Results for ‘LETTERS’
LIEUT. MURRAY AT THE TAKING OF FORT NIAGARA
A Letter From His Daughter to Rev. Cannon Bull, Which Gives Many Facts Not Mentioned by Historical Writers.
Glen Farm, Stamford, Dec. 18, 1890.
[Welland Telegraph, 8 May 1891]
MY DEAR CANNON BULL- I know nothing about Gen. Brock that is not known to the world. I suppose Mr. Read’s book will not give any details of the war after the death of Brock. I wish some capable writer with the requisite historical faculty for sifting the truth from the rubbish of fables that so often gathers round past events, making so-called history valueless, would write one authenticated by military dispatches and trust-worthy records at first hand, wherever they can be had. As an instance of the little reliance to be placed on relations of historical events written long after they took place, and apparently having no authority for their statements, I may instance the case of my father, though it is a case of no importance except to the cause of truth, as a proof of historical inaccuracy. Read the rest of this entry »
EDITORIAL
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 31 December 1931]
Only a brief illness preceded the death of Dr. S. Nixon Davis of Welland who passed away yesterday and it was a shock to his friends to realize that his genial presence would be known no more. Dr. Davis was a well known and popular citizen. His professional activities brought him in contact with a large section of the community but he was also a leading figure in the political sphere by reason of his position as president of the Welland City Liberal Association. He took an active interest in the administration of the county hospital and was associated with various organizations for the advancement of community life in the city.
Dr. Davis was a man with a mind of his own. It was this positive feature of his character that made him capable of accomplishment and his influence was invariably felt in the circles where his interests lay. But he possessed a cheerful disposition and a kindly heart which endeared him to many.
His devotion to duty was expressed not only by his attention to the demands of his profession but by his public service and his ready response to his country’s call following the outbreak of the Great War.
EDITORIAL
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 28 December 1931]
In the sudden death of Venerable Archdeacon N. Perry, the Grim Reaper has laid a heavy hand on Holy Trinity parish in particular and on the city of Welland as a whole. The revered Anglican rector, during his 12 years ministry here, was loved not only by his own parishioners but by the members of other denominations as well and the news of his tragic passing came as a profound shock to the entire community.
Only a few brief hours before his death the archdeacon had celebrated holy communion at three services, and after wishing his congregation the season’s greetings, had hurriedly taken the train for Toronto to spend Christmas day with his family. It could not be known then that his life’s journey was drawing to a close and that when the rector returned to this church, to which he was so deeply devoted, he would come back wrapped in the mantle of death.
Archdeacon Perry was one of the older graduates of Wycliffe college and in his student days was much beloved by his classmates. It was manifest then that he would be extremely sympathetic, an able preacher, a commanding leader and a wise counsellor. These attributes he cultivated during the years of his ministry and as a result he was recognized for many years as an outstanding clergyman in the Niagara diocese. Deeply religious, he was known as a man of strong character, ever ready to express his convictions on what he believed right and just. His was a firm stand on all matters affecting the policy or interest of the church.
The death of Archdeacon Perry was untimely, yet he would say with Saint Paul, “I have fought a good fight; I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.” He had lived to see the completion of the Guild Hall, a task to which he had devoted his energies for many years in the interests of the boys and girls of his Sunday school; the mortgage on the church had been burned only last week, he had lived to attain what he considered was the crowning success of his life, the conferring upon him by his alma mater of the degree of doctor of divinity, and finally, he had that day administered the last communion of the year to his congregation.
Archdeacon Perry has preached his last sermon, his life is done. But his ministry here will be as a beacon shining out to lead his congregation and as a guide to his successor whoever he may be.
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
The North Main street bridge problem is one which resolves itself into a matter of business and it looks as if the members of the council are inclined to view it in that light. It is generally agreed that the present bridge cannot last very much longer. It is old, decrepit, unsightly and inadequate and must be replaced by a more modern structure in a year or two at any rate.
At the present time a condition of unemployment exists and it is desirable to provide as much work for local men as possible. Since the whole nation is affected by the economic depression, the Dominion and Provincial governments are prepared between them, to provide half the cost of approved undertakings carried out by municipalities for the purpose of providing jobs for men out of work.
