Oxford County

New Book about Cassie Chadwick

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Hello Everyone,

Thomas Crowl’s new book ‘Queen of the Con’ tells the story of Cassie Chadwick, a successful swindler and con woman. In this very well researched book the life of Cassie Chadwick, born Elizabeth Bigley in 1857, tells the story of her life from her humble beginnings to becoming a clairvoyant, a fraudster, an imposter posing as Andrew Carnegie’s illegitimate daughter and many other cons along the way.

This book is available for purchase from Amazon.ca using this link – Queen of the Con: From a Spiritualist to the Carnegie Imposter

The Village that Straddled a Swamp

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Hello Everyone,

The Oxford Historical Society and the Woodstock Museum, NHS are pleased to once again offer this publication for your reading pleasure.

This wonderful book tells the story of Woodstock Ontario, from 1799 until more modern times.

The Village that Straddled a Swamp will be available for purchase at our booth at the upcoming Arts Market in the old Dairy Capital building. It is $25.00 (taxes included), cash only.

This publication can also be purchased by contacting the Society at info@oxhs.ca or at the Woodstock Museum, NHS gift shop.

Cross Stitch Patterns of Woodstock

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Historic Woodstock Cross Stitch Patterns by Helen Mackenzie

Hello Everyone,

The above cross stitch patterns were designed by Helen Mackenzie. Helen has long admired her adopted home of Woodstock, especially for its preservation of its historical buildings. She has chosen to capture elements of her favourite buildings in cross stitch patterns.

These patterns are available on her Etsy shop page: Blyss Stitch Designs

Complete kits of the patterns are also available for sale at the Woodstock Museum, NHS. The kits include the pattern and all the materials needed – hoop, fabric, needle, embroidery floss etc., to complete each project. Each kit also includes some historical information about the buildings. Contact the Woodstock Museum, NHS for pricing.

Preserving Caroline East’s Home

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Caroline East’s Home
685761 Hwy 2, RR #5, Woodstock ON N4S 7V9
Photo by Doug & Kathie Richards

Caroline East’s house, pictured above, was built in 1839 by Henry Vansittart, for his sister Caroline East. It is a brick 14 room Georgian style house in Eastwood, ON. In June of 2020, the City of Woodstock purchased the property from Dr. R. Corlett and are planning to develop the area as the Northeast Industrial Park.

There are many concerns about conserving the house as it is the last remaining house that Vansittart built. Henry Vansittart’s house in what is now called Vansittart Woods was torn down in the 1950’s, and his son John George Vansittart’s house, which was located at the corner of Lansdowne & Dundas, was torn down when Commercial Print Craft bought the property in the 1980’s. It would be a shame to have the last Vansittart house also demolished. More information about Caroline East and Henry Vansittart can be found in the book “The Governor’s Road”, by Mary Byers & Margaret McBurney, on page 239. The book is available from the Woodstock Public Library.

The City of Woodstock has commissioned a study of the Northeast Industrial Park, https:// www.cityofwoodstock.ca/en/city-governance/municipal-studies-and-plans.aspx#Northeast-Industrial- Park-Planning–Servicing-Study

The Oxford Historical Society is asking for the public support in helping to preserve this lovely home. To voice your support please use the above link to read about the proposed land use and how to contact city representatives.

Doug Symons’ Tribute

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Hello Everyone,

Please read this guest post from the Woodstock Museum, NHS.

Give a shout out to historical stories!

In honour of the re-release of Doug Symons’ popular book “The Village that Straddled a Swamp”, the Woodstock Museum would like your help in reminiscing about a favourite piece of writing or photo from the book, and also if you have memories of Doug personally you’d like to share.

Please look through the book, choose an article, a photo, a quote or two about a certain local history site or story you find meaningful or interesting to you and share that story with the Museum. We would like to do a short bit of filming to pay tribute to Doug’s writings in a specific local history way. Some memories may be included in an upcoming exhibit related to “The Village that Straddle a Swamp”.

If you want to participate but are unsure of what to highlight we have some prepared prompts for anyone not familiar with the book. A voice recording may also be an option. If possible, we would like to set up a time for you to come into the museum during the first week or two of November.

Contact Kerrie Gill to set up a time at (519) 537-8411 ext. 2903 or kgill@cityofwoodstock.ca