by Marilyn Snedden
Archives Lanark has just received an impressive collection of high quality original documents,many of them framed, from Bill Chapman, who is retiring from his law practice in Almonte. His predecessor, Raymond Jamieson, had been a collector of early historical material from the area which Bill inherited when he took over his law practice. Bill appreciated the value of these documents and decorated his office with some of the framed Crown Patents and maps of Lanark County .Bill was seeking a good home for the collection as he had a short time to clear out the office .It was good timing when a member of the Archives Board asked if he had any records to add to the Archives Lanark holdings , housed in the former Drummond Township Office at 1920 Con.7,Drummond,near Drummond Center.
The next day archives volunteers picked up many framed documents,posters, old newspapers and a dozen cast iron stamps from Almonte and area.The stamps from Peterson’s Ice Cream, Hill Motors, Rosebank Cheese & Butter Co., etc. have been shared with local museums since Archives Lanark only preserves paper records. Thank you Bill for your generous donation towards preserving our heritage.
John Clement,publisher of the Perth Courier has donated a huge collection of bound copies of the older newspaper to add to the Almonte Gazettes and Carleton Place Canadians already in the holdings so space is at a premium.
After the May holiday weekend , the archives will be open every Friday and Saturday from 10 am until 3 pm. In winter the open days are the first & third Friday and the second & fourth Saturday. Volunteers who know the area and assist researchers finding their ancestors, remain the most valuable resource. They will be happy to show the Chapman collection to any visitors.
Publishing the Rural Schoolbooks of Drummond,Ramsay and Pakenham remains a priority for this year so if you have photos or stories from when you attended these schools, please contact Irene at 613 267-2232,Marilyn at 613 256-3130 or George at 613 256-3756 Check out our new website at http://archiveslanark.ca/index.php for more info.
