The Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society was established November 24, 1978. The reason for forming the Historical Society was to try and save the old mill for which Millbrook was named after. The society helped mark the 100th birthday of Millbrook village with a historical display at the Masonic Lodge. They produced a four-page tabloid entitled "Millbrook Messenger" after an early newspaper. The tabloid contained articles of historical interest with photographs of the railway station, the Deyell monument, the fire of 1960 and three of the several mills in the Village. The Society helped organize Historical House tours in the township. In 1985 the Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society received a Heritage Award. In 1990 the Society produced and published "This Green and Pleasant Land: Chronicles of Cavan Township". Not only does the Historical Society provide a source of fundraising for historical projects it also acquires, preserves and makes available for research historical items and artifacts from quilts to furniture and from wills, deeds, debentures to marriage and birth certificates, photographs, diaries and other records. (Taken from: This Green and Pleasant Land: Chronicles of Cavan Township. The Millbrook and Cavan Historical Society, 1990.)
The Township of Cavan, located in the United Counties of Northumberland and Durham (previously Durham County), was first surveyed in 1817 by Samuel G. Wilmot (who also surveyed North Monaghan and Smith Townships). The land which was to become Cavan Township was virgin forest, untouched by Europeans, and no longer considered Indigenous territory. Wilmot was assisted by John Deyell, who, with James Deyell were two of the first settlers in Cavan Township. They established a mill on a brook in 1824, and as a result, were the founders of the village of Millbrook. John Deyell was also responsible for the name of the township, Cavan County, being a neighbour of Monaghan County, the County in Ireland from whence he came. Cavan Township was settled quite quickly. The same year it was surveyed, 115 lots were ticketed. By the next year, 1818, a further 160 lots were ticketed. The total population of the township in 1819 was 244. Many of the pioneer settlers of the new township were either military men who were given land grants for their services in the War of 1812, or Irish emigrants, many who were from County Cavan in Ireland. In 1825, the population reached 936; ten years later, in 1835, the population had more than doubled to 2,575. Cavan continued grow, and its population peaked in 1861, at 4,901.
Millbrook is situated in Cavan Township in East Durham County of Ontario. The first settler was John Deyell who established a mill on a brook and hence the name of the Village: Millbrook. (Taken from: Brief History of Cavan Township and Millbrook Village from the year 1816 to 1837. Millbrook: Mirror Reporter Print, 1937.)
Millbrook is situated in Cavan Township in East Durham County of Ontario. The first settler was John Deyell who established a mill on a brook and hence the name of the Village; Millbrook. (Taken from: Brief History of Cavan Township and Millbrook Village from the year 1816 to 1837. Millbrook: Mirror Reporter Print, 1937.)
Isabella Brownlie was born in approximately 1828 in Scotland. Her mother died in childbirth and her father remarried. She had a number of sisters and a brother Claud. Isabella was brought to Otonabee, Upper Canada at the age of eight, from Scotland, by William Christie and his mother as a servant. She married James Miller who was from Perthshire, Scotland on December 1, 1845. They settled on land in Otonabee Township, half a mile from the Otonabee River. They had five sons: William Wallace, born December 29, 1846; Thomas Menzies, born September 18, 1849; James, born October 23, 1852; Peter, born September 4, 1859, died October 11, 1859; and John Claud, born October 14, 1863. They also had two daughters: Isabelle Fulton, born August 5, 1848; and Margaret Ann, born May 7, 1855. Isabella died September 8, 1869.
John Miller was born in Keene, Ontario and was the son of Isabella Brownlie Miller and James Miller. His siblings were William, Thomas, James, Peter, Isabelle, and Margaret. He attended Queen's University from 1882 to 1886 and worked for the Mail and Empire and the News as a journalist. He was also a world traveller and an avid canoeist.
William O. Mitchell (W.O.) was born in 1914 at Weyburn, Saskatchewan. He grew up in Florida and came back to Canada in 1931 to study at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. After travelling around North America and Europe he finished his BA at the University of Alberta and became a rural school teacher. He gave this up in 1944 to write full-time and was published in 1947 with Who has seen the wind. From 1948 to 1951 he was the fiction editor for McLeans Magazine and lived in Toronto, Ontario. He published a number of books, radio shows and poetry. Mitchel died in 1998. (Taken from: The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Great Britain: Cambridge University Press, 1993.)
Dorothy Moir attended University of Toronto in the Faculty of Arts program and was enrolled in the 1st year Household Science course in the 1926-1927 academic year.
Mary Jane Moncrief was a school girl in South Monaghan in 1861.
