unnamed author “met Mr. Walters at Mario Lapoint’s B+B in town – He is from Sherbrooke – Very into history of the area”, so it would appear that Robert Walters, who donated the fourteen pages to the ETRC in 1994, was actually in contact with the descendant of Ramage who annotated the more complete copy.
The note about meeting Mr. Walters is followed by a copy of a letter to the same, which begins as follows: “Recieved [sic.] your letter and will try to give you lots of information – Been looking thru [sic.] old family books ets. [sic.]”; it is in this letter that the author reveals themselves to be the grandchild of James S. Ramage. The plot thickens!
The photocopied clipping seems to originate from an Idaho Springs, Colorado newspaper; it is a biographical write-up and obituary for James D. Ramage – James S. Ramage’s father, who died September 24, 1900.
Rather unexpectedly, our knowledge of James S. Ramage’s life has more than doubled; the remainder of his memoir speaks of life following the Ramage family’s move to the mid-western United States, business ventures, becoming a father, the death of his siblings, and more. We have a more complete picture of Ramage’s life because of Mr. Boulet, who seeks to make this story known. If you are interested in reading James S. Ramage’s memoirs, or if you have archival materials of enduring value, please contact the Eastern Townships Resource Centre’s Archives Department.
By Jazmine Aldrich, with special thanks to Kevin Mancini and Anna-Karina Poronovich
The Eastern Townships Resource Centre (ETRC) is digging into its audio archives to discover fascinating testimonies of life in our region, in centuries past.
ETRC Archives Technicians Kevin Mancini and Anna-Karina Poronovich are undertaking an ambitious project to transcribe and describe hundreds of oral history interviews which were recently digitized thanks to grant funding provided by Library and Archives Canada through the Documentary Heritage Communities Program (DHCP). Though the two-year project aims to process over 700 audio and audio-visual recordings from different fonds and collections, it began with the oral histories found within the Ian Tait collection.
Ian Tait (1947-2005) was a beloved professor at Champlain Regional College in Lennoxville from the 1970s to the early 2000s. Tait was passionate about history, folklore, and folkways, dedicating much of his career to documenting traditional practices of the Townships through the recording of oral histories. As a professor, he also tasked his students with recording oral histories to further this research.
Following Ian Tait’s passing in 2005, his wife, Ginette Bernard, ensured the safekeeping of more than 400 audio tape cassettes by donating them to the ETRC Archives. Up until 2024, however, the only tool available to researchers to discover this fascinating collection was a list of interviewees and dates. Helpful as that finding aid was, it could not capture the full breadth and depth of these interviews.
The first step to making the interviews accessible was to digitize them. As the ETRC does not have the capacity to do this large-scale digitization work, the project was entrusted to the Société d’histoire et de généalogie Maria-Chapdelaine in Dolbeau-Mistassini, Quebec. The tapes made the journey of over 500 kilometers to be transformed into digital audio files which will be easier to preserve over the long term, as their physical carriers naturally degrade.
The first digitized files having been returned to the ETRC meant that it was time to listen. Enter: Kevin and Anna-Karina – two dedicated, recent graduates with a passion for history and the knowledge and desire to make it accessible to the public. Since September 2024, Kevin and Anna-Karina have been working full-time to transcribe these interviews and write descriptive summaries of their contents. The end goal of the project is to make the audio recordings, descriptions, and transcripts available to the public via the Eastern Townships Archives Portal – an online database for discovering the history of the Townships.
The ETRC’s Archives Technicians are being assisted in their work through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. Kevin and Anna-Karina are using AI transcription software which takes digital audio files and produces a typed transcription. The Archives Technicians are then reviewing the transcripts and correcting them. While a great deal of human intervention is still required, this software makes a first pass to save time.
Through their work, Kevin and Anna-Karina have unearthed everything from the mundane facts to the extraordinary tales of life in the Townships. When prompted about his findings, Kevin shared that many of the interviews represent individuals from rural backgrounds who recount the rhythms of farming. These testimonies are particularly valuable because, as any farmer today would attest, there is not much time left at the end of the day to spend documenting their experiences. Often, the perspectives represented in archives are those of wealthy, urban folks with ample leisure time to document their lives; these interviews allow for the voice of the Townships farmer to be heard.
