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Archival description
Fonds · 1922-2009

The fonds consists of various records created, collected and maintained by the Order of the Eastern Star, Flower City Chapter No. 91 (St. Thomas, Ont.) 1919-2004.
The fonds is arranged into the following series:

  1. Membership and attendance, 1922-2009
  2. By-laws, 1926-2009
  3. D.L. Club series, 1939-1979
  4. Financial records, 1948-2009
  5. Minutes series, 1968-2009
Order of the Eastern Star, Flower City Chapter No. 91 (St. Thomas, Ont.)
Ruby Copeman fonds
Fonds · ca. 1865-1971

Fonds consists of two photograph albums and three photographs once belonging to Ruby Coleman. She is pictured in a few of the photographs. The remainder of the photographs are unidentified, but are likely members of the Copeman family. Many of the photographs were taken by early St. Thomas and Aylmer photographers. Also included is a 1971 newspaper clipping. Fonds is divided into the following series:
-Photographs, ca. 1865-1910.
-General History, 1971.

Copeman, Ruby
Fonds

Fonds consists of administrative, public outreach, field notes and memorabilia records and photographs related to the activities and events of the St. Thomas Field Naturalist Club and its predecessor, the Elgin Nature Club. Included are: minutes, annual reports, programmes, newsletters, field observation notes, bird censuses, scrapbooks and photographs. Fonds is comprised of the following series:
-Publications, 1939-2004
-Minutes, 1941-1992
-Events, 1941-2000
-Correspondence, 1946-2004
-Newspaper clippings, 1950-2010
-Membership and Attendance, 1952-ca.2000
-Annual Reports, 1953-2009
-Constitution and By-laws, 1956-1993
-Treasurer's, 1958-1999
-Hawk Cliff Wildlife Area, 1968-2003
-Accessions, 1980-ca. 2000

Steve Peters Papers
Fonds · 1988-2011

Fonds consists of records created, collected and maintained by Steve Peters in his role as Alderman and Mayor of the City of St. Thomas, Ontario, 1988-1999; as MPP, Elgin-Middlesex-London, 1999-2011; as Ontario Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, 2003-2005; as Ontario Minister of Labour, 2005-2007; and as Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, 2007-2011.
Fonds comprises the following series:
Alderman/Mayor series
MPP/Minister/Speaker series

Peters, Steve
Fonds · 1916-1917

Fonds consists of correspondence between Private William Stafford and Helena Robertson while William was serving overseas in England, France and Belgium during the First World War. During the time of their correspondence, Helena was living in Lambeth, Ontario.
During the dark days of the First World War, France found itself host to many Belgian refugee women and children while war ravaged their homeland. Anxious to help their men-folk in their battle for freedom, the women, among other things, made beautiful hand embroidered cards to sell to the Allied soldiers. These have since become some of the most desirable nostalgia available to the postcard world. Some of these cards have found their way to the Elgin County Museum and with them come a love story. The cards had been sent from the battlefields of France and Belgium by Gunner Will Stafford to Helena Robertson of Lambeth. They are beautiful cards with touching messages – ‘A kiss from France’ or ‘With loving wishes’ and ‘I don’t forget you’. Both Will and Helena sent other cards of a more common type. Some were in a numbered series, each carrying a verse from a well known poem or hymn. Thus the receiver would know if all the mail was reaching its destination. In this case, as indicated by the messages, they also acted as tracers for the letters which interspersed the cards. It was later learned that Will came home in good health, married Helena and together they had a daughter, Elsie and a son, Arnold. J. Kirby

Stafford, William
Fonds · 1872-1962

Fonds consists of various records created and maintained by the Michigan Central Railway. Fonds includes:
•Record of locomotives through St. Thomas shops for classified and unclassified repairs, with history of individual rail motor cars, 1936-1959 (R6 S1 Sh3 B7)
•Locomotives repair/ maintenance logbook, with index, 1902-1936 (also contains a colour depiction of a standard type Grant locomotive, 1873 and a certificate dated November 13, 1962 attesting that R.G. Ray is a life member of Charity Lodge No. 5, B. of L.F. and E. (Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen) (R6 S1 Sh3 B7)
•Index of railway engines acquired and disposed of, 1880-1907 (R6 S1 Sh3 B7)
•In volume with running head "Record of Traveling Auditor's Reports and Bond of Agent", records of the certification/ qualification, discipline and dismissal etc. for Michigan Central Railway engineers and firemen, 1872-1909. Not indexed. (R6 S1 Sh1 B3)
•Records of the certification/ qualification, discipline and dismissal etc. for Michigan Central Railway engineers and firemen, 1872-1931. Indexed. (R6 S1 Sh1 B3)
•Record of enginemen, 1903-1930. Not indexed. (R6 S1 Sh3 B3)

