While copies of my Sacred Ground book series can be purchased from the publisher, via Global Genealogy, copies are also available locally at the following locations:
The second volume of my book series Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario has been published.
This sequel continues the approach of the inaugural volume: Site histories of our oldest heritage cemeteries combined with rich biographies of some of the loyalists buried therein.
The burial grounds featured in this volume are as follows:
These six sites are an interesting mix of beautifully maintained cemeteries, and those with troubled histories. This dichotomy is well illustrated by this example: One of the cemeteries contains one of the oldest tombstones in Ontario, while two cemeteries have no visible tombstones at all.
Both volumes of Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario – in softcover or digitial PDF formats – can be purchased through Global Genealogy (www.globalgenealogy.com). Soon, softcover copies will also be available for purchase through me, and through local bookshops and museums such as Red Cart Books in Cornwall and the Glengarry Nor’Westers and Loyalist Museum in Williamstown.
Speaking events and a book launch for this new volume will be announced in the near future.
Today the Seaway News, a weekly newspaper in Cornwall, published a historical article that I researched and wrote. It’s titled “John Chisholm of Roxborough and his Hidden Documents.”
It can be read on the website of the Seaway News by clicking here. A shortened version will also appear in the printed version of the paper, in the next week or two.
Below is a photograph of one of the hidden documents.
Thanks to Sarah Newton Underwood for allowing me to research and tell the story, and for the use of the photographs.
I’ve recently re-organized the structure of my website. Only slightly though, as you’ll see.
The new arrangement more logically highlights my writing projects in a new page called… wait for it… Writing. It has a listing of my books and articles. Previously, much of that information was buried in the “Sundries” page. I feel that this change makes the navigation of the website more straightforward.
The imminent publication of my latest volume of Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario will require a few other small changes to the website. Stay tuned for that.
I’m currently wrapping up work on the second volume of my book series Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario. It profiles five heritage cemeteries in Glengarry County, and one in the City of Cornwall.
It’s hard to describe the pleasant feelings in performing the residual tasks associated with this book. There’s a heightened sense of satisfaction around seeing the final product come to life.
The last revisions, selection of illustrations, caption-writing, page formatting, and even the somewhat mundane task of preparing a nominal index, all combine towards a certain positive mental state that’s difficult to put into words.
One of these near-final tasks involves the mock-up of the book’s cover. Here’s a sneak peek!
The church and cemetery depicted on the cover is St. Andrew’s United (formerly Presbyterian) in Williamstown, Ontario. It’s one of my favourite heritage cemeteries situated in my neck of the woods.
One of the central tenets of local history is revealing ancient stories, which have been hidden for ages. I look forward to sharing these stories when the new volume is published in the coming weeks.
It’s always a pleasure to see the publication of a new local history book. That pleasure is heightened, in my opinion, when the book is an attractive volume about a community cemetery established in the 19th century. Lily Worrall’s new book Woodlawn Cemetery 1887-1987 – Minute Book & Local History is a professionally-produced tome that is jam-packed with information.
Woodlawn Cemetery was the first community, non-denominational cemetery in Cornwall, Ontario. It owed its existence to an initiative to restrict burials from the small and crowded cemeteries located within the municipality’s “old square mile.” When Woodlawn first opened its gates in the 1880s, it was situated just outside the boundary of the Town of Cornwall. The town was upgraded to a city in 1945; a few years later the city extended its limits beyond the square mile, taking in the cemetery and other lands. It remains an active cemetery.
Worrall takes a novel approach to documenting the history of the cemetery: The book is an annotated transcription of the meeting minutes of its governing body (a private company). The approach means that no “Table of Contents” is necessary, as the content of the book is arranged chronologically without any subdivisions. Worrall has interspersed the transcribed minutes with contextual information and illustrations, such as photographs and brief biographies of individuals mentioned in the minutes (directors of the company, for example), and significant events and cultural phenomena of the period.
Worrall smartly grips the reader at the beginning of the book, in the Preface. She teases us by noting that the minutes sometimes describe scandals, and that the names of those embroiled in these events have not been censored. While that’s a good strategy to retain a reader, it’s also good professional practice: As Worrall states, “the facts should not be lost” (page v). They make for interesting reading!
The book will appeal especially to those who, like me, enjoy reading history in the raw. The minutes are only lightly edited, which gives the historian and history enthusiast much to chew on. The book richly documents the genesis of the cemetery, the activities of its employees, and the trials and tribulations of keeping a company afloat. For example, in 1907, the minutes warned: “Some means will have to be devised for increasing the income, otherwise the Company will become bankrupt” (page 50).
The names of the directors are a veritable “who’s who” of Cornwall in the late 19th and 20th centuries. In the same vein, the book also describes the development of Cornwall itself, including the upgrading of roads and sidewalks leading to the cemetery, and the provision of a municipal supply of water to the parcel of land. Also documented are situations that some might say are “very Cornwall.” For example, the numerous complaints of fumes from nearby industries which negatively affected the property.
