Results for ‘Historical MUSINGS’
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 6 October 1931]
This is Fire Prevention Week and Fire Chief Stapf is appealing to all citizens to remove any accumulations of paper or refuse from either inside or outside their premises and to also see that flues and chimneys are properly cleaned.
It has long been recognized that cleanliness and orderliness contribute very much to the prevention of fire. For years, one of the important activities of the Welland fire department has been the education of the public in this regard. The distribution of literature, parading of fire apparatus adorned with significant signs, talks to the school children and articles in the newspaper have been some of the means used to impress the people with doing everything possible to prevent an outbreak of fire.
The fire record locally, in recent years, has been a creditable one and it has been doubtless due, in no small measure, to the educational propaganda carried on under the direction of Fire Chief Stapf.
Besides the prevention of fire, there is an advantage to health in doing away with accumulations of rubbish. Piles of refuse or decaying garbage provide breeding places for flies which may spread disease throughout a community.
It is in the interests of all concerned to keep the city clean and tidy and the efforts of the fire chief should be accorded the hearty co-operation of citizens generally.
What They Mean-Famous People That Bore the Name-The Name in History, Literature, Etc.
By Henry W. Fischer
VIOLA
[Welland Telegraph, 16 February 1912]
Girls called Viola should be proud of that distinction to see either of the pet terms, for Viola is the most universal of names, both in modern times and in antiquity. It is taken, of course, from the flower, which is viola even in Sanscrit, the oldest and most primitive of languages. However, this flower is so small and retiring as to become synonymous with modesty.
According to Greek legend, the Viola is “the fair daughter of Ajax’s blood,” having sprung from the earth as the hero’s life-fluid “poured forth to a purple flood.” Violets were very numerous in ancient Hellas, and even today Athena is known as the Violet Crowned City, as Paris is the “City of Lilies,” only the flower referred to in the Paris title is a pun on the word Louis, pronounced Lye in patois and Lys is French for Lili.
Both here and in England Yolante is not unfrequently adopted by Violas of a romantic turn of mind, but the name rarely figures in the birth registers, which shows that the girl was re-christened by herself or others as she grew up to be a fair representative of the ambitious title, for Yolante is a title rather than a name, the first syllable being evidently a contraction of Viola, and the last standing for “land,” which the old Saxons spelled with a “t.”
Naturally the violet is the emblem of Violas of every description. The name’s signification is “Love of Truth,” and its sentiment innocence.
Viola is a lovely character in “As You Like It,” the tender and compassionate counterpart of the gay Rosalind. Another interesting Viola figures in Fletcher’s “Coxcomb.”
“Islanthe,” was the fifth opera in the writing in which Gilbert collaborated with Sir Arthur Sullivan. Violetta is the principal soprano role of Verdi’s opera “Traviata.”
La Violetta was a famous dancer of Austrian birth, but Gallic genius, who delighted London, and became the wife of Garrick. Her real name was Eva Marie Veigel.
What They Mean-Famous People That Bore the Name-The Name in History, Literature, Etc.
By Henry W. Fischer
JUDITH
[Welland Telegraph, 9 January 1912]
Judith, correctly spelled Jehudith, is probably the ferrenting of Judah, but some authorities declare it is a racial name, Judith meaning “Jewess.” The “scarlet lily” is Judith’s emblem and “love of country” her sentiment.
Judith, consort of Louis the Pious, led a turbulent existence, was repeatedly imprisoned., but died in 1843 in the full possession of her power and renown.
Like the above, Judith of Bavaria, was a woman of great beauty and wide learning.
The stepmother of Alfred the Great was a German princess by the name of Judith, and it was she who imbued the King with her love of learning. Judith, wife of Waltheof, was a niece of William the Conqueror and was called Jugge for short.
The Irish have adopted Jugge and turned it into Judy.
{Editorial, The Globe and Mail, Toronto, August 31, 1959}
Louis Blake Duff was one of those rare men whose intellectual curiosity molds their lives and enriches all who come in contact with them. His death at the age of 81 ends a fruitful career during which he made a notable contribution to the life and letters of this country, particularly of the Niagara Peninsula.
Dr. Duff was a man of many parts—a composite man, as a university president once called him. He began work as a teacher, became a capable newspaper editor, then had a successful career in the world of finance. Whatever he was doing, he found time to indulge his love of books, his respect for and sensitivity to local and national history.
