This fonds principally contains records connected with the Congregation of St. Basil (Basilian Fathers) whose members administered Assumption College and Assumption University from 1870 onward. Secondarily, it contains varied records that document the history of Assumption and its evolution over time. Included are legal documents, memos, correspondence, ephemera, constitutions and rules, historical narratives and memoirs, reports, and a variety of Basilian publications and formal histories of Assumption. Some items pertain to Catholic education broadly, or to the history of the Catholic Church in Southwestern Ontario. Of special note are Assumption fight songs and a victory song, and the Second World War war diary of Rev. Mike Dalton, a military chaplain.

These records reflect the work of various municipal offices, 1855-1947. They are divided into eight series: I. Malden Township school records (1855-1944); II. Essex County court records (1902-1919); III. Essex County Registers Office records (1861-1870s?); IV. Essex County Clerk’s Office records (1924-1935); V. Essex County Main Lists (1926-1932); VI. Essex County Treasurer’s Office records (1858-1947); VII. Kingsville and Point Pelee Navigation Company records (1892-1894); and VIII. Additional Accessions.

The Treasurer’s Office records document financial transactions as recorded in cash books, fee books, receipt books, cheque books, and ledgers. These include general records as well as records relating specifically to the Highways Committee (1916-1928; 1934-1941), criminal convictions (1861), and property transfers (1908-1910; 1917-1925).

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 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 consists of a single land grant document on parchment with a very large wax seal attached. The document, signed on 10 March 1804, grants 314 acres of land from the Province of Upper Canada to “Jean Baptiste Tourneaux.” The land was designated as lot 78 in the first, second, and third concessions of the Parish of L’Assomption (Assumption) in the Township of Sandwich. This lot extended from present-day Salter Avenue in the west to Bruce Avenue in the east, from the Detroit River in the north down to the Roseland Golf Course in the south. Janette Avenue, which runs through the lot, was named for Jean Baptiste Le Tourneaux dit Jeannet, the grantee.

This fonds contains photocopies and translations of primary and secondary sources, as well as a small body of original notes and research correspondence, accumulated or created by Michael Power in the later 20th century, in the course of preparing three books and an article on aspects of Assumption College history. Series I contains materials documenting the early history of Assumption College and the role of the Basilian Fathers therein, particularly correspondence but also financial records, legal documents and legislation, histories and biographies. Series II contains biographical information and a few photographs related to the winners of the annual Christian Culture Gold Medal awarded by Assumption College as part of its long-running Christian Culture speaker series. Series III contains research material gathered in preparation for a short article about Rev. E.C. LeBel, a former president of Assumption University and first president of the University of Windsor. Some material duplicates original documents found in other AC fonds; some material comes from other archives or published works. It has been retained for its research value as a curated collection.

This fonds contains the newsletter of the Windsor Chapter of the Ontario Archaeological Society, 1977-2001. Editor Peter Reid, professor of physical anthropology at the University of Windsor, normally produced six issues per year of what he soon entitled The Squirrel County Gazette. The newsletter contains administrative matters pertaining to the Chapter, summaries of Chapter events and meetings, news about local excavations and findings, updates on the state of archaeology in Ontario, and news of interesting archaeological discoveries around the world.

This fonds primarily contains personal papers, publications, and oral histories (ca. 1870-1984) relating to the Basilian Fathers who served as teaching staff for Assumption College and Assumption University. Included are diaries, notebooks, correspondence, memoirs, recorded interviews, memorials, manuscripts and published works. Of special note are the extensive papers of Bishop Leo C. Nelligan, records of O’Connor House, and a few records from Rev. Pierre Tourvieille. Secondarily, this fonds contains extensive administrative records documenting the history of Essex College, found in the papers of professor W.H. Arison.

This fonds contains original records documenting 19th and early 20th century land ownership for several parcels of land in rural Essex County, including deeds of land, affidavits, and mortgages. There are also handwritten notes tracking the chain of ownership for a specific parcel. The lands documented are (1) Lot 16 South of Middle Road, Rochester Township, and (2) Lots 17 and 18 in the Ninth Concession of Sandwich South Township (formerly Sandwich East Township). These transactions involve farmers, farmwives, and bankers, as well as single, widowed, and married people, neighbours, and relatives.