D & L Slade Co.– Way of Housekeeping Larry Clark — A Tide Mill

Larry Clark

In 1775 the mill provided a footnote to the American Revolution. One of the earliest naval engagements of the war took place near the mill, and its gates prevented the British from sailing up Mill Creek and coming within firing range of Chelsea.
Henry Slade had bought into the mill in 1827, and the innovation introduced in his time was the grinding of tobacco into snuff to supplement corn. As Henry’s children David, Levi and Charles took an interest in the business, they – especially David – wanted to let their new ideas and ambition increase the business.
For one year, Henry turned the mill over to the hard-working David, who increased the mill’s profits to $500 until the older generation stepped back in. But soon David took charge again, creating the D & L Slade Co. with brother Levi. It would for more than 100 years turn out spices for New England home and professional kitchens

 

HISTORY

Re: D&L Slade Company Boston, Massachusetts

By genealogy.com user September 30, 2000 at 07:43:06

• In reply to: D&L Slade Company Boston, Massachusetts

Henry Slade (born 1791) purchased an old mill in Revere that was powered by tidewater.This mill has burned down TWICE, so the poor building that is falling to ruin currently is more modern than Henry’s mill.He used the mill to grind snuff, since he sold tobacco products.He turned over the use of part of the mill to two of his sons, Charles (born 1816) and David (born 1819), and they began to grind spice for wholesale grocers as Slade Spice Company.Charles eventually left the company and was replaced by his brother Levi (born in 1822)and D & L Slade was formed.When Levi died in 1884, the company incorporated, with David, Wilbur L. Slade (son of Levi), Herber L. Slade (son of Levi), and Henry Dillingham (son-in-law of David and husband of Anna Jeanette, David’s daughter, of course).They began to buy spice and sell it, and since they were sticklers for quality, they did very well and the company grew rapidly.They refused to put fillers in their spice, and they soon became the largest seller of unadulterated spice (something that was hard to find in those days).Besides the mill in Revere, they had a factory in Chelsea, and offices in Boston.When Bell Seasoning’s went on the market, they purchased that company, which had also been family-owned, but they retained the name of Bell’s on all its packages.Somehow the same nicety was not extended to the Slade’s brand when it was finally acquired by a large food corporation, and the Slade’s Spice name no longer exists.

THE SLADE MILL

The mill was one of several tide mills dotting the New England coast – an innovation that some say originated in the area. Tide mills worked by using a set of flood gates. When the tide surged in, the flood gates swung open to allow the ocean water to fill the marsh and mill pond. When the tide turned and began to exit the marsh, the gates closed, trapping the water. From this impounded water the mill drew off a steady stream to turn its machinery – similar to the way a mill on a river used the flow to drive its works.

In 1918 Slade would make the investment that keeps its legacy alive today. It bought out the Bell’s Seasoning Company. In 1867, William Bell had begun selling his blend of poultry seasoning through his market in Boston. Bell had started as a grocer in Lowell, Mass. before moving south to Boston where he could buy spices directly off the ships arriving in port.

Over the next 40 years Bell continually expanded the popularity of his Bell’s Seasoning – a blend of rosemary, ginger, oregano, sage and marjoram – until his sudden death at age 76. Sensing opportunity, Slade purchased the brand, but wisely did nothing to change the name or formula. Instead, he  incorporated Bell’s into his own lineup, which had expanded to baking powders, cumin, pepper and a wide range of spices. The company promoted them in its own cookbook.

The Slade name finally disappeared from the grocery shelves in the 1970s when the Slade family sold the company. Only the Bell’s brand name remains today – touted by a wide range of cooks as still the best poultry seasoning for a Thanksgiving turkey.

The Slade Mill, though, still lives on. Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, its owners converted it to apartments in 2004.

Hat tip to: The Spice Mill on the Marsh by Thomas P. Smith

The Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts
07 Nov 1919, Fri  •  Page 16

The Fall River Daily Herald
Fall River, Massachusetts
15 Jun 1891, Mon  •  Page 3

Comments from Larry Clark

Drove from North Bay to Ottawa with a wedding cake for my sister in law. My wife baked the cake (3 layers) and had it iced professionally here. The baker was a little dubious when told of our mission but completed the cake. Everything went well until the time to cut the cake. They ended up using a hammer on the knife to break the cake open. The cake (and icing, when you managed to soften it) was delicious. Larry Clark

Related reading

Vintage Culinary Blogging –Fun to Cook Book

Albert Street Canasta Club Chilled Pineapple Dessert

1898 — Accidents, Moose and Caterpillars

Photo Number:  MAT004600
Photographer:   unknown
Location:   Carleton Place, ON
Railway Name:   CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY CO.
Date:   1898-00-00
Caption:   Part of a wreck scene in the vicinity of the shops in Carleton Place. Negative envelope shows 1900-1910.
Subject:   Wreck
Collection:   Matting

No matter where I searched I could not find a record of this accident… but I did not want to lose the photo.

