Ann Eliza Hepburne Rooth's 1837 Album

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Ann Eliza Hepburne began her friendship album in 1836-37 at the age of sixteen. It proved to be a momentous time in the life of Upper Canada and indeed the world. On June 20, 1837, Victoria, just two years older than Eliza, was crowned queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, launching the Victorian Age.

Eliza asked friends and relatives to write poems or to draw pictures in her album. Soldiers staying with her family in Chippawa, Upper Canada (Ontario), autographed its pages and her future husband, William Anthony Rooth, wrote in the album before and after their marriage.

An early watercolor of Chippawa, UC, by George Heriot (Library and Archives Canada)

This page is the work-in-progress of one of Eliza's great-great-granddaughters. The album itself has now found a home in the Niagara Collection of the James A. Gibson Library's Special Collections and Archives at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. However, with their kind permission, I'm going to continue to share this little slice of Upper Canadian life online. If you can help by deciphering some of the 19th-century handwriting that has defeated me, or if you recognize an ancestor as one of the album's contributors, please do let me know.

The War of 1812

As Eliza began her album, the War of 1812 would still have been fresh in the memories of Chippawa residents and other Upper Canadians living along the Niagara frontier. The battles of Queenston Heights, Fort George and Beaver Dams had all been fought in the region. Eliza’s own grandfather, Lanty Shannon, was a member of the 2nd Lincoln Militia and had been wounded at the Battle of Chippawa in 1814. He “delighted to gather the neighbours around his fireside and tell them stories of the war of 1812-15…” ^[1] Even the war’s famous heroine, Laura Secord, who had walked 30 km from Queenston to warn the British troops at Beaver Dams (Thorold) of an impending American attack, now lived in the village. (See Canada in the War of 1812, War of 1812 Project. )

The 1837 Rebellion in Upper Canada

In 1837, a rebellion rather than a war impacted the lives of people in the area. The Rebellion in Upper Canada, led by William Lyon Mackenzie, began December 5 in Toronto. Mackenzie and his supporters planned to overturn the government and declare the colony a republic. They failed miserably. ^[2] Mackenzie fled to Buffalo, New York, where he proclaimed himself the provisional leader of the new Republic of Canada and managed to rally several hundred Americans to his cause. Navy Island in the Niagara River served as their base of operation for a future attack on Upper Canada. The attack never took place. On December 29, British soldiers and Canadian troops under the leadership of Colonel Allan MacNab defeated the rebels, ending the short-lived rebellion.^[3]

Since Chippawa is only a short distance from the island, the Hepburne family would have had front-row seats, yet again, for another military action. As described in an 1876 historical atlas: "The various disturbances which have taken place along the Niagara River...have been a great reason why many settlers along the line have not built as many fine residences, and as many improvements as in some of the interior townships, for during all of these occurrences troops have been quartered among the citizens, and it may be mentioned that during the Campaign of Navy Island in 1837-38 every house from Chippawa to Black Rock, a distance of 7 miles, was then occupied by troops."^[4]Not surprisingly, signatures of soldiers figure prominently in Eliza’s album.

The Battle of Ridgeway, 1866

The last soldiers to autograph Eliza's album fought against the Fenians at the Battle of Ridgeway on June 2, 1866. They were probably billeted with the Rooth family in Port Colborne.

An illustration drawn in the album by one of Eliza's friends and a painting of roses.

The Entries

The entries in the album and on this page are not in chronological order. Clicking on the thumbnail will take you directly to the photo.

Denison Poem

In truth it is not every book
That's suited to the mind;
In some forever you may look
And no amusement find.
 
But seldom does an album fail
To please both grave and gay;
It teams with many a merry tale
And many a mournful day.
 
Then reader know, whoever thou be
Wise, witty, gay, or sad;
It's like the world in some degree
Made up of good and bad.