Gilbert C. Monture was born on August 27, 1896 on the Six Nations Reserve, Brant County, Ontario. He was the great grandson of Joseph Brant. In 1921, he received his Bachelor of Science degree in Mining and Metallurgy from Queen's University. Monture enlisted in World War I as a gunner in the Royal Canadian Field Artillery. In 1923 he became editor of publications for the Dominion Department of Mines and in 1929 became chief of the Division of Mineral Economics of the Mines Branch in Ottawa. During World War II, Monture worked in the Department of Munitions and Supply. Monture resigned from government service in 1956 and was appointed vice-president of Stratmat, a Canadian minerals exploration and development company. In 1957, he received the Indian Achievement Award of the Indian Council Fire for notable contributions in his field. In 1958, he was appointed honorary chief of the Mohawk tribe of the Six Nations Reserve at Brantford. He was elected a member of the Order of Canada, and in 1966 received a Vanier Medal. Monture served on the Board of Governors of Trent University from 1966-1973, and Monture House, near Rubidge Hall, was named after him. He died on June 19, 1973 in Ottawa.
Susanna Moodie (nee Strickland), born December 6, 1803 at Bungay, England, was the youngest daughter of Thomas Strickland and Elizabeth Homer. The Strickland's were a literary family of whom Catharine Parr Traill and Samuel Strickland are best known in Canada, as well as their sister Susanna Moodie. Susanna began to seriously pursue her literary career in 1818, after the death of her father. In 1831, Susanna moved to London, England were she became associated with the Anti-Slavery Society. For the society she wrote two antislavery tracts, "The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave" (1831) and "Negro Slavery Described by a Negro" (1831). While working in London, she met her future husband John Wedderburn Dunbar Moodie. They were wed April 4, 1831. In July 1832, Susanna, John, and their eldest child emigrated to the Cobourg region of Upper Canada. After two unsuccessful attempts at farming in this area, the Moodie family moved to Belleville in 1840. In Belleville, Susanna wrote and published a number of works, primarily romantic fiction. From 1847 to 1848, both Susanna and her husband edited and wrote for Victoria Magazine. In 1852, she published Roughing it in the Bush which is her best known literary work. The books to follow included Life in the Clearings, published in 1853, and Flora Lyndsay, published in 1854. Susanna Moodie lived in Belleville until the death of her husband in 1869. She then moved to the Toronto area where she continued to live until her death, April 8, 1885.
In 1840, three Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries were sent from England, to Moose Factory, to bring the Gospel to the Indians of the region. Reverend George Barnley, one of the three missionaries, made the fort at Moose Factory the centre of his eight year ministry, where he built St. Thomas Church (later St. Thomas Anglican Church). When this mission was closed by the Methodists in 1848, it was vacant for several years before the Church Missionary Society of the Church of England sent Reverend John Horden to Moose Factory in 1851. He later became the first Bishop of the diocese of Moosonee in 1872. He died in Moosonee in 1893.
Frank Morris was, firstly, a classics master at Trinity School , Port Hope, Ontario. After acquiring a Master of Arts degree at the University of Toronto, Morris joined the staff of Peterborough Collegiate Institute and taught Classics and English there from 1913 to 1936. He was an enthusiastic naturalist and photographer, and, with Edward Eames wrote Our Wild Orchids (New York: Scribner and Sons, 1929).
Francis J.A. Morris was born in a parsonage near the town of Crieff, in Perthshire, Scotland. Living in the country, he developed a passion for nature very early in life, and, with his brother, Charles, he enthusiastically investigated the various forms of flora and fauna in the countryside. Morris' father died when he was thirteen, and the family was forced to move to a suburb of London. There he entered Dalwich College to study the Classics and English Literature, and with his brother and a friend, continued to make excursions into the country to collect insects. Through his studies, Frank developed an interest in Darwin and the theory of evolution. Later, he continued his study of the Classics and English Literature at Balliot College, Oxford. His encounters with Wordsworth's poetry added to his own emotional feelings towards nature. In 1895, at the age of twenty-five, Frank Morris came to Canada and attended the School of Pedagogy in Toronto. There, he came under the influence of Dr. William Brodie who introduced him to Canadian natural history. In 1896, Morris joined the staff of Smith's Falls High School. There, the science teacher taught Morris some basic scientific botany and the use of identification keys. In 1899, he returned to Toronto to carry on more pedagogic study. By 1900, he had become the Classics Master at Trinity College School in Port Hope. He spent thirteen years there, during which time he married Miss Elma Walker. In 1911, he attended the University of Toronto to take a Master of Arts Degree and a Specialists Certificate in Classics. In 1913, he was appointed to the staff of the Peterborough Collegiate Institute, where he first taught Classics and later became head of the English Department. He remained in this position until ill health forced him to retire in 1936. Francis J.A. Morris died 31 December 1949.
David R. Morrison was born in 1941. He held several positions at Trent University: Professor in the Department of International Development Studies and Department of Political Studies; Chair of the Association of the Teaching Staff; Dean of Arts and Science; Dean of Arts and Science and Provost; President and Vice-Chancellor (acting); Vice-President Academic (interim); and Director of the Trent International Program. He received an Eminent Service Award at Trent University in 2007. For further information about the career of David R. Morrison, visit the following web page: https://www.trentu.ca/ids/faculty-research/dr-david-morrison (last visited 13 September 2017).