Local Happenings

The Ottawa Journal Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Fri, Aug 19, 1898 – Page 7

Heading to NY through Carleton Place

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
17 Oct 1898, Mon  •  Page 8

Chesterville Record 1 March 1898

A terrible collision with loss of life occurred three miles east of Smiths Falls between three and four o’clock Tuesday morning.  As near as can be learned it occurred in this way.  A freight was going west, followed by an engine running light, which, in turn, was followed at the normal distance by another freight train.  A number of cars broke loose from the first train, and, after some delay, were picked up by the light engine, and ere warning could be given the rear train came round a curve in the road and dashed at full speed into the light engine and runaway cars doing great damage to both engines and telescoping the cars, which then took fire and several were totally consumed.  The driver, Charlie Sims and the Fireman, William Wilson, both of Carleton Place, and both on the rear train were killed.  An auxiliary train from Smiths Falls with doctor McCallum, CPR surgeon was soon on the spot.  Sims was dead before his arrival, but his body was so caught in the wreck that it could not be got out.  Wilson was taken to Smiths Falls but was so badly hurt that he dies a few minutes after his arrival there.  

It is understood that an inquest will be held at once.  Superintendent Leonard happened to be at Smiths Falls and visited the wreck on the auxilliary train.

The 3.45 train for Montreal proceeded by way of Ottawa.  The local for Montreal was delayed three or four hours while the line was being cleared of the wreck.
Also reported in the Citizen of 1 March 1898.

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
31 May 1898, Tue  •  Page 1

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
29 Aug 1898, Mon  •  Page 7

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
29 Aug 1898, Mon  •  Page 7

Ottawa Daily Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
25 Oct 1893, Wed  •  Page 6

and just because I could.. another 1898 happening….

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
09 Feb 1898, Wed  •  Page 7

Related reading

Train Accident? Five Bucks and a Free Lunch in Carleton Place Should Settle it

The Lanark County “Carpetbaggers”–Lanark Electric Railway

So Which William Built the Carleton Place Railway Bridge?

The Titanic of a Railway Disaster — Dr. Allan McLellan of Carleton Place

Did You Know About These Local Train Wrecks?

Documenting 178 Flora Street Carleton Place

Hi Linda I grow up in Carleton Place I childhood home was 178 Flora St. We bought the home in 1965 when I was 5 and my Mother sold the home in 1998 a year after my Father had passed away. I had always what to know the history of the home- Lyann Lockhart

Kate TeleckiMy grandpa Stewart Drummond grew up in this house and attended cphs! My mom always told me the story of how he was the first kid at cphs to have his own bicycle and all the kids lined up to have a turn on it !

Gail GrabeWe lived in the Bungalow beside this house for about 11 yrs. (69-80), the Hamiltons lived in that home, our young children played together.

Angela Hurdis BeazleyHi there, we currently live in this home. We purchased it about 10-11 years ago with my parents as joint project to renovate.My husband, myself and our children have lived here now for about 7 years.We don’t know about the history of the home but we did purchase it from the Hamilton’s. My parents & husband did a lot of renovations to take the house back to its original state with a modern look to it.We are looking at having some landscaping done this summer to give it a better curb side appeal.We would also love to know any history of the home as well.

Kyla BaronHey Kate, Sorry this is late. My Mom doesn’t know much at all. She said they were just told that was where her grandparents lived, the rare time they drove by it. Uncle Bill probably knows more (Grace Drummond). What we do know is: Great Grandpa Drummond was a wealthy man and owned tenant properties (Mom doesn’t know how many or exactly how he came to have that money). Sometime during the Great Depression, the farmer who worked the property on County Rd. 29 defaulted on the mortgage (held by Great Grandpa Drummond) and so, the Drummond family moved there, selling the Flora Street house at some point. We don’t know how old our Grandpa Stewart Drummond was when they moved to the farm on 29 but he spent the majority of his life there. His father owned many horses and the barn there was originally built as the stables to house them. Our Grandpa Stewart hated horses and when his father died, he got rid of them and over the years, lost all the money his father had. Mom says he never talked about his father so she doesn’t know much more than that. She said it’s possible that her Great grandparents (our Great – Great grandparents) might have built that house but she doesn’t know for sure. Sorry we can’t be more help!