The combination of circumstances is not without its advantage to the municipality. It means that a necessary work can be undertaken and half the cost paid by the federal and provincial authorities, for a North Main street bridge has already received the necessary approval in official quarters.
As to the type of bridge to be constructed, that is something that must be given careful consideration. It is a case where all the information available should be sought before a decision is made. The council has done the right thing in authorizing the employment of a reputable consulting engineer to submit plans and specifications and to give expert and impartial advice to the municipality.
The construction of a new North Main street bridge is sufficiently important to demand the most serious thought. If the bridge is built, it will be a feature of the business centre of Welland for generations to come. It should be as substantially attractive as possible for a reasonable cost, and should be of sufficient width to take care not only of present but also of future traffic.
Citizens feel that the members of the council are giving a lot of consideration to the matter and that the final solution will be found to be satisfactory.
The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune
24 Ocotber 1931
SOME HISTORICAL RECORDS OF FAMOUS JOURNEY TO BEAVER DAMS
(By Fred Williams in the Mail and Empire)
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 5 December 1931]
When Professor W. Stewart Wallace belittles the story of Laura Secord’s warning to Fitzgibbon in 1813, he is liable to bring down upon his head a storm of protest from Loyalists all over Ontario, and more especially in the Niagara district. It is, indeed, placing hands on the very temple of Niagara history. No mere student of records like myself should tilt with so learned an authority as Professor Wallace; but it would be interesting to know upon what he uses his declaration that FitzGibbon had been warned of the coming of the Americans before Mrs. Secord arrived. It is true that William Wood in his history of the war says that FitzGibbon had been previously warned by an Indian scout; as against this, it is pointed out by J.H. Ingersoll, K.C., in a paper (Ontario Historical Reports, XXIII) that FitzGibbon does not say so, but in his report to Major deHaran, dated 24th June, after the engagement at Beaver Dams says, “At Decew’s this morning about 7 o’clock, I received information that about 1,000 of the enemy with 12 guns were advancing towards me from St. David’s,” etc. Upon which Mr. Ingersoll comments: “FitzGibbon gave a certificate to Mrs. Secord setting out the fact that she had warned him of the intended attack and in it does not mention that he had received any previous warning. I think it is fair to infer, therefore, that the warning from Laura Secord was the first that he had received (she is said in most versions to have reached FitzGibbon’s camp on the evening of the 23rd) and that the information received by him at 7 o’clock in the morning of the 24th was brought to him by the Indian scout whom he had sent out to watch for the approach of the enemy.”
What Certificate Says
The certificate mentioned above reads: “I do hereby certify that Mrs. Secord, the wife of James Secord, of Chippawa, Esq., did, in the month of June 1813, walk from her house in the village of St. David’s to Decamp’s house in Thorold, by a circuitous route of some twenty miles, partly through the woods, to acquaint me that the enemy intended to attempt by surprise to capture a detachment of the 49th Regiment, then under my command, she having obtained such knowledge from good authority, as the event proved.
Mrs. Secord was a person of slight and delicate frame and made the effort in weather excessively warm, and I dreaded at the time that she might suffer in health in consequence of fatigue and anxiety, she having been exposed to danger from the enemy through whose line of communication she had to pass.
The attempt was made on my detachment by the enemy, and his detachment, consisting of upwards of 500 men, with a field piece of 50 dragoons, were captured in consequence. I write this certificate in a moment of much hurry, and from memory, and it is therefore thus brief.
James FitzGibbon, formerly lieutenant in the 49th Regiment.”
There is, unfortunately (in the copy before me) no date to this certificate; it may have been written many years later; but the supporters of Mrs. Secord, who include most Niagara folk anyway, claim that it was in consequence of her warning that the scouts were sent out.
Her Own Declaration
Then there is Laura Secord’s own declaration when the Prince of Wales visited Niagara in 1860. When she went to the office of the Clerk of the Peace, for the purpose of signing the address to the Prince, along with the veterans of 1812, the clerk demurred, and she insisted asserting that she has done her country more signal service than half the soldiers and militiamen engaged in the war, which prompted William Kirby to write in the Niagara Mail: “We say the brave and loyal old lady ought not only to be allowed to sign the address, but she deserves a special introduction to the Prince of Wales as a worthy example of the fire of 1812, when both men and women vied alike in their resolution to defend the country.” In a later issue of the Mail, Kirby stated that the Prince visited Laura Secord at Chippawa. In March following he related how Mrs. Secord received a gift of one hundred pounds from the Prince.
