Who do you think you have been?

As Emancipation Day approaches, we wanted to share some information about Francois Baby (and his family) and enslavement. Attached is the new exhibition panel now on display outside the Francois Baby House. We would like to thank Irene Moore Davis and Natasha Henry https://www.facebook.com/irene.m.davis and https://www.facebook.com/natasha.l.henry.7
for their valuable assistance with this panel. We have reproduced the text here as it is rather small in the image.
François Baby and Enslavement in the Late 18th – Early 19th Centuries
Did you know that enslavement existed in Canada, and was only fully outlawed in 1834?
 François Baby’s father (Jacques Duperon Baby) enslaved 18 known Indigenous, Black and biracial persons.
 The extended family – parents, aunts/uncles, cousins – of François Baby’s mother (Suzanne Réaume Baby) also enslaved numerous Indigenous and Black
persons. This property (on which you are standing) was originally owned by the Réaume family.
 François’ brother James purchased a 12-year old Black boy named Frank in an estate auction in October 1793 in Belle Fontaine (now part of Dearborn
and Detroit, Michigan) and likely brought him to Sandwich (now part of Windsor). Frank was enslaved by the late Phillip Jonciere. James purchased Frank
for the sum of £273 New York Currency, $532.50, one year after being appointed to the Executive Council of Upper Canada.
 François himself (who built this house in 1812 on this property) enslaved at least two or three persons.
• Thérèse (biracial) who was originally enslaved by Louis Viviat, and was sold in 1785, along with her son, Léon, aged 2.5, and possibly her daughter
Rosalie, as part of an estate sale to Jacques Duperon Baby. Jacques bequeathed all three to his son, François. François then sold them to his brother
James Baby. Thérèse remained in service to James Baby until her death in 1826 in York (Toronto), aged 65. She was a domestic servant and cook.
• Léon (biracial), son of Thérese. See Thérèse’s story above. No further information is available about Léon.
• Rose Lontin, also called Rosalie, (biracial), daughter of Thérese. See Thérèse’s story above. Rose remained in service to the family as a domestic
servant and cook for James Baby, his daughter Eliza Anne Baby Casgrain, and also Archange Baby (James and François Baby’s sister). According to
family history, in 1851, she was living in Amherstburg, along with another formerly-enslaved person, the widow Catherine Giroux (an Indigenous
woman), in a house kept for them, living on a life annuity initiated by Archange Baby and later continued by Eliza Ann Baby Casgrain. Rose was
apparently a great cook, excelling in making pastries and candy.
 The Journals of Francis Parkman mention a visit in 1845 to François Baby’s house in which he notes that a little Black girl and a biracial person “were
sunning themselves among the hens and hogs in the back yard.” It is unclear exactly who these people are, but perhaps they are offspring of/or
previously enslaved people.
 Listed in the 1851 Census of Canada, in the household of François Baby, there are two Black (Roman Catholic) servants listed; Archange, aged 40 and
Catherine aged 14. Perhaps they are offspring of/or previously enslaved people.

Happy Mothers Day tribute to a talented local artist

Happy Mother's Day 🌞🌻🧡

I found the book below on a page that highlights authors whose debut novel was published after they were 35 years old. Another interesting one is called "Fast Into the Night".....a woman her dog's and their journey North on the Iditarod trail by Debbie Clark Moderow.

The Defender by Ethan Michaeli Giving voice to the voiceless, the Chicago Defender condemned Jim Crow, catalyzed the Great Migration, and focused the electoral power of black America. Robert S. Abbott founded The Defender in 190…

I grew up with my family having 3rd (and 4th) generation cottages/homes on Harsen's Island starting well over 100 years ago. My brother raised his kids there and my parents chose it as their place of retirement. There have been many changes but it is fun researching the history going back to the first Europeans like John Askin and Jacob Harsens but also the original Indigenous inhabitants.

I am so glad this poignant history (see below) and the ultimate profoundness of the story did not get lost to us in modern times. The power of the written word is sometimes a miracle to behold. 150 years later it is being re-visited even tho the folks writing their incredible story did not learn to write until well into their adulthood! The lengths they had to go to hide the fact they could not write is a story in itself. Thank you to genealogists and historians everywhere for the work you do in sharing our common and not so common histories.

This is an exciting project which researchers and amateur history sleuths like me welcome. I am grateful that folks are taking time to make this information available!

Student project creates accessible database of Canada's first newspapers Researchers at the University of Toronto are providing valuable insight into Canadian history by creating an accessible, free database of the nation’s first newspapers.