Ray PaquetteLinda Seccaspina When I was in Grade 9, ca. 1954, Arthur and Catherine (MacGregor) Cousens lived in part of this house but as he was often moved in his work, I believe they were just renting the north part of the house. I have no idea who owned the home at the time….

Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

Did you know?

James E. Bennett built three houses in the Flora Street area.  One of them is occupied by his grandson Bill and his wife Lois.  Behind the house were stables where up to five horses were housed.  They were used as delivery horses for the meat market, and they knew the routes as well as the men who drove them.  One old horse, the story goes was so familiar with the routine of the business that when Findlay’s Foundry whistle blew at 12 noon, the horse headed for Flora Street with or without the driver.  “You better be on that cart when the whistle went, or the horse went home without you”, was the saying of the day.  In the morning a delivery man went door to door picking up order for meat.  There were no telephones, and this was the way the business ran.  The lady ordered from the delivery man, he rushed back to the store, filled the order and rushed back out to deliver it so she could cook it for the noon meal.

Abner Nichols once owned a saw mill along the Mississippi River at the bottom of Flora street. Nichols was also in the timber business and owned a planning mill on the corner or Lake Ave and Moore Street in 1896. The Nichols home was the first home of a family that produced three mayors of Carleton Place over three generations. Nichols was also Carleton Place’s first Reeve, and served as Mayor in 1894 and in 1899. Later the house served as the rectory for St.James Anglican church.

Katie ChallenMy husband, daughter and I recently moved into “Butcher” Bill’s and Lois Bennett’s house on Flora Street. We’ve heard so many lovely stories about them since coming here. I’ve been doing a bit of research on the Bennett family…what a legacy! We’re currently working on cleaning up the garage, which apparently housed the delivery horses for Bennett’s Meat Market.

Related reading

Old McRostie Had a Farm in Carleton Place …..

The Floating Bridge of Carleton Place — Found!

Sweet Memories in a Brown Paper Bag — Linda Knight Seccaspina

Sweet Memories in a Brown Paper Bag– Linda Knight Seccaspina

Last week someone asked me how much I got for an allowance as a kid. I don’t remember getting any extra money if I recall. I believe free room and board was offered to me at the time by my parents, so that was the best deal– and I took it with no arguments.

Of course I was not penniless along with the other neighbourhood kids. Empty pop bottles were always a commodity, and if you look at it now I think we did a better job of recycling. We loved loading up the wagon once a week and anticipating what sweet treasures we were going to get for our haul at the corner store.  Maybe penny candies, or a soft drink from the old drink cooler, and sometimes even a handwritten note to buy cigarettes for my father was tucked in my pocket.

The small neighbourhood stores were the original convenience stores and we had Mayhews on Oliver Street and another one on the left a bit farther down.They usually did not carry a wide variety of goods but they had the basics, and children could safely be sent out for milk, bread or a can of soup without having to go all the way up to Bonneaus at the top of the Albert Street hill. I would go to Mayheu’s corner store and with 10 pennies come out with a paper bag full of potato chips, marshmallow filled mini ice cream cones, wax lips, and Popeye candy cigarettes.

My favourite penny candy was a pair of big red wax lips. Every summer day I would sit on the edge of the Cowansville public pool kicking my legs in the water with the wax lips that were slowly melting in the hot sun. If they were not available I would buy the little wax bottles and bite off the top and drink the liquid that was probably heavy on Red #49 food colouring.The bottles were made of edible wax, and all everyone did was chew on them forever and then spit them out after the juice was consumed.

Buying penny candy wasn’t just about the candy– it was all about the experience. It was about racing into the store to gaze at the shelves of what seemed like a million choices of candy. It was seeing the store owner grab a brown paper bag and trying to fill it to the brim with jawbreakers or black balls. Those store owners had the patience of Job and gave us all the time we needed.  Everything seemed to be “2 for a penny”, or “three for a penny” so the decisions made were often our first lesson in personal financial management. The right decision could fill the little paper bag that our purchases were stowed in

Our favourite hang out away from my grandmother’s eyes was Dion’s lumber yard next door to my home. “Smoking” on our candy cigarettes, my friends and I would sit on the top of the piles of lumber and have earth shattering conversations about why I cut my bangs so short like Bette Davis. We soon skipped speaking about the prospects of picking wild strawberries in the field and hoped the ill- tempered farmer was not going to come out and shoot at us with rock salt.

Candy today seems to have been taken over by power drinks and bars that have just as much sugar and caffeine in them as our penny candy did. A serving of Gatorade contains the same amount of sugar as twelve pieces of candy corn. No longer can a child go into a corner store and find the delights we had as kids. Today, besides the dollar store candy, the candy companies have designer lines to entice baby boomers into buying candy again- and not for a penny.

