THE RESOURCE OF HISTORY - WHAT WE DON’T USE FOR PROFIT THAT WE COULD

Back at the turn of this most recent century, I produced a small book about the naming of the Town of Bracebridge. It was back in 1864 that Federal Postal Authority, William Dawson LeSueur, tossed out the name “North Falls,” substituting instead, a name made famous by American Author, Washington Irving. It was taken from the 1820's book, “Bracebridge Hall,” a story and author W.D. LeSueur had considerable admiration.

What has always been misunderstood about Dr. LeSueur, is the reason he refused the hamlet’s consensus, that “North Falls,” was a perfect name......for a village on the brink of a major Muskoka waterfall. LeSueur, you see, wasn’t just a career civil servant, but doubled as a great literary mind, and was a revered critic as such, being published in some of the most respected and prestigious magazines of his time. He was as much a highly regarded historian in Canada. So when he selected the name “Bracebridge,” it was with thought and serious contemplation, what the name and that association would mean on a “forever” basis. As I’ve noted before, in the discussion of LeSueur, I can only fault the man for one thing......and that was the fact he didn’t explain the provenance attached to his naming choices. It would have been helpful that’s for sure.

Washington Irving had only recently passed away when LeSueur, in his position to name new post offices, opted to make this literary connection between a Canadian hamlet, on the Muskoka River, and the fictional “Bracebridge Hall,” in England. Crazy eh? Consider also the activities of the Civil War at the time, and the fact a Canadian community has just been named after the work of an American author.

The citizens of Bracebridge have, over the decades, modestly embraced the connection with Washington Irving, especially having held “Christmas at Bracebridge Hall,” dinners (Bracebridge Hall does involve a Christmas celebration at Squire Bracebridge’s countryside estate, pre-1820). But my postmortem after the book’s release, in 2000, was a resounding......”I can’t believe they couldn’t care less!” The book was a success in publishing, and sold-out but the purpose was to properly introduce the public, and the local municipal council, the Chamber of Commerce, the BIA and any other group interested, to the freaking huge opportunity that exists to connect properly, with the whole Washington Irving heritage-thing. This is the gentleman who gave us “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” the “Headless Horseman,” “Rip Van Winkle,” and the whole Haunted Hudson River Valley legend. Here was this historical purist, me, so pleased to be able to turn over my research and connections made with the Irving museum, Sunnyside, in New York, so others could exploit my work. Geez, talk about underwhelming success. It was so poorly received in fact that I made it the subject of a summer lecture I gave, at the Muskoka Lakes Museum a few years ago. Here was this marketing gem handed to the town, on a silver platter, and it was greeted without a smidgeon of enthusiasm.

I had advance knowledge of this near boycott however, when I was made aware there were folks unhappy about my research, and frankly promoting something that wasn’t quite homegrown. I actually had people suggest to me the town got ripped off when LeSueur denied “North Falls,” as the name of their new post office of 1864. But what really bothered my critics was that a long-held assertion that LeSueur also named Gravenhurst, after a name found in the same book, “Bracebridge Hall,” had been debunked. It wasn’t too hard. It involved buying a copy of Irving’s book and reading it. No one had to this point. Most seemed abundantly content with historical fact as written decades previous. The problem was that the Bracebridge historical crowd, since the late 1800's, had been making ill-informed assumptions about Gravenhurst all along. Up to just before 2000. I ran a series of articles about this, and Jesus, did the poop hit the proverbial fan. I was a heretic. How dare I challenge historical record? Well, it was going to come sooner or later, as some historian found it odd why, in 1862, when Gravenhurst was named by LeSueur, he allegedly borrowed a name buried deep within the book......, versus taking “Bracebridge” instead. Wouldn’t that have been reasonable? If LeSueur was going to use, as he did, names from the titles of books he had read (which has always been the generalization of his handiwork), why wouldn’t he have named our town Bracebridge instead. Afterall Gravenhurst needed its name two years earlier that Bracebridge. So how could historians believe for a moment, that LeSueur would have searched through the text of Bracebridge Hall instead, looking for a worthy name, and then two years later, selecting “Bracebridge,” as an easy choice because it was the title of the book he’d used earlier. No sense here.

I asked the assistance of Washington Irving scholars, if they had known the author to have ever used the word “Gravenhurst,” in any of his works throughout his long literary career. The answer was “no!” It is possible however, Irving, on his travels in England, may have come across a community named Gravenhurst, as it does exist, yet he didn’t use the name such that LeSueur would have found it in his popular work. The word is not contained in Bracebridge Hall, even though the historians in Bracebridge believed it was. All it took to prove or disprove was reading the book. What made me mad was that Bracebridge historians, for over a century, were perpetuating a myth and being unapologetic. So when the Bracebridge Examiner published stories on the naming of both Gravenhurst, and Bracebridge, by the pen of Currie, I was a considered a “turd” if ever there was one.