He had the articulate ease of expression which made writing and speaking a pleasurable experience for both him and his audience. His career as a public speaker spanned 40 years in Canada and the United States, he took every opportunity which this broad platform offered to stress the importance of history, its lessons and pleasures. As a scholar. His original research brought to light many hitherto unknown facets of Canadian history and facts about the personalities who made that history.
Dr. Duff deplored what he called the booklessness of Canadians, their disinterest in literature. As a passionate bibliophile—his own library contained 10,000 volumes—he could not help but be depressed by this characteristic which he considered a national trait. He decried, too the absence of museums in Ontario, particularly in the small towns where local history could be preserved. He was critical of Canadians for ignoring their history, in contrast to the way Americans venerated their heroes and national shrines.
A man of warmth and wit, he had a multitude of friends. We join them in paying tribute to his achievements and his memory.
[Welland Tribune 1940]
Mrs. G.V. Cordon opened her home on Niagara street last evening for a meeting of the Joan of Arc chapter I.O.D.E. Mrs R.B. Burns presided and led in a discussion of ways and means for raising funds to buy more wool to knit into articles for the soldiers. Next month officers will be selected and the nominations committee includes Miss Minnie McPherson, Miss Katharine McKeon and Mrs Donald Carew with Miss Cora Marshall. Mrs A. N. Conklin and Mrs F. Durdan appointed to act as scrutineers. Mrs H.J. Dougherty and Mrs C. Gelling were introduced as two new members. L. B. Duff addressed the members in his inimitable and entertaining fashion. Mrs Cordon served refreshments at the close of the meeting.
{Compiled by “S”}
The journey of the printing press across Canada. by Louis Blake Duff. 1937.
The romance of our place—names; a series of eight radio addresses..February 20 to April 10, 1934, station CKTB, St Catharines; by Louis Blake Duff, 1934.
Names are pegs to hang history on. by Louis Blake Duff, 1926.
Muddiman, the first editor. by Louis Blake Duff, 1925.
Address to weekly newspaper editors on May 27, 1944 at Niagara Falls, Ontario by Louis Blake Duff, 1944.
John Brown at the battle of the Plains of Abraham. by Louis Blake Duff, 1927.
The county kerchief by Louis Blake Duff, 1949.
A study in vanity by Louis Blake Duff, 1952.
Samuel Chandler of St. Johns by Louis Blake Duff, 1938.
Amazing story of the Winghamite secretary of Louis Riel. by Louis Blake Duff, 1955.
Crowland by Louis Blake Duff, 1928.
The beginnings of the newspaper in Canada by Louis Blake Duff, 1929
The immortal memory; an address before the Burns literary society of Toronto, January 25, 1944 by Louis Blake Duff, 1945.
Papers and Records, Welland County Historical Society, 5v, 1924.
Address by Louis Blake Duff given at a dinner by Stephen Leacock memorial association on the occasion of the unveiling of a bronze bust of Stephen Leacock by Elizabeth Wyn Wood, Orillia public library, Friday, 14th September, 1951.
Sam Johnston: smuggler, soldier and bearer of news. By Louis Blake Duff, 1926.
Burnaby by Louis Blake Duff, 1926.
Huron Road centennial by Louis Blake Duff,1928.
Jane Susan Duff—her book by Louis Blake Duff, 1940.
Burnaby by Louis Blake Duff, 1927.
A shepherd’s crook on the hills of St. Johns by Louis Blake Duff, 1952.
Nihon no koika gyorui= Cyprinid Fishes of History of Cyprinid of Japan by Louis Blake Duff.
Hundredth Anniversary of Trinity Church, Chippawa by Louis Blake Duff, 1921.
Trinity Church, Chippawa 1820-1920: Hundredth Anniversary by Louis Blake Duff, 1920.
Good will in Fields of Peace by Louis Blake Duff, 1941.
From a Doss-house to Parnassus by Louis Blake Duff, 1934.
The Earliest Canadian Travel Books by Louis Blake Duff, 1935.
Louis Blake Duff Papers, 1932.
Correspondence with Prof. Norman J. Endicott, by J. Kemp Waldie, Norman Endicott, Louis Blake Duff, 1942.
As it Appears to Us by Louis Blake Duff, Lee F. Heacock, Buffalo Area Chamber of Commerce, 1928.
Louis Blake Duff: A Neglected Icon in Canada’s Print History by Peter Saracino.
