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This fonds consists of a printed petition to the Legislative Assembly of the United Province of Canada, dated 24 April 1857 (and containing a notice of intent to apply to the legislature, dated 8 November 1856) from the Erie and Ontario Railroad Company. The petitioners protest the “deception” of J.W. Keating and others who improperly applied to the legislature to incorporate the Great Southern Railway Company, The E&O company had already noted its intent to apply for a similar charter to extend their line as far as the Detroit River at Windsor or Amherstburg. This copy of the petition is signed “R. Bell,” for Robert Bell, a Carleton Place printer, entrepreneur, justice of the peace, militia officer, and Reform member of the legislature (1847-1851 and 1854 - ca.1867).

This fonds consists of 19 large, mounted black and white prints (some with original captions) depicting heritage buildings in Windsor, Ontario. The former towns (now historic neighbourhoods) of Sandwich and Walkerville are heavily featured. These include Dillon Hall at the University of Windsor; Old Sandwich’s McGregor-Cowan House, Sandwich Baptist Church, St. John’s Anglican Church, the Registry Office, and the Gaol; and Walkerville’s Hiram Walker & Sons distillery, St. Mary’s Anglican Church, and Willistead Manor. There are also half a dozen images of architectural details appearing in a variety of otherwise unidentified homes or storefronts around the city.

This fonds contains records created ca. 1979-1981 in an attempt to identify and catalogue historical records found in both urban and rural parts of Essex and Kent counties which could be of use to those interested in local and family history. At the time, most of these records were not held in formal archives or other repositories, but rather were inactive files held on-site in the institutions that created them. The fonds has been divided into two series. Series I contains the original index cards used in the field to gather data for the Ontario’s Heritage project (ca. 1980-1981?) from both Essex and Kent County locations. These remain as much as possible in their original order, arranged by geographic location and institution. Series II contains a bound copy of the Windsor Archival Project report (1979) focusing on city records, and an incomplete typescript draft of Ontario’s Heritage: A Guide to Archival Resources, Vol. 10 Essex and Kent Counties which includes only Essex County records (ca. 1981?).

Although some of the record collections detailed have subsequently been donated to archives (including Leddy Library Archives & Special Collections), the index cards and reports still remain a valuable starting point for those seeking leads on archival sources.

This fonds contains primarily of original typescripts, off-prints, and bound publications of creative work by University of Windsor professor Eugene McNamara, including early copies of local journal Black Moss. There is also a small amount of correspondence and notes relating to a 1984 publication, a file of reviews clipped from magazines, and a collection of Hollywood film production stills (mostly Golden Age-era).

This fonds contains financial records of Assumption College and University, ca. 1856-1999. These include general cash books, financial statements, correspondence, and records of accounts, as well as real estate acquired, constructed, maintained, or sold by Assumption and/or the Basilian Fathers in the vicinity of the present-day campus, from Tecumseh Road north to the Detroit River. Included are land deeds, contracts, and other legal documents, as well as architectural or schematic drawings and specifications for campus buildings. Notably, this includes records of property acquired in the early days of the college, and campus properties sold by Assumption in the 1960s to the University of Windsor. Of special note: a small number of 1950s-1960s records relating to Essex College, the non-denominational affiliated college that helped secure provincial government funding for the campus.

This fonds contains 25 personal diaries of Kent County merchant F. J. Mayhew, beginning with an 1863 trip to his birthplace in England, then following his daily activities back in Thamesville, Ontario and surrounding area, 1879-1905. The diaries are small, and the entries brief; some entries are “cross-written” (in which the diarist fills the available space, then turns the page at a 90-degree angle and writes another passage over the first). Mayhew comments on the weather, meals eaten, people he visited or received visits from, business activities, farming activities, and social or other events.

This fonds consists primarily of research notes taken from late-19th century Windsor and Essex County newspapers by Dr. Fred Hall. The information was assembled in preparation for his publication “Musical Life in Windsor: 1875-1901,” which appeared in Canada Music Book / Les cahiers Canadiens de musique spring summer 1973, vol. 6, pp. 110-124. The notes document individual performances or articles treating musical subjects and provide citations and/or photocopies of the source material. Dr. Hall’s personal arrangement (consisting of separate sections of a three-ring binder for concerts, musical clubs, instruments, instruction, music in churches, opera, history and criticism, and orchestras and bands) has been preserved. Also included are several prints of late-19th century images from Windsor/Detroit.

This fonds primarily contains records related to a parcel of land along the Detroit River in what is now Riverside, designated as Lot 116. This property was once a farmstead, later subdivided for residential use and the site of Edith Cavell elementary school. One file contains a small number of documents (1849-1938) from the Parent family, largely relating to the home, goods, and property of their farm. There are also 8 photographs of the property (ca. 1920s and 1950s) including the farmhouse, the school, a streetcar shelter, and a young Haines Cox. Several blueprints and plans depict Lot 116, its planned subdivision (“Lundy Heights”), and drains, ca. 1900-1918. Copies of two newspaper stories provide context for the Parent house and the Edith Cavell school.

One file contains material (1824-1833) related to a Parent cousin named Paul LeDuc, in connection with LeDuc’s lease of unceded lands in Bkejwanong Territory (along the St. Clair River delta) from the Anishinaabe community there that would later be known as Walpole Island First Nation. These handwritten records include receipts, notes, and a lease. Of special note is a land use agreement between LeDuc and four chiefs identified as Chippewa (also given as Ojibwe) from the Chenail Ecarte community, signed by the chiefs with animal doodems (totems).

This fonds consists of a large document (40cm x 35cm; handwritten text on a printed form) officially granting land in the British colony of Canada West (which would become Ontario in 1867), to the Great Western Railway Company. The grant outlines the location and cost of this land in the Township of Harwich in Kent County (an area that encompassed the villages of Blenheim, Erieau, Erie Beach, and Shrewsbury).

This fonds primarily contains records created by the Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts Ltd. corporation in the course of their business activities, 1928-1971. It is divided into four series. Series I contains a short history of entrepreneur Hiram Walker and his company town of Walkerville, 1858-1958. Series II contains directors’ reports and annual reports (1928-1971 with some gaps) produced by Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts. Series III contains photocopies of documents produced in connection with Hiram Walker-Gooderham & Worts’ 1935-1936 offering of shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Series IV contains a souvenir booklet commemorating the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, produced by Gooderham & Worts.