When reading through old newspapers, mentions of familiar places and names are always exciting. The following appeared in the Oshawa Vindicator, 22 May 1867:
Social – On the afternoon of the 24th inst., a social in connection with the Ladies’ Aid Society, of the Christian Church, will be held at Elder Henry’s, Port Oshawa. Tea will be served at six p.m. A programme has been prepared for the occasion, one item of which is an essay from the pen of Mrs. P.A. Henry.
An evening spent by the lake listening to the writings of Polly Henry sounds like a lovely way to have spent and evening, almost 156 years ago.
Hello all! I’m Jay, the Co-op student for the next couple of months! I’m currently in grade 11, and I’ve definitely been enjoying my time here at the Oshawa Museum.
Growing up with someone who loves photography truly changes your perspective on everyday things. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t really enjoy photography for a little while, and every time my mom stopped to take pictures along our nature adventures, I’d groan and complain a little.
Little did I know, here I am, five years later, taking pictures as if I’ve always loved doing it.
In the later months of 2022, I really fell in love with photography again. Sunrises truly awoken the photography side of me, due to me having to “rise with the sun” to catch my bus to school. Each morning, I’d walk outside and see the beautiful sun and all the colours in the sky. I’d whip out my phone and snap multiple pictures of the sunrise.
Inside A Carrying Place, Spring 2023
Now, one thing I loved growing up was history. I was the biggest history nerd in my class, and all my friends got to experience my weekly spiel about something new I learned (they still do).
Since I’d been placed at the Oshawa Museum for my co-op class, I’ve gotten to experience things I normally wouldn’t and that includes some amazing picture opportunities. Disregarding the fact that the museum is beside Lake Ontario, it’s a beautiful place with decades of love put into it.
Inside the Henry House Bedroom, Spring 2023View through the Henry House Kitchen window, Spring 2023
Despite spending most of my time in the Guy House, I saw lots of opportunities to take pictures of the houses and things inside I thought were super cool. Whether it’s while I’m waiting for something or I’m just popping in to put something back, the views at the Oshawa Museum never cease to stun me.
Henry House, spring 2023
As spring draws near, I’m really looking forward to experiencing the Oshawa Museum surrounded by nature and the lake!
While on tour, our Visitor Hosts are often asked questions that they may not be able to answer in that moment. However, we take note of the questions and try to find the answers afterwards. Here are a few of the questions that we were asked throughout 2022
Is John Henry, former Oshawa Mayor and current Durham Regional Chair, related to the Henry family?
We asked His Worship this question upon his first election as Mayor in 2010, and he claimed that there was no connection.
What year is the Fire Insurance Map from?
In Robinson House, in the Leaving Home, Finding Home in Oshawa exhibit, there is a large map showcasing a neighbourhood in Oshawa with many landmarks of significance to the eastern European community. That map dates to 1948, and you can read more about it in a previous blog post!
Did the Henry family know how to speak French?
As far as we know, it doesn’t seem to be a language that was spoken at home. The 1891 Census has a column for ‘French Canadian,’ 1901 has a column for ‘Mother Tongue’ and 1911 has a column for ‘Language Commonly Spoken;’ the Henry siblings all indicate English in these columns.
In 1960, Thomas’s Granddaughter, Arlie DeGuerre, shared family history in The Life and Times of Thomas Henry. When recalling Thomas’s War of 1812 involvement, she stated,
“Thomas Henry… was employed to attend this new Judge on an official trip to Montreal. He remained in Montreal a month and learned something of the French language” (page 2).
A grain of salt is always taken when using this source as there are some inaccuracies within.
Did the Henry family have a cat/have pets?
This was one I was also asked on a tour this fall. The 1851 Agricultural Return tells us that, for livestock, they had:
4 bulls, oxen or steers
4 milch cows (a cow in milk or kept for her milk)
3 cows/heifers
3 horses
27 sheep (with 100 lbs of wool)
7 pigs
There is no apparently mention to pets in the Memoir of Thomas Henry, nor any mention in Arlie DeGuerre’s writings.
The last Henry family member to live in Henry House was William. He lived there until the 1910s. Between 1917 and into the early 1920s, the Mackie family called the house home. It was used for a time as a ‘rest room’ for mothers, a place to rest while their children were playing in the park. It was home to Nasion and Emelline (Ned & Lina) Smith from the 1930s to 1942, and Harry Smith, a Parks Board of Management employee and in charge of Lakeview Park maintenance, lived in the home into the 1950s.
The Mackie Family and friend outside Henry House, c. 1920; from the Oshawa Museum archival collection (A983.3.8)
In 1959, the Oshawa Historical Society received word that they could use Henry House as a local museum. Doors opened in 1960, and we’ve welcomed thousands of visitors every year since.
Opening of Henry House, May 1960; Oshawa museum archival collection
Over the summer, I had the pleasure of leading tours. While in Henry House, I had multiple visitors, on different tours, ask about the music box in the parlour. Besides providing basic information that the object was a music box, I was left feeling that there was more to this music box than its appearance.
Henry House Music Box
The music box in Henry House is a pinned cylinder music box made by Langdorff & Fils. Langdorff & Fils were music box makers located in Geneva, Switzerland and active between 1850-1870. They made cylinder music boxes with their signature harp and music sheet decorated on top.
