A WEE SIDEBAR FOR THE HISTORICALLY ENTHUSED

Every now and again, an historian finds there’s simply too much down-time around the old homestead. My wife Suzanne recognizes the signs, and if I’m not interested in construction and renovation around the house, in all likelihood, I’m only going to be satisfied taking on a writing project. It’s a hobby profession or a professional hobby that compels me to find something odd, or unchallenged from the past, research it to some preliminary footholds, find out whether the facts as known are solid. and beyond the need for re-writing; or on the other hand, discover a few interesting, previously unknown twists. When I began work on the Tom Thomson mystery, back in the mid 1990's, I drove everyone nuts with my daily rants about the artist having been murdered, contrary to the coroner’s 1917 conclusion, which had determined Thomson was the victim of accidental drowning instead. I’m still working on this after all these years. (This series of articles is currently on my Muskoka and Algonquin Ghosts blogsite). A number of years ago I began one of my obsessive missions to disprove another historian’s claim about the naming of Gravenhurst. It’s the reason I don’t get invited over to other historians’ homes for social gatherings. I’m such a pain in the ass when it comes to researching where I apparently don’t belong.

I became enthused about the work of Postal Authority, Scholar, Dr. William Dawson LeSueur, who in 1862 gave our town a name it didn’t expect and certainly didn’t want. Without explanation LeSueur chose the name “Gravenhurst,” after a book written by British poet / philosopher, William Henry Smith. While there is no doubt LeSueur was a talented chap, he simply neglected to explain why he had refused the submitted name, put forward by the citizens of the day, to honor literarily, the Muskoka hamlet, with the title of a book known mostly to scholars of the day. What seemed like an honor to him, as he obviously approved of Smith’s writing, probably stunned the local citizenry, who may have thought it was a name borrowed instead, from a community in Britain.....which was done frequently without too much fuss. But the fact is, LeSueur didn’t borrow it from a map but from a book.

What lured me into it was the fact he also named Bracebridge after the title of a book. Not after the name of a town in England, which was for many years considered a possibility. Both Bracebridge and Gravenhurst are names of communities in England. Yet LeSueur named the town after American author, Washington Irving’s, 1820's sketches, entitled “Bracebridge Hall,” a spin-off book from the original “Sketch Book,” from about 1819......, which of course contained the inclusion of the well known “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” As it turns out, local historians in Bracebridge, simply had the wrong idea. LeSueur it was supposed, not only borrowed the name Bracebridge from Irving’s collection, but also must have taken the name “Gravenhurst” from the same book. Funny thing though. No one had taken the time to read “Bracebridge Hall,” or research in any way shape or form, if Washington Irving ever once penned the name “Gravenhurst.”

When I approached several authorities on Irving and his literary work, they could not confirm any time when the American author used “Gravenhurst.” Add to this the fact that Gravenhurst was named in 1862 and Bracebridge in 1864, and one could comfortably say, “well that’s odd.” Why wouldn’t LeSueur, in this case, have used “Bracebridge” to name our community instead. It struck me as unrealistic that when a perfectly good title was sitting out in the open, LeSueur would have opted to delve into the pages of the book, to pluck a suitable post office title. Well, that’s because LeSueur, a brilliant writer and accomplished literary critic, as well as being a career civil servant, had two different books at two different times. Both names were employed by LeSueur very much as a memorial tribute to the authors, (both recently deceased at the time), yet a stunning literary provenance to each of the largely unsuspecting towns. What a great honor for both towns, to have this amazing yet still under-known literary connectedness.

I was able to acquire a copy of William Henry Smith’s book, from an American rare book dealer, and our antique business, purchased it as a donation to the Town of Gravenhurst Archives, along with a large picture from the National Archives of Canada, of Dr. LeSueur himself.

I can remember contacting an Archives member, after receiving the book, and having to break it to him that there was a little more to the title than simply “Gravenhurst.” The full title was “Gravenhurst; or Thoughts on Good and Evil.” There was a pause, a wee chortle, and relative calm. It takes a lot to surprise a weathered historian. The book isn’t really about evil, as much as a philosophical look at a small fictional town, “Gravenhurst,” in Smith’s case, and is a study about the commonplace about its life and times. It’s an examination of how one can not fully appreciate good without experiencing what might be considered bad......what is happiness without the influence of sadness. What is prosperity in this commonplace of mankind, without failure. One emotion building the other, in an endless cycle of experience and adaptation through generations. But as we know and celebrate, “extraordinary” does generate from this same commonplace, so we shouldn’t feel insulted by the association with “ordinary” and “common,” as penned by Smith and admired by LeSueur. Not quite as exciting as being named after a book by the author of “Rip Van Winkle,” and creator of memorable characters like the “Headless Horseman,” and “Iccabod Crane.”Yet the good Mr. Smith was a revered poet and author of numerous successful collections. His friends and colleagues, in England, were amongst the great literary stars of the mid-1800's. We certainly shouldn’t feel short-changed with our association.

Sometimes historians are just misinformed versus lazy, or take the wrong turn at the crossroads. I’ve done it myself.....many times. And, well, I’ve had to be corrected. You take it on the chin and move on. Of course it stings, but right is right afterall. I was pleased to be able to delve into the handiwork of Dr. LeSueur, and find out his clever associations of authors, and certain Canadian Post Offices he was responsible for naming. What had been a basic shortfall of unfulfilled research, from a Bracebridge perspective, had lasted up until the turn of this present century. Every now and again I have to jump all over some newby historian, who takes what was written in the past, as gospel, without cross-referencing all the available texts. This is very clearly stated in my book from 2000, on Irving, LeSueur and the naming of Bracebridge. There is a section on the naming of Gravenhurst.

Just thought that before you become elected representatives, of the Town of Gravenhurst, you might wish possess this insight about the municipality you will be governing through the next four year term. “Gravenhurst, or Thoughts on Good and Evil.” Neat eh? Few other communities could boast this kind of literary provenance.