Kevin and Anna-Karina have regaled our team with entertaining and downright concerning home remedies including turpentine and sugar for a cough, coal oil mixed with maple sugar for a sore throat, and ingesting kerosene. All of these remedies fall into our unofficial classification of “do NOT try this at home!”
Kevin also noted the resiliency of the interviewees, describing the ways in which they preserved food, made their own goods, and handed down clothing. Though many of the interviewees are now deceased, their recollections of the region’s development and community-building bear witness to the very essence of this region.
If you are interested in learning more about this project, please contact the ETRC Archives.
By Jazmine Aldrich
As the month of December trickles by and the holiday season approaches, so too does the tradition of holiday shopping. I thought it timely to spend this month’s column examining Christmas shopping of years past through 1890s advertisements in the Sherbrooke Daily Record.
McKechnie’s – seller of ladies’ elderdown jackets, cushions covered with sateen or silk, boas, and more – reminds us that “the tendency in holiday shopping is to leave most of it till the week before Christmas. The best plan is to buy now before the stocks are broken.” Some wisdom is timeless, but their motive was undoubtedly self-serving, for the advertisement goes on to remind us, “In buying a present, remember – trinkets and the givers of them are soon forgotten: anything from our store is a lasting reminder of lasting friendship, and always welcome.” There is nothing quite like an elderdown jacket to show a loved one that you care.
A brieflet tells us that “Christmas time brings its cares as well as its joys. It brings trouble to the lady who wants to make a present to a gentleman and ‘don’t know what would suit him’,” but rest assured – “the well-known men’s outfitter, Jno. O. Duncan” was at the ladies’ disposal for such dilemmas.
Duncan’s own advertisement responds to the damsels’ distress: “Now, really, what is more acceptable as a present to a gentleman than a nice silk umbrella! Always a necessity for his wardrobe. Perhaps not at this season, but then ‘there’ll come a time.’” A clever salesman, he was.
If you are unconvinced by Mr. Duncan, next to his advertisement is one from A.E. Kinkead & Co., Tobacconists, with another gift idea. “The gift of a suitable cigar case to a smoker who always carries a supply of cigars around with him will be appreciated, and if you fill that case with K. & C. Bouquet cigars, the recipient will feel, when you wish him ‘a merry Christmas,’ that the wish springs from the heart.” From one heart to another.
À la mode gifts of fine furs and neckties were being sold by A. Codère on Wellington Street, in Sherbrooke, while The Little Grocer, R. Lakeman, would sell you doll chairs for 25 cents and “for the boy, Buck Saw and Horse,” for only 60 cents.
For the intellectuals among us, J.R. McBain asks: “What would Christmas be without books?” The self-proclaimed “Importer of Xmas gifts” goes on to assert that “no Christmas tree is completely furnished, no stocking is well filled unless among the gifts are found books.” Here, here!
If these advertisements were not enough, the Sherbrooke Daily Record even advertises Will. J. Gray’s advertisement-writing business. That’s right: Cookshire’s premier advertisement writer advises merchants: “Don’t skim over the matter of writing ads. Entrust the task to one who has the time and ability to give this detail proper consideration.” The commercial spirit conquers all.
I hope that this meandering through the advertisements of yesteryear has been entertaining, inspiring, or perhaps even enlightening; let us not lose sight of the true magic of the holidays in our quest for gift-giving. For contrast, please enjoy they accompanying photos of happy moments shared amongst family and friends, at Christmastime.
If you would like to learn more about the history of the Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives by email at etrc2@ubishops.ca or by telephone at 819-822-9600, extension 2261. Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!
By Jazmine Aldrich
As Canada honours those who fought and died in armed conflicts, we at the ETRC wish to shine a spotlight on a few of the Eastern Townships’ monuments commemorating local valour.
One of the best-known soldiers’ memorials in the Eastern Townships is the “Monument aux Braves” on rue King Ouest in Sherbrooke. This monument has become an emblem of Sherbrooke and a landmark – to such a degree that its significance might be lost on the City’s youngest and newest inhabitants.
The Monument aux Braves is composed of bronze statues that were cast in Belgium and granite from Stanstead quarriers. The monument is oriented eastward, facing down the well-travelled hill toward the St. Francis River.
Sherbrooke’s soldiers’ memorial was first dedicated on November 7, 1926 by Mayor James Keith Edwards. The dedication ceremony drew a crowd of over 6000 people; with Sherbrooke boasting a population of roughly 24,000 people in 1926, that is roughly one quarter of population!