Although you may occasionally find a small store or a gum ball machine that will still sell you a small piece of candy most candies have increased in price quite a bit since my day. What the heck is ‘fun size” chocolate bars anyways? There is nothing fun about having less candy, and now at an older age its like eating a cloud of diabetes.

There are no more brown paper bags or “trusting” proprietors. No more sugar sprinkled comic book pages and no more testing the merchandise. The next best thing is sadly ordering online at the retro candy companies and we can always reminisce. No more hiding in the closet anymore eating candy alone away from your siblings. I wish the moments we had could have lasted forever as sometimes all anyone needs is just a Rum and Butter Life Saver to keep us afloat  for the day.

Notes on Alexander and Joseph Yuill

After

Before and after–Black and white photograph from the Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum of 56 Front Street. Known as the Joseph Yuill house from: Standing on Front Street

Mr. Yuill was one of the founders of the Patrons of Industry, a fluent speaker and an ardent worker, while Mrs. Yuill helped establish the first Women’s Institute organizations in this district. She spoke from many platforms throughout Ontario, was the first president of the Carleton Place branch, and latterly was honorary president of the district of North Lanark. She did splendid work for the W. I. and the Red Cross and in 1917 both organizations presented her with life membership badges.

She was also a valued member of the United Farm Board. For a time the Yuill farm was a government fattening station where fowl were prepared for the British market and in the summer of 1901 Mr.- and Mrs. Yuill visited on the Old Country and studied the needs of that market.

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
14 Dec 1893, Thu  •  Page 3

Ottawa Daily Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
25 Oct 1893, Wed  •  Page 6

Joseph Yuill was a Canadian farmer and educator.

Yuill was born to Alexander Yuill and Ellen Aitkenhead in Ramsay Township, Upper Canada in 1838. His father had emigrated there from Glasgow in 1821, and started farming grains, as well as cattle, pigs and sheep. When his father retired from farming, Joseph inherited the farm, which he named Meadowside. On March 10th, 1864, Yuill married Margaret Cochrane. The pair would have a total of nine children.

Name:	Alexander B Yuill
Gender:	Male
Event Type:	Death
Death Date:	6 Apr 1978
Death Place:	Carleton Place, Ontario

The Yuills began breeding Shropshire sheep, Berkshire hogs, and Barred Plymouth Rock chickens, but the most important animals raised on their farm were Ayrshire cattle, which they began breeding in 1868. At the time, most farmers preferred cattle breeds useful for both meat and dairy, while Ayrshire cattle are dairy cows. The Yuills’ Ayrshires’ began winning prizes at local fairs, and at exhibitions in Toronto and Ottawa.^[2] The farm eventually had a herd of 75 Ayrshires, which Yuill claimed was the largest in Canada. In 1893, one of the Yuills bulls won first prize at the Columbian exposition in Chicago.

The World’s Columbian Exposition (the official shortened name for the World’s Fair: Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair and Chicago Columbian Exposition) was a world’s fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492

Margaret supervised the dairy, which began producing high-quality butter that attracted notice. The farm produced 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of butter a year.^[3] The pair created Ontario’s first “travelling dairy”, giving seminars and lectures on butter making.^[1] This began when Aaron Abel Wright, a Renfrew merchant and butter-dealer suggested the pair give a lesson at a Farmers’ Institute meeting in his hometown. The first such lesson attracted more than 600 attendees, and Wright financed a week-long series of such lessons, with two a day. The couple started regularly giving such lessons, to groups at Farmers’ Institutes, the Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union and the Dairymen’s Association of Eastern Ontario. These would cover subjects such as milk handling, butter making, raising calves and winter care of chickens. Joseph also wrote articles in agricultural journals. He was the president of the Dominion Ayrshire Breeders’ Association from 1891 to 1893.

When Yuill died in 1905, his farm covered 600 acres (2.4 km²), and included two large stock barns and a windmill. The farm Meadowside was left to his son Alexander, and a second farm in Elmhurst was left to his son Andrew. He died on the farm Meadowside, the same place he had been born, and his body was buried in Auld Kirk Cemetery near Almonte, Ontario.

also read-

When the Cheese Crashed Through the Floor

Walter Mather Yuill — Died at age 28

The Robbing of the Honey Pot- Andrew Cochrane Ramsay Yuill

Clippings of Mrs. Joseph Yuill – Margaret Yuill

Ralph and Iris Yuill

Mrs. Joseph Yuill of Ramsay Makes Butter

Middleville Photos — Laurie Yuill

1. Photos of Laurie Yuill- Somerville/Mather Picnic 1937–Charles Home, Lloyd Knowles House–Foster Family Mr. Lionel Barr’s Store Middleville and Other Mementos –‎Laurie Yuill‎

