SPRING 2014 NEWSLETTER

March 5: Movies at the

Museum, 10:30 am

March 12: Movies at the

Museum, 10:30 am

March 19: Movies at the

Museum, 10:30 am

March 20: Lecture by

Pam Mundy, 7:30 pm

March 26: Movies at the

Museum, 10:30 am

April 15: Burning of St. Davids Lecture by Ron

Dale (in St. Davids)

April 17: Lecture by

Julian Smith, 7:30 pm

April10: Volunteer

Appreciation Day

May 1: New hours start,

10 am - 5 pm

May 15: Lecture by John

Sayers, 7:30 pm

May 18: International Museums Day; free

admission

Chronicles UPCOMING EVENTS

MUSEUM

Morning Movies @ the Museum in March! We are pleased to present 4 documentaries on 4 Wednesdays mornings.

March 5: A PEOPLE UNCOUNTED

March 12: UNCLAIMED

March 19: FIGHT LIKE SOLDIERS DIE LIKE CHILDREN

March 26: THE DEFECTOR: ESCAPE FROM NORTH KOREA

TICKETS: $5 each; $2 for members START TIME: 10:30 am

Visit www.niagarahistorical.museum for more information on each

film. Space is limited so advance tickets are required.

Don’t like our chairs? Feel free to bring your own cushion or folding

chair.

Films are all made available courtesy of Generously sponsored by

NIAGARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM

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An exhibition, of artwork related to the First World War including paintings, trench art, sketches and posters. Items on display come from the Museum’s collection, the Canadian War Museum and other private collections. On display February 1 through September 30, 2014

THE 2014 LECTURE SERIES IS GENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY:

happening @ the museum

Chronicles

THE GREAT WAR LECTURE SERIES

March - Sept: 3rd Thursday @ 7:30 pm March 20: Fashion, What Goes Around

Comes Around by Pam Mundy

April 17: Allward and the Vimy Memorial:

Representing Canada's Coming of Age

by Julian Smith, Executive Director,

Willowbank School of Restoration Arts

May 15: The Canadian Expeditionary

Force – from Niagara Camp to Europe and

Back Again by John Sayers

June 19: Posters, Propaganda, and

Patriotism in Canada's First World War by

Graham Broad, Department of History, King's

University College at Western University

July 17: The Great War & The Great

Divide: Canada's Homefront During WWI

by Renee Lafferty, Department of History,

Brock University

August 21: Every Picture Tells a Story:

Studying Photographs of Canadian

Soldiers during the Great War, 1914-1918

by David Webb

*Bring along Great War military photos from

your collection to be identified

September 18: Witnesses to History:

Canada’s War Art by Laura Brandon, Acting

Director, Research, Canadian War Museum

THE ART OF WAR: A LEGACY OF THE GREAT WAR

Tickets are $10 or free for Society members. Space is limited and seats fill up fast! Please

call 905-468-3912 to reserve your spot!

Spring 2014

Page 3

The Mystery of the Barn Bayonet

Two years ago, after the death of my father-in-law Georges Masson, my husband was cleaning out his

father’s barn when he came upon what he, at first, thought was a sword but later realized was a bayonet.

He brought it home, cleaned it with rust-remover, and found the writing “Wilkinson 1907” on the blade.

Georges’s father had fought in the First World War but was in the French Army; this was clearly made in

England, bringing up the grisly scenario that in a charge on the Western Front, Paul’s grandfather had lost

his bayonet and picked up this one from a dead British soldier.

That remained our hypothesis until one day Paul said, “I’ve been thinking about that bayonet. Why would

my father who displayed the pistols he had used when stationed in Morocco with the French cavalry in the

house have left his father’s bayonet in the barn?” I replied that my searching of the history of his parents’

house had revealed that it was bought in 1912 by a William Wright so perhaps he had fought in the war and

left it in the barn upon his return.

I then left for a walk by the river and decided I would return home by cutting through St. Mark’s Cemetery

from Ricardo to Byron, something I had done perhaps ten times before. As I reached the top of the hill, I

looked to my right and saw a grave that said, “William Wright, Sapper 124 Battn. CEF, 31 January 1974,

Age 78”. Eureka! Next time the St. Mark’s Archives Committee gathered on a Tuesday morning, I talked to

Fred Habermahl about this and he thought I must have solved the mystery because he knew that the

Canadian Army used weapons made in England during the Great War.

But then around Remembrance Day, an article in the Advance appeared talking about William Wright, the

Niagara High School teacher who had joined the Army and been killed in France in 1917. Could he have

been the father of the William Wright who was born in 1896? But after reading Janet Carnochan’s write-up

in the Niagara Historical Society’s publication which discusses the life of the high school teacher, I realized

that the dates didn’t jibe. So that meant there were three William Wrights in Town at the same time.

Could that be? I decided that the Sapper had to be related to the one with the barn but how?

I happened to talk to Hope Bradley about another matter and asked her if she remembered the Wrights on

Simcoe Street. Indeed she did. She lived about a block from them and used to run errands for Mrs. Wright.

She was sure they had no children and didn’t remember relatives coming to visit. When doing an interview

with John Albrectsen of the Niagara Bakery for the Oral History Project, I asked him. Yes, he remembered

Mr. Wright and the last time he’d seen him, he was mowing the grass on the Commons.

Since my husband is planning to loan the bayonet to the Museum when it does an exhibit about World War I

and I knew we would have to write a provenance description, I was determined to solve this mystery. I

went to the History Room at the Library and looked up the obituaries of both Mr. Wright who died in 1974

and Mrs. Wright who died in 1970; nephews in Toronto were mentioned but their first names were not

William. Back to Fred Habermahl at St. Mark’s because two William Wrights were buried there; he went

through the records but couldn’t find any connection. Then I read Richard Merritt’s book, “On Common

Ground” and found a photo of a house by the ruins of Fort George occupied by a Mrs. Wright. I asked him

if he knew anything about this Mrs. Wright but he didn’t.

So the mystery of the Barn Bayonet remains. Can anyone solve it?

by Betsy Masson

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Chronicles

2013 Donors Adamson, Sally

Armstrong, Jim

Armstrong, J. Richard & Diane

Babcock, Peter

Bell, David & Faith

Blake, Chris & Colleen

Blend, Ralph & Kathy

Boulton, Terry & Ruth

Branscombe, Ann-Louise

Bray, Marilyn

Burgers, Hendrik & Helen

Calder, Cameron

Chapman, Lois

Cherwonogrodzky, Peter

Chisholm, Tony & Barb

Church, Hugh

Coutts, Linda & Barrie

Cowan, Frances

Dale, Ron

Dalgliesh, Diane

Easterbrook, Michael & Gill Thomas

Eke, David & Debbie

Erdelac, Constance

Farnham, Fred

Ferrara, Mario & Annabel Kennedy

Foster, Kevin & Robin

Gardner, John

Garrett, Beverley

Gemmell, Andy & Avril

Gladwin, Mary

Habermehl, Fred

Harvey, Bruce

Heaman, Lynne

Hinchliffe, Steve

Humphries, Bill

Hunter, Pat

Jackson, Chuck & Sandra Lawrence

Joyner, Geoffrey & Lorraine

Landray, Elaine & Phil

Laroche, Dan

le Francois, Jose & Dagmar

MacNeill, Jack

Masson, Betsy

McCaughey, Robert & Elaine

McLachlan, Cameron

Meloen, Rick & Janet

Merritt, Dr. Richard & Nancy

Middleton, Margaret

Mitchell, Sally

Moogk, Peter

Morrison, Ken & Barbara

Moulson, Bud

Murray, David & Elizabeth Surtees

Nattress, Barbara

Nicol, Irene

NOTL B&B Association

NOTL Newcomers

Oliver-Malone, Elizabeth

Paine, Deborah & Peter Corbiere

Paisley, Hugh & Joan

Pekar, Tom & Jude Callender

Phibbs, Douglas

Pietrobon, Loretta

Porteus, Andrew & & Lousie Waldie

Press, Joel

Ratkovsky, Helen

Reynolds, Jim & Pat Hartman

Rodeck, Linda

Rumble, Neil

Sayers, John & Judith

Sears, Robert

Seppala, Eric & Mary Anne

Shaw Festival Theatre

Simpson, Jacqueline

St. Mark's Church

Tallman, Craig & Sue

Turner, Wes & Diane

University Women in Niagara

Walker, Greg & Dorothy

White, Sheila

Wilcox, Murray

Armstrong, J. Richard & Diane

Bell, David & Faith

Enns, Molly & Peter

Hinchliffe, Steve

Jackson, Chuck & Sandra Lawrence

James, Kelly & Janet

Joyner, Geoffrey & Lorraine

Kam, Dennis & Kathy Heit

Murray, David & Elizabeth Surtees

Ormsby, Joy

Paine, Deborah & Peter Corbiere

Sayers, John & Judith

Taylor, Jean & Les

Adamson, Sally

Brown, Helen

Butler, Nancy

Crawford, Smith & Swallow

Cushing, Dana

Cushing, Deborah

Gallagher, Ann

Gilligan, Marjorie

Hill, Joan & Barry

Johnson, Jackie

Lalli, Donna

Lowenberg, Vicki

Magnacca, Stephen & Elizabeth

Martin, Beth Anne

McCuaig, Elizabeth

Olley, Shirley

Ormsby, Joy

Paine, Deborah

Smythe, Margaret

Steele, Doreen

Taylor, Jean & Les

Wylie, Eve

Phoenix Circle General Donations

Memoriam In memory of Rosemarie

Blackwood

Spring 2014

Page 5

PAT SIMON

For over 100 years at the foot of Bridge Street, Niagara Falls, the family of Joseph Patrick “Pat’ Simon operated ‘Simon’s Restaurant’ – a mecca for the homeless, transient youth, customs officers from the nearby bridge, policemen, retirees, teachers, physicians, lawyers, judges and politicians of every stripe. But Pat was best known as a prolific photographer and a collector of everything and anything pertaining to the Niagara Peninsula. Pat had a soft spot for Niagara-on-the-Lake: a beloved grandmother was a volunteer nurse during the Great War at Camp Niagara, particularly during the Spanish Flu pandemic during which so many young volunteer Polish soldiers succumbed. In his later years, Pat generously donated many artifacts to the Niagara Historical Society. Thanks, Pat. You have left behind a remarkable legacy.

Submitted by Dr. Richard Merritt

Bader, Robert

Dalgliesh, Diane

Dell, George

Sant, Kerri

Steele, Stephen & Dee

New Life Members

NOTL B&B Association

Barberian's Steakhouse

Ascenzo, Denise

Bell, David & Faith

Eke, David & Debbie

Finora, Monique & Brian

Gill, Peter & Judy

Gillespie, Marie

Jackson, Chuck & Sandra Lawrence

James, Kelly & Janet

Joyner, Geoffrey & Lorraine

Kam, Dennis & Kathy Heit

Klassen, Amy

Knight, Robert & Sabina

Lichty, Josh

Maloney, Sarah

McCarthy, Ed & Barbara

McLeod, Donald

Meloen, Rick

Middleton, Margaret

Miller, Robert & Leah Wallace

Mitchell, Sally

Murray, David & Elizabeth Surtees

Ormsby, Joy

Packard, Victor

Pietrobon, Loretta

Rance, Julian & Alice

Redekop, Debbie

Rumble, Neil

Sears, Robert

In Kind

Allen, Chris

Andrews, Bob

Anonymous

Baraniecki, Roman

Benjafield, Sue & Timothy Crooks

Bernard, Julian

Boulton, Terry & Ruth

Buyers, Jane

Clemens, Nick

Clifford, T.A.

Cowie, Bill

Dyck, Gerry & Ginny

Frandsen, Andrew

Friends of Laura Secord

Garrett, Lionel

Kam, Dennis & Kathy Heit

Laliberte, Robert

McLeod, Donald

Merritt, Dr. Richard

Moody, Kenn

Nixon, Miriam

Reid, Becky

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 124

Simon, Pat

Smith, Jim

Spencer, Linda & Sid

St. Mark’s Church

Tranter, Lorna

Weins, John

Young, Sean

Collection

Volunteer Opportunities

With the centennial of the First World War as our focus over

the next few years, much of our research and collecting will

be centered around that theme. We are looking for people

who are interested in volunteering to transcribe documents,

conduct research on the First World War, specifically on

Camp Niagara, and add new research to our database.

We will also be looking for artefacts to display for our 2015

Camp Niagara exhibit so keep us in mind if you have items

with a local connection.

Thank you to all of our donors

for supporting the operational

costs of running the Museum

and preserving our history!

Page 6

The Society ended 2013 with a very successful Night of the Phoenix event on December 7th. Members warmed themselves with a tasty bowl of stew and good cheer before heading down to the Niagara on Fire events at the courthouse. If you missed the commemoration of the burning of Old Town, the movie is now available on DVD and can be purchased in our gift shop. The Art of War: A Legacy of the Great War was launched in February with very positive reviews and over 80 people in attendance. Life during wartime is unlike any other experience. Men and women along the European front lines and on the home front were dealing with extraordinary circumstances. Many found solace in documenting their experiences through poems, articles, singing, drawing, sewing and creating ornate pieces of art. These surviving pieces, like war memoirs or photographs, tell of their sacrifices. The exhibition displays a number of art forms including lithographs (some of which were

created by a German soldier), trench art, a quilt, posters, badges, and souvenirs. We also received five C.W Jefferys pieces on loan from the Canadian War Museum’s Lord Beaverbrook Collection. Jefferys was a War artist who came to Camp Niagara in 1918 and documented the training of the Polish Soldiers. This a great opportunity to see some unique pieces of art from the Great War period that are normally in storage or are held in private collections. The St. Davids Heritage Committee is in the midst of planning a commemorative event for the 200th Anniversary of the Burning of St. Davids on the July 18-19 weekend. Stay tuned for a full itinerary! The Society is hosting a lecture on the Burning of St. Davids in partnership with the St. Davids Ratepayers Association. The talk will be held on April 15th at 7pm at the Lion’s Club in St. Davids. This will be a great opportunity to learn about the history prior to the commemorative event! Make sure to call and reserve a spot as seating will be limited in this new venue.

From the Managing Director - Sarah (Maloney) Kaufman

WINE RAFFLE WINNERS Congratulations to the winners of the 2013 wine hamper raffle: First Prize went to Deb Rosebrugh of London and second prize to Anne Kaufman of Port Colborne! The raffle raised over $1400 for the Society so thank you to all who purchased tickets and donated wine!

Volunteers ride in the Museum’s float during the annual Santa Claus Parade: Pictured are Terry & Ruth Boulton with soldiers, Steve Steele and Alan Walker. Former summer student Nick Clemens drove his truck and Jim Alexander loaned us his trailer. Thanks to everyone involved; our float received second place in its category! We are hoping to make next year’s entry even better so if you have some creative ideas, please let us know if you would like to get involved.

Chronicles

Spring 2014

Page 7

President’s Report - Dennis Kam As you recall, “The Art of War”, our first of several upcoming exhibits commemorating the Great War, was opened in early February and is well worth a visit or two. This exhibit also kicked off another event-filled year. I encourage all members to attend our monthly lectures, which begin in March. While visiting the Museum, you may notice a few building improvements here and there, as our volunteer maintenance team, led by Terry Boulton, has been diligently seeking out and addressing various deficiencies and needed repairs. Our five-year strategic plan was presented at the AGM last October. Central to this plan are studies to be carried out, first to define the Museum space required to meet our needs for programming, for research and office accommodation, and for the storage and preservation of our archives and artefact collection over the foreseeable future; and

secondly to analyze and cost the options available to meet our defined space requirements. Sarah, working with the Board’s planning committee, is developing a Request for Proposals (RFP) to solicit bids by qualified experts to undertake these studies. There will be parallel fundraising efforts by the Board to defray the costs of these studies – donations in this regard would be extremely helpful. Once again, I wish to thank our many volunteers for the time and energy devoted to assisting in the operation of the Museum and to the maintenance of its buildings and grounds. I know that Sarah and Amy would welcome new volunteers with open arms and I am personally always looking for more help in developing and maintaining the Museum gardens and grounds. Watch for the next volunteer appreciation day that will take place in April.

At the foot of King Street, just around the corner on

Delatre Street, stood this drinking trough. It was used

by the horses which pulled freight up and down the hill

on King Street. It was an especially favourite drinking

site throughout the summer for the local children who

were swimming nearby at the Queen’s Beach. Reputed

to be fed from a spring that runs through the graveyard

of St. Mark’s Churchyard, it was in constant use by the

townspeople until the mid 1960’s. There was an

abundant supply of watercress nearby. Although the

spring still runs and the trough is still present, the pipe

has been disconnected and the site has fallen into

disrepair.

z Way it Was Photos from Niagara-on-the-Lake’s Past

CONTACT US 43 Castlereagh Street, PO Box 208 Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0 Phone: 905-468-3912 | Fax: 905-468-1728

contact@niagarahistorical.museum

Visit us at www.niagarahistorical.museum

Niagara Historical Society & Museum

MUSEUM HOURS The Museum is open daily year-round. May-October: 10 am to 5 pm | November-April: 1 pm to 5 pm

The Museum is closed: New Year’s Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Years Eve.

@NHS_Museum Niagara Historical Society & Museum

BOARD OF DIRECTORS Dennis Kam, President Julian Rance, VP Museum Elizabeth Surtees, VP Society Martin Richardson, Treasurer Terry Boulton, Secretary Karen McGrath Steve Hinchliffe Lorraine Joyner Faith Bell Denise Ascenzo Richard Andrews Jim Collard, Town Representative

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS Joy Ormsby Richard Taylor Dr. Richard Merritt Christopher Allen

www.niagarahistorical.museum

MUSEUM STAFF Sarah Kaufman - Managing Director sarahmaloney@niagarahistorical.museum

Amy Klassen – Society Administrator amyklassen@niagarahistorical.museum

THE NIAGARA HISTORICAL SOCIETY

& MUSEUM WISHES TO THANK THE

TOWN OF NIAGARA-ON-THE-LAKE

AND THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO

FOR THEIR ONGOING SUPPORT