A plaque on the western side of the monument lists the names of 249 soldiers from Sherbrooke who died during the First World War. In 1948, a second plaque was added to commemorate those who died during the Second World War.
Sherbrooke’s emblematic monument was designed and sculpted by artist George William Hill who was a Townshipper, born in Shipton. After the First World War, Hill sculpted many military memorials in Quebec, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Prince Edward Island. Among his other local creations were soldiers’ memorials found in Magog and Richmond.
Hill’s Richmond monument was unveiled on November 10, 1924 in what is now known as Remembrance Park. Similar to the Sherbrooke monument, the Richmond memorial is made of cast bronze and local granite.
The sculpture was erected by the United Municipalities of the Townships of Cleveland and Melbourne; the Villages of Melbourne, Kingsbury and New Rockland; and the Town of Richmond. It was unveiled by Mrs. Belford, a mother of a fallen soldier whose name is memorialized on the monument.
The dedication ceremony was punctuated by the Richmond Brass Band, and marked by prayer as well as the laying of wreaths by individuals and groups, including one from the Richmond Memorial Committee which was laid by Richmond’s Mayor R.E. Dyson.
The south side of the monument is dedicated to the First World War soldiers from Melbourne, while the north side is dedicated to those from Richmond and Cleveland Township; the west side of the monument lists the WWI battles in which these local soldiers fought, including the Somme, Passchendaele, and Vimy Ridge.
In October 2000, Richmond’s First World War memorial was rededicated alongside the memorials for the Second World War and Korean War, which were moved to Remembrance Park from the Royal Canadian Legion. The monuments remain protected by fences and a municipal bylaw due to past issues with vandalism.
On November 7, 1927, yet another soldiers’ memorial was erected – this time, in East Angus. The monument was unveiled by Colonel E.B. Worthington, with Mayor J.A. Bothwell serving as Chairman for the occasion. The monument initially commemorated the 22 soldiers who died and 107 who served in the First World War, with a second plaque being added after the Second World War.
The unveiling was quite a to-do, involving speeches by Col. Worthington, Rev. E. Merrill Wilson, Major Leonce Plante of Montreal, and the town’s Mayor Bothwell. The ceremony, held in Post Office Square, was reportedly attended by “thousands” of people and was followed by a dance in the evening.
The entire initiative was credited to East Angus’ Bluebird Club, which was founded around 1924 by a group of young ladies who wished to secure a fund “to commemorate in a tangible form the splendid deeds of their townsmen,” according to the Sherbrooke Daily Record. A group of veterans presented the President of the Bluebird Club, Miss McLellan, with a bouquet of flowers at the evening’s dance, in recognition of the Club’s efforts and accomplishments.
As another Remembrance Day comes to pass, let us all reflect on the lives that were given in hopes of a better future, and be grateful for the luxury of relative peace afforded to us in the Eastern Townships. Lest we forget. If you would like to learn more about the legacy of remembrance in the Eastern Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives by email at etrc2[at]ubishops[dot]ca or by telephone at 819-822-9600, extension 2261.
By Jazmine Aldrich
Cycling is a popular sport and pastime for Townshippers and tourists alike, especially during the warm summer months – but when were bicycles introduced to the Townships, and what was their impact?
As with most trends in the Eastern Townships, the machine cycled its way here from metropolitan Montreal and from the United States. The term “velocipede,” or “vélocipède” was coined by German inventor Karl Freiherr von Drais, known as “the father of the bicycle,” with the invention of his Laufmaschine (dandy horse) in 1817. The late-1860s and 1870s in Montreal saw a booming interest in the penny-farthing (high wheel) bicycle, which was named for the British penny and farthing coins resembling the respectively large and small wheels of the bicycle.
One of the earliest mentions of a bicycle in a Townships newspaper dates from 1881. On October 21 of that year, the Weekly Examiner of Sherbrooke published a poem entitled “To One of the Bicyclists.” If the title alone does not imply that bicyclists were not-so-numerous in 1881 Sherbrooke, the personal tone of the poem certainly does; the author of said poem expresses a strong distaste towards the subject’s “spindly” legs, which were on display in his cycling attire. Other choice descriptors for the bicyclist’s legs included “scraggy” and “pipe-stems” – one can only hope that the target of this pointed critique did not recognize himself in this description.
