GHS - June 2013

June 2013 Issue #74

One of the hardest parts of a newsletter is the beginning. When the ideas start coming, there’s usually no problem. The weather has some part in this; if the outside conditions dictate staying in, so be it and away we go. Those who have received a copy of the Glanbrook Gazette may have read about the Society’s latest speaker, Ph.D. candidate, Andrea Gal, from Laurier University. Andrea put a notice in the weekly publication, Ontario Farmer, requesting material from the early 20th century that would reflect rural life in Ontario. This was to be the basis for her doctorate in Canadian history. The Society responded and Andrea visited the archives a few times (along with others throughout the province), and she’s well on her way to the final year of nine or ten at university. One of the items of study showed that cars were purchased before tractors. Horses may have ruled the fields, but cars were kings of the road in the 1920's. (Our family had a car in 1922 but no tractor appeared until the late 1940's.) The co-op movement was alive and well with crop sharing, beef rings, consisting of 16 to 20 members donating one animal per shareholder per week, cheese co-ops, all offering different methods of providing for consumption of goods and services for the rural residents. A very interesting evening.

You won’t find the tractor featured on our masthead at the upcoming antique tractor show at the farm of Larry & Lindy Smith, 6136 White Church Road, Mount Hope on Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. (This particular steam- powered garden tractor was owned by Jack Calder, Jerseyville.) What you will find is a grand collection of almost everything in the International Harvester, Farmall, McCormick-Deering and Cub Cadet line of tractors, implements and memorabilia, dating back almost one hundred years. The farm is located on the east side of Case Church, near the intersection of White Church and Tyneside Roads. All welcome for a nostalgic trip into the IHC past.

There’s been such a demand over the years for the Society’s book “Sinclairville, The Story of a Ghost Town” that we have printed additional copies. The book was first published in 2003 and this is the third printing. Not bad for the story of a ghost town!

Material collected on World War I Glanbrook military personnel has slowly been digitized and the end is in sight. One may need a telescope to see the conclusion but it is visible. Some of the highlights are the letters from soldiers overseas to family and friends back home and a year-long diary from 1916, kept by Captain William Ridge. Our thanks to Donna Evans for transcribing the diary, thereby getting quite an insight into the life of a WWI soldier. There are enlistment papers, medical information, cemetery photos of those KIA and other bits of “stuff .”

We remind members that the Society’s office/archives will be closed for the summer months. The last day for business will be Friday, June 21, re-opening on Thursday, September 5. (Other times by appointment.) Even volunteers need time off.

This leads us into the ongoing plea for “help.” There are some projects and suggestions that have been put forward, all very good but ..... without feet on the ground to participate, they will not go anywhere. There are varying amounts of commitment, some with no time frame, others require some effort. The major “event” is the annual trek to the Binbrook Fairgrounds in September. There is an opening for a coordinator(s) to set up a volunteer schedule, recruit those volunteers, find a theme for display purposes and other little things that go into the three-day event. Contact Ron 905-679-0245 or Art 905-679-6315 if willing and able. (Both these individuals will be away in September and unable to participate.)

In the mid-80's, an inventory of historical buildings in Glanbrook was taken, a total of about 460 properties. It has been updated periodically but it’s time to do another update, in co-operation with Hamilton Municipal Heritage Committee. The final result will be to have all such buildings on a city-wide inventory, ready for inclusion on a register of heritage properties. The local update would consist of at least two people, each assigned a section of road, to do a drive-by to confirm the existence of the described building or note its demolition. (“Ain’t there” may not be an acceptable term, accurate as it is!) The photo earlier in this article is a good reason to maintain this inventory of our history. Again, it’s a volunteer project with no real time frame. Good to complete it this year, though.

The final item concerns those four meetings a year to which the Society invites a speaker to present a short talk/slide show on a topic of historical interest. Once again, someone has to do or supervise the event. It’s usually a matter of contacts, a few phone calls and a bit of follow-up to confirm times and places. This might take at least a half dozen hours a year. Care to assist??

A final note on the photography of headstones in our area. One of the last remaining cemeteries “to do” is Binbrook Baptist Church cemetery. Frank and Carolyn Brittain have offered their time and camera to start the process, which we hope to complete this summer. We have a list of 31 cemeteries in Glanbrook, Barton, Ancaster and Seneca that have been inventoried. Eighteen have been finished (until there`s a new stone erected)and the rest are well on the way to completion. Here’s one from Seneca that is full of information, a real find for genealogists, especially if he is a relative. Sometimes there are diamonds amongst the grass and shrubs.

Upcoming Society Events:

Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2: Antique IHC show at the Smith farm, 6136 White Church Road, Mount Hope.

Monday, June 24: Strawberry social at Villages of Glancaster club house on the patio, Silverbirch Blvd., off Twenty Road West, Mount Hope, 7:00 PM. Contact is Ron, 905-679-0245.

Thursday, September 5: Archives open after the summer recess.