995.1.1 Top view. You can see the signature Langdorff & Fils stamp, although ours has wind instruments instead of a harp.
Cylinder music boxes, like ours, were the first music boxes to be widely used in homes in the mid to late 1800s. The first music box appeared in the late 1700s in Switzerland and is credited to Swiss watchmaker, Antoine Favre. Based off the advancements made in mechanical watches, early music boxes used the same movements: notes produced by a revolving disc with teeth around the edges.
Author Gilbert Bahl says, “The [cylinder] music box is actually based on a very simple principle: metal teeth which are tuned to scale in a variety of ways are plucked by pins projecting from a revolving cylinder. These pins are set in the cylinder in such a way that they pluck the teeth of the comb at precisely the right moment.”
The popularity of music boxes over the next fifty years led to many improvements, including its incorporation into decorative household items, longer and larger cylinders to play more music, and further mechanization that allowed simply pushing a button to play instead of having to hand crank the player.
Our music box is powered by hand, with a crank for the cylinder on the left side. On the right side of the box, you can see two switches. One is the stop and play switch, while the other is to repeat or change songs. As well, our music box is within a very stylish box that can be set up in any room, ours being in the parlour. The label inside the music box says the cylinder plays twelve songs, including waltzes, polka, and some opera songs, all in either French or German.
995.1.1 Inside top view.
A lasting history
As I researched music boxes, I realised that I, too, had music boxes in my parents’ house. Something that spoke to me that Bahl wrote was the timelessness of the music box. I was reminded of the ballerina music box my mom had as a child and still has today and, as Bahl explores, how hearing the music from a music box connects us to the past. We realise that we are listening to music that was also listened to and enjoyed by people many years ago. Mine are not that old, but I still adore them and think that maybe someone in some future will listen to them too.
A hand crank music box within a plastic piano. I am not sure what song it playsA simple hand crank music box. This one plays ‘Let it be’ by the Beatles.
Sources consulted
Bahl, G. (1993). Music Boxes: The Collector’s Guide to Selecting, Restoring, and Enjoying New and Vintage Music Boxes. Running Press Book Publishers.
While on tour, our Visitor Hosts are often asked questions that they may not be able to answer in that moment. However, we take note of the questions and try to find the answers afterwards. Here are a few questions we’ve been asked this summer and their answers.
What is the roof of Henry House made of?
The roof at Henry House is made from cedar shingles. It was last replaced in 2013, and the lifespan of these shingles is at least 25 years (according to my Google skills). Here is a side by side comparison from 2011 and then November 2013, not long after it was replaced.
Henry House, 2011Henry House, 2013
Beams of drive shed – where are they from?
The Drive Shed! The Drive Shed was a 50th anniversary project for the Oshawa Historical Society. The idea for an additional exhibition area was launched in 2007 during the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Oshawa Historical Society. The Board of Directors wished to commemorate this milestone with a permanent, tangible addition to the museum complex and the City’s lakefront property. The Drive Shed is a timber frame structure, built by students from Fleming College, Haliburton Campus. The opening for the Drive Shed was celebrated in September 2009.
Drive Shed, Winter 2013
What was style of the sash in the community room?
In A Carrying Place: Oshawa’s Indigenous Story, there is a sash, on loan from the Oshawa-Durham Métis Council.
Métis sash, and other items on display from the Oshawa Durham Métis Council
The origins of the sash reflect the diversity of the Métis experience. The finger-weaving technique used to make the sash was firmly established in Eastern Woodland Indigenous Peoples Traditions. The technique created tumplines, garters and other useful household articles and items of clothing. Plant fibers were used prior to the introduction of wool. Wool and the sash, as an article of clothing, were introduced to the Eastern Woodland peoples by Europeans. The Six Nations Confederacy, Potowatami and other First Nations of the area blended the two traditions into the finger-woven sash.
The French settlers of Québec created the Assomption variation of the woven sash. The sash was a popular trade item manufactured in a cottage industry in the village of L’Assomption, Québec. The Québécois and the Métis of Western Canada were their biggest customers. Sashes were also made by local Métis artisans. Sashes of Indigenous or Métis manufacture tended to be of a softer and loose weave, frequently incorporating beads in the design.
The sash was used by the Métis as a practical item of clothing. It was decorative, warm and could be used to replace a rope to tumpline if none were available. The sash has been the most persistent element of traditional Métis dress, worn long after the capote and the Red River coat were replaced by European styles. The Métis share the sash with two other groups who also claim it as a symbol of nationhood and cultural distinction. It was worn by Eastern Woodland Indigenous Peoples as a sign of office in the 19th century. It was worn by French Canadians during the Lower Canada Rebellion in 1837. It is still considered to be an important part of traditional dress for both of these groups.
Inside A Carrying Place: Oshawa’s Indigenous Story; this display features items from the Oshawa Durham Métis Council
Are the three families still around today?
Yes! Every year, we get people coming into the museum and saying that they are descended from either the Henry, Robinson, or Guy families. Because Guy House was a triplex for many years before becoming the Museum’s admin building, we will also have visitors tell us that they, or someone they know, lived in Guy House in the past.
Henry descendants presenting Isabelle Hume with the Henry Family Bible, c. 1990 (AX994.62.1)
Oshawa Museum Blog 