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People and organizations
Wawanosh, Sands, Mern Family
Family · 1781 - 1966

The Wawanosh family was a prominent family of the Chippewas of Sarnia, Kettle Point and Stoney reserves (now known as the Aamjiwnaang First Nation) with several of its members serving as hereditary chiefs in the 19th century and one member, William Wawanosh, serving as the first elected chief.
Joshua Wawanosh (ca. 1781-1871) served as Chief from 1827 - 1844, 1848 - 1853 and 1868 - 1870. In 1827, he and several other Chiefs signed Treaty 29. He converted to Christianity when the Methodist missionary Rev. James Evans visited the district. Joshua Wawanosh and his wife Eliza had one daughter named Elizabeth and four sons - David, Joseph, Thomas and William - all of whom succeeded Joshua as chiefs. David, Joseph and Thomas all died of tuberculosis and in the cases of Joseph and Thomas, this meant their time as Chief was short lived.
David Wawanosh (d. 1867), Joshua's eldest son, served as the chief from 1853 until 1867. He and his wife Elizabeth had six children - Julia, Francis, Agnes, Florence, Minnie and David D. After David died of tuberculosis, his father again took on the role of chief.
William Wawanosh (ca. 1845-1907) was appointed Indian Interpreter in 1870 and served as chief from 1874-1877 and again in 1899-1901. He married Mary Helen Waldron, the daughter of a missionary and they had three children - Charles (known as Chas for short), Augusta and Edward. William changed his name from Wawanosh to Wells and this is the name that he passed down to his children. His son Charles became a clergyman and founded the Wells Academy in London, Ontario.
Agnes Effie Sands Mern (1875-1966) was the only daughter of Julia Wawanosh Sands, (daughter of David Wawanosh) and Daniel Sands. She received musical and vocal training from Sarnia teachers at Our Lady of Mercy Vincent in Port Huron, Michigan; from Profs William A. Harvey and George D. MacComb in Detroit and Prof A. Straub of the Detroit Opera House. She wrote song lyrics, poetry and stories and organized and participated in a variety of cultural events, including concerts of music by well know First Nations musicians including Oskenonton and David Russell Hill and His Onondaga Indian Concert Band. Along with the Indian Confederation of America, Agnes assembled a group of Native Americans to march in the Brooklyn Centennial parade. Throughout her life, Agnes was an active member of the church community, singing in the choir and teaching at the Devine St. Methodist Sunday School. She and her mother also ran a dress making business.
In 1933, Agnes married John Phillips Mern, a retired sailor from the US Navy. John had a son from a previous marriage but the couple did not have any children of their own. They lived in Marcy, New York as well as in the Wawanosh family homestead in Sarnia and travelled throughout Ontario and New York State. From 1936 to 1937 they briefly ran a convenience store in Sarnia called the Wawanosh Post where they sold gasoline and groceries. Agnes Sands Mern died in 1966 in Sarnia.
For additional information about the family, please consult the Wawanosh family tree, which is attached as an appendix

Vidal Family
Family · 1789-1948

The Vidal family descends from Spanish and French origins. The family settled in London England in 1685. Emeric Vidal, a British Royal Navy Captain, lived from 1751-1811 and resided in Bracknell, Berkshire England for the entirety of his life. He married in 1783 to Jane Essex and they had 4 children together named Emma Vidal (1783-1844), Captain Richard Emeric Vidal (1789-1854), Emeric Essex Vidal (1791-1861) and Vice-Admiral Alexander Thomas Emeric Vidal (1792-1863). Like their father, all three brothers entered the Royal Navy and became officers in active service. Captain Richard Emeric Vidal was a Naval Officer who voyaged around the world and kept detailed and thorough diaries throughout his years at sea. After retiring from the navy in the 1830’s, he emigrated from Bracknell, England to Sarnia, Ontario (then called ‘Les Chutes’ or ‘The Rapids’) in 1834. With him he brought his wife, Charlotte Penrose Mitton (1789-1873) and four children, including son Alexander Vidal (1819-1906). However, there was a fifth child who died before the family immigrated. They had one more child after moving to Canada. Captain Richard Emeric Vidal was among the first pioneers of Sarnia and was active in changing the name of the town from The Rapids to Port Sarnia. Alexander Vidal was 15 when he moved to Sarnia with his father Richard Emeric Vidal and family. He went on to be an important figurehead in the Sarnia community, having experience being a surveyor, a banker, and a politician. Alexander Vidal eventually became a conservative member of the Senate of Canada for the Sarnia division from 1873-1906. He married Catherine Wright (daughter of Captain William Wright) and they had seven children together. One of those was Charlotte Vidal Nisbet (1855-1948), or ‘Chattie’ as her friends and relatives often called her, who would become a local Sarnia historian and author. Her husband, Thomas Nisbet was the originator of the Boy’s Brigade in Sarnia. Charlotte Nisbet provided weekly contributions to "The Sarnia Canadian Observer" starting in 1935. Her columns were based on daily happenings for the corresponding days one hundred years before which she extracted from her grandfather’s and other family member’s diaries and letters.