Professor Wallace may consider the Laura Secord story as of little historical importance. He is entitled to his opinion; but the people of Niagara and most, of Ontario, will prefer to treasure the old story of the brave woman who risked her life to save her country.
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 11 December 1931]
Editor Evening Tribune:
I was much surprised to read in an issue of the Mail and Empire of Dec. 1st an article headed, “Laura Secord as Heroine, Fading out of History.”
The first reading suggested that the writer was laboring under the effects of a brainstorm or that a new mental disorder had appeared to afflict mankind.
The article is a disparagement of a feat well authenticated by indisputable documents and traditions received at the time as genuine. The main issue is that historians (sic) are omitting the story of Laura Secord from Canadian history on account of its mythical character; in other words disposing of it as a recent lecturer in Toronto did with “Wm. Tell.”
Let me say at the outset, that until I learn it from his own pen, I shall refuse to think that Professor Wallace omitted the story from present school histories, because he thought it mythical.
It is true, however, that in a school history, written by Mr. Wallace now in use in Alberta, he proved himself unreliable in accuracy. As to the contents of the article, we will notice the “lost key,” something unheard of before, and on the face of it most absurd. Why should she lock up her wounded husband and five children, prisoners in their home until her return, and carry the key with her through the “Black Swamp?”
These critics have not said that she locked the door; to have done so would have excited the suspicion of the enemy sentry at her door. Another paragraph reads: “It was only when Laura Secord was an old woman that her part in the episode became generally known, it was said.” This statement is the reverse of the truth.
In the Niagara district Laura’s story was told to admiring friends, who often invited her to their homes. One of them was the late Mrs. John Munro of Thorold, later vice-president of the Thorold Historical Society. The details of the story as told by Laura herself, were given when the heroine was in the full possession of all her faculties, unimpaired and not in old age. It may be found in the Historical Society’s “History of Thorold Town and Township,” published by John H. Thompson, editor of the Thorold Post. Mrs. Munro’s version of Laura’s story was corroborated by her eldest daughter, who had heard it at the time, and also Miss Amy Ball, a member of one of the oldest families in the Niagara peninsula, and familiar with the history of the period. Another statement reads: “It (Laura’s story) was dropped after investigation revealed that the troops at Beaverdams knew all about the surprise American attack, before Laura Secord’s arrival.” This looks like a fabrication to support an assertion of which no proof is given. On the contrary it may be safely assumed that if a previous warning had been received, Fitzgibbon would have received it. He says nothing of a previous intimation, but writes some years later, a certificate saying he received the warning from Laura Secord and acted upon it.
The certificate reads: “I do hereby certify that Mrs. Secord, the wife of James Secord, Esq., of Chippawa, did, in the month of June, 1813, walked from her house in the village of St. David’s to Decamp’s house in Thorold, a circuitous route of about twelve miles, partly through the woods, to acquaint me that the enemy intended to attempt by surprise to capture a detachment of the 49th Regiment, then under my command. She having obtained such knowledge from good authority, as the event proved. Mrs. Secord was a person of slight and delicate frame, and made the effort in weather excessively warm, and I dreaded at the time that she must suffer in health in consequence of fatigue and anxiety, she having been exposed to danger from the enemy through whose line of communication she had to pass. The attempt was made on my detachment, by the enemy, and his detachment consisting of 500 men with a fieldpiece and fifty dragoons were captured in consequence. I write this certificate in a moment of much hurry and from memory, and it is therefore brief. (Signed) James Fitzgibbon, formerly Lieutenant to 49th regiment.”
It should be observed that the merit of Mrs. Secord’s action would not be diminished in the least if warning had been given before or after her’s by some other person. It is now in order for those historians (?) whose modesty made them “decline to be quoted,” to come forward and tell to whom and in what manner, whether by dream or vision was knowledge of a previous warning “revealed.” The use of the last word, suggests that a good part of the article is a pipe dream. Unless some proof is forthcoming a discriminating public will hold them guilty of defamation of a worthy person.