Michigan Central Railroad Company
Fonds · 1960-2006

Fonds consists of the records created and/or maintained by the Quota Club of St. Thomas. Records are divided into the following series:
-Membership and attendance, 1960-2003.
-Financial record, 1996-2006.
-Minutes, February 10, 1997-November 13, 2000.
-Correspondence, ca. 1998-2001.

Quota Club of St. Thomas
Fonds · 1966-1968

In September of 1966 several former students and teachers held a meeting to discuss plans for a grand reunion of all students and teachers to be held in 1967 before the building was demolished. Early in 1967, a commemorative coin was commissioned to celebrate the event as well as raise additional funds for the reunion. The reunion was held on August 4-7, 1967.
The fonds consists of photographs and correspondence, publicity materials, a commemorative coin and its casting, and a rubber stamp.
The fonds is organized into the following series:

  1. Photographs and correspondence, 1966-1968
  2. Publicity, 1967
    This fonds would be of interest to researchers studying the architecture of old schools, the actual reunion of St. Thomas Collegiate Institute in 1967, and the lives of students and former teachers that were associated with this school. The pictures provide a pictorial of what times were like for the school over the years and also the attendees at the reunion.
St. Thomas Collegiate Institute (St. Thomas, Ont.)
Fonds · 1947-2001

The City of St. Thomas Engineering Department fonds consists primarily of photographs, both black and white and in colour, documenting structural defects in sidewalks and sewers, repairs, road widenings and other projects, alongside general documentation of roads, sewers, and buildings in St. Thomas, primarily from the 1940s through the 1970s.

This fonds consists of three series:

  1. Events: Documentation, including reports, clippings, and photographs, surrounding large or notable events in which the City Engineer or Engineering Department was involved.
  2. Photographs: Photographs documenting paving issues, sewer or maintenance work, or other projects done by City Engineering crew, arranged alphabetically by street name. Also includes a handful of miscellaneous images, filed in original order, documenting places, events, or items, such as dog pounds or storm damage.
  3. Projects: Photographs, slides, and textual documents relating to more recent projects, from the 1970s up until 1998, often documenting the different stages of a large-scale project.
City of St. Thomas Engineering Department
Fonds · January 14, 1897-August 22, 1914

This fonds consists of records created or maintained by the Crothers and Price, Barristers, law firm of St. Thomas. Fonds has been divided into the following series:
-Cash Books series, January 14, 1897-July 30, 1914.
-Miscellaneous financial records series, 1899-1913.
-Day Book series, October 19, 1908- August 22, 1914.
-Receipts and Disbursements ledger series, 1909-1914.

Crothers & Price, Barristers
Fonds · January 18, 1940-June 19, 2008

This fonds consists of records created by the Freemasons St. David's Lodge No. 302, St. Thomas. The records have been divided into the following series:
-Minutes series, January 18, 1940-June 19, 2008.
-Membership and Attendance series, February 15, 1951- May 15, 2008.
-General History series, September 1998.

Freemasons St. David's Lodge No. 302 (St. Thomas)
Garnet Trevithick fonds
Fonds · 1919-1993

This fonds comprises records created and/or maintained by Garnet Trevithick during his time as teacher and principal at St. Thomas Collegiate Institute, and during his personal life. Fonds is divided into the following series:
-Personal records series, 1919-1993.
-Photographs series, ca. 1932-1989.
-General History series, 1965-1988.
-Publications series, 1991.