Devil’s Artisan #54, Spring/Summer 2004
We think it’s so: being an assortment of editorial opinions from the Times-Review of Fort Erie, 1941.
The Vanished Village of the Shorthills by Louis Blake Duff, Canadian Historical Review, v13n3, 251-257., 1932.
Local Historical Societies: The problems and Opportunities of Canadian Historical Societies by Louis Blake Duff. Canadian Historical Review v13n3, 251-257, 1932.
The lost Lincoln order by William J. McCulloch, Louis Blake Duff, Nathaniel Benson, Lincoln Fellowship of Hamilton Ont. Meeting, 1957.
Robert Browning by Edward Dowden, Louis Blake Duff, 1904.
Louis Blake Duff Papers, 1932-1953.
Tourist and historical supplement by Louis Blake Duff, 1937.
The Printer of the Jesuit “Relations” by Louis Blake Duff, article Colophon v2 no2, 33-41, 1936
Welland Ship Canal by Louis Blake Duff, 1930.
The Greatest Englishman of history: an address by Arthur Meighen, Louis Blake Duff, 1954.
Die fruhesten canadischen reisebeschreibungen. By Louis Blake Duff, Herberth E. Herlitschka 1935
Thje buk ov samz: in Mikmak by Silas Tertius Rand; Louis Blake Duff.
College life: Dr. R. Tait McKenzie, OAC Review, v40, no 7, Mar 1928, p.245-246. By Louis Blake Duff; Tait McKenzie.
Literary section: H.M.S Pinafore/ Tom Bell, OAC Review, v45, no.5 Feb 1932, p. 292-294. By Louis Blake Duff and others..
What They Mean-Famous People That Bore the Name-The Name in History, Literature, Etc.
By Henry W. Fischer
[Welland Telegraph, 17 May 1912]
ETHEL AND GERALDINE
Girls named Ethel must be very careful not to gossip or indulge in slang, lest they belie their name which stands for more or less than “noble speech.” The original name had such encumbrances as “dred,” and “thryth,” and “trud” tacked on to it, but happily they got lost in the course of centuries, the only survivor being St. Etheldreda, with the French very properly contracted: St. Audry, in English Awdry.
In olden times the name day of St. Awdry was celebrated in England by fairs at which sharpers got rid of all sorts of showy trifles, hence the contemptuous term, “tawdry.”
There are not many synonyms for Ethel to choose from, lest one goes back to the earliest English equivalents, Albert, female Alberta. This, by the way, has nothing to do with Berta. Ethels that want a very swell name might adopt the French “Auberta, (pronounced Obert), Aubertine or Albrette.
The old English Awdry is Addy for short.
Ethel’s emblem is the sunflower, its sentiment, lofty thoughts.
Ethel Barrymore is one of the fair celebrities to whom the name was given.
Geraldine figures in the Italian and Spanish calendars as Giralda. The German form is Gerhardine, (pronounced every letter).
The male English form Jarett has no equivalent for women, and Geraldines not content with their beautiful name must choose between Dina and Gerilla, which latter is derived from the old German Guirhilda. But that doesn’t mean that Hilda and Geradine are the same.
When William the Conqueror landed in England, a great many Norman barons named Gerold or Gerald were serving under his flag. They introduced the name in Ireland, hence the plentiful Fitzgeralds, that is the son of Gerald.
“Geraldine” was the nick name of the Fitzgeralds of Kildare, but applied to the boys only.
When one of the Earls of Kildare had a daughter born to him, his clan styled her “Lady Geraldine,” though her real name was Elizabeth. She libes in literature as “Fair Geraldine,” of the Earl of Surrey’s songs and sonnets. She was afterwards Lady Brown and still later Countess of Lincoln.
It’s a long stretch from the middle of the 16th to the first decade of the 20th century, but that much time elapsed before another Geraldine became famous-Geraldine Farrar, the soprano.
Geraldine should be popular with girls for it means, “this fair” according to some authorities. In French it stands for “firm spear.”
Sweet scented tussilage is the emblem and the sentiment promises “justice shall be done to thee.”
What They Mean-Famous People That Bore the Name-The Name in History, Literature, Etc.
By Henry W. Fischer
[Welland Telegraph, 31 May 1912]
CHRISTINA
The first English Christina of which the records tell was the Abbess of Romsey, celebrated in ancient Norman lore, and a kinswoman of Atheling. Romsey is one of the oldest towns of Hampshire, and the abbey a Norman foundation. The name means Christ’s messenger, Iris is its emblem, “heaven messenger” its sentiment.
