PH26639 - A Heritage Moment... The Illustrated Witness, a memento from 1906, now available

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Community : Bradford
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Description : A copy of the May 31, 1906 Bradford Witness owned by Rose Magloughlen, who inherited from her aunt, Florence Batchelor. Rose loaned the copy to the Historical Association, which had it copied and compiled in book format. The edition was written 102 years ago, when Bradford was almost 50 years old - but still had a population of only around 1,000. There were 4 churches, a public school and a high school, one policeman, and a whole variety of shopkeepers and service providers. Travel was by real horse power, and about this time, the wooden sidewalks in town were replaced with smooth cement - but you still had to dodge the puddles and muddy spots when crossing dirt streets on a rainy day. This "illustrated edition" of The Witness was special and expensive to print, because it not only told of the many business and professional offices and manufacturing works within the Town, it contained many pictures that had to be engraved prior to being printed. The editor, Mr. Edmund Garrett, wrote in his preamble, "It is hoped, however, that this number will possess vastly more interest than that of any publication ever gotten up in the village - interesting alike to present dwellers in our midst and to the thousands who have gone from us to dwell in other places." Even today, folks returning to Bradford to search for their roots are surprised to find a story and a picture of an earlier generation of their family in this publication - including information about Bradford's very first land developer, Letitia Magee. The book was out of print, but the Bradford West Gwillimbury Local History Association decided to reprint it as another reminder of the past, on the 150th Anniversary of the founding of Bradford. Copies are only $10 each.