The Old Lionel Barr Sawmill Middleville 1941 — Laurie Yuill

HISTORY OF LANARK TOWNSHIP AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION–70 YEARS OLD  –Laurie Yuill Part 1

HISTORY OF LANARK TOWNSHIP AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION –Laurie Yuill Part 2 

HISTORY OF LANARK TOWNSHIP AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION –Laurie Yuill Part 3-“There is no use in my joining the Society, as I have nothing to exhibit”

Middleville School Photos- Laurie Yuill

HISTORY OF LANARK TOWNSHIP AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY ORGANIZATION –Laurie Yuill Part 4-“the proprietor of a merry-go-round was paid a bonus to bring his machine to the Fair “

Another Story- When your Number is Up — Hubert Horton

What would happen, though, if the ambiguity surrounding our own demise were taken away? What if we all suddenly were told the exact date and means of our deaths? While this is, of course, impossible, careful consideration of this hypothetical scenario can shed light on our motivations as individuals and societies – and hint at how to best spend our limited time on this Earth.

This is the second story I have found that someone almost died and then a few years later they passed away. The first story happened in Carleton Place.. read-A Carleton Place Tale to Send Shivers Up Your Arm — The Sad Tale of Margaret Violet King

Once again , they need to be remembered……

Almonte-May 4,1928

A remarkable escape from drowning was the experience on Sunday afternoon of little Hubert Horton, aged two years and eight months, son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Horton.

Playing with his sister Mary, three and a half years of age, on the bank of the river on the Island opposite the home of his grandfather, M r. Thomas Proctor, little Hubert slipped off a rock into the swollen waters of the Mississippi.

His sister tried to pull him out but she could not reach him and she ran sobbing to tell her parents of the accident.This all took time as she passed by her paternal grandfather’s home, the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Albert W. Horton, the child’s cries attracted their attention, and Albert Junior, the young man who has become well known as the goaltender of the Almonte Hockey Club, managed, between the sobs of the youngster, to grasp the story that his little nephew had fallen into the river.

Albert rushed to the spot and saw Hubert’s hat floating above the water about thIrty-five feet from the shore. He is a strong swimmer and throwing off his coat and boots he dived into the water and soon reached the child.

Meanwhile Dr. A. A. Metcalfe, the nearest physician, had been summoned and as he reached the place Albert Horton had just succeeded in landing the drowning boy. The latter had been about fifteen minutes In the water. The child was taken into his grandfather’s home, but it was two hours before he was brought back to consciousness. 

It was Monday night before he was able to be tak en to his own home. He is now thoroughly recovered. Undoubtedly what saved the little boy’s life was that he was wearing a heavy winter coat, which acted like an air bladder for a time. Fortunately the long rubber boots which he wore, were kicked off in his struggles, or they would no doubt have weighed him down.

 It is curious that his father, Kenneth Horton, had a somewhat similar escape from drowning when he was a child. He was rescued from the river by Mr. Newton. The rescue on Sunday afternoon by Albert H Horton was a particularly fine bit of work! At this season of the year the waters of the river are treacherous and cold and he was severely handicapped with his clothes.

So what happened to young Hubert Horton? He passed away 4 years later from extensive burns from a fire.

Hubert James Horton

BIRTH	25 Aug 1925Almonte, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
DEATH	11 Sep 1932 (aged 7)Almonte, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
BURIAL	Saint Marys Roman Catholic CemeteryAlmonte, Lanark County, Ontario, Canada
PLOT	B084 Grave #1
MEMORIAL ID	201158942 · View Source