In the north of England, particularly Yorkshire and Cornwall, Christabel has been popular since olden days. This is clearly a contraction Christy (short for Christine) and Bella (fair) and the literal translation would read Fair Christine. English pet names for Christine are Chrissie and Xina.
“Christabelle” was the daughter of a “bonny Irish King” and in love with Cauline in the old ballad. The poem “Christabel,” though it remained a fragment, made Coleridge famous.
Christine de Pisan was a French poetess of the 15th Century and one of the first women to write poetry for a a living.
The most famous of them was the daughter of Gustavus Adolphus, the warrior King of Sweden. She assumed the government when a girl of eighteen, and astonished not only the Scandinavian countries but all Europe by her statecraft, wisdom and energy.
Christina of Spain was the fourth Queen of Ferdinand VII, the mother of Queen Isabel, who was driven from Spain in 1870, and the great-grandmother of the present King Alfonso. Because her several children were girls, her weak husband re-established the law of the old Castle, permitting women to rule. This caused the several Carlist wars.
Maria Christina was regent of Spain for her son, the present King, during the late American was with that country.
[Welland Tribune 1929]
Purchased by Louis Blake Duff of this city—Building Erected in 1836
Another ancient landmark of the county has changed hands, this being property at St. Johns, history of which dates back to the year prior to Queen Victoria’s accession to the throne.
The land and premises in question were purchased by Louis Blake Duff of this city a short while ago from Mrs Pitts of St Johns. It is in two parcels, one on the north side of St John’s road, the other on the south side. Workmen are now demolishing the large frame store and dwelling on the north side of the street.
It is interesting to note that this building was erected by Zenas Fell in 1836. Mr. Fell was an engineer whose name was attached to many plans in the county. Over the front door is the sign of the Niagara and District Mutual Fire Insurance company, which was probably the first insurance company in the Niagara peninsula.
The date on the metal sign is 1836, and the plate is said to have been placed on the structure before the latter was actually completed.
While this is a frame building it is lined with brick between the uprights. The man who is now dismantling the property, W.A. Spark of Thorold road, states he never saw finer timbers than those used in construction of this property.
[Welland Tribune 1943]
By A. B. Rice
To write, after a lapse of many years, about social conditions of a given time, is to realize afresh the fluidity of circumstances, the unceasingness of change. While the present writer’s aim is to awaken the minds of his readers to a like realization he knows that this will not be easy to do except perhaps in the case of the native Wellanders and their progeny.
When a visiting Welland old boy tours the city and admires the beautiful homes, the large factories, the excellent stores, the modern schools, churches and parks and hears of the Arena soon to be, he marvels at the mighty change for the better that has been wrought during his lifetime by science, industry and enterprise working hand in hand.
- How Well The Old Timers Built
It is only when the old boy stands on the massive Main street bridge and glimpses the landscape to the east and then to the west that he sees the skylines of many buildings that were familiar landmarks when he used to cross the little old wooden bridge fifty, sixty or maybe seventy years ago. It gladdens the old boy’s heart to notice that, while the Main street has been surfaced with brick where used to bone-shaking macadam, it is for the most part lined by the same structures that he saw a building when he was a boy and in some cases that were there before he was born. Of course these buildings have been modernized with plumbing, electric wiring, etc., as the old town has kept in step in the march of progress, but the fact that the foundations and walls have so long defied the ravages of this indicates how sound building materials were and how honest and capable the building craftsmen were in the old days.
One recalls the names of few of the builders of those days, but Marcus Vanderburg was perhaps the most famous of the masonry contractors and Henry Buchner was a well-known carpenter. Much of the handiwork of those two thorough mechanics is still in evidence in splendid old buildings along Main Street.
Most of the good red bricks which so long resister the elements of nature.
Along Main street were the products of a famous brick manufacturing plant owned and operated by Thaddeus W. Hooker, who was born in the state of Vermont in 1823 and who established his business in Welland, then called Merrittsville, in the eighteen fifties to make the bricks used in the construction of the county buildings. For the rest of his long life he was an esteemed Welland citizen. As long ago as 1860 he was reeve of Welland and later was many times elected to the council and school board.
Bricks and lumber were the most important materials used in building in the Victorian era. Plumbers and electricians were neither known nor needed for the water supply was pumped from wells in the back yards and modern sanitary conveniences were unknown in Welland home in that period. Electrical science was still in its infancy and homes were lighted by kerosene lamps and the latter only succeeded the tallow candles of pioneer days about midway in the nineteenth century.