Despite the growing presence of bicycles in populous Sherbrooke, the Weekly Examiner reported on September 28, 1883 that the people of Cherry River – which the paper affectionately described as a “quiet little back country village” – “had their curiosity considerably excited […] by the appearance on the street of a regular thorough bred Bicycle.” This mechanical marvel was ridden by an American nephew of Adam Sager, Esq. of Cherry River. The nephew, Amherst Sager, hailed from Lawrence, Massachusetts. The newspaper wittily reported that while “Mr. Sager says that upon a good road he can outdo the best of horses”, it had rained the day prior and there was “no news worth mentioning.” Many cyclists today would still commiserate with Mr. Sager’s experience of road conditions in the Townships – paved or unpaved!
By 1896, it seems that while bicycles were still an exciting invention in the Eastern Townships, they were folding into the regular routine of life. The Sherbrooke Examiner published several advertisements relating to bicycles in its June 12, 1896 issue. McKechnie’s dry goods store on Wellington Street in Sherbrooke advertised “Ladies’ Bicycle Jerseys” at $2.25 each. Meanwhile, Abbott and McKindsey in Lennoxville advertised “The Cleveland Swell Special” which they labeled as “The Combination of Art, Science and Brains”; the advertisement went on to call it “a perfect bicycle of which its manufactures, its riders, and as a specimen of home manufacture, every patriotic Canadian is justly proud […].”
An advertisement of particular note in the same newspaper issue was for George Foss’ newly-opened Bicycle Repair Shop, located at 12 Water Street (today, rue des Abénaquis) in Sherbrooke. George Foote Foss invented the Fossmobile, Canada’s first successful gasoline-powered automobile, that very same year at the age of twenty. A short distance away on Wellington Street, another member of the Foss family, A.H. Foss, was renting out bicycles by the hour, day, or week.
We hope that this brief ride through Townships history will inspire you to enjoy the beauty of a Townships summer on two wheels! If you would like to learn more about the history of the Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives by email at etrc2@ubishops.ca or by telephone at 819-822-9600, extension 2261.
By Jazmine Aldrich
If we look at a person’s life like a puzzle, archivists are trying to assemble the puzzle based on scattered pieces found in the records that they leave behind. I challenged myself in this article to learn more about the life of Mildred Waldron, who was born over 100 years ago on January 28, 1924 in East Clifton.
Mildred Ettra Waldron was the daughter of Luman A. Waldron (1868-1951) and Flora A. Cairns (1876-1944). She had one younger brother, Egbert D. Waldron (ca. 1925-1969), as well as three half-brothers and four half-sisters from her mother, Flora’s, previous relationship with George H. Bell (1858-1915).
Mildred was a Townships author and researcher. She published family and local histories of the Compton County area and, in particular, the East Clifton area, such as The Descendants of T. Waldron and M. Morse, The Hills of Clifton, Sheepskin Joe and Descendants of Hugh E. Cairns and Sarah A Waldron. This is all that I knew about Mildred’s life, before beginning my research.
Often, archival records tend to focus around one piece of a person’s life – their career or their strongest interest – but archives do not always give us a complete picture of who that person was. I never had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Waldron, but I feel like I know her a little better after combing through local newspapers, online, for references to her life.
I learned from my research that, from an early age, Mildred’s interest in her community was evident; in 1938, Mildred received a prize in the East Clifton School Fair for her map of Clifton. Let us not forget, however, her other prizes at the same fair for sweet peas, fancy work, painting, a school fair poster, and a collection of insects – such variety!
Mildred was an active member of her community. Over a 50-year span, from the 1940s to the 1990s, she was a member of the East Clifton Busy Bees Society, she was involved with the High Forest Red Cross, and she participated in the activities of the East Clifton Women’s Institute and the Sawyerville Women’s Institute.
She made crafts and displayed them for the Community Activity Day at Sawyerville Elementary School in 1989. She created souvenir books, napkins, and cards for the 125th anniversary of the East Clifton Methodist-United Church and was involved with the Sawyerville United Church women. She was also assistant administrator and one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the Second Mile Ministries Senior Centre in Sawyerville, a senior citizens’ home organized by an interdenominational Christian ministry in 1977.
