Caledonia Along the Grand River

Well-known author, columnist, Barbara Martindale, has been documenting the history of Caledonia and surrounding area in books and in articles. The former publisher of the Grand River Sachem, continues to write a weekly column in the Sachem, "For What It's Worth."

Actively involved in many organizations in her community, including the Chamber of Commerce and the BIA, Barbara still found time to be Member Services Director of the Canadian Community Newspapers Association. She was a member of the Media Club of Canada (founded originally as the Canadian Women's Press Club). She is recognized nationally within the Canadian print media.

Barbara Martindale will be in The Neat Little Bookshop on Thursday, March 25 at 1:30 p.m. Everyone welcome. Thursday afternoons are designated for discussions with fascinating personalities.

Caledonia Along the Grand River, published by Natural Heritage/Natural History Inc., Toronto, Ontario, 1995

A Gentlewoman in Upper Canada

Open Anne Langton's journals at any page and imagine life in Canada in the 1800s:
"I am not a backwoodswoman yet in this, that I cannot feel easy when near the end of my stores. John thought my anxiety very laboured when I saw the bottom of my candle box. Here they have been so accustomed at times to be without things, that they take matters over and above easily. There is a very good store at the Falls, that is as good or better than any in Peterboro, but the difficulty of getting up goods makes the supply uncertain, and you are not to be surprised when told that the tea and rice are still on Lake Ontario, and that there are only three candles left. What should you think of a few pounds of tea coming at the bottom of a sack (without paper) and a few rusty nails at the other end of it?"

Langton Letter, 1837. The Journals of Anne Langdon, edited by H. H. Langton, 1950 Irwin Publishing Inc.

Photo: Black Creek Village, Kingston, by Lorna. Click on photo for larger image.