Wilfrid Laurier University Scholars Commons @ Laurier Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) 2010 The Thompsons’ Town: Family, Industry, and Material Culture in Indiana, Ontario, 1830–1900 Laura Kathleen Quirk Wilfrid Laurier University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd Part of the Social History Commons Recommended Citation Quirk, Laura Kathleen, "The Thompsons’ Town: Family, Industry, and Material Culture in Indiana, Ontario, 1830–1900" (2010). Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive). 1086. https://scholars.wlu.ca/etd/1086 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive) by an authorized administrator of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTE TO USERS This reproduction is the best copy available. 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I+I Canada The Thompsons' Town: Family, Industry, and Material Culture in Indiana, Ontario 1830-1900 by Laura Kathleen Quirk BA Archaeology, Wilfrid Laurier University, 1997 MA Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, 2001 MA History, Wilfrid Laurier University, 2002 Dissertation Submitted to the Department of History In partial fulfillment of the requirement for Doctor of Philosophy Wilfrid Laurier University @ Laura Kathleen Quirk, 2010 i Abstract This study considers the industrial development and subsequent decline of the town of Indiana, Ontario, during the years 1830 - 1900, a period of intense socioeconomic change and population mobility. This dissertation applies interdisciplinary frameworks, especially those derived from archaeological inquiry, in order to assess the documentary evidence and also the material culture of nineteenth-century Indiana, in the interests of understanding both the historic process of rural industrialization by means of a case study and also the elusive processes of social and familial interaction in the Ontario towns caught up by the swirl of socioeconomic change during this period. How, and why, did a town of such promise reach its peak and then decline, in a short span of time between 1830 and 1900, especially when it was so well-positioned to succeed? Why did Indiana fail when other towns of the district succeeded? Residents of what was, until the 1860s, the largest industrial town in Haldimand County, sustained complex relationships and alliances with employers, employees, family members, and the wider community, shaped by, and in turn affecting, the relations of class, gender, race, family, and age. Life in nineteenth century Ontario was based on these ever- widening and interrelated circles of membership and relationship. There were families that stayed together whenever possible for economic and social reasons, but there were also affiliations based on patron-client relationships, religion or race, as well as the less obvious connections with home and landscape. The Thompson family, headed in turn by David Thompson and his son David Thompson II, owned ii numerous businesses in Indiana and consequently were involved in many of these circles of relationship as these developed through the process of growth and expansion that, for several decades, characterized this town. This study of Indiana suggests that rural industrialization, as a larger transformative process in nineteenth-century Ontario, frequently entailed rapid growth followed by stasis, and, not infrequently, as Indiana's case demonstrates, decline and disappearance. The data, both textual and artifactual, also support the notion of a fairly representative social hierarchy in the town, based on class and status as defined by occupation, personal wealth, and familial and community standing - all in relation to the male family head - but also delineated by race, religion, gender, age and country of origin. iii Acknowledgements The educational journey that I have been on has been the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. I have wanted to obtain my doctorate for as long as I can remember. Along the way I have been blessed with the love and support of many wonderful people and I feel like I will be unable to thank them adequately. However, I must begin with Dr. Cindy Comacchio. I simply cannot imagine an advisor who could be more supportive or helpful than you. Words cannot express my appreciation for everything you have done to help make this an exciting and enjoyable process. Gratitude feels so inadequate and words are failing me in this endeavour, but I do want to thank you from the bottom of my heart. I also wish to thank Dr. Catharine Wilson and Dr. John Triggs, my other advisors who have helped me fine-tune and clarify my work. I had the good fortune to have taken courses with all of you as a graduate student and I benefitted greatly from your advice and assistance during the writing of my dissertation. I want to thank Dr. Dean Knight, you were a professor of mine as an undergraduate student in archaeology at Wilfrid Laurier, and are now a friend. I have so appreciated your support and encouragement as I have progressed in my university career. I will never forget your willingness to let me assist with AR460, as it gave me a taste for teaching that I am now hungry for. I wish to thank Marilynn Havelka and your team at Ruthven Park National Historic Site. You gave me open access to the documents at Ruthven, without which I would not have been able to learn about the lives of everyday workers in iv Indiana. I am extremely grateful for your encouragement, friendship and your willingness to share so much. I want to applaud the work of Lynne Doyle, Administrative Assistant in the History Department at Wilfrid Laurier. Lynne you have been invaluable on so many levels and I wish to acknowledge my gratitude for your efforts. I would also like to mention how much I appreciated the guidance of Dr. Susan Neylan, Graduate Officer at Wilfrid Laurier. You helped make this whole process so much more human. Thank you! I am indebted to the kind assistance of Sylvia Weaver and Dan Walker who shared their knowledge of St. Rose of Lima church and cemetery, as well as information on the Irish Catholics who built Indiana but who have largely been ignored. It was a pleasure to have such an open dialogue on this topic. I would like to take this opportunity of extending my heartfelt thanks to all of my friends and chosen family, who have guided, supported and held me up during these long years of following this dream. I particularly want to thank Cathy, Heather, Kim and Cheri. I love you all so very much. Finally, I want to dedicate this dissertation to my grandmother, Evelyn Kennedy, who did not live to see me achieve this dream but who is cheering me on, wherever she is. V Table of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgements ii Introduction: Indiana in Socio-Historical Context 1 i. History and Geography: Grand River Navigation 5 ii. The Rural-Industrial Period 11 iii. Industry, Family and Material Culture: Interconnections 16 iv. The Evidence: History, Archaeology and Ruthven Historic Site 19 v. The Archaeological Literature: A Select Review 21 vi. The Historic Literature: A Select Review 26 Endnotes 40 Chapter 1: Life Stories - The Town and the Thompsons 50 i. David Thompson I: The Early Years 50 ii. The Grand River Navigation Company 54 iii. David Thompson I: After the GRNC Debacle 62 iv. The Heir and Successor: David Thompson II (1836-1886) 69 v. Construction Projects 79 Endnotes 91 Chapter 2: Life and Labour in Indiana - What the Numbers Tell Us 109 i. The Sources 109 ii. The Database: Assessing the Information 112 iii. The Process of Identification 116 iv. Occupations: The Workers of Indiana 118 v. People on the Move: Transiency in Indiana 122 vi. Children in Indiana: Work, School and Health 125 vii. Race in Indiana: The Black Community 130 viii. Faith and Church: Religious Affiliation in Indiana 132 ix. In-Migration: Where did Indiana Residents Come from? 136 x.