She donated artefacts to the Compton County Historical and Museum Society and participated in their fundraising events and activities. She contributed articles about local history to the Townships Sun. She took pride in her heritage, and celebrated in The Record of May 8, 2001 that there were then six living generations of her Cairns family.
She contributed to many efforts to share local history, happily loaning her extensive collection of photographs and records relating especially to the history of East Clifton to interested parties, and sharing her knowledge in a myriad of forms. She had a keen interest in genealogy and helped many genealogists from near and far discover their Townships roots.
The Social Notes of The Record indicate that Mildred’s social calendar was always full, between visiting friends and relatives and receiving guests, and her extensive community involvement. If there was a card party, birthday party, or anniversary, she was present and helping in whatever way she could.
Mildred moved to the London Residence in Sherbrooke in 2004. She passed away on May 21, 2008 at the age of 84 and is buried at the East Clifton Cemetery.
My takeaway is that we often remember a person as “just one thing” – they were accomplished in a certain domain and their achievements were noteworthy but, as the saying goes, “we contain multitudes” and those multitudes are worth celebrating, too. Mildred Waldron was an accomplished historian and author, but she was also a devoted friend, relative, and neighbour who lived a full life.
If you are interested in learning more about the history of the Eastern Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives by email at etrc2@ubishops.ca or by telephone at 819-822-9600, extension 2261.
By Hailey Swift
Hailey Swift is a graduating student in the History Department at Bishop’s University. She completed an archival internship with the Eastern Townships Resource Centre over the Winter 2024 semester. Here is what she had to say about her internship experience.
One virtue of using the archives as an intern is that I did not know what I was getting into. I had no prior knowledge of the Loyal Orange Lodge fonds, nor the existence of the Loyal Orange Order. My first encounter with the documents were the minute books, financial ledgers, and more.
I was not the first individual to work on the Loyal Orange Lodge fonds; it was already divided into seven series based on location and content. Series one to five contain information about branches of the Loyal Orange Lodge located in different areas of Quebec, and series six is an artefact series consisting of ribbons. The seventh series, branch #689 of the Ladies Orange Benevolent Association, also known as the Maple Leaf Lodge, already existed within the Loyal Orange Lodge fonds but no descriptions of the materials had yet been added.
With such a long-standing association, some of the documents are around 154 years old; the earliest establishment date of the materials in the fonds is May 1, 1890. Because I was dealing with such old documents, and due to the majority of them being handwritten in nature, I enjoyed looking at the handwriting and how it evolved from the 1800s into the late 1900s – even from one individual to another, depending on who took the minutes or was in charge of the ledgers. Working on this project, I greatly appreciated my middle school teacher who forced my classmates and me to learn cursive on our own time; she refused to accept printing.
One of my tasks involved evaluating documents based on whether they should be archived in the Loyal Orange Lodge fonds or not. This involved verifying documents for duplicates, seeing whether a document had to be transferred to another fonds, and appraising a document for its historical value. One of my most enjoyable moments came from this process; in the box was a loose paper containing a receipt for a piano that had no outward connection to the Loyal Orange Lodge. I took note of the receipt’s date, and dug through one of the financial ledgers until I found the same date. Sure enough, the ledger included a purchase made from the company listed on the receipt for a piano. I had successfully connected the piano receipt to L.O.B.A. #689! Because we had a record of the purchase in the financial ledger, however, the receipt itself was considered to have no historical value; regardless, I felt much satisfaction in my brief investigative episode.
It should come as no surprise, then, that my favourite task was writing the authority records for the different branches. Authority records describe the individual persons, families, and corporate bodies (including associations and organizations) who create the documents that are kept in the archives. Writing the authority records involved both combing through the documents in the ETRC Archives and scouring BAnQ’s online newspaper database for mentions of the specific lodges in newspapers. From this process I learned a variety of facts; the significance of July 12th, Orangemen’s Day, and the community fostered by the Battle of the Boyne, which took place in 1690, and that the Loyal Orange Lodge meetings were sometimes held around 7:30 p.m. before the full moon.
My time spent with the Loyal Orange Lodge fonds allowed me to improve my archival skills, and gave me an appreciation for researchers and individuals who search through multitudes of information to reveal gems from the past.
By Jazmine Aldrich
The spring-like February weather that the Townships region has been experiencing this year raises alarm bells regarding our changing climate – but how do we know that the climate has really changed? In order to observe a change, climate scientists must benchmark change indicators over time and demonstrate patterns. Fortunately, many diarists had thoughts of posterity when they recorded near-daily weather observations. While these observations may not always be precise measurements, they provide us with enough information to plot changing weather patterns over time.