But before the twentieth, with its amazing inventions and the two bloodiest wars that have convulsed the human race since the dawn of creation, had been ushered in, many Welland homes were lighted by electricity and streets were made bright at night by arc lamps hung high over the intersections. The electrical current was generated by steam power, for no Adam Beck had yet arisen to point the way to economy and happiness throughout Ontario with a publicly owned hydro-electric system.
Something about the men who supplied the lumber that went into the construction of Welland’s durable buildings in those happy days when cordwood, hauled in by the farmers, was plentiful and the best anthracite could be had for $5 per ton, may be interesting. In 1867, the year of Confederation, Moses Betts was reeve of the village of Welland. He was then and for several years later, proprietor of the community’s largest lumber yard. Later Jacob Crow, whose forebears were among the earliest settlers of the township of Pelham and who for a half century was conspicuous in the lumber trade of Welland county, opened a lumber yard in the village in which he lived to a great age. He is remembered as a most capable and honorable business man and for his devotion to the cause of temperance and to the Methodist church. When the infirmities of age necessitated his retirement his son, William H. Crow, carried on the business until his deeply regretted death in the prime of life Another son of Jacob Crow, John H. Crow, so recently stepped out of the ranks of Welland business men, to grow old gracefully in a life of retirement, that his name seems unfitting in the story of Welland’s Horse and Buggy Days. He is however, the writer believes, the golden link between that period and this in his city’s history. Maybe he long be spared to adorn the title of Welland’s Grand Old Man which his useful career has so justly earned for him.
One of the landmarks that makes the visiting old boy, crossing the bridge, feel right at home is the red brick building which is now the home of the business founded by the late David Ross, canny Scot of revered memory. In earlier days this was known as the Mellanby Block, in honor of William Mellanby who built it. I hope that the name survives for Mr. Mellanby was prominent in the public life of the county. He was a Humberstone township reeve and was warden of the county in 1873 and in 1876-7. The corner store was occupied by Thomas Cumines whose business was drugs, and in conformity with the drug store usage of the period huge containers of red and of green liquids stood in the show windows to proclaim to the world that it was a drug store and it was just that for when Victoria was Queen, druggists sold drugs and whoever wanted to purchase a hair net or a lawn mower did not seek it in a drug store. Mr Cumines
Was a county coroner and the most capable one I ever met in the course of my newspaper work. As a reporter for the Welland Tribune and the Toronto Globe I covered the inquest, over which he presided in the Easterbee murder case—the most gruesome tragedy in Welland county’s annals of crime. Perhaps I shall deal with it at a greater length in a future instalment of Welland history.
Another of the East Main street substantial buildings of the mid-Victorian era is the Dexter House, Elias Hoover, its proprietor, was one of the popular landlords of the period and a well-known citizen who sat in the village council in 1866-7. His son, Dexter, was a class-mate of the writer in the old Welland High School. Whether the fond father named his fine hostlery in honour of his son or of Dexter D’Everardo is not recalled. The latter gentleman was by far the most colorful of the county dignitaries of the old days and the story of his career will fill a whole column if and when it appears in this Horse and Buggy Day series.
Promoters of the Arena which 20,000 Wellanders now need could find inspiration in the study of the achievement of the community of 2,000 souls in 1877 in securing for itself the fine public hall which it needed. This is the story of another of the durable buildings on the south side of East Main street. The community needed a hall suitable for large assemblages such as political meetings, concerts and the like so Orient Lodge of the I.O.O.F. provided the leadership, organized joint stock company and sold the stock. Soon the building was an accomplished fact—a fine three storey structure with a mansard roof. The corner stone was laid on the 17th August, 1877 and the building was ready for formal opening and dedication on the following 26th of December. The leaders of the movement which achieved its object so speedily and so well have probably all passed away. They were: D. McConachie, N.B. Colcock, James Brown, William Lowe, Geo. A. Otis. A. Williams, Dr, Schooley. H.W. Hobson. Alex Griffith. M.S. Bradt, John Ennis, William Russell, J.R. Wrightson, I.P. Willson and C.J. Page.
In Old Orient Hall old time Wellanders have been privileged to hear many of the intellectual giants who made history in the 19th century, including Edward Blake, Sir John Macdonald, Sir Oliver Mowat and many others.
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