Category: Ask Alice History

Written By Alice Gibb This is one of those quirky stories you discover when reading old newspapers on scratchy microfilm. In 1938, writer W.H. Johnston told the intriguing tale of…

Written By Alice Gibb In July 1924, someone broke into John McColl’s garage in Lobo and stole the sum of $32.39. Although $32.39 may seem paltry by today’s standards, in…

Written By Alice Gibb The following is one of those quirky stories that researchers happen upon when browsing through old newspapers. It relates the odd tale of William Ellwood, 68,…

Written By Alice Gibb One November 5, 1926, William Martin went into work early. At 5 a.m., he entered the offices of Lucan Milling Company, a firm he co-owned with…

Written By Alice Gibb There’s an old joke that asks - “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The answer; “Practice, practice, practice.” We don’t know if Charles Saunders (1867-1937)…

Written By Alice Gibb When Robert Elliott (1858-1902) of Tamalghmore Farm, London Township, died too soon at age 44, his friends wanted to create a special memorial. That memorial was…

Written By Alice Gibb Although Ichabod Crane slept for decades after venturing into the fictional Sleepy Hollow, hard work was more the order of the day in the West Williams…

Written By Alice Gibb The first black policeman in Canada was Lucan resident Peter Butler III, descendant of one of the early settlers at Wilberforce. Peter’s grandfather, whose slave name…

Written By Alice Gibb Long before the town of Exeter appeared on maps, another Huron County settlement sprang up where Stephen, Hay and Usborne townships meet. The hamlet was called…

Written By Alice Gibb While today we feast on Christmas Day, our ancestors often socialized on New Year’s Day instead. Pioneers happily adopted the New Year’s traditions of French and…

Written By Alice Gibb William Porte’s diaries have been extensively quoted by almost anyone writing about the Donnelly tragedies. But they are also an invaluable source of information about life…

Written By Alice Gibb One of the best ways of gaining insight into the day-to-day life of our ancestors is through personal diaries. Passing into Oblivion: The Diaries of William…

Written By Alice Gibb One tradesman once found in most rural Ontario communities hamlets was the harnessmaker. But even in the late 1930s, Edward Innes, 77, of Thorndale, was one…

Written By Alice Gibb In 1939, farmers in Caradoc Township and area welcomed news of a lucrative new cash crop. That moneymaking crop was tobacco. In the late 1930s, about…

Written By Alice Gibb In 1933, octogenarian Jane Farley, of a pioneering West Nissouri family, happily recalled Halloween pranks of the 1850s.“Halloween was looked forward to more as a night…

Written By Alice Gibb In 1936, Martha Fraleigh (1867-1948) of Richmond Street North in London Township graciously entertained a visiting reporter with tales of her family’s pioneer roots. Fraleigh was…

Written By Alice Gibb When Western Fair opened on Monday September 11, 1922, children from the Protestant Orphans Home were among the first visitors to rush through the gates –…

Written By Alice Gibb Like many early families in Middlesex County, the McLachlan family, of McLachlan Sugar Bush fame, emigrated to Upper Canada from Scotland, owing to the changing land…

Written By Alice Gibb In the pre-World War 1 period, there were often two community meeting places in rural communities – the local post office and the railway station. The…

Written By Alice Gibb Falconry, a sport that was introduced as early as 2000 B.C., is the hunting of wild quarry by means of a trained bird of prey. Those…

Written By Alice Gibb In 1874, Nelson Peterson (1849-1940), a native of Sweden, decided he wanted an adventure. After a six-week Atlantic crossing, he re-united with his brother, Hans, who…