In 1897 the Thorold Historical Society published their “History of the Town and Township,” which circumstance brings the battle of Beaverdams within the scope of their activities.
Great pains were taken by the committee to obtain details from all reliable sources available, so that the work might be a truthful narrative of the past. Chapter V gives the story of Laura Secord as she told it while in the vigor of life. This chapter also gives particulars of the battle of Beechwoods, gleaned largely from military documents including Brigadier General Cruikshank’s pamphlet. I quote from the first paragraph of the narrative: “Many circumstances connected with the engagement commonly known as the battle of Beechwoods, or Beaverdams, combine to make it one of the most interesting episodes of recent Canadian history. It is indissolubly connected with the memory of one of the most patriotic and courageous women of any age, or country.”
Such is the tribute of General Cruikshank to Mrs. Secord. He supports it by Capt. Fitzgibbon’s certificate already quoted, which he placed in the appendix of his pamphlet. The only portraits in the pamphlet are those of the heroine and Fitzgibbon.
In a hundred years and more since the event, the writer of the article under criticism appears to be the first to cast doubt on the truthfulness of the story as received for many years.
Other writers than those already named have written the story. Mrs. Curzon interviewed Mrs. Secord’s third daughter, who remembered her mother leaving home on that fateful morning.
Mrs. J.G. Currie, also a native of Great Barrington, Mass., from which the Ingersoll’s came, has written a sketch of Laura’s life, the profits on which were to go towards a fund for a monument not built until 1901.
When King Edward, as Prince of Wales, visited Niagara Falls, in 1861, Laura Secord, then living at Chippawa, was present at a public reception, given to the prince. A prominent citizen , a member of the committee, drew the attention of His Royal Highness to the heroine, telling what she had done. The prince asked for an interview in which he expressed regret that she had not been rewarded for distinguished action. He afterwards sent her a personal gift of £100.
Ridgeway, Dec. 3, 1931
A.W. REAVLEY
One time Secretary Thorold Historical Society.
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DECOU’S STONE HOUSE
Decew Road, Thorold, ON
1812-1950
Headquarters of local British forces under James Fitzgibbon to which Laura Secord came from Queenston to warn of the American invasion. The house, destroyed by fire in 1950, was designated an historic site. The name Decou is now spelt Decew. |
On October 24, 1952, the University of Western Ontario conferred on Louis Bake Duff the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa.
For more than thirty-five years chairmen of meetings have been introducing Louis Blake Duff to audiences all across Canada and the United States. Depending upon the auspices under which he was speaking, the organizations which he was addressing, and the caprice of the introducer, Mr. Duff has been labeled as a successful newspaper man—intimating perhaps, that he began as a reporter and ended as a publisher—and this is true;he has been called an historian—and this too, is accurate, as his twenty-five years as secretary of the Welland County Historical Society. As his term as President of the Ontario Historical Society, and his twenty-five years on its council, and his membership on the Canadian Historical Association, will testify; he has been classed as an author, not only as a writer of scores of reviews, literary notes and contributions to newspapers, magazines and learned journals, but as the author of books which have given him stature as a Canadian writer; he has been styled a public speaker—and one need only recall his, “Cabbages and Kings,” “the Immortal Memory,” and “ An Appreciation of Stephen Leacock.”some of his lectures which have appeared in printed form, to understand why examples of his writings and his addresses appear in Robbins’ Book of Canadian Humour.
Mr Duff has been called a bibliophile and his famous library on the history of printing and his Canadiana alone warrant his admission to this class.
In fact, Louis Blake Duff has been called a lot of things—but all relative to his status as a great Canadian and it is this composite man to whom the University wishes to pay tribute—a true scholar, an eminent historian, a dignified compatriot, an inimitable humorist, and a solid citizen of this country.
Mr Chancellor, on behalf of the Senate of the University of Western Ontario, I request you to admit to the degree of Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, Louis Blake Duff, that he may have the added distinction of being like each of his daughters, a graduate of Western.