The ETRC Archives contains many such weather observations. One of our oldest sources on the local climate is a set of three diaries dating from 1836 to 1839. The diaries originate from Lacolle and were kept by an unidentified farmer. Nearly every day, the farmer records details such as the wind direction and strength, precipitation, clouds, and relative temperature.
Susanna Pearson’s 1874 diary focuses on her day-to-day activities, but also includes recipes, poetry, and details about the weather. She was born in the state of New York and her family moved to Shefford County early in her life. Susanna was 22 years old when she kept her diary, much of which was written during her time living and working in Boston. While Susanna’s diary is not a direct source on the weather in the Eastern Townships, it does provide near-daily observations of the weather in Boston, which can serve to compare and contrast other contemporary weather sources. For example, she notes on May 14, 1874: “The sun has come out fearful hot this morning,” and, the following day, “Very warm to day but not as oppressive as yesterday.”
Archie N. Jenks of Coaticook kept a diary from 1907 to 1911, from the ages of about 18 to 22. The diary spans Jenks’ time as a student at Coaticook Academy and later, at McMaster University in Toronto. Much of his diary recounts his time spent studying and reading, but Archie still peppers in references to the weather and its impact on his life; for example, he writes on New Years’ Eve of 1907: “If it does not snow I am going skating on the rink to-night.” On February 2, 1908, he notes the “[…] terrific snow and wind storm, trains delayed, business tied up” and, on the 5th of the same month, “Water pipe frozen.” Archie even makes weather comparisons within his diary, observing that on May 29, 1907, it was “snowing a little” whereas on May 22, 1911, it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. We can use these diaries to compare February weather over a 71-year period. The farmer observes that February of 1837 was generally quite mild, with some snow (peaking on February 24), then returning to mild weather and even some rain towards the end of the month. On the other hand, Archie Jenks’ recollections of February 1908 are that it was generally cold, with moderate temperatures and a thaw towards the middle of the month, and moderate to cold temperatures towards the end of the month. While Susanna Pearson’s observations were not local, nor were they taken in February, hers capture a summer’s worth of the east coast climate in 1874. Each of these diarists were impacted to varying degrees by the changing weather, and each diary tells its own story of our climate’s past.
By Jazmine Aldrich
What information can we glean from a family photograph album of unknown origins? Surprisingly, quite a lot!
Last summer, the ETRC received a photo album that the donor, Lisette Gagné, had purchased from an antique dealer in Ayer’s Cliff in the early 2000s. Ms. Gagné had no personal connection to the family – she simply felt that the album was an important piece of history that should be preserved.
The album consists of 216 black and white photographs, as well as one postcard. The photographs mainly depict individuals and groups of people in domestic scenes, as well as landscapes and buildings. The dates of the photographs range from about 1916 to 1958. The greatest challenge for our Archives Department team, however, is that only 24 of the 216 photographs are identified.
A few of the individuals in the photographs are identified by first and last name, including Bessie Anderson, Edna Anderson, and Helen Anderson. The photographs of the Andersons were taken in West Norfolk, Virginia. It is possible that the Andersons were southern relatives or friends of someone in the Townships and that the photographs were received and added to the family album; or, perhaps the Andersons visited Virginia in 1917, when the photos were taken. Given that we have very little information about this album, we must consider a variety of explanations.
Others identified by first and last name include Leigh Smith, Robert Peacock, and Sam Marshall.
Leigh Smith’s photograph includes an inscription, which indicates that it was taken at “Newport High” in 1937. This could refer to Newport High School in Newport, Vermont, although there are cities called Newport scattered across North America and beyond.
The photograph of Robert Peacock is dated June 14, 1937. Peacock is wearing a graduation cap and gown, standing in front of a rural scene. Could this be the same Robert J. Peacock living in Brome-Missisquoi – 66 years old at the time of the 1931 census? Unlikely, as the subject of the photograph looks considerably younger than 72 years old. Maybe, he is the Robert Peacock who lived in Fulford/Bondville at the time of the 1921 census – though he was 46 then, which would make him 62 at the time of the photograph. One is never too old to graduate but context clues lead us to believe that we do not have a match, so the search continues.
