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Hiram Walker & Sons Distillery officially began operations in 1858, quickly becoming famous for its Canadian Club Whisky. Hiram Walker was a Detroit grocer whose profitable side-ventures in making vinegar and spirits gave him the capital to dramatically expand his business across the Detroit River into Canada, where land was cheap. On farmland acquired from the Labdie family, Walker established a distillery and eventually an entire company town (Walkerville), in a prime location near the Great Western Railway. In time Walker came to own close to 10,000 acres, and exercised control over every aspect of the Walkerville community. Although Walker only lived on the Canadian side of the border for five years, remaining Detroit-based instead, his son Edward Chandler took up residence in Walkerville, commissioning Willistead Manor for his home. Hiram Walker & Sons pioneered many manufacturing and distilling techniques that went on to become industry standards, and Walker was one of the first alcohol producers to clearly label (“brand”) his bottles. The family firm was actively involved in real estate, utilities, livestock, and transportation (both railway and ferry) side-businesses, thanks to patriarch Hiram’s enterprising nature and desire to be as self-sufficient in business as possible.

The company remained in the hands of the Walker family until 1926. In that year, Hiram Walker & Sons – by then the second-largest distiller in Canada – was purchased by Harry C. Hatch, who had bought the largest Canadian distillery (Toronto-based firm Gooderham & Worts) in 1923. Both companies benefitted from the Prohibition era in the United States: they manufactured legally in Canada, then sold to other parties who smuggled their products across the Great Lakes waterways to American customers. Hatch promptly merged his two profitable acquisitions, creating Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts, Ltd., and continued manufacturing spirits in both Toronto and Walkerville (annexed to Windsor in 1935). In 1935 the company acquired a 51% stake in H. Corby Distillery Company Limited, whose Prescott, Ontario-based subsidiary J.P. Wiser was Canada’s third-most successful spirit distillery at the time. Hiram Walker-Gooderham and Worts was sold to British firm Allied Lyons (later Allied Domecq) in 1987. During the 1990s the Toronto operations were shut down, although the Windsor location continued to produce Gooderham & Worts branded products.

Allied Lyons was acquired by competitor Pernod Ricard (the world’s second-largest seller of wine and spirits) in 2005. In the resulting sell-off of overlapping spirits brands, the Hiram Walker distillery parted ways from its iconic Canadian Club product. Canadian Club was acquired by US-based Fortune Brands, later finding a home in Fortune Brands’ spin-off company Beam Inc as part of the American Jim Beam bourbon whiskey portfolio. In 2014 Beam Inc. (including Canadian Club) was acquired by Japanese-based company Suntory and became subsidiary Beam Suntory. Meanwhile, the Hiram Walker & Sons distillery remained with Pernod Ricard, and the facility was converted to the production of J.P. Wiser brand whiskey. Having been established in 1857, Wiser’s holds the title of Canada’s longest continuously-produced whiskey by only one year more than Hiram Walker’s original Canadian Club. In 2020 the Hiram Walker & Sons brand itself was being used for schnapps, brandies, crèmes and liqueurs.

Sources: Ronald G. Hoskins, “Walker, Hiram,” Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 12, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/walker_hiram_12E.html; “Canadian Club,” “Hiram Walker,” “Gooderham & Worts,” “John Philip Wiser,” “Pernod Ricard,” “Allied Domecq,” “Fortune Brands,” “Suntory,” “Jim Beam” articles on www.wikipedia.ca ; “Hiram Walker,” Corby corporate website, https://corby.ca/en/hiram-walker/ ; “About” page on www.hiramwalker.com/about.php. All accessed 20 July 2020.

The City of Windsor, Canada’s southernmost city, occupies the northwest corner of Essex County along the shores of the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair. Incorporated in 1892, its roots stretch back much further. Indigenous peoples of the Three Fires Confederacy (Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa nations) knew this area as Wawiiatanong, and – along with peoples of the Wendat-Huron Confederacy and the Attawandaron (Neutral) nation -- inhabited the area for countless generations both before and after the arrival of Europeans. The Huron, whose traditional lands lay further north, were specifically invited to establish villages here by their French allies. French exploration and fur trade activity had brought Frenchmen along the river since 1640, and in 1728 Catholic Jesuit missionaries established a mission where the Ambassador Bridge stands today – it became the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in 1767. Beginning in 1749 a little over two dozen French families received land grants for settlement, and established long narrow farms stretching back from the riverfront. The French settlements on both sides of the river came under British rule as of 1763 under the terms of the Treaty of Paris which ended the Seven Years’ War.

The 1796 Jay Treaty between Britain and the new United States of America ceded Detroit to the USA. In response, the British military and administrative cohort previously headquartered there relocated south of the Detroit River and the village of Sandwich was established in 1797 to be the legislative seat of Upper Canada’s Western District. An influx of British subjects accompanied them, populating Sandwich and its environs with English-speakers for the first time. The village suffered during the War of 1812, but was rebuilt, and became a significant stop on the Underground Railroad after 1833 saw slavery abolished in the British Empire, and many African-Americans settled there. Sandwich prospered and achieved town status in 1858.

Further to the East, a small hamlet grew up around a ferry dock connecting the south shore to Detroit on the north shore. Known variously as The Ferry, Richmond, and South Detroit, in 1836 the community named itself Windsor. Initially a much smaller settlement than Sandwich, Windsor benefitted when the Great Western Railway made the village its western terminus in 1854, and the settlement was incorporated as a village in that year. Although Sandwich experienced economic booms in the 1860s and 1890s, the relative positions of Sandwich and Windsor shifted over the second half of the nineteenth century: both settlement and economic activity increasingly clustered around Windsor. Windsor gained town status in 1858, formed its police service in 1867, and was incorporated as a city in 1892.

Economic development, immigration, and the resulting need for new residential areas led to the establishment of additional small communities along the shores of the Detroit River, separate from Sandwich and Windsor. To the southwest of Sandwich, the Town of Ojibway was created in 1913 as a planned community for the Canadian Steel Corporation. To the east of Windsor, Walkerville took root in 1858 as a company town for the Hiram Walker and Sons distillery; it was incorporated as a town in 1890. East of Walkerville, the village of Ford City, home to the Ford Motor Company of Canada and many of its workers, was created in 1913; it became the City of East Windsor in 1929. Further east again, the primarily residential Town of Riverside was established in 1921. Collectively, these small communities spaced out along the river were informally known as the Border Cities. They even shared a newspaper, the Border Cities Star, which later became today’s Windsor Star.

The automotive industry and other manufacturing fueled much of Windsor’s economic prosperity through the twentieth century, with the city becoming Canada’s fifth-largest manufacturing centre. Organized labour has correspondingly played an important part in the city’s politics and development. The creation of the Ambassador Bridge (1929) and the Detroit-Windsor Auto Tunnel (1930) solidified the position of the Border Cities as a leading transportation hub for travel and trade not only within the Great Lakes system, but also between Canada and the United States: the city is served by railways, highways, a deep-water port, an airport, and these cross-border links. The Gordie Howe Bridge (under construction in 2020-2023) will continue this tradition.

The economic collapse of the Great Depression (1929-1939) led the Ontario government to seek savings in the form of municipal government amalgamations. For this reason (and in the face of strident protest from some of the communities, most notably Walkerville), Sandwich, Windsor, Walkerville, and East Windsor were amalgamated in 1935 as a larger City of Windsor. During the 1960s, Windsor looked to expand its land and tax base by annexing the neighbouring towns of Ojibway, Riverside, Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, and parts of the townships of Sandwich East, Sandwich West, and Sandwich South. Once again, it was a highly contested move. After much debate, Ojibway, Riverside, and parts of the three Sandwich townships were annexed to Windsor in 1966. In 2003 a portion of the Town of Tecumseh directly south of Windsor was annexed, creating the city’s boundaries as they exist in 2020.

Sources: Kulisek, Larry L., “Windsor (Ont),” The Canadian Encyclopedia (Historica Canada, 2012, updated 2015) https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/windsor-ont; City of Windsor, “History of Windsor,” https://www.citywindsor.ca/residents/historyofwindsor/Pages/default.aspx; “Windsor, Ontario” article, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windsor,_Ontario. All accessed 21 July 2020.

Meetings mentioned in the diaries of local businesspeople suggest that one or more organizations uniting local businesspeople may have existed in Windsor from its earliest days. In 1876 the federal Board of Trade Act allowed for the licensing of such organizations, and on 27 March 1876 the Windsor Board of Trade was officially established with thirty-four founding members, all leading businessmen. Records from the period 1876-1903 have been lost or destroyed by fire, but records from 1903 onward depict an organization modestly fulfilling its purpose as a venue for promoting the interests of local businesses and building networks among businesspeople. By 1907 membership had grown to sixty individuals.

In 1917 the ongoing growth of a number of communities along the south shore of the Detroit River led the Board of Trade to rename itself and expand its membership base as the Border Cities Chamber of Commerce. Before the onset of the Great Depression the Chamber could boast of more than one thousand members. The amalgamation of Sandwich, Windsor, Walkerville, and East Windsor (Ford City) in 1935 led the Border Cities Chamber to evolve into the Windsor Chamber of Commerce. The new Chamber went on to play an active role in community affairs, advancing members’ interests on the local, provincial, and national levels through its participation in the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, both of which provided opportunities to affect policy and legislation. The Chamber provided local leadership for the war effort during the Second World War (1939-1945) and carried its energetic activities into the postwar period as represented through its committees on finance and taxation, education, national affairs, foreign trade, membership, and commemorative events. Between 1966 and 1976 membership consistently hovered around the nine hundred mark.

The Chamber continued its activities into the later-twentieth century, speaking out on local issues including the purchase of the Roseland Golf Club, the E.C. Row Expressway, Daylight Savings Time, downtown development, community planning, local government election procedures, regional government proposals, and transportation. It continues to bring local businesspeople together as of 2020.

Sources: Administrative history and general description of the fonds (both written 1982) in revised 1993 finding aid.

The Erie and Ontario Railroad, one of the first railway lines in the colony of Upper Canada (present-day Ontario), was formed in 1831 by businessmen from communities along the Niagara River between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. They were looking to restore business lost when the opening of the Welland Canal reduced the amount of road traffic to their communities. Construction on the line began in 1835; it began operating in 1838-39 and was completed in 1841. The original railway consisted of rail cars pulled along a wider gauge track by teams of four horses, and consisted primarily of a passenger service, which ran during the summer season.

Ownership passed to Samuel Zimmerman in 1854, when the route was altered and extended, and the horse-drawn cars replaced by steam trains that ran on a narrower gauge track. The company was renamed the Fort Erie Railroad Company; after its 1863 purchase by William Thompson it was again renamed, this time as the Erie and Niagara Railroad Company; it became the Niagara Division of the Canada Southern Railroad in 1869 and then simply part of the Canada Southern Railroad as of 1878. In 1882 a cash-strapped Canada Southern transferred its assets to the Michigan Central Railroad. Declining passenger rail travel after the advent of the automobile led to the end of passenger service along the former Erie and Ontario railway line by 1926, but freight service continued until 1959 (with the Michigan Central lease of the line taken over by the New York Central Railroad in 1929).

After further changes of ownership, freight service resumed between 1976 and 2001, initially under the banner of Conrail, and then of the Canadian Pacific Railway. For safety reasons, as of 2001 the portion of the CPR line through the City of Niagara Falls was purchased by the city; rail traffic is now re-routed along the Canadian National Railway line instead.

Sources: “Erie and Ontario Railway,” Niagara Falls Museums, https://niagarafallsmuseums.ca/discover-our-history/history-notes/erieandontariorailway.aspx ; “Erie and Ontario Railroad,” Niagara Falls Info, https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-municipal-history/railroads-of-niagara-falls/erie-ontario-railroad/ (both accessed 23 March 2021).

The Essex County Historical Society (ECHS) was a volunteer-based, non-profit, registered charity dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and heritage of Ontario’s southernmost county. Founded in 1896 as the Essex County Historical Association (a member organization of the Ontario Historical Society founded in 1888), the group absorbed the Essex Historical Society in 1957 and renamed itself the Essex County Historical Society in 1983. In 2018 members included educators, archivists, genealogists, writers, businesspeople, and a variety of others with an interest in local history. It held regular meetings six times a year in addition to special events. The ECHS issued a regular newsletter and produced local history publications as well as “Radio Sketches” and audio recordings over the years. Beginning in 1979 it awarded the annual Botsford Scholarship to a senior undergraduate History student at the University of Windsor, and from 1987 its annual Lajeunesse Award recognized distinguished achievements in service of local history. As of 2022 the status of the ECHS is unclear – it may be defunct.

Sources: Essex County Historical Society, “About Us,” [August 2018], via the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, https://web.archive.org/web/20180818181702/http://essexcountyhistoricalsociety.com/about-us/ ; Ontario Historical Society, directory and map, https://ontariohistoricalsociety.ca/directory-and-map/ (both accessed 13 January 2022).

