Archief F 0017 - E.H., merchant fonds

E.H. is the name ascribed by archivists to a merchant in business during the years 1826-1835, somewhere in the area of present-day Windsor, Ontario. The area that would become Windsor was then part of the British colony of Upper Canada, well-positioned along the Great Lakes transportation and trade route to serve a diverse clientele from various settlements in Upper Canada and Michigan Territory. This merchant sold a mixture of practical items (foodstuffs, nails, knives, cotton, gun powder and shot) and small luxuries (tea, sugar, whiskey, silk) to a diverse array of soldiers, sailors, farmers, servants, and tradespeople. Their name has been interpolated from the initials “E.H.” etched in dark ink on the covers and spine of the merchant’s business ledger, with a much fainter and semi-illegible “[? ?] Hall” written in perpendicular fashion on the front cover. Two Halls (Angelica and William) are among the customers listed in the ledger -- likely William Gaspe Hall and his wife Marianne Angelique -- and may have been relatives of E.H.

Sources: Contents of fonds.