History Meme #20

 

History Meme #19

 

History Meme # 18

 

History Meme #17

 

Brief History of Seed Pearls

Written by volunteer, Krisinda Boyce

From the last quarter of the 18th century up to the first quarter of the 19th century (Georgian Era) was a great demand for seed pearls for adornment.

Seed pearls came from China and India. They were sold in clusters on strings. Much like purchasing beads today. Seed pearls are also known as "cold water pearls," because they are found in fresh water and salt water oysters.

Seed pearls are very tiny roughly 2mm in diameter and smaller, making them very challenging to work with. Jewelers needed great skill and patience to work with seed pearls, selecting only the pieces to work with.

The base for seed pearl jewelry used is mother of pearl shell. The designer would first create a paper or cardboard template; then a plate is cut from mother of pearl shell by hand using the template pattern. Holes would be drilled manually and very carefully into the mother of pearl base.

Depending on the size of the seed pearl hole, white silk thread would be used. The smaller the seed pearl hole a single strand of white horse hair would be used. Jewelers preferred the hair cut from a live horse for it's strength. Horse hair was sold in 8 to 14 inch lengths in a bundle. Up to 1 ounce would be used. Not all horse hair strands were used. Dry and brittle pieces were avoided. Jewelers had very high standards to produce perfect quality pieces of jewelry.

Seed pearls were used for adornment on clothing, jewelry, books, jewelry boxes and hand beaded purses.  The jewelry designers were individuals working from their homes creating and designing fabulous works of art. They were nicknamed the "cottage industry."  

So far to my knowledge there are no individually signed or stamped pieces of seed pearl jewelry. My guess is the mother of pearl shell base was too fragile.  The jewelry would be sold through other companies.  Tiffany's being one company who prided themselves on top quality products. Just think how highly skilled those individual jewelers were. Making every piece by hand carefully and weaving one pearl at a time. Like us modern beaders counting one seed bead at a time.

References you can check out for more detail for pictures and videos.

Pinterest.com type in "seed pearl jewelry" 

Youtube.com search for a video "seed pearl jewels for sale 19th C. You will see the amazing quality in detail and up close.

Google search type in "Baroda Pearl Carpet," to read up on the history. It was made with 1 1/2 million seed pearls, adorned with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. Not the kind of carpet to be walked on. It's current home is in a Qatar museum. They purchased the Baroda carpet for 5 1/2 million dollars back in 2009. It is a stunning piec

e of art work. Yes the carpet was made one bead and jewel at a time.

Written by volunteer, Krisinda Boyce

Remembrance Day | John Harold Becker

Scroll down for a January, 2023 Update!

Today we at the Backus-Page House Museum would like to take some time to honor those who served in the line of duty in order to keep us safe. While we would like to share the stories of the many heroes of Elgin County, today’s post will be specifically about West Lorne native John Harold Becker.

We are fortunate enough to have a well documented account of Becker’s time serving in the 75^th Canadian infantry battalion, as he later compiled his story into one cohesive memoir in 1930, which was later published in 2001 under the name “Silhouettes of the Great War”.

John Harold Becker was born in West Lorne, Ontario, Canada on November 2, 1894. Before the Great War broke out, Becker spent his days going to school in Dutton and eventually working as a clerk-stenographer for the trainmaster in St. Thomas.

Like many Canadians, John Becker was swept up in the strange air of excitement that came with the outbreak of the Great War. After the Boer war, many believed that military service would be a way to experience adventure and that the Great War would be quickly resolved.

Leaving the comfort of his previous life to serve his country in 1915, John Harold Becker became a Sergeant in the reserves, and later joined Elgin County’s own 91^st Overseas Battalion, which trained in London England.

Though he was recognized as an officer while serving in the reserves, in 1917 Becker was stationed in France, where his title was not recognized, instead serving as a private.

Soon after, John participated in a trench raid, an encounter that wiped out half of his battalion, and was so devastating for both sides that a temporary ceasefire followed in order to allow time for the wounded to be recovered.

