Learn about a Tillsonburg hero... or rogue
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It is up to you to decide… was Dr. Tillson Lever Harrison a hero or rogue?
Known as ‘Dixie,’ he was from the premier family in Tillsonburg, great-grandson of our founder George Tillson, and first grandson of E.D. Tillson via his daughter Harriet Adele Tillson.
Dixie was the stuff that movies are made. A handsome, romantic man! An adventurer! A saver of lives! A man who left his home to roam about the world (literally) and died an honest to goodness hero in China! Sounds like a hero, doesn’t it! Yet on his adventures he left a wake of heartache and debt behind him.
George Bernard Shaw wrote in his play Major Barbara, “Every reasonable man and woman is a potential scoundrel and a potential good citizen. What a man is depends upon his character, what’s inside. What he does and what we think of what he does depends on upon his circumstances.”
So, any one of us could be moved to be hero or do terrible things. Although most lives are moderate, without the motivation or circumstances to do either, Dixie’s life was the extreme opposite.
You will have the chance to follow Dixie’s amazing life in China’s Hero: Dr. Tillson Lever Harrison, at the first presentation of this year’s Lunch and Learns at Annandale NHS (30 Tillson Ave) on Thursday, Feb. 27 or Friday, Feb. 28, at 12 p.m. Presented by me.
All Aboard! The Continuing Story of Tillsonburg’s Railroad History, presented by Joan Weston, will be the second in the series on Thursday, March 26 or Friday, March 27 at 12 p.m.
Like in the western movies, if you could lure the railroad to your town, it would boom. It was like that everywhere in Canada, including Tillsonburg, and last season Joan talked about how the five railroads were lured here and created our boom in the 1860s. As with most research, you end up with so much fascinating information that a single presentation is just not enough time. This season you will get the rest of the story!
The third Lunch and Learn is about an event 114 years ago when on April 18, 1906, with no warning, an estimated 8.25 earthquake destroyed San Francisco at 5:12 a.m., killing 3,000 people. It hit 2 miles off shore, rupture 296 miles of the San Andreas Fault and was felt from L.A. to Oregon and inland to Nevada. The devastation was terrible all over, but much worse in the city because of the resulting fires due to broken gas lines which lasted for days. Little was left standing in the end and over 200,000 people were homeless. Think about the times. This was a big city with tall brick buildings, a commercial core. The wealthy had piped gas for lights and motorized vehicles cars but they didn’t have the resources to handle this.
What is the connection to the Great San Francisco Earthquake and Tillsonburg? Letters! Firsthand accounts of the event. How marvelous is that? Patricia Phelps, Annandale NHS curator, will tell you all about it after lunch on Thursday, April 23 or Friday, April 24 at 12 p.m.
The art of millinery is returning, fueled by our Royal Family, and hopefully will cross the pond to Canada so we can give the baseball caps back to the boys!
Kathleen Watkin, newest member of our museum staff will be giving the last historic talk in the series, Hats, Hats & More Hats: The Story of Tillsonburg’s Millinery Departments.
How important were women’s hats in Tillsonburg? Well, you could only be caught dead not wearing one! More importantly a Millinery shop was one of the few businesses a woman was allowed to run and if you had the artistic flare, you might also be the milliner designing and making the hats one at a time.
One of Tillsonburg ladies in the business was Mrs. Croely, who in 1864 had shop with bonnets, mantles, hats and dressmaking. In 1905, Anna Croely was doing the same at 197 Broadway (Scotia Bank today). There were many millinery stores in town who also supplied other products and hats. But, if you wanted a ‘one of a kind’ stunning hat like today’s Princess Kate, you went to the specialist who, like Mrs. M.T. Tisdale, who ran a millinery emporium.
“Mrs. Tisdale makes a specialty of millinery alone, and the ladies of Tillsonburg and surrounding country who patronize her are universal in their praises of her art and of her stock.”
Hats, Hats & More Hats: The Story of Tillsonburg’s Millinery Departments is Thursday, May 28 or Friday, May 29 at 12 p.m. Enjoy a catered lunch and historical talk on a choice is days for $25. I am not sure so ask if there is a series discount. You must book in advance so pop into Annandale NHS or call 519-842-2294 soon as seating is limited and these are very popular. Bring a friend!
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