William Morrison was a gold miner in California. In 1853, he was planning to go to Australia if he could find suitable passage. His brother, James, lived in Dummer Township at that time.
Alexander Geerardt Mörzer Bruyns was born in Holland in 1877 and emigrated to Canada in 1925 where he was recognized as a distinguished authority on agricultural affairs. Upon immigrating, he settled in Limehouse, Ontario and became a farmer and stock breeder, later moving to Acton, and then to Georgetown. He was chairman of the Live Stock Improvement Association and the Milk Producers Association. He was also author of the book, The Good Husbandry Dollar, and several articles related to agriculture. Mörzer Bruyns died in Georgetown, Ontario in 1955.
Moscrip, Allan & Company sold hardware, machinery, and farm equipment to several businesses and individuals in the Peterborough County and United Counties of Northumberland and Durham area during the years 1853-1867.
The Sisters of St. Joseph in Peterborough were formed from various congregations in Ontario during the year of 1890. They had been requested to leave their congregations, by Bishop R.A. O'Connor, to fill a need in services which were not being provided in Peterborough such as the care of the sick. When the Sisters arrived in Peterborough they were to work at the newly opened St. Joseph's Hospital. The Sisters helped with the care of the elderly with a senior's home called Marycrest. They established an orphanage called St. Vincent's Orphanage and which operated from 1909 to 1956. For more information on the history of Mount St. Joseph see As the Tree Grows: Celebrating 100 years of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough, 1890-1990 (Lindsay, Ontario: John Deyell Company Limited, 1993).
Claire Muller is a member of the Wilderness Canoe Association and was on the Conservation committee.
William Hamilton Munro (1882-1976) was born in Peterborough, Ontario, the oldest son of George and Euphemie Hamilton Munro. He attended public school and high school in Peterborough and later entered the School of Practical Science, University of Toronto, from which he graduated in 1904. He joined the engineering staff of his grandfather's firm, the William Hamilton Manufacturing Company, for a short time and later worked for other engineering companies, first with John B. McRae of Ottawa and later with Smith, Kerry & Chase of Toronto. During this period, Munro gained wide experience in dam and power house construction. In 1909, W.H. Munro was transferred to the Electric Power Company of Ontario and in 1910 was appointed manager of the Peterborough Light & Power and Radial Railway Companies, branches of Electric Power. He then joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force and went overseas as a transport officer. On his arrival in England, W.H. Munro was stationed at a reception and training base at Shorncliffe, Kent. Here he remained for eight months before being posted to northern France early in 1916. He was still in northern France on Armistice Day, 1918 and was with the Canadian Forces during their brief occupation of Germany in 1919. On May 29, 1919, Munro married Angele Melina Marie Pouille of Bruay, Pas de Calais, France. He took his military discharge in England and joined Vickers Limited of London and Barrow-in-Furness. This invloved him in water turbine engineering and sales which led to a good deal of travel. Munro left Vickers in 1926 to become manager of the Nova Scotia Tramways and Power Company in Halifax. He remained in this position until 1928 when he was appointed manager of the Bolivian Power Company Limited in La Paz, Bolivia. In 1933, W.H. Munro returned to Canada and joined International Utilities Limited as general manager of one of its divisions, the Ottawa Light, Heat & Power Company. He remained as manager of International Utilities until his retirement in 1951 when he and his wife returned to Peterborough, Ontario. W.H. Munro died in 1976. George Reid Munro (Reid), 1887-1920, was the second son in the Munro family. He graduated from the School of Practical Science in 1905, and in 1907, he joined the survey party of the Hudson Bay Railway Company. During the World War I, he remained in Peterborough, taking care of the William Hamilton Company and looking after the Munro family affairs. He died in 1920, a victim of an influenza epidemic. (Note that some of George Reid Munro's papers relating to his work are located at Library and Archives Canada - MG 30.) Euphemia Margaret Munro (Effie), 1885-1950, was the only daughter in the Munro family. She attended St. Hilda's College and later graduated from from the University of Toronto in modern languages in 1906. In 1918, she graduated from the Training School for Librarianship in Toronto and was appointed librarian of the Peterborough Normal School, a position she retained until her retirement. The youngest Munro child, Alan Hugh Munro, 1889-1948, graduated from the Faculty of Applied Science, University of Toronto in 1911. On graduation he worked for a succession of power companies on power development construction including the Dominion Department of Railways and Canals, Rice Lake Division of the Trent Canal at Campbellford, Ontario. During the World War I, he served with the 6th Field Company, Canadian Engineers from 1914-1919 and was wounded in 1917. After the World War I, he again worked for a variety of companies on construction projects but appears not to have established himself firmly with any one of them, a situation which was exacerbated by the coming of the Depression. Many letters between 1918 and 1921 mention the influenza epidemic and the many deaths.
The Munros were writers and local historians who lived in Peterborough, Ontario.