The highly supportive historians, here in Gravenhurst, had recognized before 1967, or earlier, that there may have been a relationship between an author / philosopher by the name of William Henry Smith and his book, “Gravenhurst.” They just didn’t go out of their way to debunk what the Bracebridge folks were claiming. While they hadn’t read the book Bracebridge Hall, prior to my insistence that they should, they certainly were keen to read my findings, and learn more about two gentlemen in particular.....Dr. William Dawson LeSueur, and William Smith’s career in England. I was able to get them a copy of “A Critical Spirit - The Thoughts of William Dawson LeSueur,” by A.B. McKillop (Carleton Library Original), and an antiquarian copy of the book, “Gravenhurst,” by Smith. Both were donated by our business, Birch Hollow Antiques, to the Gravenhurst Archives Committee. Actually, it is true, the title was a little troubling at first, when I phoned Cyril Fry, to tell him the book had arrived safely from an American bookshop. Actually, it’s kind of funny as a keepsake historical anecdote, but the book was actually returned to the sender in the U.S., because nobody here knew a “Ted Currie.” Apparently the address was off by a postal code number or something. I always thought that it was neat to know that the book that had inspired the postal authority of 1862, to name the hamlet’s first post office, was sent back by the same post office as undeliverable mail. I had to tell Cyril over the phone. the full title of the book they were receiving, was actually, “Gravenhurst, or Thoughts on Good and Evil.” It’s not as bad as it looks on paper. It’s a philosophical tome so it isn’t to suggest LeSueur thought we were an evil community in the 1860's.

The name was borrowed by LeSueur after Smith’s death. The fact that a literary rising star selected the name “Gravenhurst,” from Smith’s work, is affirmation that he believed the work brilliant and remarkable.....just as he had felt Irving was a more than worthy author, deserving tributes from the public. From what research I have done on LeSueur, the citizens of both towns should be over the moon about the literary connections he afforded the pioneer hamlets of 1862 and 1864 respectively. We should be celebrating the provenance today. But we don’t!

I have written about this many times since the late 1990's. For one thing, I have a longstanding tradition of “never, ever,” letting something go that I believe deserves better treatment. This is one of my “never, evers!” It’s like many examples of local history in our communities, that have certainly made it to print, and have ample record attached, but are relegated to bookshelves and file cabinets for lack of any further action needed. In Gravenhurst, where we have a fine group of historians who have done Yeomen’s work building a research base in their library-situated archives, far too many citizens here.....and representatives of our elected council.....haven’t got a clue what our “keepers of history” do with their archives......or show much interest in having a wee look inside. I’ve been a guest in that room, and during a session of cataloguing, and I have great respect for all their efforts expended, to guarantee we know how our town has evolved from those first ramshackle pioneer abodes in a vast hinterland.

The troubling aspect is that there is so much for this town to benefit from, and utilize as tourism generators, left in the low light and climate control of a reference collection. If at times I seem a tad agitated because I believe there is an unhealthy amount of apathy, about heritage matters, it’s due to the frustration I witness constantly, when people complain about shortfalls of living and working in Gravenhurst.......but are consumed only with the present tense, as if the town was opened for occupation last week. When I have suggested that local elected officials need to smarten up, and upgrade their own shortfall of knowledge, it’s because I firmly believe it’s impossible to be adequate stewards of our resources.......and be so woefully unaware of what resources we do possess.

I found this out when working to save The Bog from being carved up into residential lots. I couldn’t believe how many council members refused to visit the site, and talk to us in person.......so that we could give them a tour of what they had believed was surplus property to be sold as a municipal fundraiser. To hell with it being an important filtering wetland for Muskoka Bay. Once again, I was considered, without question, the biggest “turd” in the town, because I was acting disrespectfully, to their assumed rights and privileges as elected officials. We did have some who visited, and we were delighted. And we didn’t bite any of them, as I’m sure they had been warned might happen.

There are many aspects of Gravenhurst history, beyond steamships and boat building and Dr. Bethune, worth exploiting.......not just for a buck gained for tourism, but because it shows a pride in our hometown from the inside out. Accomplishments our town has made, events and unfortunate circumstances we have survived......days of triumph, days of misfortune, milestones achieved, and disasters met by a determination to survive. From great fires to building booms. The citizens didn’t walk away from challenges and upheaval because the going got a little rough. They cleared away the debris and rebuilt. In those archives, in the books that have been published about Gravenhurst, are stories of incredible endurance, and accomplishment, despite prevailing crisis, in spite of those naysayers consumed by gloom and doubt. If we think things are tough now, it’s because we don’t appreciate the precedents of our past......because if you take the time to research your town’s history, you’ll appreciate the citizens have never backed away from challenges......despite getting shut-out of many investments afforded other Muskoka communities, and losing dozens of its longstanding enterprises and institutions. Gravenhurst was known throughout North America for its care of tubercular patients. Not just for its gateway to the Muskoka Lakes.

When we look out at our economic shortfalls today, we can blame a lot of things......and it’s more than common to blame the town for business failures. The town has broad shoulders and will survive the critics wrath. If there is anything this historian would like to accomplish, it’s to foster a renewed appreciation for what heritage can do for us all......when we begin losing our place in history, because it no longer seems as important as once. Council should realize what the stewardship of this town’s history truly means.....not what they think it means, but what it actually means.....recognizing that it is a huge honor to be representing it on the global stage.....at this time of our history.

Cecil Porter, one of my mentors in local history, wrote a landmark book on the German Prisoner of War Camp in Gravenhurst. Calydor. Have you read it? If you haven’t, and you are representing the interests of the Town of Gravenhurst, get to the bookshop or the library and redeem yourself. It’s that simple. There’s no excuse for not knowing about this internationally significant history......none at all if you’re a Gravenhurst councillor.

Of this I am a harsh critic. With no apology. Just as I was when I was told to accept the fact Gravenhurst had been named after “Bracebridge Hall,” and to leave well enough alone. Hey, I got kicked out of Cubs for challenging authority. I still survived to fight another day.

To lead this town requires knowing this town. It’s a homework assignment.