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HORTON, Edward Arthur (Ted) – In hospital, Ottawa, Ontario on Monday, August 24, 1987, Edward Arthur (Ted) Horton, in his 57th year. Dear son of Marguerite (Mrs. Kenneth Horton), Almonte and the late Kenneth Horton. Beloved husband of Margaret Taylor McEwan. Dear father of Mary (Mrs. David Solowjew), Carleton Place; John and his wife Sue, Ottawa; Michael and his wife Linda, Peterborough; Laureen Morrow, Kanata; Maureen (Mrs. Tim Neil), Carleton Place; Daniel and his wife Bev., Pakenham; Christopher and his wife Brenda, Nepean and Shawn of Kanata. Dear grandfather of 15 grandchildren. Dear brother of Mary (Mrs. Ben Kennedy), RR 2, Carp; Rita (Mrs. Eric Julian), Almonte; Elva (Mrs. Robert Aitkenhead), Carleton Place; Carol (Mrs. Gerald Poag) and Marilyn (Mrs. Douglas Ryan), both of Almonte. One sister-in-law Doreen (Mrs. Warren Horton), Almonte. Predeceased by two brothers Hubert and Warren. Friends may call at the Kerry Funeral Home, 154 Elgin Street, Almonte for visiting on Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. and Wednesday from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. Thence to St Mary’s Church for Funeral Mass on Thursday at 10 a.m. Interment St Mary’s Cemetery, Almonte. As expressions of sympathy, donations may be made to the Heart Institute, c/o Dr. W. J. Keon, Ottawa Civic Hospital, 1053 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario KIY 4E9 or the Ottawa-Carleton Public Health Unit, 495 Richmond Rd, Ottawa, Ontario K2A 4A4. Royal Canadian Legion Branch No 250, Almonte service on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. in the Funeral Home.

Related reading

Believe it or Not– William Dedrick of Perth

A Carleton Place Tale to Send Shivers Up Your Arm — The Sad Tale of Margaret Violet King

Carleton Place Was Once Featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not! Our Haunted Heritage

How Did John Nolan Die? Believe it or not……

Believe it or Not? More Strange Canadian Stories

When the Skeletons Finally Come Out of the Closet “D-I-V-O-R-C-E”

My grandmother on the maternal side was Gladys Ethelyn Griffin Crittenden. She was born and grew up in Laconia, Belnap New Hampshire. She married my Grandfather George Crittenden in 1917 in Montreal and had my mother in 1929. She died at the age of 39 and no mention of her daughter was mentioned in her obit.

The Gazette
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
15 Apr 1935, Mon  •  Page 7

When I was a child I heard whispers that I am sure children were not supposed to hear. I knew my Grandfather had a few women that were not my Grandmothers, but one was not supposed to talk about things like that. For years I wondered why the name Cecile was said with a horrified face.

One day at a 10 am Church service I was sitting with my grandmother in our usual pew when someone with heavy perfume tapped my grandmother on the shoulder. My grandmother quickly looked at me in horror and her lips became pursed. The strange woman waved to me and my grandmother clutched my hand very quickly and told me not to speak to her.

Well, I thought, here we are in a place of God and my grandmother is not being too neighbourly. The church service ended and we left quickly. It did not stop the lady and she followed quickly behind us. In fact, she followed us all the way home, and into the verandah where she sat down on one of the chairs. My grandmother instructed me to go into the kitchen while she talked to this woman.

The woman quickly vanished after my grandmother spoke to her and I don’t think I ever saw her again. My grandfather had just passed away in Seattle and apparently it had something to do with that. My grandmother said she wanted money and expected to be in the will as she was “Cecile”. I never found out who “Cecile” really was until today. I just assumed that she was one of my grandfather’s former girlfriends.

My mother from the ages of 14-18 was in the Ste Agathe Sanitarium because she had tuberculosis and had one lung removed. I heard the stories many times about my Grandfather’s wife that had burned all my mother’s things and sold her piano because she had convinced my grandfather that my mother was coming back. But was that true? When my mother was released she never did go back to Park Extension in Montreal, and instead went to Cowansville, Quebec to work at Bruck Mills.

Apparently my mother not coming home and being an only child caused a rift between my grandfather and Cecile and the marriage went south. Really south.There was no uniform federal divorce law in Canada until 1968 and this was the very early 50s. Instead, there was a patch-work of divorce laws in the different provinces, depending on the laws in force in each province at the time it joined Confederation. In Quebec, the Civil Code of Lower Canada declared that “Marriage can only be dissolved by the natural death of one of the parties; while both live it is indissoluble”.

The English Matrimonial Causes Act 1857 provided that a husband could sue on grounds of adultery alone, but a wife would have to allege adultery together with other grounds.The only way for an individual to get divorced in the provinces where there was no divorce law—as well as in cases where the domicile of the parties was unclear—was to apply to the federal Parliament for a private bill of divorce. These bills were primarily handled by the Senate of Canada where a special committee would undertake an investigation of a request for a divorce. If the committee found that the request had merit, the marriage would be dissolved by an Act of Parliament.

So today, I found out that my Grandfather had to apply to Parliament for a divorce on the grounds of adultery.

