by Marilyn Snedden
June 7 was a red letter day for Archives Lanark when Tom Caldwell,the last in line born to the prominent Caldwell family of the Lanark Village , donated a significant collection of photos and original documents dealing with the tranactions of the family lumbering , grist mills saw mills,woolen & cotton mills. His mother was Dorothy Leslie Code of the Code Felt Mills and the Leslie family who were silversmiths in Ottawa so some papers are from her family.
His neighbour Don Ross drove Tom ,who is 91 years old, from Orillia to the Drummond Center hall where he presented the collection to Marilyn Snedden,Chair of the Archives Lanark Board. This was part of the Lanark County Genealogical Society meeting when members were displaying an artifact from their family. Tom’s donation was a hard act to follow. Since he was moving to a nursing home,he was happy to take Don’s suggestion that it would be good to send the documents back home to Lanark County and Archives Lanark is certainly happy to receive them
McDonald,Munro farm
Another event on June 5 will result in a donation of papers and a family chart on the McDonald family who were early settlers in Ramsay Township where they opened one of the first cemeteries on their farm Descendants donated a “porridge pot”(which families on the 1820’s ships used to cook meals in) to the North Lanark Regional museum last fall. Jayne Munro-Ouimet, who grew up on the McDonald farm ,worked with the museum, the LCGS and Archives Lanark to organize a reunion of family members from here and away. Everyone met at the museum to view the displays, enjoyed a guided tour of the area, and spent the afternoon at the Almonte United Church.After a catered lunch,family members spoke, and Rev. Mary Royal presided over a ” Dedication to Family Generations Sand Ceremony”. Iron Men of Fire Celtic Players music had many a toe tapping . ChrisMcPhail,descendant, had prepared a genealogy on the family and will be donating all the material to Archives Lanark including a CD highlighting the event. So the summer is off to a good start.
players at Porridge pot event
Summer hours are from 10-3 every Friday & Saturday until Thanksgiving at 1920 Concession 7,Drummond(near Drummond Center).This is a volunteer operation relying on donations from clients and people interested in preserving the historical records of Lanark County .