My mother was born 102 years ago today. She passed away when my youngest child was a toddler. By then I had moved 200 miles away from home to wilds of Ontario Canada. I missed her more as my children got older and I realized that when she was alive, I had never really given her the appreciation and respect she deserved. When my husband and I were struggling entrepreneurs and new parents on the Bruce Peninsula, I made a bargain with my sawmill operator husband to allow me a weekly call to mom and he could buy his weekly case of beer. The cost was the same back then. For mom to call me, she needed to go through at least three operators to reach Gladys Blake in the Taylor Telephone office in Lion's Head. Gladys usually knew if I was home or perhaps attending a Limberlost Unity Club meeting at Margaret Ashcrofts house. Or I might possibly be at Betty Lancaster's house who was my nearest neighbour, which was 4.5 miles away by road. There were 11 households on our party line and 6 of us could be on the phone at once. Private conversations were not an option.
Now I have the privilege of conversing with my daughter and her toddlers multiple times a day and marvel at them on Facetime. How times have changed but some things stay the same.
The photo with the 4 adults is of my mom and her best friend Velma Smith who is still alive and lives in a nursing home near her only daughter Barbara in Boynton Beach, Florida. The other photo is of mom and dad with their grandsons Devin and Jason in 1971. I am sure she was proud of her three children who are myself, my brother Lew and sister Judy.

You Tube Video detailing a 1886 unsolved double murder that involved John Wright and Carol Braley's Great Grandmother. The story was featured in National Newspapers across the country. The Montreal paper told the story "blow by blow" and detailed things like splattered brains!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWV8Ndtijyo

The Keppel Tragedy & The Stranger's Grave In 1886 a grisly murder happened on Lot 4, Concession 20 in Keppel Township. In this episode we learn about the murder, investigation, and the trail that fo...

My recent ancestry searches have taken me to my husband John Wright and his family tree. His mother Bessie Plant never knew who her mother's biological mother was. I have now discovered (and confirmed with DNA with the help of an expert researcher) that John 's ancestor died in childbirth in Wiarton and his grandmother was raised by the MacDonalds in Stokes Bay. What is also fascinating is that the object of my search turns out to be at the centre of a multiple murder that was apparently committed over a love triangle involving her. Ellen McClary great grand mother to John Wright and Carol Braley lived in the Wiarton area and was 18 when she got involved with a married man twice her age. He and a hired man were murdered in a gruesome attack and the story made national news in 1886. Recently a YouTube video was produced recalling the unsolved murder. The young temptress.... Great Grandma Ellen later married Thomas Small, had at least one son and then died in childbirth. This was followed by grandma Annie Small becoming Annie Small MacDonald when she was adopted by the Lindsay Township family. Annie married John Plant (who was twice her age) in Lion's Head. I have posted John Plants' obituary from 1955. Not every one is interested in this kind of history but for those of us who are, it's like a nectar for the bees.

I am proud to be living in the city that is hosting North America's longest running Emancipation Day Ceremony. Harrison Park is a great place to visit. The Inn has great food too. I first visited the park from Michigan in 1966 and was wowed even then. Best Wishes to all those participating everywhere in Emancipation celebrations.

Folks who are supposed to be experts handling fire arms are still vulnerable to accidents. Jacob Harsen's was a gunsmith in 1700's Michigan and lived on the Island that bore his name. In 1789 his granddaughter, Mary Graveraet lost an arm caused by an accidental gunshot wound. Jacob's son Barnadus and daughter Sarah were killed in 1800 in a gun powder explosion which also destroyed their home. Another son James was shot in the eye in 1810 and died 6 months later. The house that was destroyed in 1800 was rebuilt on the original foundation and remained in the Harsen family until 1939.
Thank you to the Algonac Clay Historical Society for this information.

Motherhood in a straight line. I was born in 1949. My mother Marion (at bottom in white dress) was born in 1920. Her mother Marguerite was born in 1904. Her mother Louise Cornelius aka Nellie was born in 1884. Her mother Julia was born in 1862.

On This Day: Pike’s Last Peak On this day in 1813, renowned explorer, cartographer and soldier Zebulon Pike is killed in the Battle of York (Toronto), the capital of…

Such a repository of history!

Parks Canada rep tours Assumption Church to consider historic site designation A historian with Parks Canada concluded a two-day visit in Windsor on Tuesday as part of the determination whether to declare Assumption Church and nearby Assumption Park a national historic site.