December 2022 Branch Update

Essex Branch Presentations 

Our monthly educational presentations are held virtually. Our presentations are free and open to the public. Simply register at the links below.
Don’t forget that past presentations have been recorded and archived for you on our YouTube Channel  which is free and open to everyone. 

DATE: February 15, 2023, Wednesday (7:00 P.M.)
TOPIC: DNA Does Not Lie
Jane Teskey has been using DNA testing for many years to assist with her family history research. Along the way, Jane has encountered results which range from interesting to shocking. She will discuss potential results that your family may not be ready for.
Everyone is welcome to join us virtually. Register HERE.

That small log building close to County Road 3 at the easterly edge of Cottam could tell us much about area history if it could reveal its secrets. Said by some to be the oldest building in the Cottam area, it played a role in Gosfield North’s military history. There was a company known as the North Ridge Rifles and the men stored the powder for their muskets in the basement of that little building. 

Since the Essex Free Press of July 1898 lists the surviving members of the North Ridge Rifles after the Fenian Raids, we know it is more than 100 years old since the raids began in 1871. As for the North Ridge Rifles, it is reported that it was formed because the people of this area were afraid the border would not be protected during the Civil War of 1861 to 1865. The mayor of Windsor wrote to the Governor General of Canada to ask for two companies of soldiers and a battery artillery to be sent to Windsor as defense of the border. Apparently, there were a large number of volunteers from surrounding communities. 

In December 1861, Squire W. H. BILLING was appointed to form a company of soldiers. It became the North Ridge Rifles and was composed of the tallest men with the best shooting skills. Steven G. BROOKER was the first to enlist. Later Squire BILLING received commission as captain. 

It is interesting to note that Squire BILLING, as church warden of Trinity Anglican Congregation, was assisting with plans for a church building. He held a meeting to discuss the plans at his home in August 1865. Much of the construction labor was done by volunteers but the Fenian Raids, according to Gosfield North Township history, interrupted the work. 

Why the soldiers kept their powder for their musket’s loaders in the basement of the little building is not known. Nor do we know where the men met for training. Since the company name is North Ridge, we assume they did not meet at the site of this building since it is east of Cottam.  

The Free Press has a list of those who lived on Talbot Road in Gosfield North Township in 1860 and 1861, as written by William MILLEN of Cottam. It was handed to his grandson, W. A. MILLEN in 1905 who gave it to the Free Press in 1960. 

We cannot list the names here because we are not able to read some of them. We do see that William E. WAGSTAFF owned the northwest part of 268, on the south side of Talbot Road. Mrs. Elton FLINT, who now lives on the property where this little building stands, told the Free Press that a Major from the English Army obtained the farm as Crown land and that his name was WAGSTAFF. 

This record we have of 1860 says that W. E. WAGSTAFF named the village (or hamlet) Cottam after a village in England. It reports also that WAGSTAFF was the first Cottam postmaster. This record contradicts the “legend” in the Gosfield North history that a young Indian caught a deer where the two roads, (Belle River and Talbot) intersected and yelled, “Got ‘em,” and that is how Cottam got its name. 

If we may digress here, MILLEN’s report of 1860 says Squire BILLING surveyed the north part of lot 275 into village lots and named it North Ridge. Also it states that the Squire was the first postmaster of that hamlet. His further claim is that North Ridge had the first post office in the north part of Gosfield.  

MILLEN reported there were no settlers in Gosfield south of Talbot Road. However, his prior paragraph affirms his list to be of parties who own the land on Talbot Road in the Township of Gosfield North in the years 1860 and 1861. Do we interpret that to mean there were no settlers on the south side other than those who lived along Talbot Road? 

He went on to write, “All there was living in Gosfield North, north of Talbot Road, was Mrs. William BROOKER, John BROOKER and Stephen BROOKER.” He continues to define lots owned on the 9th concession, mentioning David HENSMAN, William MILLEN (presumably himself) John MILLEN, Charles and William HELKIE and two others which we cannot decipher. 

Then the writer notes that the Belle River Road in 1861 was opened for 1 1/2 miles from Talbot Road and he added that Benjamin GALL kept the first store in the township. We are not certain the first letter of the surname is G. 

MILLEN concluded his report with, “There are only eight descendants of the owners of the lands on Talbot Road in North Gosfield in 1860 that own any of those lots on Talbot Road today.” Unfortunately, he never indicated the date when he wrote this report. 

That was a long digression. Now back to the little building when Major WAGSTAFF owned the land. He grew grapes and stored the wine he made in the cellar. He passed the farm to Arthur FLINT who in turn left it to Elton FLINT. It is Mrs. Elton FLINT who gave us the story of the little old building which led to all this rambling about history of Cottam and North Ridge.  

She tells us that the rear of the farm was the swampy home of reptiles and fur-bearing animals. Some of the animals were trapped and sent to Windsor alive, in crates, on the Leamington-Windsor street railway to be sold for their fur. And there is another story for another time.  

This article appeared in the Essex Free Press newspaper on January 5, 1994.