Toronto UC September 28th, 1837

The signature of the writer, although it is difficult to read, appears to be Denison. It could be Susan Maria Hepburne. Ann Eliza's sister married John Smith Macklem early in 1834, but he died later that year. Her second husband was Richard Lippincott Denison, who lived in Toronto. Could the signature be his? After all, wouldn't Susan have used her first name in her sister's album? Or was it a contribution by Richard's older brother George Taylor Denison, who served as an officer during the siege of Navy Island? The line beneath the signature was probably written by my great-grandmother Caroline Rooth Sutherland, who tried to identify the signatures throughout the album. Her handwriting leaves much to be desired as well!

McNab Poem

An eight-verse poem fills the page To Miss Hepburne. With exclamation marks aplenty, it reminds the album's owner of the fading of youth, charms lost, life's short journey. "You will please accept the above as a token of sincere regard," writes A. McNab. "Rev A McNab" writes Caroline beneath the signature. I can't seem to find a Reverend McNab in the region, so could Caroline be wrong? Is it just A. McNab?

Colin and John McNab settled along Eight-Mile Creek, but none of their descendants seems to fit the bill. Another possibility is Alexander McNab, a school teacher who taught somewhere in Ontario from 1830 to 1851. Thanks Alexis!

Cummings Poem

In his poem, written at the beginning of a long Upper Canadian winter, this Chippawa neighbor hopes Eliza's life will be full of the blessings of spring. "There is hope around thee – the hope of spring." Thomas Cummings may be Thomas N. Cummings, a grandson of Thomas Cummings, a United Empire Loyalist who is thought to be the first settler of Chippawa.

Meg's Poem

Go little book from flow'r to flow'r
And gather sweets [?] from every bower
And if you pass [?][?] upon
Pluck that sweet flower Forget Me Not

Meg [?]

Caroline didn't bother writing a name under the signature, so Meg may have been well known to the family. According to the Niagara Settlers Land Records for Stamford Township, in 1841 Lanty Shannon willed some land to his three granddaughters: "Susan Maria Denison, Ann Eliza Hepburne and Susan Margaret Lynch."^[5] Did Susan Lynch prefer to be called Meg?

Another possibility is Eliza's stepmother, Margaret Lynch, who died in 1838. Or perhaps it's Margaret Unwin Rooth's signature. Eliza's widowed father-in-law, Benjamin Rooth, married Margaret, a widow and family friend, in 1847.

George Coventry's Poem

Not surprisingly George Coventry (1793-1870) touches on the homesickness of the recent immigrant in his poem. He had arrived in Upper Canada from England in 1835 and settled in the Niagara region, where he worked as a clerk (no doubt the reason his poem is legible). His claim to fame, or at least an entry in the Dictionary of Canadian Biography, is his gathering and transcription of documents relating to the early history of Upper Canada. These now reside in the Public Archives of Canada. He also helped form an Upper Canadian historical society.^[6]

George Coventry's Drawing

George illustrated his poem with this drawing entitled "Shakespeare Cliff, Dover, Kent, England." The White Cliffs of Dover. Before he emigrated to Canada, George had written and published two books and would no doubt have described himself as "a man of letters." In the drawing, he stands on the beach with his head in a book while the fishermen work around him.

This picture in the album, drawn and colored by W. Shaw, reflects the Victorian interest in Chinese decoration.

M.M. Johnson's Poem

This entry is on green paper and difficult to read. It is written to "Mrs. Rooth," so would have been added to the album after Eliza's marriage to William A. Rooth in 1842. The signature seems to be M.M. Johnson and Caroline has added "Drummondville." In the Census of 1851 (Canada West), a Mary M. Johnson lived with her husband Arthur, a farmer, in Bertie Township.^[7]Perhaps this is her poem.

Flowers after flowers come forth in spring
Bird after bird begins to sing...

"To Caroline" Poem

Another poem on green paper, possibly dated November 16, 1850. The initials beside the date seem to be W.A.R., William Anthony Rooth. William's mother, sister and daughter were all Carolines!