Montreal, Quebec, Canada
30 Jun 1953, Tue  •  Page 24

Of George Arthur Crittenden, of Montreal, Quebec; praying for the passage of an Act to dissolve his marriage with Cecile David Crittenden. 1953 November

MONDAY, 7th December, 1953. The Standing Committee on Divorce beg leave to make their one hundred and twentieth Report, as follows:- 1. With respect to the petition of George Arthur Crittenden, of the city of Montreal, in the province of Quebec, clerk, for an Act to dissolve his marriage with Cecile David Crittenden, the Committee find that the requirements of the Rules of the Senate have been complied with in all material respects. 2. The Committee recommend the passage of an Act to dissolve the said marriage. All which is respectfully submitted. W. M. ASELTINE, Acting Chairman.

Crittenden. George Arthur Petition, 40; reported, 125; adopted, 136. Bill (N-4)-lst, 2nd and/3rd, 153-154. Passage by Corns., 245. Message, 246. R.A., 279. Ch. 161.

So I am assuming it was easier for a man to get a divorce from his wife in those days and since adultery was the only way to get a divorce– the woman had to suck it up.

So, maybe the story was all wrong from the beginning and I am starting to give Cecile the benefit of the doubt even though she was not kind to my mother. Maybe she did have an agreement with my grandfather that he said: ‘ If I get this divorce using you as the ‘ bad guy” I will leave you something in my will”.

Quebec has been slow on giving civil rights to married women: until 1954, a married woman was legally listed as “incapable of contracting”, together with minors, “interdicted persons”, “persons insane or suffering a temporary derangement of intellect … or who by reason of weakness of understanding are unable to give a valid consent”, and “persons who are affected by civil degradation”

The removal of the married woman from this list, however, did little to improve her legal situation, due to marriage laws which restricted her rights and gave the husband legal authority over her: legal incapacity was still the general rule until 1964. A woman did not have equal rights with her husband regarding children until 1977.

So why else would she have turned up after he had passed away 20 years later– had not something been promised to her for a facility in the divorce. After all- she was labelled the bad guy in family stories.

I guess we will never know now, but now I know the rest of the story.

Park Extension Montreal

.

Did you know?

It has been argued that one of the explanations for the current high rates of cohabitation in Quebec is that the traditionally strong social control of the church and the Catholic doctrine over people’s private relations and sexual morality, resulting in conservative marriage legislation and resistance to legal change, has led the population to rebel against traditional and conservative social values and avoid marriage altogether. Since 1995, the majority of births in Quebec are outside of marriage; as of 2015, 63% of births were outside of marriage.

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Let’s All Go to The Drive-in!

Patriotic Stink Bugs Celebrating the 4th of July as an Ameri-Canadian Child

Is it all Relative? Linda Knight Seccaspina

I Am Who I am Because of You

My Name is Bernice — A Letter to a Daughter

The Old Church in Island Brook That Needs a Home

What Do You Do if You Just Can’t Walk Right In?

We Are Family

The Summer of 1964

Did They Try to Run the World?

Come to Canada– the Weather is Fine — Immigration Links

CLIPPED FROM
Chicago Tribune
Chicago, Illinois
03 Jul 1940, Wed  •  Page 12

It is known the later Soundex can be useful in locating records of immigrants who arrived in the United States at any port of entry before 1940, many of them in the 1930s, who either entered the U.S. illegally or overstayed their temporary visas. The Alien Registration Act of 1940 revealed these immigrants’ illegal status, and they soon applied for an immigrant visa and adjustment of immigration status in the United States. When a visa application was approved, the applicant had to travel outside the United States to collect the visa and return through a U.S. port of entry where a record of admission for permanent residence could be filed. Thus the post-1924 Soundex (M1463) contains records of many alien residents of the Northeast and Midwest who traveled to Montreal in the early 1940s so they might legally re-immigrate to the United States. Many of these World War II-era “re-immigrants” are Canadian-born individuals who arrived prior to 1924 or Jews who somehow made their way from Europe to the United States in the 1930s or very early 1940s.

After 1945 Europe opened its floodgates as hundreds of thousands sought refuge from a devastated continent. British emigrants were fleeing cities destroyed by the Blitz and diets stunted by rationing; there were, too, 41,000 war brides and nearly 20,000 children fathered by Canadian soldiers stationed in the UK during the war. Refugees poured out of Germany, especially in the wake of the quartering of the nation (and Berlin) into Soviet and Western zones (see Section 9.4). The same was true of Czecho-Slovaks uncertain of their country’s future and disconsolate about its immediate past. In Italy, Austria, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium refugee camps were established in the late 1940s.

Find out Immigration Records for:

Immigration Records

• After 1935
• Ancestors Search (databases)
• Border Entries
• Deportation Records
• Home Children
• Immigration History: Ethnic and Cultural Groups
• Immigration Records Column Headings
• Passenger Lists
• Passports
• Terminology and Abbreviations
• When Did Your Ancestor Arrive in Canada

Local and you can read here…

(1901 Ontario census (Lanark, North & South) transcribing project at the bottom of the page)- http://automatedgenealogy.com

Search the 1871 Lanark County Census (head of house & stray) online!

Link to “Lanark County Directory of Rural Property Owners” – Charles Dobie site.

The 1817 census for Bathurst Township – Pages  1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10

The 1819 census for Bathurst Township – Pages   1   2   3   4  5   6   7

    The above Bathurst Census images supplied by Ron Cox, with thanks!

Online! 1819M Male Census Bathurst Township

Online! 1819F Female Census Bathurst Township

Online! 1842 Census Bathurst Township – Head of Household only

Online! 1820 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1821 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1822 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1842 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1851 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1861 Census Beckwith Township

Online! 1817 Census Burgess Township

Online! 1819 Census Burgess Township

Online! 1820 Census Burgess Township

Online! 1822 Census Burgess Township

Online! 1817 Census Drummond Township

Online! 1820 Census Drummond Township

Online! 1821 Census Drummond Township

Online! 1822 Census Drummond Township

Online! 1842 Census Drummond Township – Head of household only

Online! 1817 Census Elmsley Township

Online! 1820 Census Elmsley Township

Online! 1821 Census Elmsley Township

Online! 1822 Census Elmsley Township

Online! 1820 Census Montague Township

Online! 1821 Census Montague Township

Online! 1822 Census Montague Township

Online! 1841 Census Montague Township

Online! 1851 Census Montague Township

Online! 1861 Census Montague Township

More here.. click from Rootsweb

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The New Carleton Place Canoe Club 1955- 1957

 

Clipped from The Ottawa Journal,  04 Aug 1955, Thu,  Page 21

The Carleton Place Canoe Club. Pictured here are the first two clubhouses – the first was originally the blacksmith shop for the Caldwell Sawmill, located at what is now Riverside Park

Carleton Place Canoe Club and Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

Photo- Caldwell sawmill Carleton Place- where Riverside Park is now located-Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum

The Ottawa Journal
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
05 Jul 1957, Fri  •  Page 21

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
06 Aug 1957, Tue  •  Page 12

Also in 1957:(

The Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
01 Jun 1957, Sat  •

Story About A Postcard —– Baldy Welsh to Horace Merrill 1908

Gossiping on Bridge Street –“People of 1952”

Carleton Place Canoe Club and Carleton Place and Beckwith Heritage Museum 1900s

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The Devil, a Regatta, the Enterprise and a Gale

Carleton Place in 1907–Town Likely to Boom Once More

Know Your Carleton Place Olympians!

The Ministry of Propaganda in Carleton Place — Carleton Place Canoe Club

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Three Cheers for Dave Findlay –The Movie

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The Young Olympic Hopefuls-1970’s Carleton Place Canoe Club

Bunny Bond — thanks to John Edwards

Hi Linda,

Just thought you might be interested in posting this photo since there was so much interest about Joie & Bunny Bond.

Bunny was an enthusiastic supporter of CPCC. He was in one of the great war canoe crews of the which achieved a Dominion Championship. This was a big achievement for a sport dominated by clubs from Toronto and Montreal.  In the canoeing world in Canada, everyone knows about Carleton Place!

Bunny would come to the CPCC Annual Regattas with immaculate red and white sneakers so there would be no doubt as to his loyalty.  This picture with Bunny, my Mum & Dad is taken in front of the clubhouse in use from the early ‘50’s until the new one was built in the mid-80’s. John Edwards—

Thanks goes to John- he also sent this– Update on Miss Powell from CPHS- John Edwards

Joie Bond had a brother nicknamed Bunny. She had heard his proper name once but cannot recall it. Bunny Bond dated forever into old age, with a local gal named Dorcus Bennett.  Dorcus was called Dick, had a twin sister, Martha Gertrude Groves who married Allan Groves.  Dorcus was Sandie’s father in law’s (Dr. Forbes Baird)assistant and after I tracked her down found out she made 600 bucks a year as an assistant in 1921.   Bunny was a championship paddler with the Canoe Club in his youth.

If you have anymore memories jot them down in the comments section. Thanks!!

Related reading

Read the Rustic Inn

The Bond Family Tombstone in the Basement

The Name is Bond—-Joie Bond

Looking for information on Joey Bond

The True Carleton Place Story of Joie Bond- by Jennifer Hamilton

My Name is George — George Bond

Memories of Mulvey’s Candy Store and Joie Bond — Larry Clark