Over the next six months, Becker experienced the worst of trench warfare, the awful conditions, the loss of friends, and even saw one soldier, who he refers to only as “X” commit war crimes. Though in an incredibly stressful situation, Becker continued to fight for his country, and earned the rank of Corporal by 1918.

In August of 1918 during the Battle of Amiens, Becker was wounded in the left shoulder and was sent back to England to recover.

Over the course of the Great War, brave soldiers like John Harold Becker suffered for the protection of their homes. Whether they sacrificed their wellbeing or their lives, Canadian soldiers deserve to be remembered always, but especially today.

For those interested in learning about John Harold Becker’s story in more detail, copies of “Silhouettes of the Great War”, are available at the Backus-Page House Museum’s gift shop.

 January, 2023 Notes via email from Rev Dr Allan Miller, CD     

Please check on this man.  This site Remembrance Day – John Harold Becker – Backus Page House Museum

Says he was qualified as an Officer?  Where did you get that?  From the Militia Quarterly?  His service record indicates he was a Provisional Sergeant and the November 24, 1915 Journal has him listed as completing the non-commissioned officer course.  The December record in his file says he reverted to Private.  He missed training in January and February 1916.

Looking at the 25^th Regiment listing of officers July 1, 1915 there is no John Harold Becker listed.  In his attestation he said he had a year with the 25^th. Do the finger count.   

Please update your story. Correct it. It demonstrates lack of investigation.  The 1930 Biography seems to boosterism for himself.

On BECKER.  He trained in LONDON ONTARIO with the 70th and back to St Thomas to be briefly a Sergeant with the 91st!  If you look at the Embarkation Roll for the 91^st  you will see that he went over on the SS OLYMPIC as a Sergeant.  The Battalion Orderly Room was operated by Sgt Wright.

I have seen many, many inaccuracies in the pers files of the men of the 91st.  The pay card for Becker is an example where the promotion and reversion dates do not make sense with date given.  A Private cannot revert back to Private.  He was a Sgt and reverted back to Private.  He was a private with the 70^th and promoted to Sgt but when transferred to the 91^st he reverted to Private.  Then with the 91^st back to Sgt.  Why? Two different commanded officers.  Rank was based on establishment level.  Off to the 75^th and he was back to Private.  Later Lance Corporal and still later Corporal. 

With due regard for the Museum,

 Rev Dr Allan Miller, CD       

History Meme #16

 

Swiss Training at the Museum

 A group of WWI Swiss Army reenactors trained in the fields behind BPHM today. While Switzerland remained neutral during the Great War, that didn't stop these reenactors from bringing their A game!

History Meme #15

 

History Meme #14

 

Have a Hand In the Tyrconnell Heritage Society Board of Directors

Tyrconnell Heritage Society, operators of Backus-Page House Museum, are seeking volunteers to serve on the Board of Directors for 3 year, 2 year and 1 year terms commencing March 3, 2021. 

Please read the role of a Board Director and the role of the Cultural Manager below so you understand in advance how we operate.  The board meets the third Wednesday of each month.

Interested individuals are required to be minimum of 18 years of age; pay your annual Tyrconnell Heritage Society membership for 2021; complete and submit a Recruitment Form to the nominating committee; and encouraged to attend the Annual General Meeting on March 3, 2021, 7pm at Backus-Page House Museum or virtually if required by public health guidelines.

Documents are available by emailing info@backuspagehouse.ca or by calling 519-762-3072.  

The Board of Directors will post the approved candidacy list online, 40 days prior to the Annual General Meeting.  

Submission deadline to be considered for nomination and election is December 31, 2020.

Attn: Nominating Committee

Tyrconnell Heritage Society

Box 26, 29424 Lakeview Line

Wallacetown, ON, N0L 2M0

The Nomination Committee consists of Brian Elliott (West Elgin Genealogical & Historical Committee and current Board Member), Marcus Frazer (current Board Member), Angela Bobier (staff representative) and Lin McCann (current society member).

We are currently seeking individuals with carpentry skills, agricultural knowledge, fundraising, demonstrable heritage skills, exhibit building, document digitization, writing, museum work, and environment or nature interests.

The Distinction Between the Roles of the Board and Cultural Manager Is Part of Good Governance

The broad explanation of duties is that the board and its President are largely responsible for oversight, risk management and strategic planning.

The Cultural Manager and staff are largely responsible for implementing the board’s strategic plan and managing the daily activities of the organization.

How Does the Role of the Board Differ From That of the Cultural Manager?

It’s important to remember that the board is responsible for all OVERSIGHT, governance activities, including overseeing legal issues, financial issues (budgets), and issues related to people (staff and volunteers) and programs.

A board of directors has many legal and fiduciary responsibilities. They must know and understand all applicable provincial, federal and local laws that pertain to the organization. The board also provides legal oversight in all areas and relays pertinent legal information to the Cultural Manager and staff as needed.

The board makes sure that the operations of the organization stay aligned with the mission, vision and values of the organization. This is important for organizations that have tax-exempt status because they must continue to operate under the same purpose for which the government granted them non profit status.

What Are the Duties and Responsibilities of the Cultural Manager?

The President typically serves as the liaison between the board and management. The Cultural Manager attends board meetings to stay in the loop of board business.  The Cultural Manager keeps the board informed about what the staff and volunteers are doing. It’s important for the Cultural Manager to provide the board with feedback on progress toward achieving goals for the strategic plan and any budget needed to fulfill the expected duties.

The Cultural Manager accepts direct responsibility for executing the organization’s policies, programs and initiatives.   Cultural Managers manage all of the day-to-day responsibilities of the organization, including managing staff and volunteers, as they work toward fulfilling the organization’s charitable purpose.  Another important duty of the Cultural Manager is to serve as the face and public spokesperson for the organization.

History Meme #13

 

Fall Meme

 

Ontario Agriculture Week: 1900s Primary Source

 Wow, can you believe Ontario Agriculture Week is almost over already? Nothing like a couple of blog posts to make the time fly by. Now that we have finished our summary of farming in southwestern Ontario during the 1800s, writing about farming in Ontario gets a lot more personal. From 1900 onwards, we can find a lot of written accounts of family histories, which are a lot more interesting than technical farm jargon. To show just a small example of the kinds of records that exist from the early-mid 1900s, we wanted to show our readers some scans of a book the Bobier family was kind enough to let us use from that period.

Speaks for itself, doesn’t it? Maybe your family might have a similar account book, or perhaps a photo from a hundred years ago. Whatever the case, I hope you end up doing some research on your own family’s agricultural history, and I hope you have enjoyed our blog posts for the week! I’ve been Stephen from the Backus-Page House Museum, take care!

Ontario Agriculture Week: Wheat Mining

 Hey again history buffs, I’m Stephen here with the Backus-Page house museum, and today I wanted to take a brief detour from our chronological dive into farming in the Talbot Settlement to talk about a farming practice called “wheat mining”. 

I came across wheat mining in my research while writing the second blog post and thought a single sentence just would not do it justice. 

Though our series as a whole focuses on the Talbot Settlement, I would like to clarify that I have not found any concrete evidence that any Talbot settlers were wheat miners. This post is not pointing fingers at any farmers in particular, it is instead only to highlight one of many potential dangers facing farmers in Ontario. 

So, what is wheat mining? Well, as you might already know, managing the nutrients in soil by cycling out different kinds of crops was and is essential to maintaining a farm over a long-term period of time. For example, buckwheat was grown by settlers to prepare the soil for future wheat crops, as wheat yields would be greater after that particular plant was grown. 

Wheat mining completely ignores this aspect of farming, planting exclusively wheat for many years in a row. A farmer would plant wheat consecutively until the soil was exhausted, reaping the short-term benefits of a large wheat yield at the expense of long-term longevity.  

