Fire maps showing Huntsville with a population of around 2,000 people, House of Commons papers from 1888 and a humane poultrykilling tool are just a few of the items up for discussion at the July meeting of the Muskoka Heritage Place (MHP) collections committee.
A small committee comprised of chair Sara White and members Tricia Markle, Barbara Paterson, Det Schumacher, Barbara Dorey and Janet Fisher, the group meets every few months at MHP in Huntsville to go over items donated by the general public.
And while there are only six of them, the group contains a wealth of knowledge about Muskoka’s history, people, places and things that is quite astounding. Markle can’t say enough about what each member brings to the group.
“Det has been very involved with the village ever since he was on council, and it’s nice to have his perspective. Barb Paterson and Jan, I think they know everyone who ever lived in Huntsville and they both have such memories for faces — for telling you who lived where, who their parents are and who they are related to — it’s just amazing. They can fl ip through a (photo) book and tell you the people’s lineage,” she explains. “Barb Dorey is great at that too, and she has such a great memory for events and things that happened in the area. Sara can always explain the reason behind why we do something. She’s done such an excellent job of making sure we stay on track and take in what’s historically important. The village’s General Store is stocked with items from the era, and Sara worked very hard at that.”
Schumacher is the newest member on the committee, having been involved for almost two years. “I was with the present mayor (Claude Doughty) during election time and we were touring around and ended up at MHP at the same time,” says Schumacher. “Sara took us down to the collections section, and I was struck by how much work and volunteer time was involved in getting the section in order. And here I am.”
Like Markle, he is quick to point out how knowledgable the whole group is, but downplays his role. “I’m learning more than I’m inputting right now,” he says. “It’s a learning process for me, and these women are amazing. But I encourage anyone with an interest in history to get involved, because fresh eyes can bring great new perspectives.” While all the members bring different talents, they all share a love of preserving Muskoka’s history for generations to continue to enjoy.
On this July day the members have settled in for a lengthy meeting. White has advised everyone “there’s been a lot of new donations over the past few months,” and she should know. She prescreens and organizes the donations as they come in, weeding out what she knows won’t have a place in the collection. Often her choices are based on the fact that the collection simply might already have such an item. Other times the donated item might not have a truly Muskoka connection — it’s a problem they run into often with books, as while the book might be from the right time frame, if it’s not written about Muskoka or by a Muskokan, they’ll likely pass on it.
“Items must pertain to Muskoka,” says Markle. “We’re a crossroads village that runs from the late 1800s to 1910, but the museum has no time-limit – the museum can take anything that’s appropriate to the history of Muskoka and the area.”
If White deems a donation relevant enough for discussion, the item is numbered and put onto the next meeting’s agenda. When the item comes up for discussion, the group speaks candidly about its historical worth. They also take into account if the item is in good condition, and if they already have something like it. “It’s not a bad thing to get duplicates,” says White. “That means that we can have one item on display and the other in our archive. But due to space we can’t keep everything.”
The group sees many everyday items, from meat saws to hay hooks and more. “But as they are everyday items, we should have them in all of our homes (in the pioneer village), but we don’t yet. So we pick and choose which ones fi t best,” says White.
Funny enough, it’s the every day items that the group is often on the lookout for. “You see, it’s what the everyday, normal people had in their homes that’s really gone,” says Dorey. “The items weren’t considered extravagant enough to pass on, and they weren’t really kept. But they are crucial to the history of the area.”
As the items begin to be brought out by White, discussion ensues and each member looks over and evaluates each item. A seed planter is intriguing, raising discussion about the difference in work today and in days past. It’s a wooden contraption, and the group tries to fi gure out just how to work it. “Can you imagine using that thing to plant row after row and seed after seed out in the hot sun?” asks Fisher.
Next is a corn shucker – a household tool for taking the kernels off the cob – which also looks like it would have taken a lot of effort to wield. “As Ron (Gostlin, operations manager at MHP) says,” laughs Sarah, “if it’s old it’s gonna be heavy.”
A truly beautiful find among the donations is a horsehair blanket, which has weathered the years well and is in excellent shape. “A lot of people would have had reactions to the horsehair, back in the day,” says Markle. “But horsehair blankets are what every family would have had.”
A selection of clothing draws all eyes, and after some discussion the group deduce that the black items in question must have been from the mourning outfi t of a mother who buried her baby. One can almost feel sadness exuding from the simple veil and the black feather. The clothing was previously owned by Myrtle Boothby, who lived at Point Ideas in Lake of Bays and passed away in the 1910s and has been offered to the collections committee by Betty Hawton.
Jean Reynolds has donated a scrapbook about the Anglo Canadian Leather Concert Band, compiled by Florence Grosso. The band was comprised of Italian immigrant workers from a Huntsville tannery back in 1900, with Charles Orlando Shaw establishing the group. The scrapbook is fi lled with pictures, but what really draws the group’s attention are some pieces of onion paper. Covered in pencil-drawn circles and names, the group realizes that these papers match up with some of the photos, identifying clearly people shown in the pictures and the members of the band. “It’s another link,” says White. “It’s great with fi nds like this, because it helps us fi ll in the pieces.”
Thanks to the collections committee’s work – and the donations over the years by folks across Muskoka – a clearer view of life in Muskoka from years past is coming into view. “People travel to see the history in other areas, but they so seldom take advantage of what’s right next door in their own community,” says Schumacher. “ I think (the collection at MHP) is a great part of the puzzle of Muskoka’s past.”
There is a strict protocol when it comes to donating an item to the collection, and White advises people contact the committee so they understand fully what’s involved. “People need to know that if you make a donation of an item to our collection, the item or photograph or document becomes our property,” says White. “Our documentation process makes this very clear to potential donors.”
Often people donate items because they are unsure how to properly care for them anymore, like clothing that may be beginning to yellow or photographs and documents they are afraid will become damaged. “We act as a place where we can keep these items so they don’t end up in someone’s basement until they fall apart,” says Markle. “They’re (in the MHP collection) if anyone wants to see them, and they’re preserved.”
The group often fields the question as to why donated items aren’t always out on display, but with the sheer size of the collection, it’s simply impossible. “I’d say only 10 to 20 per cent of the items we have are on display at any one time,” says Markle. “We’d love to rotate the items more than we do, but we need to have more volunteers to do that.” If you are interested in being a part of the collections committee give Muskoka Heritage Place a call at 789-7576.