CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST, MUSKOKA

NOTE: THE PAINTING ABOVE IS CANADIAN FROM THE MID 1800'S, AND MAY BE A MUSKOKA LANDSCAPE. IT IS ONE OF THE NUMEROUS HISTORIC PAINTINGS, HERE AT BIRCH HOLLOW, THAT I CALL UPON MANY TIMES IN A YEAR, TO HELP ME CAPTURE THE MOOD OF THE PIONEERING PERIOD IN CANADA, AND THIS REGION IN PARTICULAR, FOR A VARIETY OF HERITAGE PROJECTS I MAY BE WORKING ON.

A CHRISTMAS SPENT WITH WASHINGTON IRVING AND WILLIAM HENRY SMITH - AND OH YES, WILLIAM DAWSON LESUEUR

IT'S NOT BORING, I PROMISE

It was back in the late 1990's, and I was feeling then, as I do today, that Gravenhurst was proving a perfect re-location for our family. Our ten year anniversary. We arrived here in October of 1989. I had a long history in Bracebridge, and I've written reims of copy about my boyhood exploits, up on the town's Hunt's Hill, where I wrote the book on rapscallion behavior. I wasn't sure about moving to Gravenhurst, but Suzanne and I found something important here that was relevant to our pasts. She grew up in the Village of Windermere, and I was a Burlington, Ontario kid, who was in seventh heaven, when my father told me, that Christmas of 1965, we were moving to Muskoka in February. We'd spent some time at a cottage on Bruce Lake, that past summer, and Ed had gotten a job with the historic Shier's Lumber Company, in Bracebridge.

No, with my history of involvement, it wasn't easy to uproot our family from a hometown I knew as a wanderlust, thule driven youngster……who spent most of his childhood wandering the regional woodlands. And then as a teenager, wandering the woodlands with girlfriends. Yup, I loved nature, and Muskoka was a paradise on earth. Having known the city, and a lot less open spaces, getting that opportunity to move into the hinterland, known and appreciated around the globe, was the best Christmas gift I ever received. The rest, as they say, is history.

I didn't like the urban sprawl that was going on in Bracebridge, in the 1980's, and planned for the 90's, and the distancing I felt was happening too rapidly, from the small, charming little hometown I knew years earlier. It wasn't as much a question of me resisting change that was inevitable, because as a long time editor with the local press, I knew commercial and industrial expansion was necessary to improve the local economy. I just didn't agree, and I still don't, that retail expansion was what was most needed. What would have been more sensible, by far, would have been the towns's encouragement of new investment in hotel and motel accommodation. Seeing as our tourism industry, is by far, the most important revenue producing industry in our region, the lengthy hiatus getting this on track, just seemed wrong-minded. Over-retailing was not in the best interest of the citizens, and it was largely unnecessary for the tourist and second home owner population. Instead of strengthening the main street, and revitalizing when opportunity arose, urban sprawl took over. To say I was at odds with the political leadership, at the time, is most certainly an understatement.

I wanted a smaller, more humbly appointed town, that reminded me of the Muskoka I had moved to many years earlier. And yes, some argued even then, that Gravenhurst was kind of stuck somewhere between 1955 and 1970. This is not to suggest we wanted to locate in a backwater for the heck of it, or that we didn't like having shopping options, more recreational opportunities, and diversity generally. But having small town interests was important to us, and our boys, and it has certainly impacted their sense of hometown, and what they value most about living and working here. We still feel roughly the same, and can live with the urban commercial developments because they were done in the right areas, including the Wharf, and they are consistent with the improvements absolutely required to remain competitive and tourism-responsive. While at the same time, the values of hometown life and expectations, are still in line with the small, successful, dynamic town we cherish…….in part for what it doesn't have in commercial blight. I would move here, as an option even today, to get away from the urban conundrum elsewhere, just as we did as a family in 1989.

