Letters from Bruce County documents an English familys 1835 immigration to Ontario where they became pioneers in the unsettled bush. The parents of this family just happen to be the authors great great grandparents, Joseph and Susannah Bacon. The letters were written from Bruce County, Ontario in 1881 and 1882 by Joseph some years after Susannahs death to his son and daughter-in-law, Henry and Elizabeth Couch Bacon, then in ResortTownship, Emmet County, Michigan. Henry and Elizabe...

The stories of the men and women who dug for gold on Williams Creek are told in this revised and updated edition of a Canadian bestseller.The legendary town of Barkerville is flourishing today, just as it did more than 150 years ago, but this time under the care of professional and amateur historians. Richard Thomas Wright peels back the pages of history as he unearths the area’s history and chronicles the fortunes and the follies of gold-rush-era Barkerville. The result of years o...

The story of Scugog Carrying Place, the ancient aboriginal trails connecting Lake Ontario with Lakes Scugog and Simcoe and the Kawartha lakes is a multifaceted one. In tracing its documented history from the 1790s to the 1850s, author Grant Karcich unravels mysteries; explores the lifestyles of early First Nations; provides background on local archaeological sites; and introduces the intrepid early surveyors, fur traders, missionaries, colourful characters, and entrepreneurial immigrant se...

Whether your ancestor left hundreds of acres of land, money, or a few modest belongings, the records created when those legacies were distributed can provide valuable clues to family connections, relationships, and just how your ancestors lived.Inheritance in Ontario will help you determine whether your relative's will was proved in the Court of Probate, surrogate courts, or another court, and navigate the finding aids to locate surviving estate files and other complementa...

Much of the ground on which Canada’s largest metropolitan centre now stands was purchased by the British from the Mississauga Indians for a payment that in the end amounted to ten shillings. Sacred Feathers (1802–1856), or Peter Jones, as he became known in English, grew up hearing countless stories of the treachery in those negotiations, early lessons in the need for Indian vigilance in preserving their land and their rights. Donald B. Smith’s biography of this remarkable Ojibwa leader sh...

A History of Jonathan Alder: His Captivity and Life with the Indians is one of the most extensive first person accounts to survive from Ohio's pioneer and early settlement eras. Nine year-old Alder was captured and taken to Ohio by Indians in 1782. Adopted by a Mingo warrior and his Shawnee wife, Alder lived as an Indian until 1805. After he left the Indians, Alder became one of the first European settlers to live in central Ohio. Alder composed his memoirs in the 1840s. His account chroni...

The word “Mississauga” is the name British Canadian settlers used for the Ojibwe on the north of Lake Ontario – now the most urbanized region in what is now Canada. The Ojibwe of this area in the early and mid-nineteenth century lived through a time of considerable threat to the survival of the First Nations, as they lost much of their autonomy, and almost all of their traditional territory.Donald B. Smith’s Mississauga Portraits recreates the lives of eight Ojibwe who liv...

Discover the rich, turbulent history of Seattle from the 1780s to the 1860s through the story of the Native American war leader who strove to create a peaceful blended community.When the British, Spanish, and then Americans arrived in the Pacific Northwest, it may have appeared to them as an untamed wilderness. In fact, it was a fully settled and populated land. Chief Seattle was a powerful representative from this very ancient world.Here, historian David B...

Winner (second prize), 2019 British Columbia Lieutenant Governor's Medal for Historical WritingA revealing history of the ancient trail that served as a major transportation route between Washington and British Columbia and shaped the cultural and economic ties between the two jurisdictions.Trails are the most enduring memorials of human occupation. Long before stone monuments were created, pathways throughout the world were being ...

On June 27, 1868, Hole in the Day (Bagonegiizhig) the Younger left Crow Wing, Minnesota, for Washington, DC, to fight the planned removal of the Mississippi Ojibwe to a reservation at White Earth. Several miles from his home, the self-styled leader of all the Ojibwe was stopped by at least twelve Ojibwe men and fatally shot.Hole in the Day's death was national news, and rumors of its cause were many: personal jealousy, retribution for his claiming to be head chief of the Ojibwe, re...

A genealogical study of the Doty and Kelly families originally done by John Hubert Doty and updated by MaryAnn Doty Rizzo. Includes historical information and documentation. The Doty family goes back to the Mayflower. The Kelly family are Irish Canadians. Other families include: King, Miller, Force, Logue, Logsdon, Cavanee, and Dial. Some of these families have connections to George Washington.

This project contributes to our understanding of rural Midwesterners and farm newspapers at the turn of the century. While cultural historians have mainly focused on readers in town and cities, it examines Midwestern farmers. It also contributes to the "new rural history" by exploring the ideas of Hal Barron and others that country people selectively adapted the advice given to them by reformers. Finally, it furthers our understanding of American farm newspapers themselves and offers sugge...