Trevithick, Garnet
Fonds · 1931-2004

Records created and/or maintained by the Kiwanis Club of St. Thomas. Records have been divided into the following series:

  1. Special Events, 1931-2000
  2. Historical records, 1940-1990
  3. By-laws, 1941-2001
  4. Financial records, 1941-2004
  5. Reports, 1944-2003
  6. General correspondence, 1947-2001
  7. Newsletters, 1948-2004
  8. Membership records, 1949-2009.
  9. Minutes, 1952-2004
  10. Clubs, 1962-1966
  11. Service Projects, 1970-2001
Kiwanis Club of St. Thomas
Larry Broadbent fonds
Fonds · 1968-1986

Colour slides, ca. 1968-ca. 1986, showing Norfolk & Western, Canada Southern, Chesapeake & Ohio, and miscellaneous other railway cars, infrastructure and staff, most from St. Thomas and area, along with jpg/tiff format image files digitized from the original slides on a series of dvds.
Slides relate to the following subjects (from donor-supplied image folder labels):
Caso Canadian Assigned Locomotives
Caso Car Dept Employees
Caso CNCP Era
Caso Local Trains
Caso Loco Shop Detroit Switchers
Caso Loco Shop Employees
Caso Misc Employees
Caso Passenger [Trains]
Caso Run Though Trains
Caso St Thomas Loco Shop
Caso Train Trips
Caso Waycars and Misc
Caso Wrecks
Caso Trackage
[Chessie] Derailments
NW Wreck Simcoe [June 1975]
CO/CHESSIE: St. Thomas area; CASO: early years
CO/CHESSIE: St. Thomas area; CASO: later years
NORFOLK & WESTERN RR: St. Thomas area

Broadbent, Larry
William Murch fonds
Fonds · [ca. 1860-1890]

Fonds contains letters, notes and other documents collected by William Murch in his personal life and career as a bookseller and is arranged into the following series:
-Personal Records series
-Business Records series
-Publications series

Murch, William
Collection

This collection consists of sample photographs taken from local studios. Many are unidentified, but are being maintained as representative of the photographers' work. Many are stamped with addresses and/or logo insignia.

Fonds · 1890-1912

This fonds consists of financial records maintained by the W.L. Coulter, Insurance and Real Estate business, which was located in St. Thomas.

The records are primarily invoices and receipts from St. Thomas businesses. The fonds is organized alphabetically by the first letter of the name of the business.

Included in the first file is a biographical sketch and photograph of W.R. Coulter, photocopied from the publication "St. Thomas and Its Men of Affairs," 1914.

Coulter, William R.
George Melvin Kennedy fonds
Fonds · [ca. 1945-1982]

Black and white negatives and prints of various Elgin County and St. Thomas scenes, including the Elgin County Courthouse, Old English Church, Cadet parades, Elgin County bridges, roads, and swimming holes.

Kennedy, George Melvin
Shirley Ewanick Collection
Collection · [ca. 1990s]

Collection contains material collected, created or maintained by Shirley Ewanick, mostly regarding the history of cemeteries in Elgin County. Also contains research material relating to the history of street names in St. Thomas.

Ewanick, Shirley
Ken Verrell Collection
Collection · [ca. 1851-2010]

Collection contains several thousand items, including correspondence, photographs, personnel records, financial records, subscription books, lease agreements, maps, plans and drawings from a number of railway companies that operated in Elgin County. This includes the Michigan Central Railroad, the London & Port Stanley Railway, the Pere Marquette Railway Company, the Grand Trunk Railway, the Wabash Railroad Company, Canada Southern, the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway Company, the Canadian National Railways, the Canadian Pacific Railway, and the Consolidated Rail Company (Conrail), as well as many of their subsidiary companies. There is a strong emphasis on the Michigan Central Railroad and the London and Port Stanley Railway.

The collection provides insight into the day-to-day interactions between local businesses, residents and the railway companies that were operating in Elgin County and increases our understanding of the county’s economic development over time. The collection documents changes in the county’s built environment as a result of the development of railway in the area, and illustrates the evolution of railway technology from early steam engines to electrified and high-speed rail.

The collection also includes personal records belonging to Ken Verrell, reflecting his role in various local organizations and his interest in railway history.

The collection is arranged into the following series:
-Photographs series
-Postcards series
-Michigan Central Railroad Records series
-Canada Southern Railway Records series
-Pere Marquette Railway Records series
-Chesapeake and Ohio Railway Records series
-London and Port Stanley Railway Records series
-Grand Trunk Railway Records series
-Wabash Railroad Records series
-Canadian Pacific Railway Records series
-Canadian National Railways Records series
-Conrail Records series
-Miscellaneous Railways Records series
-General Railway History series
-St. Thomas Railway History series
-Labour Unions Records series
-Elgin Photographic Heritage Society Records series
-Elgin County History series
-St. Thomas History series
-Personal Records and Memberships series
-Miscellaneous Records series
-Newspaper Clippings series
-Audio-Visual series

Verrell, Ken