Last verse:

So [?] dwell in peace my sister dear
Beneath the [?] dome,
For fast the hour approacheth near
When thou shalt rest at home

Two Poems Contributed by Robert Nelles

These two poems, with the posy illustration sandwiched between, are addressed to Miss Hepburne and were both written on February 27, 1837. Caroline has written R. Nelles and Robert Nelles, Grimsby, over the writer's initials. It is possible that they were contributed by Colonel Robert Nelles.

"To My Wife" Poem

William wrote this poem in the album a day after the Rooths' eighth wedding anniversary. In 1850 the couple had a farm in Bertie, Canada West. The first verse reads:

Eight times the harvest has been gleaned
Since You and I were One,
Yet still it seemed but yesterday
I wooed thee from thy home.

Thank-you Note from Royal Artillery Officer

This is one of the more personal entries in the album. Unfortunately, I can’t decipher the Major’s name. He arrived at Eliza’s home on Christmas Day 1837 and a few days later fell ill. In his album entry he thanks the Hepburnes for taking care of him.

Oliver T. Macklem's Poem

Oliver T. Macklem was Eliza's brother-in-law. He wrote this poem in the album when he was a 24-year-old militia officer. He went on to become a successful businessman in Chippawa.

Thomas Macklem's Poem

Thomas Macklem was another one of Eliza's Macklem brothers-in-law.

John Fennings Taylor's Poem

“Then through the vale of years, you’ll hear
A voice that says, Remember me.”

John Fennings Taylor emigrated to Toronto from England in 1836. Two years later he married Mary Elizabeth Denison, Susan Maria Hepburne Denison's sister-in-law. Fennings Taylor worked as a public servant, rising to a prominent position in the office of the Senate of Canada. However, he was perhaps best known as a biographer. Mary Elizabeth died the year he wrote this entry.

Eliza's ten-year-old son Benjamin drew this picture in his mother's album in 1858.

A Poem Contributed by L.D. Raymond

This original poem was written in Ann Eliza's album by 25-year-old Lorenzo Dulmage Raymond, who became a lawyer. On his 79th birthday, a poem entitled "To the Old Barrister" appeared in the Welland newspaper. Eliza or Caroline clipped it out and fastened it to Raymond's poem in the album.

Soldiers' Autographs, 1866

Most of these autographs were contributed by students from Trinity College, Toronto, who belonged to the Trinity College Rifles. "Early in 1861 Trinity University at Toronto formed its corps, the uniform being like that of Cambridge, grey with scarlet facings. The first captain was Robert B. Denison, under whose zeal and energy high efficiency was attained."^[8]The group fought in the Battle of Ridgeway during the Fenian Raid of early June, 1866. Alex C. Shaw is probably Alexander Croft Shaw, who graduated in 1867 and travelled to Tokyo in 1873 to become a missionary in Japan.^[9] J. Ward Hagar, at twenty, fought with the Welland Canal Field Battery.

Eliza may have seen the H.M.S. Aurora when it was dispatched to the Great Lakes during the Fenian raids in 1866.

A Granddaughter's Poem

Maude Sutherland wrote this short poem, illustrated with an embroidered flower, when her grandmother was 78 and she was 24. Later in her life, Maude was well known in the family for painting floral designs on ceramics.

A pretty cutout at the end of the album with the faded words, "Forget Me Not."

The closed album.

Sources

1. ↑ The History of Freemasonry in Canada by John Ross Robertson (1900)
2. ↑ Canadian Encyclopedia
3. ↑ Wikipedia "William Lyon Mackenzie, Attempted Invasion from Navy Island"
4. ↑ The Illustrated Historical Atlas of the Counties of Lincoln & Welland, Ont. Toronto: H.R. Page & Co., 1876
5. ↑ Stamford Settlers
6. ↑ J. J. Talman, “COVENTRY, GEORGE,” in Canadian Biography
7. ↑ Census of Canada West 1851
8. ↑ Hamilton, James Cleland. Osgoode Hall: Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar. 1904. A Project Gutenberg Canada Ebook.
9. ↑ The Roll of Pupils of Upper Canada College, Toronto. On open library.org.