Ms. Gagné researched Samuel Marshall (1844-1937) and found that he was born in Inverness, Megantic County, and lived in Sawyerville. He married Catherine Annie Jones Edwards (1859-1949) in Lower Ireland in 1886.
Several Lennoxville scenes, including the cenotaph in the former Lennoxville Square, a covered bridge in flood, and the C.P. trestle bridge, are featured in the album. Some Sherbrooke scenes include the Soldiers’ Memorial on King Street, the Lake Park Hotel, and the Granada Theatre. Other photographs appear to have been taken around Capelton and North Hatley. Overall, we get the sense of a strong Townships connection without strong ties to any one location.
Despite all of the above information that we have gathered, we still do not know the origins of this album. All of the photographs have been scanned and uploaded to our online database, the Eastern Townships Archives Portal, and are freely available at the following address: https://townshipsarchives.ca/unidentified-family-album. We encourage anyone with information about any of these photographs to contact us. Together, we hope to solve this mystery! If you have any information or would like to learn more about the history of the Eastern Townships, please contact the ETRC Archives by email or by telephone at 819-822-9600, extension 2261.
By Jazmine Aldrich
We at the ETRC can hardly believe that October is almost over and 2024 is just around the corner. As we embrace the last quarter of 2023, let’s reflect on a slice of life in the 1923 Eastern Townships, 100 years ago.
In East Angus, an exciting feat of engineering was making its first appearance. The Taschereau Bridge, which replaced the Brompton Pulp and Paper Company’s bridge over the St. Francis River, was inaugurated on August 1, 1923. It was named for the Quebec Liberal and 14th Premier, Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, who served in that role from 1920 to 1936. The bridge cost nearly $200,000 (almost 3.5 million, today) and was funded by the Government of Quebec as well as the Brompton Pulp and Paper Company. Decades before the Quiet Revolution, the inauguration ceremony began with a blessing of the bridge by the Monseigneur Alphonse-Osias Gagnon – at that time, Auxiliary Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sherbrooke. A banquet was held, following the inauguration ceremony, and Premier Taschereau addressed the gathering about his reservations regarding the Government of Canada’s proposition to prohibit the sale of Canadian pulp to the United States. Mr. Taschereau certainly knew his audience!
Meanwhile, from August 17th to 27th, 1923, the Boy Scouts’ 2nd Sherbrooke Troop were headed to camp in Ayer’s Cliff. The direction of the camp was under former District Scoutmaster, Peter M. Dennis, with Troop Leader Lynn Trussler serving as assistant director. The tents were supplied by the army courtesy of Colonel John J. Penhale. Aside from their regular scout training, the camp included swimming, campfire singalongs, hikes, fishing, baseball, and plenty of other activities. The camp was open to all scouts of the Eastern Townships, ranging from other Sherbrooke troops to Coaticook scouts, and even some boys who were not yet scouts but were potential recruits. A modest price of $5 per child for 2nd Sherbrooke Troop scouts and $6 for all others was charged. Parents and friends were encouraged to visit the camp and witness the fun being had. Saturday, August 25th was reserved as a special sports day where three silver cups were up for grabs, along with first- and second-prize ribbons. In an announcement published in the Sherbrooke Daily Record on July 31, 1923, it was asserted that “the camp is undoubtedly going to be a success” and a success, it was.
Over 2,500 people attended the unveiling of the war memorial in Lennoxville on December 16, 1923. The granite cenotaph with its bronze tablet bore the names of forty-seven soldiers who gave their lives during the First World War. At the unveiling ceremony, the 53rd Regimental Band played “Onward Christian Soldiers.” The Mayor Henry Washburn S. Downs delivered the opening address and Lieutenant-Colonel Reverend Arthur Huffman McGreer, Principal of Bishop’s College, delivered a dedication address. Reverend Father Leblanc gave an address in French. Reverend Canon Robert William Ellegood Wright said the prayer of dedication and Brigadier-General Dennis Colburn Draper unveiled the monument. The war memorial was originally located in what was known as the Square, though not the Square Queen that we know in 2023; the Square in 1923 was located at the intersection of Main Street (now Queen) and Belvidere (now College). The cenotaph was moved to its present location next to the Borough Office (at that time, the Town Hall) in 2000 and further inscriptions have since been added to honour those who fought in the Second World War, as well as in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan.