Part 8 Beatrice Scovell's "The Muskoka Story"

PART EIGHT

Charles Blackmore of Muskoka Joined the Federal Army in the American Civil War

     In the summer of 1864, August in fact, Federal Postal Authority, William Dawson LeSueur, made a somewhat controversial decision, regarding the naming of the newly granted post office, in what had been known as the hamlet of North Falls, in the Free Grants District of Ontario.
     LeSueur was much more than a civil servant; indeed, a recognized man of letters, in a soon to be sea to sea country, a literary critic, and yet to become, national historian, who liked, during his day-job, to award provenance to new postal outlets he had the opportunity to name. Some names he accepted, as presented by the citizens of candidate communities. In the case of North Falls, he rejected the name, as he did for the citizens of McCabe's Landing two years earlier. The citizens of McCabe's Landing had wished to have that title painted onto the first post office sign, but LeSueur decided "Gravenhurst" was better suited. I don't know how he determined this, because he didn't actually visit the location he was about to name. The same was in store for the citizens of North Falls, inheriting the title "Bracebridge" instead.
     Dr. LeSueur was a serious fellow who may have had a sense of humour, but not when it came to influencing the future of subject communities. As regards the name Gravenhurst, granted in August 1862, he borrowed the name from the title of a book by British Poet, Philosopher, William Henry Smith, a book in reprint that LeSueur reviewed as a literary critic, and the name "Bracebridge," of course, came from the title of a book by American Author, Washington Irving, entitled "Bracebridge Hall." As I've noted many times in the past, the real problem was one of interpretation, and from the beginning, the citizens of respective hamlets felt mildly betrayed by the federal post office. Both were content with the names they had chosen, and didn't appreciate meddling by the government, such as to change the course of history, because it would be a name most likely adopted for the community.
      It would be unlikely that there could have been a secondary name, beyond what the post office granted, such as "Bracebridge Post Office, North Falls, Ontario." It did happen in the case of Muskoka resorts having their own postal outlets, but not usually with small communities not requiring the extra baggage of names. LeSueur never really explained why he had chosen the names in the first place, but having done lengthy research on the subject, he was not the type to take these situations lightly, or in jest, such as giving these postal stations ridiculous titles. It would have helped the cause of history if he had created some sort of companion text, to explain why he wished to honor the authors, Smith, in the case of Gravenhurst, and Irving, in Bracebridge, to help the coming generations deal with this literary provenance. What should be celebrated has been muted since the naming events, because of this lack of interest by the citizens of both communities, seeded unfortunately, because of shortfalls dating back to those pre-Confederation days for both communities.
      In the case of Bracebridge, consider the fact the American Civil War was raging south of the border, and a federal authority has just named this South Muskoka hamlet post office, after the title of a book written by American Author Washington Irving. The citizens of the hamlet and region would have been aware of the Civil War, and possibly a little nervous about the possibility attention might turn northward as it did during the War of 1812. As Washington Irving's literary works would have been known to the pioneer community, because his major works had been published in the 1820's and 30's, there would have been few of the settlers who didn't appreciate the strange occurrence, that had afforded their hamlet an American inspired name, while the conflict carried-on. While the subject matter of the book "Bracebridge Hall," is very British in content, and set in old England, there is still nothing that disguised the fact LeSueur had used the reputation of an American writer at a most precarious time.
     This is a rather wordy set-up to the folk story I wish to present today, that was published in the text of Beatrice Scovell's book, "The Muskoka Story," which we have been examining for the past eight columns. The information within the story captioned "The Building of the Peterson Road," proves the point that settlers in this region knew all about the conflict south of the border, and in the case of Charles Blackmore, the opportunities for engagement as a recruit.
     Keep in mind, that British subjects in Pre-Confederation Canada were not encouraged to cross the border, to enlist in either the armies of the North or South. This was explained to me by my old friend, and Civil War re-enactor, Tom Brooks, formerly of Gravenhurst, who was a specialist in the field of the Canadian and British contribution to the conflict. On trips to United States, he would take Canadian flags specifically, to place on graves of those citizens of the fledgling Dominion, who died on the battlefields of America, serving both North and South battalions. Blackmore would become one of several regional citizens who did enlist in the Federal Army during this time. One was Charles Winter, buried in the Ufford United Church Cemetery, although little is known of his service, other than he wasn't a casualty of fighting. The other was Charles Blackmore, who was simply looking to find employment, in the region he emigrated from England, and when that failed, he decided to take a more adventurous approach, and headed to New York State to sign up for the epic confrontation between the American North and South. When we spin into this story tomorrow, you wil realize that LeSueur's decision to name Bracebridge after the work of an American author, was a little more controversial that previously thought. It wasn't simply the case the citizens of the hamlet were displeased he had rejected the title "North Falls." It just wasn't the best time to be saddled up to a nation in crisis, an author's accomplishments or not.
     Please join Suzanne and I tomorrow, for a closer look at Charles Blackmore, a Muskoka pioneer who became a "Billy Yank" and then returned to Muskoka to resume his life.