At first glance, wheat mining seems pretty standard, just a risky practice with the potential to capitalize off of rapidly fluctuating wheat prices. But a particularly opportunistic farmer could reap the rewards without the risk if they were willing to do it at someone else’s expense. 

To an untrained farmer, like many who would have been given land in Ontario, a field that had been used to wheat mined would be indistinguishable from regular farmland. Because of this, a farmer could wheat mine until their soil was exhausted, then sell off their land to an unsuspecting settler and repeat the process. 

Of course, wheat mining was looked down upon in the farming community, since it was a fairly low effort practice and usually came at someone else’s expense. In the 19th century, many British farmers looking for work would have moved to Ontario, especially during the northern expansion that required extra workers. 

 

Kind of sneaky eh? Tomorrow will be our last stretch of time leading into the 20th century, I just wanted to give one last example to illustrate how many difficulties farmers had to manage if they wanted to be successful in 19th century Ontario.  

References 

Guillet, Edwin C. The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman: Volume Two. University of Toronto Press, 1963. 

Jones, Robert Leslie. History of agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880. University of Toronto Press, 1946. 

 

Ontario Agriculture Week: The Late 1800s

 Welcome back to our daily Agriculture Week blog post! Have you been wondering how our hardworking Talbot Settlers would manage to pull through? Well don’t worry, your good friend Stephen is here from the Backus-Page House Museum to tell you about farming from the 1850s-1880s. 

The industrial revolution sweeping across the continent had a significant impact on the settlers living in rural areas such as the Talbot Settlement. Before the 1850s, the only farming machines most Canadians had access to were discarded or outdated American reapers such as the McCormick reaper mass produced in the late 1840s.  

Elgin County’s close proximity to the American border gave farmers early exposure to the rapid advancement of farm equipment in the United States. By the 1870s and 80s, farmers had specialized tools to help them overcome the unique challenges outlined in the first blog post of this series. 

 

The “stumping machines” of the 1880s offered a much easier alternative to removing tree stumps than waiting for the roots to decompose then digging them up. Some settlers specialized in going from farm to farm and uprooting tree stumps, a necessary service in the densely forested southern Ontario.  

A variety of ploughs were developed, each with their own specialty, and every southern Ontario farmer would have several. Mechanized seeders and cultivators appeared in the 1870s, further streamlining the farming process. 

The spread of technology to rural communities can in part be accredited to the provincial government’s subsidizing of county agricultural societies in 1851. Soon every county in Ontario had their own society which would host discussions about farmers’ experience with their new farm equipment.  

Coming off of the economic depression in 1850, southern Ontario developed an extreme fixation with agricultural fairs. Across the province, competitions took place comparing crops, clothes, and livestock among others. Being a farmer in Elgin county (which separated from Middlesex county in 1851) would have been more exciting in this time period than before. Sure, most workdays were filled with back breaking labor, but with the upcoming events and emerging technology, there was at least a little more to look forward to. 

The enthusiasm for fairs sweeping southern Ontario is best exemplified by the plough races that would be held between farms (or in some cases, even counties). Two teams of farmers would each get an ox and plough, then try to plough a portion of land before the other team.  

Gradually from the 1850s to the end of the 19th century, agricultural fairs slowly grew larger in spectacle, introducing pipe organ music and spectator’s sports such as “steeple chasing”, otherwise known as horse racing, which was seen as a more gentlemanly sport to bet on than plough racing. 

Quite frankly I’m a little sad plough races aren’t in style anymore, but one thing I am glad is not as prominent anymore is the practice of wheat mining, which we’ll talk about next week. 

References 

Guillet, Edwin C. The Pioneer Farmer and Backwoodsman: Volume Two. University of Toronto Press, 1963. 

Jones, Robert Leslie. History of agriculture in Ontario 1613-1880. University of Toronto Press, 1946.