Women Against Violence and Exploitation (WAVE) was a feminist activist group based in Windsor that focused on pornography and exploitation of women in the media. The Windsor Coalition Against Pornography (WCAP) was founded in 1983 (but possibly active beforehand) to take action in the Windsor-Essex region against forms of pornography it deemed particularly harmful to women and children. Its tactics included providing resources, giving presentations, and organizing events related to their cause. Of particular note was a slide show illustrating the dehumanizing and overtly sexual portrayal of women and children in advertising, which formed the basis of an educational program available to schools and community groups. WCAP changed its name to WAVE in November 1984, to better reflect the members’ concerns and goal of confronting all forms of violence and exploitation faced by women and children. WAVE was particularly concerned with legislation and submitted a report to the Fraser Commission, a federal body then investigating the problems of prostitution and pornography in Canada. Led by member Selma McGorman, the organization was also very active in lobbying against offensive mainstream advertising through letter-writing to the magazines and companies concerned. WAVE appears to have been dissolved ca. 1988.

Sources: Contents of fonds; Laura Popozzi, “Organizational Papers of Women against Violence and Exploitation (WAVE) 1983-1988,” 1996.

The Walkerville Chicklets were a junior baseball team active ca. 1927-1930, likely sponsored by Windsor businessman Thomas Chick, of the Chick Contracting Company. The Chicklets team recruited top local prospects and developed their skills in preparation for potentially joining Chick’s senior team, the semi-professional Walkerville Chicks. The Chicklets played in the Border Cities Junior Baseball League, created in 1927 and presided over by Bruce Chick; for the 1928 season the junior league had four teams: the Chicklets, plus Riverside, Walkerville Brewery, and Ford City Tigers. All players had to be in their teens and were signed to a contract. They played two games a week from late May to the end of July, with the winning team advancing to provincial play-offs. In their heyday both the Chicks and the Chicklets were winning teams that drew crowds of spectators numbering in the thousands. Their exploits were regularly reported in the Border Cities Star newspaper.

Sources: “Jr. O.B.A. League for Border Cities,” Border Cities Star, 7 July 1927, p. 17; “Four Squads are Ready in Minor Group,” Border Cities Star, 4 May 1928, p. 2; “All Teams to Get in Action,” Border Cities Star, 26 May 1928, p. 3; Mary Feldott, “The Walkerville Chicks,” Walkerville Times Magazine, [n.d.; ca. 1999-2015], walkervilletimes.com/chicks.htm (accessed 28 November 2023).

Paul Joseph James Martin (1903-1992), later known as Paul Martin Senior, was born in Ottawa, the son of French-Canadian Lumina Chouinard and Irish-Canadian Joseph Philippe Ernest Martin. He made his name as a long-serving federal politician and statesman. Raised in Pembroke, Ontario, he attended the University of Toronto, earned his law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, and did graduate work at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva, Switzerland. Martin married Eleanor Alice “Nelly” Adams in 1937 and opened a law practice in Windsor, Ontario, where he and Nelly raised their two children until they moved to Ottawa in 1946. During his time in Windsor, Martin taught at Assumption College (which would later become the University of Windsor).

First elected to the House of Commons in 1935 as MP for Essex East, Martin quickly took a prominent place in Liberal ranks because of his impressive educational background in philosophy, international relations and law. Prime Minister W.L. Mackenzie King appointed him Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Labour in 1943; he entered Cabinet in 1945 as Secretary of State, and in 1946 became Minister of National Health and Welfare. Faced with a government becoming increasingly conservative on social issues, Martin managed to introduce a system of health grants and, by threatening resignation, made Prime Minister Louis St-Laurent implement a program of national hospital insurance (a critical step towards Medicare). He also undertook diplomatic assignments for the King and St-Laurent governments, and in 1955 negotiated an agreement that allowed the expansion of United Nations membership. Martin ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the federal Liberal party in 1948 and 1958. In 1963 Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson appointed Martin Secretary of State for External Affairs, a portfolio he held until 1968, when he tried again for the leadership but lost to Pierre Elliott Trudeau. He was subsequently appointed Government Leader in the Senate (1968-74), where he represented Windsor-Walkerville, and High Commissioner to Britain (1975-79). His memoirs, A Very Public Life, were published in 2 volumes (1983, 1986). Martin died in Windsor, aged 89.

Martin’s son Paul (b. 1938) would follow in his father’s political footsteps, forging a successful career as a member of the federal Liberal Party that culminated in serving as Minister of Finance (1993-2002), and Prime Minister (2003-2006).

Martin is well-remembered in Windsor. The University of Windsor has a Paul Martin Chair in law and political science, and for many years had a Paul Martin Law Library (renamed in 2023 as the Don and Gail Rodzik Law Library). In 1994 the City of Windsor renamed its former “Post Office Building” downtown as the Paul Martin Sr. Building, in his honour.

Sources: “Martin, Paul Joseph James,” The Canadian Encyclopedia, https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/paul-joseph-james-martin ; “Paul Martin Sr.,” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Martin_Sr. (both accessed 20 March 2020)