At about the ten year anniversary, and it was with this Christmas season mood, that I started to take a serious interest in the naming of the town I was residing. I've told this story many times, but it is completely relevant to my good intentions toward our adopted hometown. I was working on two historical features at the same time, both regarding their naming by Dr. William Dawson LeSueur, of the federal post office, circa the 1860's. I was really interested, especially in a tourist area like ours, why Bracebridge, in particular, didn't play-up the connection to American Writer, Washington Irving, who wrote the book, "Bracebridge Hall," in the 1820's, as a second installment of stories about visiting Squire Bracebridge, in England. LeSueur, who was, at the time, one of the individuals who assisted the process of granting postal status to fledgling, pioneer communities, in Canada, came up with the name "Bracebridge," which according to less than believable information, suggested it had been "a book he was reading at the time." LeSueur was not as haphazard as this suggests. In fact, he was an historian, literary critic, philosopher, who would soon be published in some of the most prestigious literary magazines in Britain, and then North America. He wasn't reading Irving's "Bracebridge Hall," at the time the request came from the citizens of North Falls, for a new post office. LeSueur threw a literary bouquet at the tiny hamlet, and all they did was get mad that they lost a perfectly good name in the process. I'm told that slight, even in 1864, was enough to put them off Washington Irving for a long, long time. Occasionally, you will hear or read about a special Christmas-time dinner, at "Bracebridge Hall," as an Irving recognition, but alas, you won't find much else. What a terrible shame. There are networks of other Irving related communities, in North America, and his museum-estate at Sunnyside, in New York, but Bracebridge, Ontario has long been standoffish in this area. What is a great literary association with one of the world's great authors, (Legend of Sleepy Hollow), is relegated to now-and-again fundraising dinners.

Funny thing, that Charles Dickens, author of "A Christmas Carol," was quoted once, as saying he often retired to bedlam, with a copy of Irving's short stories, under his arm for a late-evening read. So how does this tie into a Christmas season story about Gravenhurst. Here's how!

It was my own history making. Just not what I intended at the time. It was long maintained that Gravenhurst was also named after Washington Irving's book, "Bracebridge Hall," also by the postal clerk, with a passion for gifting literary-provenance….without explanation.

I thought it would be great to tie both into the writings of Irving, and make this a real tourism promotion down the line. The sticking point, however, was that the Gravenhurst Post Office, had been officially granted, and subsequently named in the year 1862, by the same Mr. LeSueur. Yet the historians, and there were a lot of folks sticking to this error of local history, were claiming that LeSueur found the name "Gravenhurst," somewhere in the chapters of "Bracebridge Hall." Why would this happen? If two years later, LeSueur simply borrowed the name from the title, when Bracebridge was granted to the postal outlet, then why would he have earlier, opted to find a name by reading the text? Why wouldn't he have then chosen "Bracebridge," instead, for "Gravenhurst? Contrary to belief, it didn't have much to do with a physical bridge. So I knew something wasn't quite right, and got a copy of Irving's book, and at the same time initiated a request of several Irving authorities in the United States, including staff at Sunnyside, asking if they knew of any reference Irving had made, in this book, or in any of his other texts, referencing "Gravenhurst." They could not find any indication of Irving having used this name in any of his many published works. When I asked local historians here in Gravenhurst, who I very much respect, if they had ever read Bracebridge Hall, to confirm this assertion being made by Bracebridge writers, they said they had not. This simply had to be corrected. So after I read my new copy, I loaned it to them, and the result was the same. No reference to Gravenhurst; no proof Irving ever wrote or even mentioned the name Gravenhurst. Yet here was this glaring error making its way into numerous histories, and onward into a series of books on the naming of Canadian communities. Although Irving was responsible, via W.D. LeSueur, for Bracebridge's name, Gravenhurst was a different story altogether.

In 1967, in the book "Light of Other Days," the collective of historians responsible for the text, did offer an alternative idea, for the naming of Gravenhurst, and it was the first mention, contrary to what Bracebridge historians had accepted as fact, that there was a possibility of a connection with British poet/philosopher William Henry Smith, who wrote the book, "Gravenhurst, or Thoughts on Good and Evil." It's not as bad as it sounds. My wife and I purchased the Town of Gravenhurst an antiquarian copy, from an American book seller, and donated it to the Archives Committee, along with a book about Dr. LeSueur, and a copy of an Archives of Canada photograph, of the historian for posterity.

Call it a belated Christmas gift, but it was at this festive time of the year, I first delved into the work of the good Mr. Irving, and then, shortly after, the amazing insights of William Henry Smith. The author, so well respected by Dr. LeSueur, in 1862, shortly after the British author's death, that he named a small Canadian hamlet in this honor. While some might say, after reading this, that Bracebridge got the better of the deal, because Irving is certainly a much better known author internationally than Mr. Smith. Yet the work of William Henry Smith was landmark in many ways, and his contemporaries, were a power-house of intellectual and philosophical leadership in the 1840's, known world wide for their latest views. LeSueur, a connoisseur of fine writing, and a man of letters himself, was impressed to such a point, that he borrowed an important title, form a ground-breaking book, to afford a hamlet on the Ontario frontier, a little literary advantage they might appreciate sometime in the future. If there was one failing of Dr. LeSueur, and there aren't many in his storied life, it was the fact he failed to document the details of this "honor" intended. As he paid tribute to Washington Irving, shortly after his death, in the naming of Bracebridge, he had done the same in Gravenhurst, but there is no documentation under his signature, that explains why he bestowed the literary credit on unsuspecting townsfolk. He wasn't a practical joker, that's for sure.