{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, 8 December 1910]
Editor Tribune:-
Dear Sir- a complete review of the letter on the above subject by Dr. Felch, published in recent issue of the Tribune, would not be of sufficient interest to your readers to justify the space required; but a few extracts will show how much he is worth as an authority on the question:
1st. As a Food- “A substance to be a food in a technical sense, must be capable of being split up into the different parts and combining with the tissues of the body. In other words, it must be a tissue builder. But, says the Dr., “It has been determined that it (alcohol) is not a tissue builder.” In short, a food must be a tissue builder. Alcohol is NOT a tissue builder, therefore alcohol is a food.
“A food must not only fulfil the above conditions, but neither it nor its products of transformation should be injurious to the structures, nor to the activity of any organ, and it must not leave substances which will act as irritants.” How does alcohol fit the bill? Still “From the standpoint of technical dietics alcohol is a food.”
What do you readers think of classifying alcohol as a food with onion, cabbages, radishes?
2nd. “It is a generator of energy.” “As an energizer it acts only as a whip to the flagging organs. We have no more right to use it than we have to lash a willing horse. In pneumonia it simply whips the heart &c., &c., &c.” This appears correct to the unscientific mind; but, as explained in a previous letter, it generates no energy, but simply liberates latent energy, and a display of nervous forces by breaking down the barriers which our creator placed to protect and prolong life. “It acts only as a whip.” A whip generates no energy, therefore “alcohol is a generator of energy.” “Close investigation and extensive experience have demonstrated that constantly used for its stimulating effects it is positively injurious.” Local Optionists in Welland county should be thankful for that bit of information. It will help you in your campaign.
I hope that any words of ours did not imply, and certainly were not so intended, that Mr. Misener had no authority for his statements. Authority, however, is cheap and plenty of it. A writer in the Tribune stated a few months ago that according to authority, the earth passed through the comet’s tail, and according to authority, it didn’t.
We have often heard of a man being straddly of the fence, but Mr. F.’s position is unique in standing on both sides at the same time.
C.S.
ARCHITECT’S INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAINTENANCE OF COUNTY JAIL SET FORTH
[The Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune, 1940]
While he was looking over old fyles recently in his offices at the county buildings, Colonel Donald Sharpe governor of the county jail recently discovered a well preserved letter nearly 84 years old. It was written to Jail Governor James S. Lawrence on December 31, 1856, by the architect who designed the buildings, Kivas Tully. Apparently Mr. Tully was worried over a visit and inspection by the grand jury because he gives Mr. Lawrence various orders as how to deal with cold vents, etc., and then says, “the grand jury will inspect the gaol and you will oblige me if you will shew them the ventilation system. Take a silk handkerchief and hold it flat before the holes so that all the jurors may see. And, point out to them the purity of the air. They will find no jail smell there.”
This letter refers to a gallery, and in the old days there was a gallery from which spectators watched the august proceedings of the quarter sessions which are today known as Supreme Court of Justice sittings.
Mr. Tully enclosed a $5 bill with which to hire persons to keep the doors of the county building shut. The doors opening in from the outside, he says, must either have good springs, or, boys must be hired to stand at them during the time of the Quarter Sessions (which were to be held on January 6, 1857) and to close them after everyone who went in or went out. The same procedure, the architect continued, should be carried out with respect to the upper gallery doors.
Mr. Tully gave detailed orders as to the operation of the heating and ventilation system, and among other things warned the governor of the jail to see to it that the cold air reached the county buildings stoves, and that all the valves in the chimneys were wide open. Of these there were 20, including four in the courtroom. Particularly must the authorities guard against anyone closing these four valves in the courtroom. Someone might do so, thinking cold air was coming in through them whereas it was going out.
The first jail governor was James Elliot, who officiated three months. This was early in 1856, James Lawrence followed, and remained eight years. The longest term as jail governor according to the records was that of John Coulson, father of City Engineer C.L. Coulson, who officiated for 13 years, and Colonel Sharpe has already 12 years as jail governor. The first prisoner was brought to the county jail on May 1, 1856, but the building was used long before that, and has been in use according to officials approximately 85 years.
The contractors for the county buildings were Hellems and Bald.
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