The administration of the cemetery is described in detail, including various rules and regulations, financial updates, construction projects such as the caretaker’s cottage and the vault, the costs for plots, the introduction of “perpetual care” (an extra payment for maintenance of each plot) and arrangements made for interments in the cemetery’s “Potter’s Field” (an area for people who could not afford a standard burial).
I mentioned at the beginning of this book review that Woodlawn Cemetery was the first non-denominational cemetery in Cornwall. In the early years, however, this aspect referred mainly to Protestant congregations, although the minutes also note plots being purchased by Muslim members of the community. Also in the early period, local Roman Catholics had their own, separate cemeteries. Currently, the Woodlawn website notes that the cemetery is for “all faiths.”
The book ends with a large appendix containing the names and concise details of a selected 2,800 individuals who are interred in Woodlawn Cemetery. This appendix, along with much of the contents of the book, will be a useful reference to researchers in both the present and future.
Woodlawn Cemetery 1887-1987 – Minute Book & Local History is a large 8” by 10” format, with 308 pages and peppered with illustrations. It can be purchased at Woodlawn Cemetery (540 Cumberland Street, Cornwall, Ontario).
Stuart Lyall Manson is an historian, author, and heritage advocate based in the City of Cornwall, Ontario, Canada.
On Sunday June 11, I’ll be giving a presentation at Salem United Church in Summerstown, ON. It will be part of the church’s special Heritage Service.
The Heritage Service starts at 10:00 am followed by a Cemetery Memorial Service at 11:00 am. The church and cemetery are located at 19041 County Road 2, Summerstown, ON.
It’s not the first time I’ve given a presentation in a church. It’s a unique experience!
Put the Kettle On!
“Tea Talk” is an annual series of lectures hosted by the Glengarry, Nor’Westers and Loyalist Museum which is situated in Williamstown, Ontario. I was invited to be one of the speakers for 2023. My Tea Talk is called “Early Glengarrians in Life and Death.”
In essence, it will preview content that will appear in the forthcoming second volume of my book series Sacred Ground: Loyalist Cemeteries of Eastern Ontario, whose specific content is heavily Glengarry and will be published later this year.
The talk is slated for June 8, 2023 at 2:00 PM at the museum, which is located at 19651 John Street in the quaint village of Williamstown.
Click here for more information on the Tea Talk series, and see below for the full roster of tea talkers.
Last night I have the privilege of attending a special “Beaver Club” style dinner in Williamstown, ON. It was in honour of the late David G. Anderson, a man whose passion for the history of Glengarry County and the lives of the Nor’Westers was all-embracing.
I was asked to give one of the many formal toasts that are traditional at this kind of event. Mine was to “the fur trade partners.” Here is the text of my toast.
It gives me great pleasure to give this toast to the fur trade partners at this noble gathering, which is in honour of a man whom I respected greatly. I feel qualified to give this toast because, as a young man, I worked at the home of a particularly interesting NWC partner: His name of John McDonald of Garth.
His restored 1816 home was called “Inverarden Regency Cottage Museum,” located on the outskirts of Cornwall. (The building still exists, but the site is sadly no longer open to the public.)
I fondly look back at my time there, even though it was 30 years ago. It was an experience that launched me into a career on history, and gave me a lifelong appreciation for the old Nor’Westers. And it was there where I first met David Anderson, and his family, during their many early visits to that historic site.
The main thrust of my toast is inspired by a joint memorandum written by two legendary fur trade partners from the NWC, which they composed near the end of their long and eventful lives. The first was Simon Fraser the famous explorer and son of a Loyalist; and the second was the previously-mentioned John McDonald of Garth.
I said inspired, but some harsh critic might say plagiarized. (And they would not be wrong.) But we historians can get around such difficulties by simply citing our source material. Allow me, therefore, to provide a verbal footnote: Fraser and McDonald’s joint memorandum can be found in archival records of the McCord Museum in Montréal, catalogued as “Object Number M-18638.” I trust that will absolve me of any-and-all wrongdoing.
So here is my toast to the fur trade partners:
You lived in mutual esteem and fellowship, and performed your duty in the stations allotted to you without fear, or reproach. You braved many dangers – both physical and financial – and you ran many risks. You crossed the continent, and explored many new points. You met and gained the respect of many Indigenous nations. You created a commercial empire that paved the way for a future Canada to solidify its place on this continent, allowing us to gather at events such as this, in peace and security.
This week I appeared on “Dispatches,” the official podcast of The Journal of the American Revolution. In the podcast I discussed my recent article (“Attended with Disagreeable Consequences: Cross-Border Shopping for Loyalist Provisions in 1783-1784”). Most of the interview, however, focused on other interesting aspects of the early loyalist experience in the region that would become Upper Canada.
The podcast can be heard VIA THIS LINK. No special software is required. The podcast is also available on all the usual podcast services.
I’d like to thank podcaster and historian Brady Crytzer for inviting me to participate. While I’ve done some local television work, as well as plenty of presentations, this is my first experience in the world of podcasts. Other than listening to them, of course!
Stuart Lyall Manson 