I spent that particular Christmas season up to my ears in local, Canadian, and literary heritage, and let me tell you, it was a blast for someone like me. I adore Irving's Christmas stories, about family dinners and traditions at Squire Bracebridge's countryside estate, and we borrowed a few ideas, that year, to dress-up our own celebrations. I have been reading passages from "Bracebridge Hall," every Christmas since. I am so glad to have had this same time, in company of the works by William Henry Smith, a wonderful writer, and poet, that Gravenhurst should some day embrace, with the provenance it possesses; and most certainly launch a project to learn more about the author, and about the man who so generously created the literary union, William Dawson LeSueur.

For those who have read my blogs previously, you will appreciate that this isn't the first time I've gone on, at length, about LeSueur, Irving, and Smith. Here's why? Shortly after the book I wrote on Washington Irving and his relationship with Bracebridge, Ontario, published in 2000, I later gave a guest lecture at the Muskoka Lakes Museum, in Port Carling, on why the subject was largely ignored, and in some quarters rejected outright, even though I had offered to broker and discuss future associations with Irving Historical Societies in the United States. I didn't get any where with the town, or the Chamber of Commerce, and on only one occasion, did a member of council request a copy……and that's when a former mayor asked if I could loan him a copy, as he was going to be meeting with a group from Britain, visiting the town…..and wanted to foist this copy on them, as a means of showing a relationship between the countries. I'm not sure how that worked out for him but I never got the book back. Maybe it's still propping up a table-leg at town hall. Maybe he gave it to them, as a special presentation, to haul back to England. Don't think it stirred too much sentiment, but it was still a worthwhile investment of time to prepare. Two other copies were donated to the local library, and the rest of the marketing was left to us. A special display showing and honoring the work of both Iriving and LeSueur, held at Bracebridge's United Church, that same Christmas, drew about ten people to the auditorium, but I think one was the janitor. Discouraged. I'm never discouraged at Christmas. I just gave up trying to break through the barrier of local historians who were still perturbed LeSueur had cast-out the name "North Falls" without their ancestor's permission.

At Christmas, here at Birch Hollow, I always re-visit old and dear projects, especially those that have been endured by my family. When I get on the old bandwagon, on some heritage project, believe me, the whole family is drawn into the research. It was that Christmas of 1999 / 2000, when the names Irving, Smith and LeSueur seemed to dominate every dinner-hour, explaining why the kids always abandoned the table quickly. But it was a worthwhile exercise, and I'm still pleased to have been able to pass on the old copy of "Gravenhurst" to the Archives Committee. I still believe it is an under-known and under-respected provenance we might benefit from some day, when we we're looking for something more to brag about. This is a wonderful resource still in its infancy of development. What was initiated, as a sort of thank-you to our new hometown, for the kindnesses it showed a young family, has become a regular habit of mine, to make sure I emphasize, in writing I do for other publications in Ontario, the heartfelt respect I possess, for this fine town that has been so influential to us, in so many ways…..since we arrived, nervously, hat-in-hand, at its doorstep.

Whether or not the name William Henry Smith, or William Dawson LeSueur, will ever make it to historical prominence in this community, or not, the fact remains…….an honor bestowed in 1862, is just as important today as it was then…….at least for folks who care about such literary and historical provenance.

As if to tell me it is time to blow-out the oil lamp, that illuminates this typewriter, and cease this annoying tapping from key to paper, my associate, the cricket, has begun to chirp once more. I bid it farewell, and retire to bedlam myself.

It is early November. There is still no snow. But Suzanne has already pulled out the boxes of Christmas decorations for sorting. Ah, I love this time of the year. Let me tell you about the baking……oh, the glorious Christmas treats she makes for us inmates, here at Birch Hollow. Next blog, I'll tell you about one of our most coveted Muskoka collections that dates back to my wife's homesteading family in Ufford…..and that amazing pioneer kitchen, and yes it has a Christmas relevance for this Gravenhurst series.

Here's something to ponder in the meantime. What are this historian's most valued copies, in his large (and I mean large) collection of reference books? Canadian histories? Art histories? Boring! Guess again. I'll tell you soon! You won't believe it!